Board Meetings The Alpha Resource Center Board of Directors meets six times per year at Alpha Resource Center, 4501 Cathedral Oaks Rd., Santa Barbara, California. Call Margaret Ostrowski at 805-683-2145 for more information about meeting dates and times.

 

 

President:
Bruce MacKenzie
A native of Massachusetts, Bruce attended Boston University, Chapman College and American International College where he earned his BA degree.  He attended the graduate school of journalism at UC Berkeley and graduated from law school at UC Davis.  He and his wife, Louise, have four children: Walter, Elizabeth, David and Emily.  Elizabeth was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and the experts believe she has cognitive impairments.  Bruce is active in statewide client rights advocacy and is currently attorney for the four Community Imperative regional center defendants in the Capitol People First class action lawsuit.  In the mid-eighties he first served as a member of Alpha's Board of Directors.  He left to join the Tri-Counties Regional Center Board in the early nineties, and he is a past president of that Board.  He re-joined the Alpha Board and has served as Vice President for two years and Treasurer for five years. 

 

Vice President:

Mari Tyrrell-Simpson
Mari and her husband, Tye, are parents of three children and have been Santa Barbara residents for over 30 years.  Their son, Kyle, is student at Dos Pueblos High School and has developmental disabilities.  Kyle is an active participant of the ARC's EXPO Program.  He has been known to ask for re-scheduling of family events and vacations in order not to miss an evening with his friends at EXPO and Teen Extreme!  Kyle has two sisters; Caitlin is in college and Mackenzie is in junior high.  Mari has been employed at UCSB for 25 years and is the University's Workers' Compensation Manager.

 

 

 

Secretary:
Mario Cervantes
Mario moved to Santa Barbara in 1988 from Mexico and worked as a school bus driver.  He has been married for 41 years and has three grown children.  He has been a Tri-Counties Regional Center vendor since 1992.  From 1993 to 1997 he was the Children Program Coordinator for United Cerebral Palsy, (11 groups in Santa Barbara area and Carpinteria).  From 1992 to 1998 he was on the Independent Living Resource Center Board of Directors.  He has owned Ride N' Care, a transportation service specializing in transporting people with disabilities, since 1994.  He is also a member of Outlook, a program run by the Rehabilitation Institute.  Mario also works as a teaching assistant in special education at Dos Pueblos High School.  He has served as Secretary of the Alpha Board for the past year.

 

Treasurer:
Lisa Macker
Lisa has had a long interest in child development, child psychology, and developmental disabilities.  She received her degree in Business Economics from UCSB and worked at Work, Inc. right after college.  She volunteered as a coach with Special Olympics in the 1980's.  Later she had her own business, worked for a CPA firm and in 1985 got her CPA license.  She worked at the Fielding Institute for seven years as Director of Finanance Administration/Treasurer.  She consulted with Alpha Resource Center in 1993 focusing on fire recovery and worked at Alpha Resource Center from 1994-2000 as Financial Director.  Currently, Lisa does accounting for another local non-profit and together, she and her husband own a land surveying business and are raising three children.

 

 

Doug Allard
Doug is the father of Ryan who is in his 20s and has developmental disabilities.  Ryan now lives in a supported living situation, works at Trader Joe's, and attends Alpha. Doug and his family live in Goleta.  He recently retired after 10 years as the Director of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District.  His wife, Margaret, is a first grade teacher.

 

 

Dave Denniston
Dave has been an active participant on the Alpha Board for several years, serving as a Director, President, Vice President, Past President, and Secretary.  Dave founded the San Felipe Supported Living Cooperative in 1988, which was incorporated and granted 501(c)(3) (non-profit) status in 1993.  Dave is the father of three children, including Anne, who has developmental disabilities and attends Alpha.

 

Nora Eriksen
Nora has served on the board for many years as Vice President, Secretary and is finishing another term as a Director.  Her interest in services for persons with disabilities began when teaching in elementary and junior high schools.  After the birth of her son, who has developmental disabilities, she became active in parent groups and national organizations devoted to the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.  Her focus has been on integrated work programs and the assurance of optimum quality of life.  She hopes to ensure the expansion of programs and to support the life-long goals of persons with disabilities and their families.

 

Paul Eriksen
Paul is finishing his second term on the Board of Directors.  He has participated in the Alpha Center Adult Services program since 1994.  Paul works in the community and attends the Alpha Center three days per week.  His passion is the performing arts class and being in the annual Joyful Traditions play at Alpha.  He lives independently in a condo with two other roommates.  He is also an avid sports fan and enjoys watching sports with friends.

