Board Members

MEMBERS OF THE MENTAL HEALTH BOARD

Board Officers:

Chair
James L. McGhee
Seat #4
Public Interest Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Aaron Peskin

James is President of JLM Management group, a consulting focusing on business and organizational development. he has served on numerous boards at the local, state and national levels, including former national Chair of MED-Week (Minority Enterprise Development) under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Small Business Administration. He was re-appointed to the Board of Psychology of the State of California by both Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and voted President. He was formerly Vice Chair of the Civil Rights Commission and a member of the Lottery Commission for the State of Washington. He was also a member of the Planning Commission for Seattle. James was just elected Chair of the California Association of Local Mental Health Boards.

Vice Chair
Jagruti Shukla, M.D., M.P.H.
Seat #9
Family Member Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Jake McGoldrick

Jagruti is currently serving as the Medical Director of the Primary Care Clinic at the San Mateo Medical Center. She was formerly the Chief of Adult Medicine for the Mission Neighborhood Health Center in San Francisco. She has participated in a wide range of public health programs, as a volunteer physician in Honduras and Mexico, volunteering in a center for the homeless, making health presentations to high-school and grade school students, and producing a radio show on sexual health.

Secretary
James Shaye Keys
Seat #3
Public Interest Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Chris Daly

James is currently the Health Program Director for Senior Action Network, and he is a well know advocate for mental health services in San Francisco. He previously handled constituent concerns for Supervisor Chris Daly who represents District 6. He has also been a caterer, a web editor and designer, and an office manager.

CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE MENTAL HEALTH BOARD

Lara Siazon Arguelles
Seat #13
Family Member Seat
Appointee of the Board of Supervisors

Lara gave up her beauty business (Gloria Munde' Int'l.) 2 years ago so she could focus on mental health issues. Her daughter was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 19 years ago. She trained with the Mental Health Association of San Francisco to be a Mental Health Advocate. She wants to especially help the family members of mentally ill people by working with support groups and agencies. She is a member and serves on the Grievance Committee for the Yellow Cab Coop. Inc. She is also a member of the Sacramento chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

Bridgett Brown
Seat #6
Consumer Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Sophie Maxwell

Bridgett is an expert in Social Security and Disability Benefits, and works for the Independent Living Resource Center. Prior to being appointed to the Mental Health Board, she served on the Proposition 63 Task Force to develop the priorities for the Mental Health Services Act. She was also elected to the Prevention and Early Intervention Committee for the Mental Health Services Act She has a passion fro helping others with disabilities and fully participates in the diverse community that is San Francisco.

Kelly Dunn
Seat #11
Public Interest Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Bevan Dufty.

Kelly has been an officer for the San Francisco Police Department for seven years. Prior to becoming a police officer, she worked in mental health as a psychiatric technician for the Mobile Crisis Treatment teams in San Francisco and Oakland, Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, the Tom Smith Substance Abuse Treatment Center at San Francisco General Hospital, and at the Mount Zion Crisis Clinic. Before these positions, her first job in mental health was at Napa State Hospital on an all male forensic unit.

Kelly's education began at Mount San Jacinto College and she received her psychiatric technician license from Napa Valley College. She is currently working on her Bachelor of Science degree at California State University, Long Beach. She is also trained and certified in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and is a Certified Chemical Dependency Nurse.

John Kevin Hines
Seat#12
Consumer Seat
Appointee of the Board of Supervisors

In 2000, Kevin jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge and survived. Since then he has been speaking publicly across the country. He has spoken to over 150,000 people about Mental Health Issues, Bipolar Disorder, and Preventing Suicide, and the Bridge Rail Foundation. He sits on the Northern California Chapter of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, and speaks for the SAVE (Suicide Awareness and Voices of Education) Foundation. Kevin volunteers with SFSP (San Francisco Suicide Prevention), and speaks primarily for the NMHAC (National Mental Health Awareness Campaign), a campaign launched by the White House in 1999. Kevin is currently working at the Alliant University of Psychology.

Kevin can be booked to speak at your event using the following link: http://nostigma.org/speakers.php

LaVaughn Kellum King
Seat #10
Family Member Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier

LaVaughn is an active member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) where she teaches classes for other family members. She is also the Second Vice President of SF Business and Professional Women Inc., where they give out scholarships to young people who have financial challenges in getting to college. LaVaughn is an independent contractor.

Tom Purvis
Seat #14
Family Member Seat
Appointee of the Board of Supervisors

Tom has worked for more than 40 years as an administrator and evaluator of federal and local human services programs. Through the Mental Health Association, he was very active in the campaign for Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act. He is an active member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and serves on their Board. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Family Service Agency, the Executive Service Corps, and AASCEND, an organization for people with Asperger's Syndrome.

