The board of trustees consists of 9 to 17 community members who have demonstrated their interest in the community and share the vision of Encompass and its goal of service. Our trustees are willing to assume the responsibility of active support of these goals and purposes. One seat is held by the current Chairperson of this Encompass’s Head Start Policy Council. Every effort is made in the above selection process to abide by the principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action as well as broad community representation.

Board meetings are scheduled 11 times each year.

Meet the Trustees

Ashley Carriveau, At-Large

Ashley was born in Eugene, OR, and raised in Arcata, CA.  She attended and swam competitively for San Jose State University.  Before starting her career in public accounting, she took a year off to train for Olympic Trails in the 100-meter backstroke.  Ashley worked in public accounting for three years with Grant Thornton before entering corporate accounting.  She currently works as the Corporate Controller at Universal Audio, Inc.  Ashley is the mother of two amazing boys, an almost 5-year-old and a 7-year-old.  In her spare time, Ashley enjoys working out, cooking, and hanging out with her family.  She is honored to be part of such an incredible organization and looking forward to helping make a difference. 

Steve Glynn, Treasurer

Steve Glynn is honored to be on the board of an organization that performs such vital work in our community. He is currently a Director of Finance for Universal Audio for forecasting, budgeting, standard costing and financial support.   He has worked for a variety of companies here in Santa Cruz and over the course of his career he has held many roles in both Operations and Finance and has been involved in areas ranging from M&A work, opening and managing a factory, implementing standard costing and forecasting systems, pricing and jungle tours. He has a B.A. in Economics from UCSC and a Certificate in Operations Management from Cal Tech. He lives in Watsonville with his wife Julie and a couple cats named Ash and Ember.

Wilma Gold, At-Large

Wilma Gold is an expert in early childhood education. She began her career working as a preschool teacher. She began teaching while in school and became a director upon graduation. Wilma has directed parent co-ops, state-funded, faith-based, private-for-profit, and not-for-profit programs for infants through after-school.  She is the founder of Simcha Preschool, a faith-based program in Santa Cruz County.  She also opened the Tamien Children’s Center for Bright Horizons, sponsored by the Santa Clara Transit Authority. She later served as a regional manager for Bright Horizons for four additional years. Wilma then took the position of Director of Children’s Services at UC Santa Cruz, where she served for six years.

Wilma has also served as the chair of the Santa Cruz Child Care Planning Council, President of the Peninsula Association for the Education of Yong Children (PAEYC), and sat on the California Association for the Education of Young Children Board.

She taught in the early childhood education department at UC Santa Cruz Extension, Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, and most recently, Pacific Oaks College in San Jose, CA.  As an instructor, she taught both the bachelors and graduate programs in Human Development.

Wilma is also on the planning and development committee as treasurer for Educators for Peaceful Classrooms and Communities. In addition, she conducts teacher, parent, and community workshops and classes in that role.  Wilma has a BA from Pacific Oaks College and a Master of Social Work from Yeshiva University.

Elaine Johnson, Chairperson

Elaine Johnson is from the Bronx, in New York City, and has been living in Santa Cruz for 20 years. For as early as Elaine could remember, community, collaboration and working toward a playing field that is leveled for all to have access to has always been at the forefront of her mind and what has led her to do the work that she does. In her childhood, she saw people she knew entering the criminal justice system and not have the means to access programs that would assist in the healing, restoration, diversion, or recidivism to make a change. She has always had a love for the law and vowed to do what she could to bring about change.

Elaine spent several years mentoring students as a way of supporting youth to reach for their highest potential regardless of any barriers that may have been placed in their way. Elaine is also the founder of the Santa Cruz County Neighborhood Courts Program, a diversion program that serves participants throughout Santa Cruz County. Elaine has worked in the fields of juvenile dependency, Community and Divorce mediation, criminal law, and has extensive experience working in collaboration in Santa Cruz County in restorative justice, housing, mentoring programs, (Santa Cruz County High School Mock Trail and Elementary Law program). Elaine is committed to her continued work with community leaders of all levels throughout the County of Santa Cruz.

Elaine holds a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate from Monterey College of Law. Elaine is a certified mediator and currently serves on several boards, which includes Encompass Community Services, Monarch Services, Your Future Is Our Business. She is Past President of Women Lawyers of Santa Cruz County, a Member of Rise Together Coalition, serves on the Santa Cruz Police Chief Advisory team, and is a member of the Santa Cruz County Bar Association. Elaine served on the Executive Committee of the NAACP Santa Cruz County Branch, as a board member at Inner Light Ministries, and has been a member of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Advisory Team. 