 

Wayne Kjar
Wayne has been a resident of Santa Barbara for over 40 years.  He's currently a Personal Banker at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.  Berfore that, he owned the Hennings Bakery downtown for over 20 years.  His sister, Ingelise, has been a client of Alpha's for almost 40 years!  (Many of you may recall Ingelise as the evil Duchess Deville in last year's Holiday Show.)  With a bit more free time in his life, Wayne has asked how he can be more actively involved at Alpha.  He recently was a member of our Sibling Workshop Panel, and helped us at the picnic.  He is also a member of our Development Committee and we feel he can be a valuable asset to Alpha.

 

 

Cheri McDaniel
Cheri is the parent of seven children including Kim, a woman with disabilities who attends Alpha.  Cheri and Kim were pioneers of a sort, participating in a pilot program at the Case Colina Rehabilitation Center for multihandicapped children in the 1970's.  Kim has made great progress and currently lives on her own with support.  Cheri lives in Ventura and has worked in real estate for 28 years.  Her hobbies include bridge, reading, and keeping track of her adult children.

 

Lynn Rodriguez
Lynn Rodriguez, a former Alpha Board Member (2001-2003) has been a Santa Barbara resident since graduating from UCSB with a degree in Environmental Studies in 1979.  She lives with her husband, Steve, and their two daughters.  Their younger daughter, Blair, was born with Down Syndrome in 1994.  Lynn is co-author of a booklet published by Alpha about Down Syndrome titled Looking Ahead, developed for new families.  For over 20 years, Lynn worked for Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties in resource management.  She is now an independent consultant with Rodriguez Consulting Inc. specializing in water resource management.  She is also a former trainer with the County of Santa Barbara's Employees' University and has provided training and facilitation services to local agencies and organizations, including Alpha.
Lynn has served the community in a variety of capacities, including her recent four year term as an elected member of the Santa Barbara School Districts Board of Education.  She is currently on the board of the Harding School Foundation and the Santa Barbara Education Foundation.

 

 

 

Chris Selberg
Chris was born in Los Angeles and moved to Santa Barbara when he was five years old. Chris graduated from high school in Santa Barbara and then moved to the Pacific Northwest. After a few years, Chris began to miss California. With help from Alpha Resource Center's Office of Advocacy and Individualized Community Services Program, Chris moved back to Santa Barbara in 1993. With assistance from Work Inc.'s Supported Employment Program, Chris soon found a job with Santa Barbara Valet Service as a Parking Lot Attendant. Although he had been told by many people in his life that he would never be able to live independently, Chris has determinedly proven them wrong. Chris lives in his own apartment near Cottage Hospital and continues to be a loyal employee of Santa Barbara Valet Service.

 

Ali Sprott-Roen

Ali was raised in Danville, California until moving to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB, where she graduated in 2005 with a degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Service and a minor in History. Ali has worked and volunteered with individuals with disabilities for over ten years. Currently, she serves as Chairperson of the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Adapted Programs Advisory Committee, Board Member for CHANCE, Board Member for Santa Barbara AYSO region 122, and is an active member of the Disability Collaboration Project, part of the Nonprofit Support Center's Building Community Connections program. Ali is employed as the Regional Sports Manager for Special Olympics Santa Barbara where she has worked since 2006. Prior to Special Olympics, Ali worked in the field of supported living as a Program Manager and Direct Care Staff for People Creating Success and Sojourn, Inc. During her tenure at UCSB, Ali was actively involved in service to her community as the Chairperson of the Commission on Disability Access, College Buddy Director for Best Buddies, Undergraduate Representative on the UCSB Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Committee and Chairperson of the Community Affairs Board (UCSB's volunteer center). In addition, as a student, Ali had the fantastic opportunity to intern at the National Organization on Disability in Washington, DC. In this position she learned a great deal about disability policy on a national level and enjoyed amazing experiences including lobbying on capital hill on behalf of MiCassa and the Money Follows the Person Act and participating in the National Conference on Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities. In her free time, Ali enjoys pursuing her passions of advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities, playing and coaching soccer and spending time with her three year old Black Labrador, Sierra.

 

 

 

 

Janet Wolf
Janet Wolf is a Southern California native and 25 year resident of Santa Barbara.  Along with her husband, Harvey, she has raised three daughters in the Eastern Goleta Valley.  Janet received a Bachelors of Arts degree from UC Santa Barbara and a Masters Degree and Teaching Credential from UCLA.  She subsequently worked as a teacher and counselor in San Francisco and Goleta.  From 1988 until her election to the Board of Supervisors, Second District, she ran a successful Vocational Rehabilitation Consulting business with offices in both Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. Janet's career in public service began in 1993 when she was elected to the Goleta School Board.  She served for three terms and concluded her service in 2005.  Janet was also a member of and served for two terms as the President of the Board of the Santa Barbara County School Boards Association and was also the Second District representative on the Committee for School District Reorganization.
Janet's extensive community involvement includes serving as the Board President of National Charity league and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.  She is also an active member and supporter of numerous other local community based, philanthropic, and environmental organizations.