Board / Staff

Vesper Society Bio

President

Miyoko is an experienced nonprofit executive who uniquely combines a passion for social justice and building organizations and their programs.  Always curious about how the world works, she has served in a wide range of roles from strategic to operational to financial.

Prior to Vesper Society, Miyoko served as the chief operating officer at the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles and brings a creative sensibility to her work.  Her broad and deep nonprofit experience comes from her role as president of the Southern California Grantmakers, Los Angeles and director of projects at the Tides Foundation, San Francisco.

With the current Vesper Society priorities, Miyoko traverses the state of California, from rural Humboldt County to Imperial County on the Mexican border.  She embodies a deep commitment to a leadership style that is based on values of service, integrity and respect.  She earned a master’s degree from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA.

Vesper Society Bio

Executive Assistant

Carol combines skills in administration, project management, communications and research with a desire to work with others to bring about social justice. She received her bachelor’s in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she conducted research on a study of Americans’ attitudes toward civil liberties at the University-affiliated Survey Research Center. Carol enjoys wilderness backpacking and creative expression through painting, photography and gardening.

Email:  cmckevitt@vesper.org

415.291.0905

Vesper Society Bio

Washington, DC

Mr. Stolz joined the Vesper Society board in 2013 and served through 2018. He was reappointed to the board in 2020 and currently serves as chair of the board and as a member of the equity working group.  Stolz has more than 35 years of experience in healthcare and well-being improvement, holding leadership positions with innovative, industry-leading companies including Maxicare, Towers Watson, UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, and Tivity Health. ​He serves on the advisory boards for start-ups including Care Angel and Savor Health​.

Mr. Stolz serves on the board of N Street Village ​in Washington, DC.  He holds a bachelor of arts in economics from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, and a masters of business administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Stolz is a member of Augustana Lutheran Church, Washington, DC—one of the ​first racially-integrated Lutheran churches in the US. He and his partner David Hatfield have been together for over 20 years. They have a Bernese Mountain Dog ​named Tank​.

Vesper Society Bio

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Dr. So-Armah joined the Vesper Society board in 2018 and serves as vice chair of the board, as a member of the governance committee, and as a member of the equity working group. A primary care internist at Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, she serves a predominantly Dominican immigrant patient population. She graduated from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital internal medicine residency program in 2016, and served as the residency’s assistant program director of quality improvement until 2020. In this role, she taught and mentored residents to think about patient safety and process improvement in order to engage trainees in healthcare improvement efforts at the hospital and clinics. She currently serves as Medical Director at Brookside Community Health Center, leading team changes across the practice and working to prioritize physician and staff wellness in her work.

Dr. So-Armah’s work in immigrant health began with a deep connection to a community called Batey Libertad in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic. In 2005, she began working in Batey Libertad as a college student, and in 2009 helped to found a non-profit organization called Yspaniola, with the goal to create access to quality education from pre-K to university for students in Batey Libertad.

Dr. So-Armah is originally from the Bay Area in California, a graduate of Henry Gunn High School in Palo Alto and member of Valley Presbyterian Church in Portola Valley. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies at Yale, a master’s degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh, and her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. Married to Kaku So-Armah, an epidemiologist and researcher originally from Accra, Ghana, Dr. So-Armah is proud mother to daughter Miinshè Alma, born January 23, 2016, and Tashi Yao, born May 31, 2018.

Vesper Society Bio

Oak Park, Illinois

Ms. Lawler joined the Vesper Society board in 2019 and serves as the chief financial officer, as chair of the finance committee, and as a member of the equity working group. She is director of the Pathways Program that walks beside survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual assault — at  Swedish Hospital, part of NorthShore University HealthSystem in Chicago. Previously, Ms. Lawler served as the regional representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in South America and coordinator of the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  She was also the director of the Health Care Access Program at The Children’s Aid Society in New York City.

Ms. Lawler did her undergraduate studies at Cornell University and holds a Master of Public Health and International Affairs from Columbia University and a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. She volunteers with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights as a Child Advocate for unaccompanied minors living in detention centers.

Vesper Society Bio

El Cerrito, California

Mr. Ward joined the Vesper Society board in 2019 and serves as board secretary and as a member of the governance committee. Michael Ward is General Counsel for Bay Area Community Services, an Oakland-based non-profit providing homeless housing and low income mental health services. At Bay Area Community Services, he is responsible for all compliance, legal and regulatory matters for the agency. Michael joined BACS after 22 years as an attorney and managing partner from Donahue Fitzgerald LLP, one of Oakland’s largest law firms where he managed all business operations including finance, IT, marketing and development, facilities, compliance, HR, and also held numerous non-profit accounts for the corporation. Originally from the Boston area, Michael came to California to attend college at Stanford, and later completed his law degree at UC Berkeley.