Elaine enjoys singing gospel music, and lives in Live Oak with her partner Shinehah.

Patricia Lopez, Policy Council Chairperson

I was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, and immigrated with my family to the United States when I was 2 years old. I was raised in Castroville, CA, and attended UC Davis right out of high school. I graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Psychology and a BA in English. After graduation, I moved to Santa Cruz where my career trajectory took me down the path of working with adults with disabilities. I have been working at a non-profit that provides services to adults with disabilities for the last 11 years. In my personal life, I married in 2017 and had my son in 2019. My son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. Since then, my passion for advocating for the disabled community has grown. My partner and I currently live in Moss Landing and work daily to make sure our son is given the best opportunities to have a happy and successful life. 

Oriana Nolan, At-Large

Oriana is a public health practitioner working in medical education at Natividad Family Medicine Residency and community health programs with Access Support Network. Her work has centered on culturally driven, community-led responses to health issues, including HIV, Hepatitis C, harm reduction, access to care, mental health research, and domestic violence prevention. Oriana grew up in Santa Cruz and studied biology and public health at UC Berkeley. She learned Spanish while living in Mexico and Ecuador, where she worked in capacity building and community development in both rural and urban areas. Oriana returned to Santa Cruz in 2015, where she has been involved in syringe exchange services, Hepatitis C treatment access, and collaboration across institutions to improve care for marginalized groups. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, skiing, and exploring the wilderness with her partner and two children.

Myra Rodriguez, Vice-Chairperson

Myra was born and raised in Watsonville, California. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2010.  Her career trajectory reflects her deep commitment to equity and to thriving communities.  Myra became a Deputy Probation Officer in 2012 with the Santa Cruz County Probation Department and developed expertise in pre-sentence investigations and issues regarding domestic violence. She has dedicated her career to the principles of restorative justice, where there is compassion and healing for victims as well as offenders. 

Myra has experience working with diverse populations. As a probation officer, she works with adults in challenging circumstances and has prior experience working in the classroom with children with developmental disabilities.

Myra is delighted to continue contributing to the Santa Cruz community in promoting equity, well-being, and social change by serving on the Encompass Board of Directors.

Oscar Sanchez, At-Large

Witnessing the injustices that marginalized people, especially people of color endure due to the lack of accessible quality healthcare, has inspired Oscar to use his voice to champion for those who feel powerless and too often silenced. A strategic, enthusiastic, and innovative healthcare leader, Oscar has a passion for reducing health disparities by creating systems of change. Oscar hopes to replace inefficient systems with culturally humble, innovative, and integrated models of care to break the cycle of inequity. His past experiences included a supervisory role in a federally qualified health center however, Oscar was interested and committed to the broader mission of helping the underserved population.

Currently, Oscar works for Central California Alliance for Health, the county’s award-winning regional non-profit health plan, which serves over 370,000 members in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Merced counties. In his role as a Project Specialist, Oscar coordinates, participates, and leads several quality improvement and population health initiatives.

Oscar is a first-generation college graduate and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Education from UC Santa Cruz, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Health Care Administration from Cal State East Bay.

Gisela Taboada, Secretary

Gisela Taboada is a healthcare leader committed to improving and expanding quality healthcare access to our most vulnerable community members.  She works at Central California Alliance for Health (the Alliance) as the Member Services Call Center Manager, has worked in Provider Relations, and has previous experience as a medical assistant for Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Gisela is currently enrolled at San Jose State University and is pursuing a degree in Sociology with a concentration in Community Change.  She is a first-generation Latina and looks forward to bringing her life experience to advocate for health care for underserved community members. Gisela is excited to join the Board of Encompass Community Services and have opportunities to positively impact the community and support healthcare equity and social justice.

Suzanne Willis, At-Large

Suzanne Willis is currently the Public Defender's Administrative Analyst.  She is working to find additional sources of funding and supporting the PDO with budgeting, processes, and data collection. Prior to joining the Public Defender, Suzanne was the Chief Development and Marketing Officer for Second Harvest Food Bank and has extensive experience in fundraising for both universities and private non-profits.  She has her Masters of Public Administration from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (now known as Middlebury Institute) and is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Suzanne is so honored to be a newly elected board member for Encompass, an organization working so hard to make Santa Cruz County a healthier and more vibrant community. She tutors English for Santa Cruz County's Volunteer Center and in her free time, you can find her at a ranch in Soquel riding an old roping horse named Red.