AAFA OFFICERS
  

Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta President Ms. Verdugo-Peralta served two terms, as the Air Pollution Control Specialist, on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing board, representing both Governor Davis and Governor Schwarzenegger, from 2000 to 2007. Her responsibilities included voting on all air quality rules and regulations affecting emission levels from stationary sources and public fleets in the four counties of the Los Angeles Basin. A working knowledge of State and Federal Implementation Plans, SCAQMD’s rules, regulations, permitting and compliance practices were vital. As a result of over 14 years of air quality experience, Ms. Verdugo-Peralta possesses extensive knowledge regarding the relationship between the energy, environmental and transportation industries and how they affect the economic and environmental balance in California, as well as public health. Ms. Verdugo-Peralta has been a conduit between the community, industry, government officials and regulatory agency staff. She brought community and small business concerns to the agency and disseminated vital information back to them. This empowered those communities to make informed decisions, which impacted their health and economy, while informing the SCAQMD of the public’s reaction. She served on several SCAQMD technical committees contributing her opinions and technical knowledge, assisting the district in developing regulations which were prudent and sensitive to the health concerns of the public, as well as the economic concerns of the business community, while moving the air quality agenda forward. Ms. Verdugo-Peralta is an Air Pollution Control/Energy Efficiency Specialist certified by the California Energy Commission, with 30 years experience in the utility industry, specializing in the areas of energy efficiency and the environment. She founded VPC Energy, Inc., an energy efficiency and environmental outreach firm, in 1989, dealing with strategic partnerships, as well as governmental and regulatory affairs. Ms. Verdugo-Peralta is also President and CEO of SEETA, Strategic Energy, Environmental and Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit organization whose mission is education and advocacy of new technologies that will contribute towards cleaner energy and cleaner transportation, resulting in a cleaner environment. She is past President of Professional Hispanics in Energy, a non-profit organization disseminating energy and environmental information to the Latino community. In addition, she has cultivated an extensive network with community, corporate and legislative representatives, both domestically and internationally. Verdugo-Peralta is a past recipient of the South Coast AQMD’s Clean Air Award for Excellence in Promoting Good Environmental Stewardship. In addition, she was recognized by the International Chinese Transportation Professional Association for her Contributions and Leadership in Transportation. Currently, she serves as President of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Verdugo-Peralta is a native Californian, growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, who is concerned about improving our environment, while balancing the needs for a healthy economy. She attended the University of La Verne majoring in Organizational Management. She and her husband, Art Peralta, a forester for Southern CA Edison, have two grown children, Marisa and Ryan, and have lived in Yorba Linda, California for over 23 years.

Jonathan Goldstein Vice President Jonathan is President of Snell & Wilcox, Inc., a leading manufacturer of video processing equipment for broadcasters and major content producers around the world. Jonathan leads the company’s sales, marketing and service activities throughout the Americas. Prior to joining Snell & Wilcox in 2005, Jonathan led a consultancy focused on building successful executive teams and sales forces for entertainment and new media companies. His career has included senior roles in major global consulting firms, including the media and entertainment practice at Booz Allen & Hamilton. Earlier in his career, Jonathan was an executive at The Walt Disney Company. Jonathan earned an MBA and Bachelor of Science degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Jonathan has served on the AAFA Board of Directors since 2001 and has been a Vice-President since 2003.

Doris T. Luster Vice President Doris Luster has been involved in Fund Raising for over 50 years. Her motto is “if life has been good to you…you must give back.” She has volunteered for several organizations including Cystic Fibrosis, Myasthenia Gravis and the Sunair Children’s Foundation. She has 4 children and always included her children in her volunteer efforts. She taught them the importance of “giving back to the community.” Her family, too, has been invaluable to AAFA. She served as President of AAFA a dozen years ago, and is still involved in AAFA by serving on the Executive Committee and lending her expertise annually for AAFA’s Breath of Life Ball.®

