The California Wellness Foundation Sabbatical Program was created to improve the long-term effectiveness of health-focused nonprofits by providing their executives with the rest they need to continue to direct their organizations' missions. The leadership support program - now in its fourth year - provides eight organizations each with a $35,000 grant to cover the leader's salary and expenses during the sabbatical, which lasts a minimum of three months.

Speranza Avram

In the mid 1990s, leaders of clinics and hospitals from a four-county region came together to discuss common issues — from that the Northern Sierra Rural Health Network (NSRHN) was established in 1997 as a regional clinic consortium, with Speranza Avram as its director and first employee. Since that humble beginning, the consortium has grown under Avram’s leadership into a support network serving more than 40 members from the rural counties of Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity.

Louis Chicoine

Louis Chicoine has served as the executive director of Tri-City Homeless Coalition (TCHC) since 1994. Under Chicoine’s leadership, it has become a multifaceted organization that serves more than 1,500 clients and operates 150 units of permanent, supportive housing that include comprehensive support services such as health care and substance abuse programs. TCHC also operates a mobile health and social services clinic that travels to many locations where homeless people congregate.

Brian Contreras

In 1989, Brian Contreras created 2nd Chance Youth Program to address gang issues in Monterey County. Under Contreras’ leadership, 2nd Chance has earned the respect of the community for its impressive track record at reaching youth at risk — in a region of California with an exceedingly high murder rate and frequent school violence.

Xavier Flores

In 1986, Xavier Flores co-founded the Latino Coalition on Alcohol Issues of the San Fernando Valley (it became Pueblo y Salud in 1991), bringing with him more than 10 years of experience working for California mental health and substance abuse prevention and recovery centers. Pueblo y Salud’s mission is to improve the social conditions of the Latino community in Los Angeles by increasing and creating opportunities for self-empowerment.

Harry Foster

Harry Foster has decades of experience in health care planning and administration. He became the executive director of Porterville Family Health Center in 1982, which became the Family Health Care Network in 1996. Under Foster’s helm, the agency grew from a staff of eight to 625 and from a single clinic to a multisite health network serving more than 81,000 patients — in one of the poorest regions of the state.

Michael Green

In 1996, Michael Green founded the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in Oakland, bringing with him more than 13 years of professional and volunteer experience working on behalf of underrepresented people. Under Green’s leadership, CEH has made a name for itself working at the intersection of health and the environment — reducing pollution and promoting alternatives to toxic chemicals that can cause health problems such as cancer, asthma, learning disabilities and birth defects.

Rojane Jackson

Rojane Jackson founded Community Interface Services in 1983 to provide services, support and advocacy for adults with developmental disabilities in San Diego County. Community Interface Services staff is trained to serve as health advocates and has assisted nearly 500 individuals with access to health and social services, housing and vocational training. Under Jackson’s leadership, Community Interface Services has grown steadily to become a strong human service agency of 100 full-time staff.

Pheng Lo

As a Hmong refugee, Pheng Lo worked with other refugees in Denver in 1980. Moving to Stockton a few years later, he continued working for nonprofit organizations serving disenfranchised Southeast Asians and joined Lao Family Community (LFC) in 1986. LFC provides health and social services to more than 500 clients each year, teaching them to navigate the local community, providing health education and health access, medical translation and transportation services.