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Task Force Members

Ahmadreza Bahrami
Connor Wenzel
Dr. Erik James Escareno
Dr. Jorge Partida
Dr. Katrina Roundfield
Dr. Lawford Goddard
Dr. Marielle Reataza
Marina Castillo-Augusto
Bong Vergara
Regina Mason
Shannon McCleery-Hooper

Ken Einhaus

Rickie Harrison

Related Resources

Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Mental Health First Aid

About Us

The California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) was founded in 2009 with the goal of achieving mental health equity for five priority populations in California – African American, Latino, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+.

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Ahmdreza Bahrami

Ahmad has worked in county behavioral health systems for over 16 years. He’s a Division Manger and the Equity Services Manager for Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health (DBH). Prior to that Ahmad worked as part of the leadership team in a small county behavioral health. Currently, Ahmad serves as the Division Manager where he and his team oversee the department’s administration of the MHSA, health equity efforts, media and public engagement, prevention, marketing, among other duties. He serves on a number of local and statewide workgroups and committees. He has hands on experience with past CRDPs and development of CDEPs. He was selected as a 2019 Mental Health Champion by the Steinberg Institute. Ahmad’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, a Master’s in Business Administration, and completion of doctoral work in Organizational Development.

Conner Wenzel

Conner Wenzel(he/him) is a grassroots organizer, educator and advocate. Earning their Bachelors and teaching credential from CSU, Chico, he has been involved in the hands-on style of education for 30+ years. While coming late to his own Queer and Transmasculine identity, he has worked hard providing service to the rural areas of (Northern) Northern California.


He has volunteered over a decade at Stonewall Alliance Center of Chico, serving in many roles, including as current board chair. He’s the CSU Chico and Butte Community College’s Safe Zone lead trainer, and collaborates with the CSUC School of Nursing to provide a Trans patient communication simulation to students.

Dr. Erik James Escareno

Erik James Escareño, DSW, LCSW identifies as a two-spirited, indigenous (Yavapai Apache and Chiricahua Apache), Los Angeleno fueled by social justice and perpetuating meaningful change. Having expertise in the field of mental health, they specialize in interventions for LGBTQIA2S+, Deaf folx, HIV advocacy, and BDSM advocacy/education. They passionately advocate for conducting mental health research through a strong social justice lens. 

Dr. Escareño has skillsets aimed at creating purposeful social change and positive disruption of injustice for underserved and under-recognized communities. As a grassroots social impact leader, they embrace strategy and collaboration as the impetus for designing meaningful change.

Dr. Jorge Partida

Dr. Jorge Partida is Chief of Psychology and the Anti-Racism Diversity and Inclusion (ARDI) Division at LACDMH.  He is a clinical and research psychologist, specializing in addiction and trauma.  He is also an author, consultant and national speaker integrating Native Ancestral Teachings with traditional Western psychotherapy.  Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Dr. Partida immigrated to Chicago at nine years of age and there, obtained his bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University and his PsyD from The Illinois School of Professional Psychology (ISPP).  Dr. Partida has served as Deputy Director of Behavioral Health in San Francisco’s DPH and Director of PsyD Program at JFK University prior to DMH.  He has been a consultant on many national and international projects designing and implementing clinical programs to address addiction, education, health, community building, diversity and spirituality.  He has worked with local and national governments to coordinate services for those most impacted by poverty, war and displacement.  He has worked in Liberia, Africa in the repatriation of boy soldiers, forming “intentional communities” in war and poverty-impacted countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Mexico. Dr. Partida has extensive experience presenting mental health segments for television and radio with networks, including Univision, Telemundo, HITN-TV, CBS, UPN, NBC and PBS.

Dr. Katrina Roundfield

Katrina Roundfield, PhD, is a licensed clinical-community psychologist who pivoted her career from academia to entrepreneurship. Dr. Roundfield is a Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer at Appa Health, an adolescent mentoring and mental health skills company. Prior to co-founding Appa, she led clinical operations as a founding team member at an adult mental health startup, Two Chairs. Dr. Roundfield completed her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology at DePaul University and her residency at Yale University School of Medicine. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

Dr. Lawford L. Goddard

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Lawford L. Goddard is a sociologist/demographer who received his doctoral degree from Stanford University. He was one of the founders of the Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, Inc. in Oakland,  and Lecturer Emeritus in Africana Studies at San Francisco State University. Lawford is an expert on Black family dynamics, Black culture, youth development, suicide among the Black population, and substance abuse and HIV/AIDS education and prevention with over forty years experience as a trainer/educator in these areas and has participated in over eight federally funded community-based, participatory research, training and development projects

Dr. Marielle A. Reataza

Dr. Marielle A. Reataza (she/siya) currently serves as executive director at the National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA), based in Alhambra, and as adjunct professor at the University of the West in Rosemead, where she teaches psychopharmacology to graduate students. Dr. Reataza has 15 years of experience conducting community outreach in various capacities—as a secondary school teacher, resident physician, researcher, and community organizer. She is also active in advancing public health initiatives and policies on regional, statewide, and national efforts. Having immigrated from the Philippines as a child, Dr. Reataza is a 1.5 generation immigrant but has otherwise been a lifelong Californian. Dr. Reataza obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and later, her M.D. from UC Irvine. She later completed her M.S. in Health Policy and Law from UCSF-UC Hastings College of Law, where her capstone investigated the impact of social media on provider-patient relationships, shared decision-making, and informed consent. Her multidisciplinary professional and lived experiences guide her approach to addressing systemic, root causes of health disparities. She is a proponent of whole person-centered care.