Prior to joining the Vesper Society board, Michael served on boards of several non-profits serving youth in the East Bay area.

He holds a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelor of Political Science from Stanford University.

Vesper Society Bio

Oakland, California

Ms. Carlsen joined the Vesper Society board in 2019 and currently serves on the program and finance committees. Erika’s life purpose and work is to inspire joy, compassion, and connection among the people and within the organizations where she works – through her work in leadership development and training. She is currently the director of the prestigious Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs at Coro Northern California. Previously, Ms. Carlsen was the assistant director of Fellowship Program and Latinx Initiatives at the Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School. She previously worked at Rockwood Leadership Institute, one of the nation’s largest leadership training organizations for social change leaders.

Ms. Carlsen serves on the board of directors of Lideramos, a national alliance of Latino leadership development organizations. She previously served on the board of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center and the Harvard Latino Alumni Association.

Ms. Carlsen graduated summa cum laude from the University of San Francisco with a BA in Politics and holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. She is an alum of the Coro Fellows Program in International Affairs, Coro Fellows Program, and the Harvard Graduate Student Leadership Institute. She was born and raised in a small town in Utah and now calls Oakland home with her beloved cats Kahlo and Yuri.

Vesper Society Bio

Reno, Nevada

Ms. Heinemeier joined the Vesper Society board in 2016 and serves as a member of the audit and investment committees. She has been in healthcare her entire career – first as a medical technologist and for the last thirty plus years in healthcare administration in hospitals, private practices and hospital integrated delivery systems in California, Nevada, Virginia and Maryland.  Ms. Heinemeier has served on both the state and national boards of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) as well as on clinical advisory committees.

Ms. Heinemeier has served on the board of Cancer Awareness of Nevada, a non-profit organization that provides financial aid to people in the state who are undergoing cancer treatment. She has served on various church committees/boards and is currently a member of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, an ELCA congregation in Reno, NV.

Ms. Heinemeier received a BS from UC Davis and completed an internship in medical technology at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. She is a certified member and a fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE).

Vesper Society Bio

San Diego, California

Mr. Larson joined the Vesper Society board in 2016 and serves as a member of the program and investment committees. As a correspondent for many years for NBC News and PBS NewsHour, John Larson’s career has taken him to the corners of the world to investigate the sinking of a passenger ferry in Indonesia, a five-year-old Buddhist Monk in Nepal, corrupt police in Mexico City, a terrorist attack in Central Africa, the war in Iraq, snake handlers in Appalachia, and many more.

As an investigative journalist, Mr. Larson has been honored with journalism’s highest awards including multiple Peabody’s, National Emmy’s and DuPont Columbia Awards.

Mr. Larson graduated from Colgate University in 1975. After a year of service as a Vista Volunteer, he began his journalism career in Alaska as a stringer for the Boston Globe. Mr. Larson worked as a general assignment television reporter in Seattle, WA, before moving on to the network in Los Angeles. In 2009, he launched his own production company, trained in digital journalism, and began consulting for media companies.

Mr. Larson lives with his wife and family in San Diego, CA.

Vesper Society Bio

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Dr. Kidd was elected to the Vesper Society board in 2014 and served through 2019. She was reappointed to the board in 2021 and serves as the chair of the program committee and as a member of the governance committee. An educator, Dr. Kidd directed international studies majors at Sacred Heart and Fairfield Universities in Connecticut. She has also worked with the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University as a senior program manager and with FHI 360 managing a scholarship program for gifted college students from Saudi Arabia. As an active Lutheran, Dr. Kidd worked for the Lutheran Church in American Department of Church in Society addressing international issues and has also served as a consultant to Lutheran World Federation. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, Dr. Kidd completed graduate degrees at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

Access to college for first generation college students is a passion for Dr. Kidd and College Summit recognized her as the National Capital Region Volunteer of the year in 2012 for her work with Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC. She has also served on the boards of nonprofits working in Haiti and El Salvador.

Married to John S. Kidd, senior pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, DC, Dr. Kidd is the parent of two adult daughters, Elizabeth and Christine.

