Board of Governors
The Salinas Valley Health Foundation is fortunate to have such a dedicated, diverse, and engaged Board of Governors who care deeply about the health of our community. Working side by side with our Foundation staff, the doctors, nurses, administrators, business owners, and community leaders who make up our board help set funding priorities, organize events, and engage our community to philanthropically support Salinas Valley Health.
Bill Hastie
Chair, Board of Governors
Bill is the managing partner at Hastie Financial Group, a wealth management firm with roots in Salinas going back more than 35 years. He earned a BS in Economics from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, an MBA in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and most recently attended the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive Education and earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst® designation.
In addition to the Salinas Valley Health Foundation Board, Bill currently serves on the Executive Board for the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, and on the boards of Key for a Cure Foundation and the Salinas Police Foundation. He and his wife, Terri, raised their three children in Salinas (all of whom are now married).
Helen DeYoung
Vice Chair of Governance
Originally from the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, Helen De Young has been an active member of Monterey County for nearly 15 years. She formerly served on the boards of Monterey County Young Professionals Group, Salinas Jaycees, and Monterey Bay Alumni Panhellenic Group. In addition to the Salinas Valley Health Foundation Board of Governors, Helen also serves on the PTA Board for a local Elementary School and is an active member of W.O.W.
Helen was formerly the Regional Director for the American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, and was Alumni & Community Relations Coordinator at CSU Monterey Bay.
De Young is a graduate of University of California Davis with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and American Studies, a member of the Chi Omega Fraternity, and was a club water polo player.
In her spare time, Helen enjoys spending time with her children, working out, gardening, being creative, hiking, and exploring the Central Coast.
Carrie Birkhofer
Treasurer
Carrie joined Bay Federal Credit Union in 1989 as the Chief Financial Officer and has been the President and CEO since 1995. Carrie’s passion is to expand economic opportunity in our region by providing access to locally funded financial products and services. Over the years, Bay Federal has grown to be the largest community owned financial institution serving over 80,000 people living in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Since 2011, Bay Federal has been designated as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the U.S. Treasury, recognizing the credit union for fostering local economic opportunity through access to affordable transportation and housing financing.
Bay Federal has over 220 employees and is a recipient of the Best Place to Work in the Bay Area and was named the #1 Best Credit Union to Work For in the Nation in 2019. Bay Federal employees donate their time annually to support the local community through fundraising and volunteer events. The credit union’s volunteerism was recognized in 2010 by the former first lady Maria Shriver and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with a medal for the State of California’s Small Business Volunteer Program of the Year. Carrie believes that the credit union’s values based culture is a key success factor in today’s hyper competitive marketplace.
Carrie graduated with a BA, Business Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara and is a Certified Public Accountant. She regularly volunteers in the community and enjoys being outdoors where she lives in Santa Cruz.
Bill Tebbe
Secretary
Bill Tebbe has lived in the Salinas Valley since 1992, moving here with his family from Bakersfield. Before retiring in 2022 from Bank of America, he spent 41 years in Commercial Banking. During his last 2 years at Bank of America he was appointed to the role of President Bank of America, Monterey Bay. A leadership role for both B of A and Merrill Lynch. He is a 1974 graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Anima Science. Bill spent 7 years working for the Tejon Ranch Feedlot immediately after graduation and changed careers in 1981. Bill has completed a 3 year graduate level program at the University of Delaware with the Stonier Graduate School of Banking along with 2 years of classwork at Cal State University Bakersfield. His community involvement has been extensive serving as Board Chair for United Way of Monterey County, Board Chair Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, Board Chair and current Emeritus Hospice Giving Foundation, Treasurer of the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Scouts, and others. In retirement he enjoys his continued volunteering for local nonprofits, traveling, and the outdoors.
Ramon Castro
Ramon Castro, formerly the General Sales Manager of Wolfhouse Radio Group, has a strong connection to the Hispanic market in the Salinas and Monterey Bay area. His 30+ years of experience as a broadcast media executive led him to form strong relationships with community leaders and government officials. Ramon has worked side by side to help drive community events throughout the entire market, such as Hispanic heritage celebrations and concerts, to name just a few. He has collaborated with multiple nonprofit and charity organizations, supporting various events, including leading an annual radiothon for our local CMN Hospitals Program for many years, cultural events with Salinas Valley LULAC, Holiday food drives, and other fundraisers.