Marina Castillo-Augusto

Marina Castillo-Augusto is the Equity Officer with the CA Department of Aging (CDA).  In this role Marina advises CDA executive management in the implementation of policies related to embedding equity as a core principle throughout all aging, disability, and caregiving programs and initiatives.  She leads CDA’s Equity Advisory Committee on Aging & Disability (EACAD) who’s role is to advise CDA on policies impacting older adults, adults with disabilities, and family caregivers, specifically those from Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ communities.  

Ms. Castillo-Augusto supports the development of the department’s Racial Equity Action Plan (REAP), works to improve engagement efforts with multicultural communities, monitors and evaluates progress towards improving equity in aging, disability, and caregiving programs and oversees the work of the department’s Tribal Affairs Program.  Prior to being hired with CDA, Marina worked as the former Chief of the Community Development and Engagement Section with the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health, where she launched an innovative $60 million-dollar statewide initiative, the California Reducing Disparities Project, a pilot program aimed at reducing mental health inequities for targeted racial, ethnic, and LGBTQ communities. Ms.  Castillo-Augusto has a track record for engaging hard to reach populations. Through culturally and linguistically responsive program design strategies, she effectively helps influence policy and systems change.  Ms. Augusto received a BS in Criminal Justice and MS in School Counseling from California State University, Sacramento.

R. Bong Vergara

R. Bong Vergara, DSW-C, is the co-founder of Young Moon, Inc., a firm focused on pairing social equity with sustainable development, where he serves as Co-CEO. He also pairs behavioral health and culturally rooted healing as an evaluator and social epidemiologist at National Compadres Network. He previously conducted social epidemiology for a county public health agency; metrics development for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division (NSWC-PHD); and program evaluation for the UN Science, Technology, and Innovation Forum. He was a former Co-Chair of the California Mental Health Services Act Multicultural Coalition (CMMC) in CRDP Phase 1 and served on the Health Reform Advisory Committee for Rep. Loretta Sanchez. He has published reports and presented briefings before the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), as well as, the Subcommittee on Populations of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. He taught at the USC, UCLA, and The California Endowment Health Ex/Change Academy. He is currently a faculty member at the CSU Long Beach School of Social Work.

Regina Mason

Regina holds a MSW from SJSU, co-founded an African American mental health clinic and family resource center, is the co-author of the RFP that enabled the Village Project to design an IPP.   Regina has an extensive civil rights and social justice background.  Her work has been recognized by the ACLU, Community Foundation for Monterey County, MPC President’s Award, the 27Assembly District’s Woman of the Year Award, a Jefferson Award to name a few.  Regina retired from Monterey County’s child welfare system as a social worker supervisor and works as an independent contractor for special projects.

Shannon McCleery-Hooper

Deputy Director of Peer Support Services

Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health, Consumer Affairs. Shannon came to RUHS-Behavioral Health in 2008. She trains and supports roughly 400 behavioral health providers, specifically Medi-Cal Certified Peer Support Specialists. As Peer Support Programs increase across California, her team in Riverside County is the largest and most robust peer-to-peer program in the state, employing people with lived experience and mental health consumers, family members and parents of minor children who have engaged in services to address childhood emotional disturbance. She has presented at conferences internationally, including CASRA (California Association of Rehabilitation Agencies), “Pathways to Client-Centered Care” at the University of Southern California, Behavioral Health Symposium at Redlands University, NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness), International Association of Peer Support Specialists Conference and at the Orygen Youth Mental Health Symposium in Melbourne Australia. She has provided recovery model training to Marriage & Family Therapy students at Loma Linda University, Cal Baptist University and University of California, Riverside. Most recently, she and the RUHS-BH Tech Innovations Collaborative Team were recipients the 2021 Challenge Award from the California State Associations of Counties (CSAC) for the behavioral Health technological innovation of the TakemyHand Live Peer Chat web-based peer support interface. 

Ken Einhaus

Ken Einhaus has dedicated his career to evaluating and promoting the mental and behavioral health of LGBTQ+ people, youth, and others experiencing disparities in health and well-being. Ken has over 25 years of experience collecting and analyzing health disparities prevention and policy change data, evaluating program services, and providing training and technical assistance (TTA) in diversity, inclusion, cultural humility, and health equity to CBOs, California County Departments of Health, the California Department of Health Care Services, and the Veterans Administration’s largest treatment facility for homeless veterans. Ken has been providing organizational development TTA to LGBTQ grantees as Co-Director of the LGBTQ TA Center for the California Reducing Disparities Project for over 7 years. As Senior Research Associate at the Center for Applied Research Solutions, he partners with the San Mateo County Health Department and Latinx, African American, and Tongan CBOs to analyze data on community wellness and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use prevention. He also evaluates three California Tobacco Control Program policy change efforts in San Mateo and Orange Counties, a vape prevention program for youth in Orange County, an Emerging Leaders for Civic Engagement program for youth in Orange County, and a Brighter Futures for Children of Prisoners program in Orange County.

Rickie Harrison

At an early age, Rickie Harrison immigrated to the United States in search of better opportunities. She is a UC Riverside graduate and later pursued her Master’s degree at CSULA. With her mother being a registered nurse for non-profit community clinics in Oakland, Rickie has a long-standing passion for advocating for health equity. From first-hand experience living with a loved one who had Alzheimer’s disease, Rickie’s extensive healthcare administrative experience has propelled her passion toward achieving health access to all. Rickie has rededicated herself as a public servant under State Senator Nancy Skinner’s leadership as a District Representative.