Kimberly Mayer, MSSW, is Director of Workforce Development for the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions (CIBHS). During the past several years at CIBHS, Kimberly has led several workforce development projects promoting collaboration between public mental health, education, and providers, including peers. For the past 20 years, Kimberly has worked in a variety of human services leadership positions, including county government, a private consulting firm, and nonprofit management settings.
Kristin Dempsey is a new Senior Associate at CIBHS and is the new project manager for the Greater Bay Area Mental Health and Education Workforce Collaborative. Kristin is a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) and most recently worked as Director of Workforce Development at San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS). She started at BHRS in 2001 as a clinician specializing in the treatment of dual diagnosis (mental health and substance issues) and later oversaw quality improvement efforts to integrate mental health and substance abuse services.
Karen Kurasaki, Ph.D., is a Senior Associate and manages several Workforce Area projects related to public safety realignment, juvenile justice behavioral health policy and programming, and behavioral health training for law enforcement.
Pam Hawkins is employed with the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions (CIBHS), Child and Family Services Unit. She is currently a Senior Associate working to help develop the organizational capacity to assist county mental health departments and other local system programs to understand, develop, and implement values-driven Evidence-Based Practices (EBP).
Lori Ford is a licensed Marriage Family Therapist as well as having a PhD in Clinical Psychology and research. Lori is a California Statewide Consultant for Functional Family Therapy and currently supervises teams across California to sustain fidelity to this evidence-based practice.
Shoshana Zatz, BS, has worked with CIBHS since 2011. She has over twenty years of experience working with nonprofits and vulnerable populations on issues related to affordable housing, homelessness and hunger and mental health. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Community Nutrition with a psychological/behavioral focus from UC Davis in 1988.
After graduating from California State University, Sacramento in 1993 with a double major in History and Ethnic Studies, Kelly started an internship with the California State Archives working on the state museum project. She left the State Archives for a year to work on a grant project cataloging the Japanese American Archival Collection at California State University, Sacramento. In 1998, she was one of the first employees at the newly opened Golden State Museum (later known as The California Museum).
Gerilyn Walcott joined CIBHS in 2016 as the Assistant to the Conference Planning Department. She was offered the position as a Project Coordinator with the Workforce Development Team in February 2018. Her career focus has always been on improving Customer Relations and looks forward to implementing this practice in her new position.