Jonathan Geisler
Jonathan is the owner of Geisler Marketing, a company specializing in promotional products, printing, and apparel branding. Founded by his father, Frank, the business has been serving Monterey County since 1984. Jonathan earned his B.S. from San Diego State University, where he also played football for the Aztecs. He is a proud alumnus of Hartnell College, class of ’97.
Currently, Jonathan serves as President of The Rotary Club of Monterey and has held various board positions in Monterey County since 2004. He resides in Monterey with his wife, Sasha, and their three children: Julienne, Olivier, and Geneviève. His passions include freedive spearfishing, enduro motorcycling, competing in Ironman triathlons, traveling, and volunteering with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team.
Linda Grier
Linda Grier was born and raised in Castroville. She received her BA in Liberal Studies with a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Linda taught and substituted while earning her MA in Education Administration. Adventure called and Linda set out backpacking New Zealand, Australia, Southern Africa and England. Later, Linda set out to explore the US camping in the back of her truck.
While dancing at a country bar, Linda met her husband, DL when he was stationed at Fort Ord. They married in 1993 and transferred to San Antonio, TX. Linda and DL returned to Castroville in 1996 to work in the family property management business. Their son Gino is studying Business Accounting at Cal Poly Humboldt. Linda hopes Gino will take over the family business one day.
Linda previously served SVMHF board from 2014-2021, was liason for the Ladies Trail Ride committee and continued to serve on the Audit Committee from 2021.
Volunteering always been part of life volunteer involvement includes: security at California Rodeo and cleaning diver at Monterey Bay Aquarium for 30+ years. Linda has participated in Days of Discovery at MBA in conjunction with Children’s Miracle Network – Always one of the best days of the year. In her free time, Linda fosters and socializes feral kittens, spends time riding her horses and enjoys her 2 dogs and 5 cats.
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Ted Kaczmar, MD
Theodore Kaczmar, Jr., MD joined Central Coast Brain and Spine Associates and the medical staff of Salinas Valley Health in 1985. He earned his medical degree at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and graduated "Cum Laude" with a degree in biology from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. He completed his internship in surgery and residency in neurosurgery at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT. Dr. Kaczmar was also an associate research scientist, Section of Neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine and Chief Resident in neurosurgery at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT. He is board certified by and a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
He has served on the Salinas Valley Health's Bioethics Committee for several years. His also a member of the American Medical Association, California Medical Association, Monterey County Medical Society, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Western Neurosurgical Society, California Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Federation of the International College of Surgeons.
Dr. Kaczmar volunteers at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Palma High School and the Salinas Valley Health Medical Facility. In his leisure time, Dr. Kaczmar enjoys motor racing, astronomy, golf and spending time with his friends and family.
Richard Rees
Richard was raised in Southern California and has been part of the Salinas
Valley community for 15 years. He is a financial consultant with DLC,
an industry leading firm with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta,
and Chicago. His over two-decade career has included wide-ranging roles
at local private companies to global leaders, including industries such
as real estate, entertainment, defense, consumer products, and investments.
Richard is a licensed CPA and holds a CGMA designations. He earned a BA
in Economics and Accounting from U.C. Santa Barbara, and an MBA from the
University of Southern California.
Currently residing in Carmel with his wife and two children, Richard enjoys
beach volleyball, hiking, and cheering for his kids in their sports and
academic worlds. He looks forward to the Salinas Rodeo and supporting
the ongoing success of the Hospital Foundation and its invaluable purpose.
David Ramos, MD
Emeritus
David Ramos, MD, is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician with a military background, having served tours at Fort Ord, CA and Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, KY. He has been dedicatedly serving Salinas Valley Health in Salinas, CA since 1998. Throughout his time, Dr. Ramos has embraced leadership roles, including Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff, where he notably chaired the Quality and Safety Committee. Beyond these roles, he served in hospital administration, spearheading the Emergency Department and making significant contributions as a member of the Salinas Valley Health Foundation Board of Governors.