Board of Directors

Board Officers

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT / ADVISER

Rebeca Baeza

Board Members

Jennifer Rangel

dr. bobby hutchison

Barbara Wesley

ERICA VALDIVIA

Honorary Board Members

Yvonne Allen, co-founder

Pat Paul, co-founder

Kenni Friedman

Marie Gallo

Interested in joining the board?

[board member application]

Submit your application

Mail to our Administrative Office
618 13th Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email to our Executive Director
mrico@havenstan.org

Board membership is open to community members who would like to work with HAVEN to empower individuals in their personal choices. Interested parties should complete a Board Member Application and return it to HAVEN for consideration.
Applications will be forwarded to the board, then a board member will contact you for follow-up and to answer any questions you may have. 

Like any non-profit board, HAVEN requires a commitment of time and resources. Board members are expected to attend monthly board meetings, fundraising and awareness events and promote awareness of the agency in the community. HAVEN’S advocate training course is not required, but board members are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

What it means to support HAVEN

• You support the idea that everyone deserves to be safe in their home, and you commit to working towards that reality.

• You understand that sexual assault is more than what we think of as forcible rape, and it includes coercive behavior that the majority of our society accepts. You are committed to changing that level of acceptance.

• You believe that children have a right to grow up safe from the fear of sexual abuse at the hands of adults they trust.

• You believe that the responsibility for violence lies with the person who chooses to commit it, and NEVER with the victim.

• You understand that the people who come to us for help do so because the systems that are supposed to keep them safe have failed, not because of character flaws that need to be fixed. You are committed to seeing those systems work the way they are supposed to, and holding them accountable when they don’t.

A Board of Directors made up of people with diverse belief systems and backgrounds helps HAVEN be a stronger agency. At the same time, prospective board members should be aware of HAVEN’s core values and the types of issues we publicly support.

• Because HAVEN understands violence occurs in intimate relationships regardless of gender, and that recognition of those relationships is an important part of finding safety and healing, we support marriage equality regardless of sexual orientation.

• Because HAVEN knows reproductive coercion is often a part of violent relationships, and control over one’s own body is often the first thing a survivor of domestic or sexual abuse needs to establish for healing, we support pro-choice policies and increased access to women’s reproductive health services.

• Because HAVEN understands that barriers to reporting and getting help can be different between the transgender and cis-gendered communities, and among men, women, and people who don’t identify as either, we support policies that are inclusive of everyone regardless of gender identity.

• Because HAVEN understands survivors in immigrant populations may have additional barriers to reporting, or may view safety differently than the dominant culture does, we support policies that increase safety for immigrant populations regardless of the legal status of individuals.

• HAVEN believes there is an intersection between power/privilege at a societal level and the effectiveness of traditional responses to violence experienced by those without power. Therefore, we support policies and practices that reflect the unique experience of traditionally marginalized populations. In particular, HAVEN seeks to improve community responses for survivors who are people of color, members of the LGBT community, survivors of abuse in later life, and survivors with disabilities.