Staff

Carolina Reyes, MD, is the executive director of LA Best Babies Network, a coordinating center for the Healthy Births Initiative, which is funded by First 5 LA anddedicated to improving pregnancy and birth outcomes.  Dr. Reyes is nationally recognized for her professional and personal commitment to improving the health and well-being of pregnant women, improving healthcare quality and reducing racial/ethnic disparities in care.  Dr. Reyes is a visiting associate professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.  She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  She is a former scholar with the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and well published in the area of maternal health quality of care.

Dr. Reyes was formerly the vice president for evaluation and planning at The California Endowment.   Her leadership role is recognized by her appointments to the Board of Directors of the California Community Foundation, California Hospital Medical Center Community Board, and the Alliance for a Better Community.  She also serves on the Board of the California March of Dimes Program Committee. She was recently appointed to the State of California Department of Health Black-Infant Health Program Advisory Board.

Janice French, CNM, MS, is the director of programs for LA Best Babies Network. In this role Jan oversees the development and implementation of each program area undertaken by the Network. Jan has a long history of working clinically as a nurse midwife and as a researcher in the areas of women's health and preterm birth prevention. She is a nationally recognized speaker in the area of prevention of preterm birth. Jan is a past faculty member at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center School of Nursing, Nurse Midwifery faculty and School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Prior to coming to Los Angeles, Jan worked collaboratively with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to compile the report: “Tipping the Scales: Weighing in on Solutions to the Low Birth Weight Problem in Colorado.” Her passion is to translate information from research to practice in order to optimize the opportunity for more women to have healthy pregnancies, and more babies to be born healthy. That passion brought Jan to Los Angeles to join the planning and implementation of the Healthy Births Initiative. She strongly believes that participating in this work is an opportunity that is not to be missed.

Robin E. Johnson, MD, MPH, FACOG, is the family engagement program director at LA Best Babies Network. A board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Johnson recently earned a MPH from UCLA. As a women’s healthcare consultant, Dr. Johnson developed women’s health programs, as well as managed care utilization review and quality of care issues.

Dr. Johnson has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare profession, including a career as a registered nurse. As a physician, she served as the co-director in several women’s health centers in the greater Los Angeles area, including Daniel Freeman Maternity Center and T.H.E. Clinic, Inc. Additionally, she served as an assistant professor and as an associate clinical professor at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Currently, she is a clinical associate professor at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Deborah Munoz, MA, MBA, is the director of operations for LA Best Babies Network. In this position, Deborah is responsible for ensuring that the Network is operating at an optimum level and is in compliance with all state and federal regulations as it relates to the workplace. Deborah has committed the last 13 years of her professional career to work with several local agencies to ensure that disadvantaged families have a fighting chance to live the American Dream. For this reason Deborah has pursued the academia to solidify this voice and is currently in the process of completing her doctoral dissertation.

Lynn Yonekura, MD, is the sr. advisor to LA Best Babies Network as well as the executive director of family support programs for California Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Yonekura’s innovative programs optimize the outcome of each child by providing parenting education, strengthening family stability and diminishing family problems, particularly those related to alcohol and drug abuse. She is the executive director of numerous programs, including the Options for Recovery: Harbor/South Bay at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a treatment program for pregnant and parenting chemically-dependent women and their children; Hope Street Family Center, an Early Head Start program providing a variety of services, including family literacy, to at-risk, low-income residents; Hope Street Youth Center, an academic enrichment and recreation program for at-risk children ages 8 – 18 years; Pico Union Family Preservation Network, an integrative, comprehensive approach to strengthening and preserving families who are at risk of, or already experiencing, problems in family functioning; and, Esperanza Project, a nurse home visitation project for first-time young mothers.

In addition, Dr. Yonekura chairs the Children’s Health Consultants Advisory Committee of L.A. Care Health Plan, Los Angeles County’s Medicaid Managed Care Plan. She also serves on the Los Angeles County Women’s Health Policy Council and the Alumni Council of Pomona College.

Lydia Boyd is the executive assistant/advisory board liaison for LA Best Babies Network. In this position, Lydia assists the executive director and director of programs, as well as works as the advisory board liaison. Lydia brings a very diverse background with her. She has eleven years of experience in information technology as a records information coordinator, project management assistant, and IT coordinator where she managed to keep several IT departments running smoothly. As a mother of a son who was born premature, Lydia fully understands the importance of the Network's mission and ultimate goal, which is to equip mothers with sound information to make educated decisions for themselves and their babies.

