Alumni Board of Directors

Rohen Sukkawala, Chair (Alumni)

Rohen is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley’s Hass School of Business and a volunteer in the Dental Section at the BFC.  He brings to the Board his interest in serving the community and his interest in the fiscal stability and financial organization of our clinic, with the goal of ensuring not only the longevity of our mission and values, but also the high quality of services we strive to provide.  Throughout high school, Rohen volunteered as a dental assistant with Give Kids a Smile, Texas, and traveled to the Dominican Republic and Guatemala on medical missions as a dental and surgical assistant.  In volunteering with the Dental Section, Rohen has seen the confidence that a healthy smile can inspire and how this increased confidence directly translates into an expansion of personal opportunities for our clients.  At BFC, he also maintains dental equipment, coordinates ordering of supplies, takes X-rays, and provides chair-side assisting primarily on extractions and restorative dental cases.  After graduation, Rohen plans to study dentistry and continue to provide community service dentistry as part of his professional practice.

Affiliations: Board Chair, Dental Section Member, Dental Outreach Coordinator, Dental Administrative Committee, Student in the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley

Jonathon Marley, Treasurer (Alumni)

Jon has worked extensively with underserved communities in the East Bay. Since graduating from Stanford with a degree in Human Biology and Harvard with a Masters in Public Health, Jon has been passionate about the intersection between health and human rights, and carries that passion into their role as a member of the Information and Resources Collective (IRC) at the Berkeley Free Clinic. Prior to joining the IRC, Jon was Director of Planning & Development at the East Bay Community Law Center, Associate Director of Development at the Over 60 Health Center in Berkeley, directed the Teen Clinic and HIV Program at La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland, and interned at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. They currently work as Director of Strategy & Development at Bay Area Community Land Trust. They helped to start the International Campaign to Free Geronimo Pratt, New Village Community Public Charter School of the East Bay, and the Anti-Bias Curriculum Project. Jon is a core team member of MH First Oakland, serves on the board of the People’s Life Fund, and is a former Commissioner for the City of Berkeley’s Peace & Justice Commission.

Affiliations: BFC Accountability Team and Information and Resources Collective (IRC) Member

Finn Black, Personnel Officer (Alumni)

Finn worked in HIV testing before coming to California and has been involved with HIV Prevention Services at the Berkeley Free Clinic since October 2015, serving as an HIV Peer Advocate. As a peer advocate, Finn provides emotional support and patient navigation services to BFC clients who test positive for HIV. Finn is also passionate about harm reduction and street-based medicine and helps coordinate outreach services to people experiencing homelessness and to outdoor sex workers. Finn has run outreach efforts to encampments throughout Berkeley and Oakland, including Berkeley’s winter shelter. Finn holds a master's degree in geography from San Francisco State University, where their work focused on the impact of gentrification on people living with HIV in San Francisco.

Affiliations: Board Member and HIV Prevention Services Section Member, Research Associate in HIV Surveillance with the San Francisco Department of Public Health

Scott Carroll, MPH, Board Member (Alumni)

Scott grew up in Berkeley and came to the BFC as a client in 1993 - an encounter which inspired him to become a clinic volunteer the following week.  His volunteering led to membership in ACT-UP Golden Gate and community advisory boards for HIV prevention research with the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and the SFDPH HIV Vaccine Trials Unit in the 90’s, two institutions where he ended up working as well.  His BFC training and experience led to work coordinating programs with AVAC and Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, DC, the Pan American Social Marketing Organization in Guatemala and Belize, Population Services International in Mexico, and CDC funded programs with the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and La Clínica in Oakland.  Currently, he coordinates efforts to find a future home for the BFC and teaches physical exam skills to medical students in California and Nevada with Project Prepare.  In addition to program development, management, and fundraising, Scott also has a background in media production.

Affiliations: Board Member and Capital Campaign Coordinator, Gay Men’s Health Collective and Phlebotomy Section Member, Medical Student Educator with Project Prepare, Vice President of California Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, Associate Board Member of Folsom Street Events

Jolie Goodman-Leibof, Board Member (Alumni)

Jolie is a general dentist who graduated from the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry and did her residency at the University of New Mexico.  A California native, Jolie moved to the Bay Area to attend the University of California, Berkeley for her undergraduate studies.  Her career path in dentistry started while at Berkeley when she began volunteering at the Berkeley Free Clinic as a Dental Assistant, then became Coordinator of the BFC Dental Section.  As Dental Coordinator she reinvigorated the section, recruiting scores of new dental assistant volunteers and many dental professionals.  While at UCSF she stayed in touch with the BFC and continued to help the clinic with its material donation outreach at the California Dental Association conventions in Northern and Southern California.  After graduating from dental school, she returned to the BFC as a dentist, and now serves on the Board of Directors.  Jolie finds herself constantly coming back to the Berkeley Free Clinic, each time more involved, because she is committed to helping address access to oral health care and empowering clients to reach higher healthcare objectives.

