We are grateful to the following individuals who volunteer their time to support the mission of Las Trampas

Meet our 2022-2023 Board of Directors

The Las Trampas Board of Directors is a dedicated group of business professionals and parents who are committed to the individuals we serve at Las Trampas. Each member of the Board is actively involved in the agency’s governance and contributes their own unique strengths, skills, and leadership, ensuring that vital services continue for individuals with developmental disabilities.

 

Each board member serves on a committee. The following represent the Standing Committees: Executive, Nominating, Finance, and Audit. In addition to the Standing Committees, additional committees include Programs, Infrastructure, Development, and Capital Campaign committees.

 

 

Picture of Board President Michael Collier
President

Michael Collier

Since October 2016, Michael “Mike” Collier has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas and currently serves as the Board President, and as a member of the Infrastructure Committee, Finance Committee, and Development Committee. Mike served as a volunteer member and Chair of Las Trampas’ Infrastructure Committee of the Board since September of 2015, and was appointed as President to the Board of Directors in June 2019.

 

Mike has a distinguished career as an Architect and Planner and has a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) degree with honors from the California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo. He is the sole proprietor and principal to Collier Architecture for 39 years with previous roles as Lafayette Planning Commissioner (3 years) and Lafayette Design Review Board Member (9 years) of Lafayette, and as Editor of ArchNews – AIA – East Bay Chapter (7 years).

 

Mike is retired and has fully dedicated himself to philanthropic work by serving on the Board to Las Trampas. He is a long standing Board Member to SGPA Architecture and Planning and served as their V. P. of Corporate Marketing and Director of the San Francisco office. Mike and his wife Connie are pillars of the Lafayette community and were named “Lafayette Citizens of the Year” in 1996 for their volunteer efforts.

 

Mike was drawn to Las Trampas due to having a special needs grandson who recently turned 8 and is the love of his heart.  He is non-verbal and needs one-on-one help with his educational activities and may eventually need support as provided by Las Trampas. This personal connection in the IDD community is the drive for Mike and he just loves the local presence of the school and its mission. Mike witnesses daily the joy and positive energy the Las Trampas programs produce.

 

Mike is energized by people, is a master communicator, and believes in and drives the mission of Las Trampas daily. On his off days, you can find him golfing, fly fishing, or just hanging with his wife, kids, and grandkids.

Picture of 2nd Vice President Laura Altieri
2nd Vice President

Laura Altieri

Laura Altieri has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas since late 2019. She also serves on the Development Committee.

 

Laura is Corporate Counsel for Clir Bar & Company. In the last 15 years, she has served as legal counsel to Del Monte Foods, Inc., AirBnb, E. & J. Gallo Winery, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP.

 

Laura is distinguished by having assisted people securing asylum status within the US, being counsel on multi-million dollar mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals between US and Canadian companies, and brings her fearlessness, analytical, issue spotting skills to Las Trampas. She is a frequent speaker in legal forums and is a Committee Member to the International Trademark Association (INTA) – Famous Brands Committee.

 

Laura was drawn to Las Trampas and the underserved population it proudly serves because the cause is one close to her heart, as her older brother has moderate intellectual and physical disabilities. She knows first hand the lack of opportunities and services available to this population, and she has always felt that more should be done for those among us who cannot fend for themselves.  

Picture of Treasurer Diego Guerrero
Treasurer

Diego Guerrero

Since 2018, Diego Guerrero has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas, where he currently serves as the Chair of the Finance Committee.

 

Guerrero has earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley – Haas School of Business. He has also obtained a Certificate of Business Analytics from Haas School of Business.

 

Prior professional roles were a Manager, Business Development and Sales for a multinational telecommunications company in Peru for six plus years. Recent prior roles are a Development & Accounts Sr. Associate at Congregation Emanu-El for one year and also as a Head of Finance and Business Development at Desarrollo de Proyectos Inmobiliarios SAC for five years.

 

Guerrero is distinguished by having a special eye for financial management and additionally  won the highest award nationwide for exceeding sales goals and extraordinary customer services three years in a row at NII HOLDINGS INC.

 

The main draw for Guerrero to Las Trampas was the need to be plugged into an organization that cares for its surrounding community. He is extremely excited to be part of a team that supports adults with developmental disabilities to lead full lives in their home, at work, and in the community.

 

Guerrero is a very passionate and analytical person. His background of economics and sales allows him to make a detailed analysis of the client’s needs and find good solutions. He demonstrates leadership through assertive communication, has a concern for the development of people, and the ability to handle challenging situations.