Vesper Society Bio

Fresno, CA

Dr. Martinez joined the Vesper Society board in 2020 and serves on the program and finance committees. Dr. Martinez is a board-certified internal medicine physician and has worked as a hospitalist since 2010. He is currently senior physician in the Hospital Medicine Department at Kaiser Permanente Fresno. He previously worked as a hospitalist at Kaiser San Francisco where he taught and mentored medical residents.

Dr. Martinez participated in the Convoy of Hope in 2018 building homes for displaced families in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. He recently received grant funding to start a non-profit called Patriot House to provide temporary housing and life skills to homeless veterans in Fresno, California. He is a mentor for underrepresented premed students from Fresno State.

Dr. Martinez received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from California State University, Fresno, and his M.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles/Charles R. Drew Medical Education Program.

Kevin and his wife Crystal have four children – Kevin Jr., Sienna, Gabriela and Christian.

Vesper Society Bio

Fresno, California

Ms. Rodriguez joined the Vesper Society board in 2019 and serves as chair of the governance committee, as a member of the investment committee, and as a member of the equity working group. Residing in Fresno, California, since 2003, she is senior director for the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) in the Central Valley and has been with YLI since 2009. In 2018, she expanded their work by launching youth programming in the North Valley in Madera and Merced counties. In 2019, she received the Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

Her staff of 20 coordinate the Fresno County Friday Night Live (FNL) program, the Fresno and Merced Boys and Men of Color program, the Merced Girls and Women of Color, The Madera Student Advocacy Councils, the City of Fresno Youth Commission and the Rural Cities Youth Coalitions in Reedley and Orange Cove. This work includes youth-led health-related and neighborhood change campaigns in Fresno County. Yammilette works to have youth voices at the table in making positive policy and social change in their communities.  Youth-led projects include underage drinking prevention, healthier corner stores, healthy advertising and healthy eating, access to parks, access to youth jobs and youth civic engagement campaigns. Nationally, Ms. Rodriguez trains organizations and communities on how to have strong youth and adult partnerships in their work to make communities healthier. 

Ms. Rodriguez holds an associate degree in business from Reedley College, Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing from CSU, Fresno, and Master of Leadership and Organizational Studies from Fresno Pacific University. Her thesis was in the area of Latino attainment of higher education.  Ms. Rodriguez also has a credential from Fuller Theological Seminary in urban youth work.

Yami and her husband Jaime Rodriguez have two beautiful little daughters named Lizette and Juliette.

Vesper Society Bio

San Francisco, California

Ms. Safer joined the Vesper Society board in 2018 and serves as chair of the audit committee and as a member of the program committee. A strategy consultant living in the Bay Area, she currently works with for-profit and not for profit companies focused on deploying digital tools and solutions in healthcare. Ms. Safer has spent her career focused on the business and payment dynamics in the healthcare industry. Her area of expertise is on reimbursement and distribution of complex pharmaceuticals, medical devices and laboratory tests. She has been doing strategic consulting for the past four years with various biotechnology firms, digital health start-ups and managed care organizations. Ms. Safer spent five years as an investment banker in New York and San Francisco. She started an Internet healthcare company that was eventually sold to CVS/Caremark. She spent over ten years with CVS/Caremark, doing strategy, marketing and operations work in the specialty pharmacy area. Ms. Safer holds an MBA and Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley and an undergraduate degree from Columbia University.

For over fifteen years, access and equity in public education has been an area of great interest.  She sits on the board of Gateway Public Schools (a charter school in San Francisco) and previously sat on the board of The San Francisco Education fund.

Ms. Safer spent a year in Dakar, Senegal, on a Rotary Fellowship in 1991.  She is an avid traveler with her husband Mark and two children.

Vesper Society Bio

San Francisco, California

Mr. Sakaue joined the Vesper Society board in 2018 and serves as chair of the investment committee, as a member of the finance committee, and as a member of the equity working group. Born and raised in rural Northern California, he works as an advisor to social sector leaders in the San Francisco office of The Bridgespan Group. During his time at Bridgespan, Mr. Sakaue has collaborated with a range of social sector organizations to refine their strategies and achieve greater social impact, including institutional foundations, emerging high net worth donors, and nonprofit service providers. His work with these organizations has placed a particular emphasis on pathways to improve economic mobility, racial justice efforts, and initiatives to shape public policies at multiple levels of government in the United States.

Previously, Mr. Sakaue managed the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge, a philanthropic initiative to provide technical and strategic assistance to municipal governments around the world that seek to use information technology to improve outcomes, covering topics from fuel poverty to transportation informatics. He is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs and holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley as well as a master in public policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.