Affiliations: Board Member, BFC Alumna and BFC Dental Section Dentist, Board Member of the Alameda County Dental Society, and Dentist with TDL Dental Group

Trina Johnson, M.Sc, MHRS, Board Member (Alumni)

Trina says that her seven-plus years as a member of the Hepatitis section and her work managing a transitional house for homeless adults, allowed her a first-hand opportunity to see the gaps in services for marginalized groups affected by mental health conditions, homelessness, addiction, and other co-occurring.  This, along with her work as a certified Mental Health Rehabilitation Specialist in Alameda County, and as a Certified Enrollment Assistor in Napa county enrolling hundreds of families into free and low- cost health insurance programs inspired her current graduate program in health services research.  She credits the clinic with inspiring her to dedicate her career towards shifting the paradigm in traditional healthcare settings so that more people can have access to the kind of care provided at the BFC, thereby building a healthier community for us all.  Her work at the BFC has gone beyond direct client services to include fundraising, in-kind gift solicitation, and the facilitation of the design and implementation of our health services evaluation survey.

Affiliations: Board Member, Hepatitis Testing, Education and Vaccination Section, Health Services Research PhD Candidate at Boston University School of Public Health

Noel Lamour, Board Member (Alumni)

Noel initially came to the BFC as a client and found that they appreciated the unique way the clinic provides healthcare compared to most institutions.  At the clinic, and in their life, Noel enjoys problem solving around structural issues and improving access to resources for members of the community.

Affiliations: Board Member, Information and Resources Collective, Saturday Services section, Case Manager in San Francisco

Eva Stevenson, Chair (Alumni)

Eva volunteered at the BFC from 2011-2017 where she was a member of the Information and Resource Collective, Saturday Services Section, and the Medical Section. At the BFC, she co-led many efforts to revise and update protocols to be more inclusive of all of our clients, co-developed a trauma-informed care training program, and organized the clinic to take a more active role in local political advocacy to support the needs of our clients. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology, she managed a Federally Qualified Health Center clinic in San Francisco. This work allowed her to participate in the broader healthcare systems that profoundly influence health outcomes, such as health insurance companies, healthcare regulations and licensing at the county, state and federal level, and the many policies that affect access to healthcare. For the last three years, she has been working in an immunology lab that specializes in HIV research at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City as a bench scientist. When not doing experiments or attending BFC meetings, Eva goes to night law school where she hopes to continue learning how to disrupt multiple levels of systems in the service of health justice.

Affiliations: BFC Information and Resource Collective Section, Saturday Services Section, & Medical Section; Research Specialist at Weill Cornell Medical College, Law Student at City University of New York School of Law

Mags Hines, Secretary (Alumni)

Mags is a former Marine Ecologist/Microbiologist, Educator, now Street Medic and Harm Reductionist working to provide care and resources to the Bay Area houseless and LGBTQ communities. Mags joined the clinic as an operations member in 2019, initially to work on inter-section communication and collaboration, and has since brought that drive to their role as Secretary, updating the documentation and organization of the BFC Board of Directors. In addition, Mags works in peer navigation for trans health services with the Trans Health Collective, Outreach and Vaccination support with SMT, and a variety of cross-section and community engagement both within the clinic and the greater Bay Area. As an immigrant and mixed-race, nonbinary trans person, Mags has developed a passion for life in the in-between spaces, and has carried that energy into care and capacity work with transitional aged-youth in the outdoors, people who use drugs, and the legal support work as part of the National Lawyers Guild.

