Who We Are

Proxy Parent Foundation is a unique entity. Our founders were members of NAMI-California and the Los Angeles Mental Health Association who sought to provide family-like Personal Support Services and trust administration services for their family members and others with mental illness, by acting as the “trust protector for family generated “stand-alone” third-party special needs trusts.

In 2006, Proxy Parent Foundation opened the PLAN of California Master Pooled Trust to any disability type, accommodating both first part self-settled or third-party family-generated” special needs trusts. Today, thanks to the involvement of legal, medical, social sector and financial professionals we have further expanded Proxy Parent Foundation’s capabilities to include Personal Support Services for our beneficiaries with mental illness and other brain disorders throughout California.

Proxy Parent Foundation does not accept any government funds. The operational costs of our foundation and for our services rely solely on revenues generated from trust fees and the generosity of our friends. If you’d like to make tax-deductible donation please contact us at info@proxyparentfoundation.org

Through our Board of Directors, Proxy Parent Foundation has become the perfect example of marrying the expertise of the business world with the altruism of the nonprofit world.

Officers

Joseph W. DeCarlo, MBA - President
CEO, JD Property Management
Family Member

Thomas D. Stevens, CFA - 1st Vice President
Chairman, Los Angeles Capital Management

Marvin Southard, DSW - 2nd Vice-President
Former Director, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health

Deborah A. Starkey - Treasurer
CFO, Turning Point Community Services
Family Member

Karen Clark, MBA, Secretary Director of Administration, Proxy Parent Foundation

Randall Hagar - Member at Large
Policy Consultant,
Psychiatric Physicians Alliance
Family Member

Sheree Lowe - Member at Large
VP, Policy, at California Hospital Association

Board Members

John Buck
Former CEO, Turning Point Community Services, Retired
Family Member

Gary Chang, J.D.
Director of Legal Affairs (Ret.), PLAN of California
Family Member

Karen Clark - Secretary
Director of Administration

Armida Colmenares-Stafford
1st Vice President, Pacific Premier Bank

Elizabeth Galton, MD
Psychiatrist

Jennifer Wellenstein, MA, LMFT
Deputy Chief Operations Officer, Turning Point. Community Program

Kerry Dean Kravitz, MD, PhD
Psychiatrist
Family Member

Naomi Levi
Psychotherapist & Clinical Supervision and Consultant

Sheree Lowe
Vice President, Behavioral Health,
California Hospital Association

Baron Miller, J.D.
Attorney at Law
Family Member

Committees

Business Committee

Thomas D. Stevens, CFA, Chair
John Buck
Gary M. Chang, J.D.

Armida Colmenares-Stafford
Joseph DeCarlo, MBA
Tyler Dritz, CFA
Carla Jacobs
Naomi Levi

Steve Pitman

Investment Committee

Thomas D. Stevens, CFA, Chair
Gary M. Chang, J.D.
Tyler Dritz, CFA
Kerry Dean Kravitz, MD, PhD

Emeritus

Michael Antonovich former Los Angeles County Supervisor

Bob Brooks Retired Businessman

Ann Eldridge Retired Nurse

Carla Jacobs CEO, Roy W. Smith Foundation

Staff Members

Carmen Bowen, MBA Executive Director

Karen Clark, MBA
Director of Administration

Carol Larkin, MA Assistant Managing Director

Lisa Lam, MSW
Director of Personal Support Services (PSS)