Building the structure that makes change possible.
Pathways to Services Development is a California nonprofit building a coordinated, trauma-informed model of support for transition-age youth and communities navigating housing instability.
Board leadership
Leadership and governance
Our board provides the oversight, financial stewardship, and strategic direction needed to build Pathways responsibly.
Founder & CEO
James Gonzales
James founded Pathways to Services Development from lived experience — having navigated incarceration, addiction, homelessness, and recovery himself, he understands firsthand the gap that opens the moment someone decides to change but is left without the structure to sustain it. Prior to founding Pathways, he worked on the direct service provider side at La Familia Counseling Center and Abode Services. James also serves as a board member of the Melino Foundation in Newark, CA. His leadership is grounded in the belief that those who have survived the hardest systems are often the ones best equipped to rebuild them.
Board Secretary / Healthcare Strategy
Chris Hopwood
Chris serves as Board Secretary for Pathways to Services Development, bringing a background in healthcare strategy to the organization's governance and long-term strategic planning. Her expertise supports Pathways' work to align its programs with healthcare systems and funding pathways, strengthening the organization's foundation as it builds toward sustainable, diversified funding.
Board Director
Shibu Kizhakevilayil
Shibu brings over 20 years of IT and healthcare industry experience to Pathways' board. A serial entrepreneur, he has founded and successfully sold three IT consulting companies and currently serves as Founder & Board Director of Pacifyr, a mental wellness platform for employers, alongside prior board leadership at Healthcare Triangle, Inc., where he played a key role in the company's NASDAQ listing. His deep background in healthcare technology, compliance, and organizational growth strengthens Pathways' governance and long-term strategic planning.
CFO / Treasurer
Andrew Mendoza
Andrew brings deep nonprofit and corporate accounting expertise to Pathways' financial leadership, with a background spanning senior accounting roles at organizations including The Walt Disney Company, Synopsys, EY, and California Environmental Voters. As founder of Mendoza Financial Services, he specializes in nonprofit financial management — including grant reporting, federal award compliance, budgeting, and audit readiness. Andrew's experience ensures Pathways' financial systems and controls meet the standards required for funder confidence and long-term sustainability.
Milestones
August 2026 — Pilot Committee Formed
The Pilot Committee supports final Rising Path TAY Program development and launch readiness.
Housing Compliance & Fair Housing Strategy
Jamie Okh
Jamie brings specialized expertise in housing program compliance and fair housing regulation to the Rising Path TAY Program. Her background ensures the pilot's policies, eligibility criteria, and partnership agreements are built to meet regulatory standards from the outset — positioning the program for long-term credibility with housing and funding partners.
Board Secretary, Healthcare Strategy
Chris Hopwood
Chris serves as Board Secretary for Pathways to Services Development, bringing a background in healthcare strategy to the organization's systems-level planning. On the Pilot Committee, she works to align the Rising Path TAY Program's structure with healthcare and housing systems — including CalAIM and HUD frameworks — supporting the pilot's path toward sustainable, diversified funding.
Trauma-Informed Lead
Paida Ndemera
Paida is a former Director at Covenant House, one of the nation's leading organizations serving transition-age youth, bringing direct, hands-on experience with the population Rising Path TAY is designed to serve. As Trauma-Informed Lead, she ensures the program's daily structure, safety protocols, and accountability model reflect proven, trauma-informed practice.
Digital Strategy & Youth Voice
Jaspreet Khatra
Jaspreet contributes expertise in communications, community engagement, and advocacy to the Rising Path TAY Program. Her background includes founding a student-led housing justice coalition and contributing to youth leadership and mental health initiatives. On the committee, she supports the program's outreach strategy and helps build the referral partnerships the pilot will depend on at launch.
The committee is reviewing policies and procedures, eligibility criteria, the logic model, and the partnership framework ahead of funding and launch readiness.
Advisory Board
Specialized guidance for the work ahead
Pathways is guided by a team of advisors who bring specialized expertise across housing, healthcare, legal, and community systems — supporting the organization's mission alongside its board and leadership.
Family & Community Support
Trina Gonzales
Trina brings both lived experience and community leadership to Pathways' mission. Having overcome addiction and homelessness herself, she understands firsthand what it takes to rebuild — and now channels that experience into advocacy for some of the most vulnerable families in our community. Trina is dedicated to building awareness and support around child trafficking, with a focus on how family involvement and stability play a critical role in a survivor's healing and recovery. Her work reflects Pathways' core belief that those who have walked the hardest roads are often best equipped to guide others through them.
Legal & Regulatory Support
Emily Tomchin
Emily holds a JD from Nova Southeastern University's Shepard Broad College of Law with a concentration in Healthcare Law, alongside a Master's in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Notre Dame. She currently serves as a Compliance Analyst at Broward Health, bringing hands-on regulatory and healthcare compliance expertise to Pathways' legal and governance work — helping ensure the organization's policies, agreements, and program frameworks meet the standards required for funders, partners, and regulators alike.
Peer Support & Lived Truth
Vanessa Hernandez
Vanessa is a certified CalMHSA Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist who brings both professional training and lived experience to her work supporting others through recovery. Having navigated her own journey through addiction and trauma to become a present, engaged mother and community advocate, Vanessa understands firsthand what it takes to choose change and follow through. She provides encouragement, resources, and a non-judgmental space for people defining what wellness means on their own terms — a living example of the transformation Pathways exists to support.
Built with accountability
Governance that supports responsible growth
California nonprofit status
Pathways to Services Development is organized as a California nonprofit.
