OUR VOLUNTEER BOARD

Surani Kwan works as the Executive Director of Operations for Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation. Prior to that she worked for 19 years in the hospital setting as Director of Perioperative Services, Pharmacy and Environmental Services at Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa. In addition, Ms. Kwan works as a nurse practitioner at the Russian River Health Clinic, a federally-qualified health clinic in Guerneville, California, where she cares for a variety of patients from healthy child checkups to end-stage AIDS from throughout Sonoma County. Ms. Kwan is the Past President of The California Association for Nurse Practitioners, CANP, the only professional organization representing Nurse Practitioners in the state of California. Ms. Kwan has a 15 year history with CANP. In the Sonoma County region she has served as President-Elect, President, Public Relations Chair and CEU Coordinator. On the state level, she has served on the Health Policy and Practice Committee, as President-elect, as Educational Conference Chairperson and as President. Ms. Kwan holds an Associate Degree in Nursing from Santa Rosa Junior College and a Master of Science in Nursing and a Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate from Sonoma State University. Additionally, she holds an MBA from SSU and is nationally certified in Family Practice. Ms. Kwan serves on a number of community-based boards focused on community health and wellness.

Diane Aqui is a Partner in the Santa Rosa, California law office of Smith Dollar P.C., an AV-rated, woman-owned law firm in California and Florida that provides counsel, transaction support, and litigation representation to the business community, including real estate, trucking, construction and finance industries nationwide. Diane Aqui leads the Labor & Employment Division at Smith Dollar, representing employers before numerous federal and state administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, Workers Compensation Appeals Board, Labor Commissioner, Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Unemployment Appeals Board, Cal-OSHA, the EEOC, and Department of Labor. She is admitted to practice before all state courts within California, in addition to the Eastern and Northern District Courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Ms. Aqui practices employment law and represents employers and management in claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, union organization, workplace investigations, breach of contract, and wage and hour compliance. Diane is a member of Sonoma County Women in Law and volunteers with Legal Aid of Sonoma County and other local community organizations. PDI is fortunate to have such a knowledgeable employment law expert on our board.

Dr. Andrew T. McCormick is a native Californian, originally from Monterey County. He went to UC Santa Barbara (Biological Science Degree) And USC School of Dentistry. Dr. McCormick opened his Santa Rosa dental practice at the end of 1985. Dr. McCormick has a passion for helping families smile. He is thrilled to serve on the PDI Surgery Center board.

Suzie Shupe attorney, advocate, and former First 5 Sonoma County commissioner, has been active in health policy and child and family advocacy throughout her career serving on a number of boards and committees devoted to health care. Suzie started her career in 1989 as an associate at the San Francisco law firm of Brobeck, Phleger and Harrison going on to become Chief of the Criminal Motions Division at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Executive Director of Family Action of Sonoma County, and launching the consulting firm, Shupe and Associates, providing strategic and organizational services to non-profits, public entities and foundations. Suzie also started the Children's Health Initiative of Sonoma County/Healthy Kids, an organization that was incubated within Family Action which she ran and was deeply involved in for many years. She also served as Executive Director of Sacramento-based California Coverage & Health Initiatives (CCHI) and CEO of Redwood Community Health Coalition.

Hugo was born and raised in the state of Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to California at the age of 16. He is fully bilingual and bicultural which provides a great asset when communicating with the Latino community living in the United States. Hugo has a Bachelor’s Degree in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University and has worked in public bilingual radio for more than 17 years. He established his own consulting company (Soluna Outreach Solutions) in 2017 after having worked with C2 Alternative Services for more than fifteen years. He is known in the Bay Area and beyond as an expert in environmental education for Spanish speaking audiences.

Hugo is Principal and CEO of Soluna Outreach Solutions.

Mr. Perez Garcia joined the Pediatric Dental Initiative Board of directors in 2021. Attending College in northern California, at Napa Valley College and U.C. Davis, Mr. Perez- Licea’s education focused on Community Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology, Nutritional Anthropology, Developmental Nutrition, and Chicano/a Studies. Gabriel Perez-Licea started his work experience with patient care at a pharmacy, worked as a Health and Nutrition Specialist at Child-Start Inc., and is now and Emergency Medical Technician with AMR (American Medical Response). With more than a decade of working in health care, both in the corporate world, and in non-profit, Mr. Perez-Garcia’s knowledge and specialties including, nutrition, health care, and emergency patient care will guide PDI in bringing the best services to patients at PDI. With his list of leadership skills, PDI is pleased to have Mr. Perez-Garcia on the board. These include a decade of volunteering as Chicana/o in Health Education, Director of Publicity, and Outreach, and Napa Valley College Puente Club President. With this experience and wide interests, internships and affiliations, such as Nationally Certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B), State of California Certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B), Latino Medical Association Member, member of UC Davis Men’s Club Soccer Team, and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, PDI is fortunate to include Gabriel Perez-Licea as a Board Member.