Norfina C. Joves, BS, is the family engagement program administrative assistant at LA Best Babies Network. Norfina received her BS degree in biological sciences with a minor in psychology from Mount Saint Mary’s College. She has extensive administrative experience in a variety of organizations, including those that provide human resources consulting, early education, small business advocacy, outreach, civil rights legal services and public health research programs. Norfina has experience supporting top executive management. For 6 years, she was an analyst at the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and recently worked at LA Universal Preschool.

Tonya Gorham, MSW, is the policy coordinator for LA Best Babies Network. She coordinates all policy and advocacy activities for the Network. Prior to coming to the Network, Tonya worked in Government Affairs for a regional planning organization focused on transportation, housing and environmental legislation. With a master's degree in social work with a health concentration from the University of Southern California and bachelor's degree in psychology from Stanford University, Tonya is thrilled to get back to her true passion of health and social service related policy work. Tonya worked for many years providing direct service as a social worker, working as a medical social worker and a psychiatric social worker with an emphasis on children and families. With a strong desire to impact the clients she served on a macro level, Tonya left direct service to pursue her interest in public policy. This interest in public policy led her to Sacramento where she worked as an executive fellow through the governor's office for his secretary of health and human services, then to Washington, D.C. as a State Federal Relations Fellow with the California Institute for Federal Policy Research.

Monica Ochoa, MPH, is the policy research associate at LA Best Babies Network.  Monica will be focusing on improving access to perinatal mental health services for women experiencing perinatal depression, a five-year project made possible by the First 5 LA Community Opportunities Fund. She holds a MPH in community health sciences from California State University, Long Beach.  Monica’s work experience includes service as an elementary school teacher for LAUSD; an evaluation associate for the health and wellness initiative at Los Angeles Universal Preschool; a health specialist at Lennox Middle School; and a program assistant with the COACH for Kids program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Chelika Yapa is the communications specialist at LA Best Babies Network where she provides communications strategy and oversees creative services. Chelika has a broad range of marketing and communications experience in both corporate and nonprofit settings. Prior to joining LA Best Babies Network, she was associate director of communications at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Chelika is an active member of the board of directors of Partnered for Progress, an organization dedicated to decreasing breast and cervical cancer mortality in L.A. County.

Josefina Jiménez-Pinzón, MA, is the family engagement program coordinator for LA Best Babies Network. She was formerly a program coordinator for a transitional Living Center with the Venice Community Housing Corporation, where she directed and coordinated direct services for homeless women and children. Josefina also coordinated services for high-risk youth as a program manager for Another Chance Program with the Venice Community Housing Corporation. She has more than fourteen years of experience in the nonprofit sector in areas such as domestic violence, social welfare, family services, mental health, housing, and community economic development. Josefina has a master’s degree in urban planning with a specialization in public policy and social research. She received her bachelor’s degree in history and Chicano/a studies from UCLA.

Julie Gates, MPH, CLE, is the Healthy Births Learning Collaborative coordinator for LA Best Babies Network. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Sociology and an MPH in Community Health Sciences. She became a Certified Lactation Educator (CLE) in 2002. For the last several years she has worked at a nonprofit agency in Los Angeles in coordinating health education classes, facilitating breastfeeding support groups and case management. 

Sandra Trinidad, MPH, RD, is the Care Quality program coordinator at LA Best Babies Network where among her various projects she assists in the next phase of growth in the Healthy Births Care Quality Collaborative.  Sandra received her MPH degree and dietetic credentials from Loma Linda University School of Public Health in 2004.  After earning her master’s degree in public health and nutrition in 2004, she was awarded the Edward Roybal Public Health Fellowship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C.  During her fellowship, she matured a deep interest for health policy and investigated some of the implications of policy related to built environment and health outcomes. At the Network, Sandra works on a dynamic health agenda that strives to improve health outcomes for families in Los Angeles.

Sharl Talan, MPH, is the public health research associate for LA Best Babies Network. In this role, Sharl manages the planning, implementation and evaluation of technical assistance provided to community-based organizations participating in the Best Babies Collaboratives. Sharl received her MPH degree in community health sciences from UCLA in 2007. She has a background in elementary education where she worked in a rural school district teaching the children of Hispanic farm laborers. This early experience resulted in a greater awareness of the disparities in health among children and their families, and a desire to make a difference. She transitioned into health education working as a hospital representative for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals but soon realized that she was still not serving those who are in the most need of assistance. At LA Best Babies Network, she is working to improve the health and well-being of women and children who are most at risk.

Mercedes Pérez, MPH, is the family engagement program senior research analyst
at LA Best Babies Network, where she manages data collection for the Family Engagement program. Mercedes received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her MPH in community health sciences from UCLA.

Mercedes was formerly the associate director of the Healthy City Project, where she managed data collection and community research projects. At the Healthy City Project, Mercedes was responsible for various technical components of the Healthy City Web site, including integrating local data sets (resources, demographic and social indicator data) and improving navigation of the Web site. She also provided technical assistance to community stakeholders on utilizing online indicator and resource data to conduct community assessments, as well as local planning and advocacy

Holly Campbell, MPP, is the research analyst for LA Best Babies Network. Holly assists the Best Babies Collaboratives in utilizing the Healthy Birth Initiative Database and tracks the progress of the HBI’s goals. Holly holds a Master of Public Policy with a concentration in health policy from UCLA.

Irma Radillo is the community outreach specialist for LA Best Babies Network. Irma strongly believes in improving the quality of the lives of our children through their parents’ education. She has been working as a health promoter, conducting classes in churches, schools, domestic violence shelters, community colleges and clinics. Since 1994 Irma has also provided case management and HIV counseling services, as well as assisting clients complete applications for public assistance health care programs such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, California Kids, AIM and others. Irma is currently dedicating her efforts with LA Best Babies Network to improve birth outcomes in Los Angeles County.

Brenda Robledo, BS, is the community outreach specialist for LA Best Babies Network. Brenda majored in community health sciences at California State University, Los Angeles. She has completed undergraduate internships with the Network’s Healthy Births Learning Collaborative and the L.A. County Office of Women’s Health. Prior to joining the Network, she worked for Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries in an administrative role. Brenda is excited to have the opportunity to apply what she has learned in school and through her internships at the Network.

Biaini Nercissian, BS, is the data analyst for LA Best Babies Network. She also works as the general manager for Dental Hygiene, Inc. serving long term care facilities. She has experience working with Pacific West Health Disparities Collaborative for Diabetes and Hypertension programs as a patient electronic care system coordinator as well as case manager assistant for Queens Care Family Clinics. She developed and implemented the Electronic Medical Record system and worked closely as an active team member of Childhood Obesity pilot program (ENERGY) for Queens Care Family Clinics. She received her B.S. in health care administration from West Coast University.

Lorena Wagner, BS, is the Care Quality adminstrative coordinator. She has been part of the California Healthcare West -California Hospital Medical Center for the last 15 years executing the positions of admitting clerk and scheduler for the Women’s Health Center, where she designed, developed and implemented an electronic scheduling system. In 1996, she became the administrative assistant for the Midwifery Service and later for the Women’s Health Center where, among other vast responsibilities, was the heart of coordinating meetings, staff social events and in 2002 coordinated a holiday party for all California Hospital Medical Center employees. She received her B.S. in biology from Loyola Marymount University. During her career she put her dedication to healthy families and babies into action by completing training in Lamaze International Childbirth Program and initiating Doula training under DONA International - demonstrating her concern for healthy babies.

Kenya Jordan is the family engagement program administrative coordinator of operations. Kenya assists with event planning, maintaining records and budgets, as well as providing administrative support in technical assistance and research. Kenya has more than 14 years of office administrative experience, including managing and owning a transportation brokerage company. Kenya also has extensive experience in facilitating collaboration in a corporate setting. 

Susan Aguilar, BA, is the administrative coordinator of communications and technical assistance. She provides administrative support and coordination for the Network’s communications and technical assistance. Susan maintains the Network’s Web site, prepares and distributes Perinatal e-News, the Network’s e-newsletter. Susan has a B.A. in Latin American studies from Scripps College.

Erika Lopez is the office manager for LA Best Babies Network. She assists the Operations Department in the coordination of day-to-day operations of the office including payroll and event planning. Erika has more than 10 years of diverse office administrative experience. She is a currently attending school to major in business management at Los Angeles Valley College.