Secretary

Peter Jurichko

Since July 2020, Peter Jurichko has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas, where he currently serves as the Board Secretary.

 

Jurichko retired in 2015 and has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University. He started his career at Stauffer Chemical Company (Rhone-Poulenc and then Rhodia, Inc.) and held various positions at Plant Manager of chemical manufacturing sites in Houston, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area.

 

Jurichko brings a very unique and special insight to the Board of Las Trampas since he is also a parent to one of Las Trampas’ participants. His goal and focus is in providing an exceptional day program. He has such a seasoned volunteer experience as: President of the Martinez Community Foundation, President of the Martinez Area Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Chemical Industry Association of California, Board director of the Industrial Association of Contra Costa County, founder and Director of the Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) group, and the Rhone-Poulenc Community Advisory Panel.

 

Jurichko experiences as a parent to a Las Trampas participant is a special insight that the Board of Las Trampas deeply values.

 

Picture of Director Keira Leilani Brown
Director

Keira Leilani Brown

Since February 2019, Keira Leilani “Lani” Brown has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas, where she currently serves on the Programs Committee.

 

Brown is currently a Mild/Moderate Special Day Class Teacher, Case Manager at Dublin Unified School District (Dublin, CA) since 2014. She has over 10 years’ experience in special education, strong classroom management, skilled preparation of individualized education plans (IEP), and IEP meeting facilitation and notetaking.

 

Brown has been nominated and won some prestigious teaching awards, such as: a being nominated for Dublin Unified Teacher of the Year 2019, the Dublin Unified District Recognition 2018, the Dublin Unified Teacher of the Year 2013, a three-time recipient of the Make a Difference Award, and a CSU Fullerton Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Artistic Expression in Visual Art.

 

There was a deep draw to Las Trampas for Brown, in that she has dedicated her professional life to helping, teaching, and guiding both children with disabilities and their parents, but this focus has only been on children. She joined Las Trampas to help make change for the adults with disabilities. To help guide the organization with the perspective of a person currently working in the field and as someone with first hand knowledge and experience with the population we serve.

 

Brown brings so many talents to Las Trampas with a special callout to her deep experience, humor, drive/focus, and compassion.

Director

Bob Damaschino

Since July 2019, Bob Damaschino has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas, where he currently serves as Chair of the Development Committee.

 

Bob has a Bachelor of Science (BS) from the University of Santa Clara, a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Armstrong Law School, and CoreNet Global certifications in Masters of Corporate Real Estate and IDRC.

 

Bob is currently retired (since 2017) and spent the greater part of his career as a Director, Corporate Real Estate, Asset Management Western Region at AT&T. While at AT&T for 34 years he focused on marketing, IT, and real estate matters. His last role at AT&T was Strategic Planning and Transactions for AT&T’s Western Region, wherein he was responsible for 40M square feet within their portfolio.

 

Bob is distinguished by serving as a current Board Member and past Board President of League to Save Lake Tahoe (Keep Tahoe Blue) since 2007. His vast nonprofit board experience is a major asset that he brings to the board of Las Trampas.

 

As a longstanding resident of Lafayette, Bob always respected the major impact Las Trampas was making in its community.  His involvement in fundraising will enhance the multiple day programs for the individuals at Las Trampas, enriching their lives and increasing their independence.

 

You can find Bob and his wife, Nancy, in Lafayette or Lake Tahoe. He also enjoys special time with his one married son and two granddaughters.

 

Picture of Director Claude Garbarino
Director

Claude Garbarino

Since 2004, Claude Garbarino has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas, where she currently serves as Chair on the Nominations Committee.

 

Garbarino’s current role is an experienced and talented Personal Chef skilled at creating home prepared meals for time starved individuals and families. She is the sole proprietor of Garbo’s Personal Chef Service in San Francisco, CA for the last 16 years. She loves helping people reach optimal health and wellness by preparing them life sustaining meals and telling stories through food photography. Prior to being a chef, she held Account Manager roles at TechTarget, Access Internet Magazine, and Computerworld, etc. – all of which were out of Massachusetts. Garbarino is distinguished by having won a top producer award for sales for a financial planning software company, and starting her personal chef business after the bust of the dotcom bubble in 2002.