Njoroge C. Tho-Biaz
Seat #8
Mental Health Professional Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Tom Ammiano

Njoroge Carver Tho-Biaz, M.A. aka "Dr. Imagination" is a metaphysican and holistic health and wellness practitioner and educator. An award winning radio and television writer/producer/director for Chicago NBC-TV and radio, and Fox- TV, he lectures and teaches on consciousness and spirituality, and the transformative and healing power of laughter, play and creativity. Njoroge (pronounced: een - joe - raj -ee, or ja - row -gay, in Kenya), left pulpit ministry in Chicago to minister in community as a LifeArts activist for integral health and well being. He has been a Hollywood actor for Disney and brings a synthesis of the arts, media and entertainment to any project that he is involved in.

Njoroge has assisted thousands of people experience themselves as intending, creative, responsible, self-determining beings for personal growth and self-healing through his stand up comedy, on his radio and television programs and as an Integral Life Coach. He has had a life long facination with creatively gifted, spiritually emerging adults. After a heart attack in 1998 and a paralyzing stroke in 2000 that affected his mobility and speech, he was determined to bounce back to better health than he experienced before these incidences, and he has. Determined to provide health awareness and encouragement to others, he founded CELEBRATION! Choices for Consciouis Being, a health and wellness resource center. He is currently developing Celebration! Ensemble, an arts for health and well being performance troupe in San Francisco. He is also the founding Integral Health Director of the Holistic Lifestyle Management Clinic, scheduled to open in West Portal (San Francisco, Ca.) beginning this fall. An exponent of the practical value self-actualization and holistic approaches to health and healing, Njoroge lectures and writes lay person 'self-care' holistic material used in diverse professional settings - in schools, colleges, at the work place, medical and therapeutic sessions, and spiritual direction programs.

Njoroge approaches the issues of personal, community, and global health with contagious exuberance. "I believe that daily doseages of laughter, play and creativity, along with a supportive web of relationships and a wide range of psychological, social, and spiritual factors have as much, if not more influence on our health than the more traditional biomedical risk factors for disease." Njoroge C. Tho-Biaz lives and works at his home in San Francisco "as quietly and simply as possible."

Hale M. Thompson
Seat #1
Consumer Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval

Hale works in the field of public health with a focus on improving access and care for transgender communities. Currently he is conducting a community needs assessment around female-to-male, transgender men's risks for HIV in San Francisco in collaboration with the San Francisco Department of Public Health Transgender Advisory Group. Beyond this work, Hale is an officer of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club and a member of the Berkeley Free Clinic's Gender Activist Group.

Lisa Williams
Seat #5
Family Member Seat
Appointee of Supervisor Carmen Chu

Lisa is the President and owner of One Source Consulting, a firm which does political consulting and community advocacy. She has served as Regional Director for the California Democratic Party's Every Vote Counts Campaign, Regional Director for Governor Gray Davis, and Field Representative for Mark Leno for Assembly. She is the Co-chair of LGADDA, a Board member of the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, and a member of Black Women of Political Action. She formely served as the Board President for the Homeless Children's Network.

Virginia Wright
Seat #16
Family Member Seat
Appointee of the Board of Supervisors

Virgina Wright is the mother of four children, one of whom has been a part of the Children's System of Care. Virginia brings years of experience as a parent in the system and a passion for advocacy and helping others.

Board Seats in Numerical Order
Hale M. Thompson
Seat #1
Consumer
Appointed by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval

Vacancy
Seat #2
Consumer
Appointed by Supervisor Sean Elsbernd

James Shaye Keys
Seat #3
Public Interest
Appointed by Supervisor Chris Daly

James L. McGhee
Seat #4
Public Interest
Appointed by Supervisor Aaron Peskin

Lisa L. Williams
Seat #5
Family Member
Appointed by Supervisor Carmen Chu

Bridgett Brown
Seat #6
Consumer
Appointed by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell

Vacancy
Seat #7
Consumer
Appointed by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi

Njoroge C. Tho-Biaz, M.A.
Seat #8
Mental Health Professional
Appointed by Supervisor Tom Ammiano

Jagruti Shukla, M.D., M.P.H
Seat #9
Family Member
Appointed by Supervisor Jake McGoldrick

LaVaughn Kellum King
Seat #10
Family Member
Appointed by Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier

Kelly Dunn
Seat #11
Public Interest
Appointed by Supervisor Bevan Dufty

John Kevin Hines
Seat #12
Consumer
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors

Lara Siazon Arguelles
Seat #13
Family Member
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors

Tom Purvis
Seat #14
Family Member
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors

Vacancy
Seat #15
Mental Health Professional
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors

Virginia Wright
Seat #16
Family Member
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors

Vacancy
Seat #17
Board of Supervisors
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors