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Management Team
Vitka Eisen
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Eisen received her MSW from San Francisco State University, and her Doctorate in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has 24 years of experience in the human services field and a lifelong commitment to supporting people and communities affected by addiction and incarceration. In her 20 year employment history with Walden House, she served in several capacities before being named Chief Executive Officer in January of 2010. In January of 2011, she was appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer of Haight Ashbury Free Clinics and is currently sharing her time between both organizations as she works with the two Boards of Directors to bring the merger to completion.
Dr. Eisen has been an active participant in the development of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations’ substance abuse treatment initiative. She has been a member of CDCR’s Office of Substance Abuse Programs Policy Advisory Committee since 1999, and served on several subcommittees, including the Continuous Quality Improvement Committee, the Workforce Development Committee, and the Substance Abuse Program Integration Committee. Dr. Eisen has served on the Gender Responsive Planning and Design Workgroup and currently serves on the CDCR Gender Responsive Strategies Commission. Dr. Eisen has served as a consulting trainer for UCSD and UCLA, and a member of the faculty of San Francisco State University, School of Social Work, and Porterville Community College.
Dr. Eisen is a former client of Haight Ashbury Free Clinics as well as a Walden House graduate, “Class of `87.”
David Crawford
Interim Chief Financial Officer
David Crawford received his Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He has 22 years of experience in planning, external and internal reporting, cost accounting, legal, human resources, facilities, fundraising, cash management, business controls and functions for start ups, large corporations and non-profits organizations. Mr. Crawford has extensive knowledge of the A-122 and A-133 reporting circulars as well as grant, foundation and government contract reporting requirements.
Mr. Crawford currently leads the finance and administrative functions of Walden House and Haight Ashbury Free Clinics.
Mark Sears, MD
Medical Director
Mark graduated from the University of Maryland in Biochemistry
before attending St. George’s School of Medicine in Grenada, W. I. He
went on to Internal Medicine residency training at Mt. Sinai Medical
School and the Bronx VA Hospital in New York City. His practice over 25
years has included Emergency Medicine, HIV Care, Geriatrics and
Addiction Medicine. He has previously been Chief of Addiction Services
at Staten Island University Hospital, Medical Director of Seton
Coastside Medial Center, and the first civilian Medical Director of the
US Antarctica Program.
John DeDomenico,
MFT
Program Director - Behavioral Health - Outpatient
John DeDomenico, or “John D” as he is known throughout The Clinics, is a
transplant from Brooklyn, New York. He first arrived in San Franciscan
in 1965 and returned after a tour in the Navy to set down roots in 1967.
He grew up in the civil rights, counter-culture movements of the time,
and took part in many of the “extra curricular campus activities” made
famous for that era.
John left the Bay Area to receive his MFA from the Art
Institute in Chicago in 1977, but returned to the City to get his
Master’s degree in Family and Child Counseling from San Francisco State
University. John has been with Haight Ashbury Free Clinics for more than
twenty years, beginning as an MFT Intern volunteer and advancing to the
role of Clinical Supervisor and Director of Behavioral Health Outpatient
Services. John is also a faculty member at the College of San Mateo,
where he teaches classes in Psycho-pharmacology, Family Therapy and
Assessment, and Intervention Skills.
When he is not teaching or at work, John follows his other passion,
still photography. He is often wandering around the Bay Area and the Far
East, covered in film with camera in hand. He lives in Berkeley with his
wife, 12 cameras and darkroom studio.
Nazneen Abdullah, MPH
Director - Health Center Operations
Nazneen Abdullah is a native San Franciscan with a rich and varied
ten-year career in community health, both here at home as well as in
South America, Asia and Africa. She credits her mother for teaching
her the importance of community service and for inspiring in her the
passion to make the world a more equitable and just place.