 

The main draw for Garbarino to Las Trampas was that her sister Annie was a direct recipient of all the wonderful life changing programs that Las Trampas offers to those with Developmental Disabilities. Back in the 1960’s Annie was born with Down’s Syndrome and the “done-thing” was for parents to ship kids like her off to mental institutions in Napa to hide the fact they had a child with such an affliction. Garbarino’s father served on the Las Trampas Board since its early days and eventually recruited her to succeed him as Chair of the Nominations Committee.

 

Garbarino considers serving on the board as an important honor and takes great care to recruit the very best talent to help Las Trampas continue with this legacy and to help achieve its strategic vision of being the agency of choice for adults with Developmental Disabilities. Having a sister with developmental disabilities has heightened her appreciation of agencies like Las Trampas because she knows first-hand that it takes a special person with a huge heart, boundless amounts of patience and passion to serve this community.

Picture of Director Dawn Knight
Director

Dawn Knight, MHA

Dawn is a Senior Director of Hospital & Healthcare Consulting at Vizient inc.   She brings over 25 years of senior-level executive experience in community-based hospitals, large academic and non-academic healthcare systems, and ambulatory care settings.  A consultative leader who develops and inspires high-performing teams with a commitment to quality, service excellence, growth, and physician collaboration. Skilled in project management with the ability to assemble multifunctional clinical, business, and technology teams as well as guide complex, corporate-level projects from conception through successful conclusion.

 

Prior to joining Vizient Dawn was Group CEO at Surgical Care Affiliates where she improved operational and clinical efficiencies at the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery while more than doubling the annual EBITDA to $5 million the first year and $10 million the second year, sustaining improvement for the remainder of her engagement.

 

For more than 20 years of her career, Dawn has served at the Senior Executive level in Quality and Patient Safety at 3 major health systems in California including Community Medical Centers Fresno, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and John Muir Health System.  In her roles, she has led the strategic development of quality and operational excellence yielding improvements in multiple clinical & nonclinical areas including peri-operative medicine, telehealth services, top tier recognition in publicly reported quality metrics, regulatory, licensure, and accreditation, and board and governance level quality reporting.

 

Dawn received her undergraduate degree in Health Science and her graduate degree in Hospital Administration.  Additionally, Dawn is a Fellow with the Advisory Board Company and a Certified Professional in Health Care Quality.

Picture of Director Terry Murray
Director

Terrance C. Murray

Since July 2017, Terrance “Terry” Murray has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas, where he currently serves on the Finance and Governance Committees.

 

Terry is currently a Partner and Certified Financial Planner at Ensconce  Wealth Partners,  located in Walnut Creek, CA. Prior to being a Financial Planner, Terry was a Bay Area based lawyer for over 20 years, and graduated with a law degree from University of San Francisco School of Law. The ability to help clients achieve their financial goals is what energizes and excites Terry.

 

Las Trampas was calling Terry and he felt a real calling to make this commitment since finding out that a close family friend had a grandson with a developmental disability.   He has been a Lafayette resident for almost forty years, but was only vaguely aware of what LasTrampas did for the people it served in the surrounding communities.  Terry brings to Las Trampas a special ear for listening, finding solutions, providing sound business decisions, while always questioning the status quo.

 

Terry enjoys fly fishing, woodworking, and most of all spending time with his wife, his two daughters, and his four granddaughters.

 

Picture of Director Miriam Scholes
Director

Miriam Scholes

Since October 2018, Miriam Scholes has been a member of the Board of Directors of Las Trampas.

 

Scholes has a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from California State University, East Bay, a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification from the HR Certification Institute – HRCI, and Lominger Interview Architect certification from Korn/Ferry Company.

 

Scholes’ current role is at Madison Reed as the Vice President, People and Places. Scholes is an experienced Human Resources executive who leverages her authentic and down to earth style to operationalize people strategies. Prior to Madison Reed, she held Human Resources management roles at Caleres, Inc., Ross Stores, Inc., Kool Smiles, and 24 Hour Fitness.

 

Scholes is distinguished by having scaled a small company from 5 to 30 locations within the span of 2 years. Additionally, for cultivating a strong people-centric culture while navigating a pandemic in a social injustice and politically charged landscape.

 

The main draw for Scholes to Las Trampas is in her personal story in that her mother was physically disabled from the age of five when she was in an accident that caused her to lose part of her right leg.  She grew up knowing all too well the challenges disabled people faced and the lack of resources and support broadly available.  She saw firsthand how much awareness and education lacked in her surrounding communities around people with any type of disability.  From a very young age, she knew she wanted to help and advocate for people.

 

Scholes Human Resources savviness and passion for advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves is a vital talent that the Board draws upon.