Susan Woolley Vice President Susan Woolley grew up in Palos Verdes. She is a graduate of Stanford University (A.B. 1981, J.D. 1988), and the University of Wisconsin, Madison (M.A. 1985). She lives in Altadena with her husband, Gary Allen, their two children (both of whom have asthma), and their many pets (which says a lot for having good asthma prevention!). Throughout her career, Susan has been dedicated to counseling and advocating for individuals from underrepresented groups. Her concern for healthcare issues, and lung disease in particular, increased after her daughter was born prematurely and had lung disease as a result. As an attorney, Susan has provided sophisticated representation for individuals and organizations in both non profit and for profit sectors. She served as a law clerk in the United States District Courts of the Central and Southern Districts of California. Susan’s federal litigation experience includes individual and class action work as a Skadden Fellow, as well as at the private firm of Heller, Ehrman,White and McAuliffe. Susan is particularly proud of her work for the Law Offices of Sharon Lybeck Hartmann, whose prominent projects included serving as the court-appointed monitor of the Denny’s race discrimination cases. Susan speaks, reads and writes Spanish fluently. Susan contributes her time and advice to charitable causes. She is a board member of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. She has volunteered her time to provide support for parents of critically ill newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit at Huntington Memorial Hospital, and she served on the PTA Board of McKinley Elementary School in Pasadena. Susan’s mother, Margaret Vail Woolley, previously served on AAFA’s board and Susan is honored to be able to carry on this work.

Karen Maiorca, RN Secretary Karen Maiorca has served on the AAFA Board for several years. She is Director of Nurses for Los Angeles Unified School District and oversees Nursing Services for 600 school nurses in a district that serves over 750,000 students. In 1994, as one of the District Nursing Supervisors, she was instrumental in introducing the Breathmobile® into the first 18 schools in the District. With Karen’s help AAFA has been able to provide valuable training to nurses in the control of asthma. In addition, AAFA has collaborated with many schools in the district on sponsoring health fairs, parent presentations and training for pre-school teachers.

Nureet Druyen, RN Treasurer Bio coming soon.

Craig Jones, MD Honorary Breathmobile Advisor Craig Jones, MD, has served on the AAFA Board for over a dozen years. He is the Volunteer Medical Director of the Breathmobile® program. Four Breathmobiles® serve the greater Los Angeles area, with one unit serving Orange County in collaboration with Children’s Hospital. The program has been successfully replicated across the nation. Dr. Jones was instrumental in launching AAFA’s Asthma Disease Management Center. This Center was the first disease management program in the nation to be accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. Dr. Jones’ newest project, which we call the Kiosk Program, is a network of user-friendly computers, programmed with validated surveys that compute the possibility of a child suffering from asthma and the degree of severity. It is now being tested in clinics and other medical facilities in the southland. Dr. Jones is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at USC Keck School of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology.

AAFA BOARD MEMBERS

Mary Anderson, MA, MEd Owner - Associated Health Professionals, Inc.
Sharon Boucher – Community Volunteer
Antonia Clark, RN – School Nurse, Whittier Unified School District
Melissa De Chandt, Respiratory Health Science Consultant – Critical Therapeutics
Michael Druyen, Owner – Certified Printer, Community Volunteer
Robert Eitches, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Richard Harris, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Michael Ingram, Regional Manager - GlaxoSmithKline
Marion Johnson, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Rita Kachru, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Michael Kaplan, MD - Chief Allergist, Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles
Kenny Kwong, MD - Chief of Division of Allergy-Immunology, LAC +USC Medical Center
Susan LaCombe, RN - Asthma Nurse Specialist, Los Angeles Unified School District
Arnold Luster, Owner - Major Properties
Marj Malloy * Community Volunteer
Jacob Offenberger, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Patrician Price – Community Volunteer
Sheldon Siegel, MD * Board Certified Allergist
Jon Schnitzer, Consultant – Image1graphics
Margaret Soderberg, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Anne M. Staveren, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles
Ricardo Tan, MD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice
Carl R. Terzian, Owner - Carl Terzian & Associates, Public Relations
Helene Wernick * Community Volunteer
Marvin Wernick * Former President of Avonite
David Zaslow, CPA Certified Public Accountant, Roth, Bookstein & Zaslow, LLP
Ulrike Ziegner, MD, PhD - Board Certified Allergist, Private Practice

Francene Lifson, Executive Director - AAFA California Chapter