Nazneen joined HAFCI after a two-year position as Program Director for a
Mission-district substance abuse prevention program where she provided
clinical direction to staff and client counseling. Nazneen lived and
worked in Kenya as a health educator where she trained commercial sex
workers to be HIV/AIDS peer educators. In Ecuador she was instrumental
in advancing tobacco education and policy. Most recently Nazneen led
the strategic planning process for NISA, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit
working with the survivors of Domestic Violence.
Ms.
Abdullah received her Master’s of Public Health from UCLA. While in
graduate school she interned for the SF Mayor’s Office of Criminal
Justice helping to launch the city’s Violence Prevention Plan, a 5-year
evidence-based study to help youth and young adults leave gang life.
When
not working, Nazneen is a Bikram yoga devotee, an avid hiker, and a
dedicated gardener.
Barbara Turan, LCSW
Deputy Program Director - Behavioral Health - Outpatient
Barbara is originally from New York. She graduated from State
University of NY at Binghamton and has a master’s degree in social work
from Marywood College in Scranton. She has lived on both coasts, in
Michigan and in Bermuda. Barbara has worked in public social services
and for a number of non-profits. She has been the Executive Director of
a residential program for drug dependent women and their children in
North Carolina and also was an original organizer of the Lancaster
Homeless Shelter in California. Barbara’s passion is working on behalf
of people who have been marginalized within our society. She has been
an administrator and clinician within numerous programs for homeless,
mentally ill and substance dependent adults and has also worked with
children in the foster care system.
When
she is not working, Barbara is kept busy by her three children, her dog
and horse and her avid interest in animal rescue.
Wes Fifield
Program Director - Rock Medicine
A Rock Med veteran for more than a decade, Wes brings a wealth
of knowledge and experience in his role as Director of this
important HAFCI institution. An EMT with a passion for classic rock
and roll, Wes has even been trained in Anti-Terrorism-Bio-Agents.
Providing first aid and emergency help at large public events and
concerts, it is not unusual for Rock Medicine teams to treat
everything from cardiac emergencies to crisis intervention in one
night. Be on the lookout for his Corvette (license RockWes) or his
truck (license RocMed)!
Carrie Gustafson
Program Director - Jail Psychiatric Services
After graduating from
Tulane University with a degree in mass communications and public
relations, Carrie began an eight year stint working in the film
industry where she ended up managing a post production facility. While
working in film, she started a computer rental business to fund her
graduate education. After returning to graduate school to study
psychology, she began work on a research project tracking dually
diagnosed homeless for the Rand Corporation and also began volunteering
at the locked psychiatric ward at Los Angeles County Hospital. Both of
those experiences had a huge impact on her future career choices. She
moved to San Francisco thinking she would focus on research and got a
job working for a research institute tracking substance abuse among
teenagers. Shortly after that, she interviewed with HAFCI’s Jail
Psychiatric Services and found her calling.
Carrie has been at Jail
Psychiatric Services since 1994, working directly with mentally ill
inmates in the jails until she accepted the position of Deputy Director
in 1996. In November of 2005 she was promoted to Program Director. She
also sits on the State board of the Forensic Mental Health Association
and is currently its Treasurer.
Jeff Schindler
Chief Development Officer
Jeff brings deep San Franciscan roots with him to HAFCI. A
graduate of San Francisco State University, he has over twenty-five
years of nonprofit experience and leadership, all with San Francisco
organizations. He joins HAFCI after a two year position as Director
of Development for the San Francisco LGBT Community Center and ten years
as Director of Development for Mount St. Joseph – St. Elizabeth.
Prior to fundraising and development, Jeff worked
for over ten years in program director positions, overseeing social
services for elders, teen mothers and their children, and teens living
in the foster care system. His focus on fundraising and development was
sparked by the desire to see vital programs receive the support and
public attention they needed to flourish. Jeff is passionate about
issues of social justice and universal access to affordable health care.
When not at work, Jeff can be found at one of the yoga studios in the
City, or on Bernal Hill with his two dogs, George and Izzy. |
