Laura Marcus | Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Marcus started her career in nonprofits in 1997 as part of an HIV/AIDS prevention project in South Africa and became Executive Director of the Human Care Alliance after returning to the United States in 2000. Laura joined Dientes Community Dental Care in 2004 and served as Executive Director from 2006 through 2008. After serving as the Vice President of risk at Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Group in Santa Cruz, Laura rejoined Dientes Community Dental Care as Chief Executive Officer in May 2011. A graduate of Leadership Santa Cruz County, she earned a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University (a first generation college graduate) and is a fellow of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Leadership Institute for Nonprofit Executives. She completed her Master’s in Public Health from University of California, Berkeley in 2018. Laura currently serves on the board of the Health Improvement Partnership and the Santa Cruz County Chamber. She is a 2013 graduate of Focus Agriculture and a 2015 recipient of the Community Assessment Project Community Hero Award.
Dr. Sepi Taghvaei | Executive Vice President of Operations
Dr. Sepi Taghvaei attended San Jose State University for her undergraduate studies and obtained her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from New York University College of Dentistry in 2009. She completed a one year General Practice Residency at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, CA where she learned the importance of access to care and providing underserved patients with dental care and education as early as possible to ensure a lifetime of great dental health. In 2014, after spending several years in a corporate dentistry environment in a leadership role, Dr. Taghvaei was excited to return to her passion of community dentistry at Dientes. As the co-chair of Oral Health Access Santa Cruz County, Sepi has found great pleasure in leading a multi-partnership effort in improving the oral health of Santa Cruz County residents. Dr. Taghvaei lives in Aptos with her son and their pug, Squirt. They love Santa Cruz and spend their free time exploring all that our beautiful county has to offer.
Sheree Storm | Chief Development Officer
A marketing professional with over 25 years of experience, Sheree brings a business perspective to the non-profit world in her position as Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining Dientes, she worked at ReSurge International, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County, Oracle, Marine Terminals Corporation and Global Business Access. Sheree also worked in Japan promoting U.S. agricultural products to the Japanese market. She holds a Masters of Business Administration in International Business from The George Washington University and a Bachelors of Science in Marketing from California State University, Fresno. She is a 2007 graduate of Focus Agriculture and a 2018 graduate of Leadership for Community Transformation.
Jesse Navarro | Director of Finance
Jesse is a seasoned accounting and financial leader that has worked in the non-profit sector since 2004. Prior to joining Dientes, Jesse was Controller at Salud Para La Gente, an FQHC in Watsonville. He has served in key finance leadership roles including CFO at Janus of Santa Cruz and Director of Finance at Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County.
Laurie Halsey | Director of Human Resources
Laurie has over 20 years of human resources management experience with 11 years in leadership roles. Prior to joining Dientes Community Dental, Laurie held Leadership Operations and HR roles at Kaiser Permanente/The Permanente Medical Group, a leading healthcare provider with over 217,000 employees across the United States. Laurie also served as the Chief HR Officer and Chief Administration Officer at Gardner Family Health Network/Gardner Family Care Corporation, where she was responsible for all aspects of Human Resources including alignment of the HR function and broader employee base with corporate strategy. Laurie holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Behavior and Leadership from University of San Francisco and a Master of Business Administration from University of Phoenix, Magna Cum Laude Honors. Laurie is a certified Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma Green Belt from National University.
Clinic Leadership
Dr. Ilana Vaynshteyn,
Lead Dentist
Lupe Ortiz, Commercial Way Clinic Manager
Yari Alvarado, Watsonville Clinic Manager
Sarai Barajas-Palacios, Beach Flats Clinic Manager
Dr. Catherine Modjeski,
Lead Dentist
Board of Directors
Michael Moore, President
Camille Smith-Ballon, Vice President
Ben Kromnick, Treasurer
Gary Bencomo, Secretary
Janis Bolt
Masina Hunnicutt
Bob Davidson
Jennifer Martinez
Brian Del Core, DDS
Alicia Moody
Leeann Luna
Fiscal Year 21-22 Board Meetings:
August 30, 2021 | September 27, 2021 | October 25, 2021 | November 29, 2021
January 31, 2022 | February 28, 2022 | March 28, 2022 | April 25, 2022 | May 23, 2022 | June 27, 2022