BOD Projects: BOD restructuring, Well-Being Team, Accountability Team
Affiliations: BFC Operations Team, Trans Health Collective, Legal Observer at the National Lawyers Guild, Punks With Lunch, Street Medic (SMAC Collaborative)

Ariane Baudhuin Kessel, Board Member (Alumni)

Born in the French-speaking part of Belgium, Ariane immigrated to the USA in 2005. Deeply inspired by the mission of the Berkeley Free Clinic, she joined the Peer Counseling Collective as a volunteer in 2008. Since then, she has had the privilege to serve hundreds of clients from all walks of life by providing sessions of active listening based on Carl Rogers’ model. Professionally, Ariane is a Certified Integral Coach and an Enneagram consultant. She also teaches the Enneagram to incarcerated students in jails and prisons in the Bay Area with Enneagram Prison Project. She brings to the Board of the Berkeley Free Clinic her passion for personal development and a focus on self-care and the nurturing of healthy relationships among the volunteers and staff of the clinic.

BOD Projects: Well-Being Team, Accountability Team
Affiliations: BFC Peer Counseling Collective, Enneagram Prison Project

Sally Jeon, Board Member (Alumni)

After Sally graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Neurobiology and a minor in Education, she worked primarily as an educator. During this time, she saw how health and wellness issues impacted her student's ability to learn and succeed, which motivated her to join the healthcare field in a more direct capacity. At the Berkeley Free Clinic, she found a deep sense of community and belonging among volunteers and the clients that we serve. This inspired her to move into leadership roles such as establishing the Certified Enrollment Counselors section and filling in administrative and operational gaps in the clinic, which ultimately led to the pilot of the Operations section. Volunteering at the Berkeley Free Clinic enabled her to expand upon her skills in strategic planning, project development and program management, and to use these skills towards implementation of healthcare practices that are accessible, relevant, and meaningful for community members.

BOD Projects: Clinic bylaws, policies, and procedures
Affiliations: BFC Operations Section, Certified Enrollment Counselors Section, & Hep-TEV Section; University of Minnesota Medical School

Zoë Cappe, Board Member (Alumni)

Zoë completed her Family Medicine Residency in Tucson, Arizona. She participated in the Global Health, Indigenous Health, and Integrative Medicine tracks while in residency. Zoë completed a fellowship in Herbal Medicine and is currently receiving her diploma in Environmental Sustainability and Behavior Change. Zoë is passionate about addressing how marginalized, under-resourced, and minority communities can adequately access all social determinants of health (housing, income, employment, transportation, access to green spaces, food, education, community, and healthcare). She is currently working as a Family Physician at La Clinica Vallejo.

Marrina Ran, Board Member (Alumni)

Marrina Ran volunteered in the BFC Dental Section from 2017-2019 where she was a dental coordinator and CSC representative. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Molecular Environmental Biology and is now a dental student at UCSF. She is passionate about community dentistry and strives to represent the BFC to her professional circles.

BOD Projects: Treasurer, Finance Committee
Affiliations: BOD Treasurer 2020-2021, BFC Dental Section, UCSF School of Dentistry

Kayla Faye Hurd, Personnel Officer (Alumni)

As a person who grew up depending on government and community aid, Kayla favored the holistic experience that they received from community support services. This sentiment served as one of the biggest motivational factors for joining Berkeley Free Clinic in 2018. Before finding their way to becoming a member of the board, Kayla first connected with Hep Tev and Saturday Services. After about a year of training and providing services to clients within these sections, they decided to further invest themselves in the clinic by applying for a position on the Board. Kayla joined the board with the hopes of continuing to support the anti-oppression initiatives in their new role. More specifically, they now hope to pursue this goal through their position as the Personnel officer by continuing to cultivate BFC’s communication — both internal and external.

Kayla’s identity as a Black, queer, and trans person with a sex positive attitude has largely contributed to their passion about reproductive justice and interest in exploring how the history of obstetric violence is reflected in the relationship society now has with the Black body AFAB. In pursuit of these passions, they are currently a first generation college student studying Biochemistry as a premed. Kayla’s general interest in sexual health has led them to become a Full Spectrum Doula, gynecological teacher associate, and a BoD member of Exhale.

Their lived experience through the lens of these identities has encouraged them to actively work to integrate the value of acknowledging people’s intersecting identities in order to practice more inclusive medicine.

BOD Projects: Well-Being Team
Affiliations: BFC Hep-Tev, Exhale, SSS

Claudia Alvarenga, Secretary

Claudia graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2016 with a degree in Global Studies with an emphasis in North American history. She joined the Berkeley Free Clinic in 2019 as a volunteer for the Information resource Collective. Currently, Claudia works as a Program Associate at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment where she assists in the research of teacher pay equity. Claudia has a passion for political education, racial justice, and collective liberation.

BOD Projects: Well-Being Team, Accountability Team
Affiliations: BFC Information Resource Collective Section