Governing Board

Michael Harris is coming on as our Governing Board Member. He has a background in human behavior, psychology and senior care. He is a dedicated Board Member in various other organizations like Center For Elders Independence, Marin Community Clinics, Marin Housing Authority, and The San Francisco Foundation. Also, he serves as a Supervisor/Counselor for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Michael does it all and his articulate and personable leadership skills with excellent program management, strategic planning and operational oversight abilities will make him an exceptional Board Member.

Novato

Beth Gray joined the PA Marin Governing Board in December 2017. She is an IHSS recipient and has a strong desire to improve the quality of the program and upgrade the benefits offered to the IHSS providers.

Beth is a Psychiatric Clinical Nursing Specialist with a Masters in Nursing. Her sub-speciality is in trauma and she has created and presented over 30 workshops for students and providers on the effects of trauma and abuse. In 2007, she was part of a five person panel invited to speak on trauma at the United Nations for the International Commission on the Status of Women. When her son was young, she was involved with the developmentally disabled community. Beth conducted a workshop for nurses about the various resources available to these individuals at a time when resources were not connected as they are today. She has also fostered medically fragile infants.

Beth worked for the University of California in San Francisco as a faculty member and a training coordinator. She also worked for San Francisco General Hospital as a Psychiatric Nurse. She currently resides in Novato, CA with her two kitties Princess and Precious.

Eli Gelardin serves as the CEO for the Marin Center for Independent Living (Marin CIL). He has over 17 years of experience working in the field of disability justice. During his 13 years of leadership, the small grassroots organization has expanded capacity to serve a diverse community of over 1500 individuals with disabilities (including older adults) every year. Marin CIL prioritizes equal access and racial equity.

Marin CIL plays a key role in supporting community members in accessing long term services and supports through “One Door” across their lifespan. To expand this hubs & spokes strategy Marin CIL partners with local healthcare payers as well as other safety net providers and community-based organizations. In 2019, Marin CIL and the County of Marin’s Aging and Adult Services established California’s 6th designated Aging and Disability Resource Connection.

In 2020, Marin CIL launched Powered & Prepared which provides personal preparedness planning and resources (including high voltage batteries and temporary housing) in response to the increasingly disproportionate impact climate change has on individuals with access and functional needs. Since the start of the pandemic, Marin CIL has been at the forefront of COVID response working closely with County government to provide an array of services, supports, and advocacy.
Eli translates his personal experience into his professional roles. He served as a two-term Governor appointee to the California State Independent Living Council (Chair from 2013-2014). Locally, Eli serves on the boards of the Aging Action Initiative, the Marin IHSS Public Authority, and the World Institute on Disability. Eli lives in the Bay Area with his family. He honors the memory of his daughter, Oliva, every day through his work.

San Rafael

Cynthia Siroky is a former teacher who says a favorite part of her job involved a multi-cultural program where people of different ethnic backgrounds came together to welcome each other’s differences. She was introduced to IHSS as she recovered from surgery and chemotherapy for cancer in 2005. Her daughter hired a caregiver named Narcissa, who Cynthia called “a bona fide angel.” She has had other long-term caregivers who have made it possible for her to be where she is today, contributing as a board member to the IHSS Public Authority of Marin. She has learned compassion and understanding. “This attitude, by the grace of God, has seen me through life.”

Roger has been part of the PA Marin Governing Board since June of 2012. Roger’s working experience includes being a Communication Associate for David Perry & Associates, Gallery Assistant for the Return to Tradition Gallery and currently the Assistant Editor for the CineSource Magazine in San Francisco. Roger has been a recipient of IHSS for over 20 years. He has served in numerous Boards, Commissions and Task Forces such as the Independent Living Resource Council in San Francisco and the BART Accessibility Review Task Force. Roger’s main motivation to be part of the PA Marin Governing Board is to offer universal accessibility for seniors and disabled individuals so they can reach their greatest life opportunities.

San Rafael
As our Board Member, Maria has decades of experience helping people in need through county services. She has worked for Homeward Bounds Homeless Shelter in San Rafael, Marin Housing Authority Shelter, Parent Partner for Family Service Agency and most recently with Community Action Marin Youth and Family Services. Multilingual in English and Spanish, Maria enjoys bringing families together, building relationships of trust and providing case management and advocacy services to the community.

She graduated from Bryman College and plans to attend Dominican University pathways program to get her BA in Psychology.

San Rafael

As our newest Board Member, Bob was part of a typical hardworking, close-knit, multi-generational, immigrant family where he was taught the value of work and to have care and concern for family, friends and others. In 1970, he was the first of his family to graduate from college with a BA in Biology. Seeing first-hand the effects, challenges and needs caused by disease and the aging process, on his grandparents, parents and aunts and uncles, he felt a calling to seek work helping older adults. He progressed from a program aide in an Alzheimer’s Day Program, to Social Services positions in a skilled nursing facility and a hospital, to community case management and finally to multiple positions for Marin County Aging and Adult Services.  Along the way he also completed a Geriatrics Certificate and all the course work for a Master’s Degree, but was unable to finish the required research project for graduation. He was honored to work in Social Services for about twenty years.  He has enjoyed working for and improving the lives of disabled and aged adults in Marin and continues to contribute to their care and independence again by being a member of the Public Authority Governing Board.

Larkspur
Herb Meyer knows what it means to need in-home personal support services. As a younger man, Herb served his country in the Korean War, was a successful businessman, and traveled the world. In 1993, he became a quadriplegic in a sailing accident. After rehab, he trained a caregiver so he could stay in his home. He got involved with IHSS to meet his passion for advocating for the rights of people who need help to stay in their homes. He still sails in the Bay with his buddies, who, he says, “have been one of his core support groups, along with his singing group, caregivers and his late significant other.”

Professional Affiliations
Board Chair, Marin Center for Independent Living
Staff Commodore, Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors
Member, Sons of the Sea Chorus

Mill Valley

Nancy is Chief Operating Officer of Vivalon where she has strategic and operating responsibility for all Vivalon programs and services. Additionally she leads business development and partnerships with county agencies, community organizations, healthcare and other service providers to ensure a more holistic approach to healthy aging. Nancy is also Co-Executive Director and board member of the Marin Aging and Disability Institute, Vice-Chair of the Aging Action Initiative Steering Committee and a member of the Advocacy Alliance Steering Committee.

Prior to Vivalon, Nancy was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Uppercase Branding, served as Director of Project Management at Certain Solar, Executive Vice President at Trio Energy, and Chief Executive Officer and Founder of MedStep Health Services. Nancy has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business.