The Wellness Community Staff

Amy Alanes — Development Manager
Judy Blazin — Community Outreach Coordinator
James Bouquin — Executive Director
Anne Case, MA — Offsite Program Coordinator
Cyndi Lezcano— Latino Services Program Assistant
Margaret Stauffer, MFT — Program Director
Lillian Tsai — Financial Manager
Linda Waxman — Operations Manager

Therapist Facilitators

Michiyo Ambrosius, PhD
Margaret Cullen, MFT
Ron Ellis, PhD
Kathryn Jones, MFT
Julie Kaldveer, MA/Intern
Erika Maslan, MFT
Prajedis (Pat) Ramirez, LCSW
Ilene Scharlach, PhD
Mike Stephens, MFT

Clinical Interns

Carolyn Bahoh
Maryam Hafezi
Vaneeta Sandhu

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Director Biographies

Executive Director — James R. Bouquin

Jim is responsible for managing The Wellness Community on behalf of the Board of Directors. He supervises administrative, financial and development support for the organization, ensures that strategic goals are accomplished, and implements the vision of providing support, education and hope to every person affected by cancer in our community.

Jim has held a wide variety of leadership and governance roles in health and human services, both locally and nationally. He was recently elected to serve on the National Wellness Community's Executive Director Advisory Council.

Formerly, Jim served as the President of the Northern California Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director for New Connections, Contra Costa County’s largest provider of outpatient substance abuse treatment, HIV/AIDS services, and community counseling services. He has also served as Executive Director of the Contra Costa Crisis Center and Executive Director of Eagle Lake Children’s Charities, which built Camp Ronald McDonald for chronically ill, disabled and disadvantaged youth. Jim’s earlier career was in higher education, where he served as Director of the Disability Resource Center, Director of the Child and Family Resource Center, and Assistant Dean for Campus Affairs at Stanford University.

 

Program Director — Margaret Stauffer, MFT

Margaret is responsible for managing mission delivery and maintaining the high quality of The Wellness Community’s comprehensive cancer support services. She develops new program components, supervises the clinical team, and ensures that program services are available and accessible to as many people affected by cancer as possible.

A licensed marriage and family therapist, Margaret has extensive experience in working with the chronically ill and their loved ones, including those with cancer, diabetes, and other health challenges. Recently, she was selected to National Wellness Community’s Program Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee for Training.

Before coming to The Wellness Community San Francisco East Bay, Margaret was Executive Director and Program Director at The Wellness Community San Diego. She has also held a variety of clinical positions in organizations such as TriCity Medical Center’s Obesity Treatment Program, Behavioral Health Resources, and Diabetes Treatment Center of America.

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