Our Team

Margaret Iwanaga Penrose has served as UPAC President and CEO for 35 years, and she has over 55 years’ experience including public and private administration of service delivery systems, training, consultation and education, public-private partnerships, and policy development and advocacy. Her extensive governmental, non-profit and corporate community involvement has included local, regional, state, and national boards; commissions; committees; and task forces.

Her continuing work is guided by belief that quality of community is reflected in its capacity to assist, heal and strengthen its most vulnerable members. She has a Masters’ degree and doctoral studies in Human Development from the University of Chicago with focus on Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Cross-Cultural Studies.

Annette received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting and a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Art from San Diego State University. She has been working for non-profits in the accounting field for over 24 years and is currently a Chief Financial Officer for the Union of Pan Asian Communities. She is highly passionate about her work in supporting UPAC’s programs and their ability to meet client needs. She received a Sponsor’s award at the County of San Diego 33rd Annual Behavioral Health Recognition Dinner in 2019.

Lisa is originally from New York, and you will occasionally hear an accent come out. She has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2004. She has worked extensively in crisis residential treatment and private practice settings. She has a dedication working with children, women, men, and those who struggle with trauma, grief, loss, anxiety, and serious mental illness.  Lisa believes in inspiring and motivating everyone she works with. She will often provide comfort, guidance, empathy, and an honest approach. Her focus is on one’s strengths and abilities. She often strives to have a win- win solution and wants to ensure that the delivery of client and mental health service programs are consistent with values and principles.

Courtney has lived and worked in San Diego for the last 10 years as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has worked serving the addiction community as she enjoys working with clients as they work towards recovery and beginning to feel more comfortable in their own skin. Courtney has enjoyed working with clients who have struggled with multiple addictions and multiple or long-term incarcerations as a result. It has been empowering to see clients begin to rebuild their lives and learn more about themselves in the process. She always particularly enjoyed working with teens in their struggles as they become adults. She has worked regularly within residential and outpatient programs on building skills and having tough conversations that they may not have anyone else to talk with! Courtney thrives with the passion her team brings to their clients and enjoys being creative with finding solutions for our clients and their families.

Josh was born and raised in southern California and has been living in San Diego since 2004. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist and managed UPAC’s Community Wellness Clinic prior to becoming A/OA Mental Health Director. For Josh, working at UPAC has been a rewarding and a growing experience as he gets to do what he loves. Josh is passionate about working with the Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) populations and also with Transitional Age Youth (TAY). Being at UPAC has offered him the opportunity to live out that passion. Being Asian American and more specifically Chinese American, he is excited to see how UPAC is always on the forefront in framing and adapting mental health to reach not only the Asian and Pacific Islander populations but any other cultures that may have a limited framework for understanding the importance of mental health. On his day to day, you can catch him with a cold brew in hand running from meeting to meeting or hiding behind his desk. Drop by and say Hi.

Sergio Gonzalez is the Program Manager of UPAC’s Community Violence Response Team. Sergio leads the mobile response team of diverse community advocates to assist families, support youth and empower communities. Sergio is a certified Grief Support Specialist providing grief counseling, supportive after-care case management, and proactive response to community trauma. Sergio was previously employed by Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation specializing in youth workforce development, prevention and early intervention. The main workforce training program was his co-founded Writerz Blok, a Multi-Media Printing Social Enterprise. As Program Manager of Writerz Blok,Sergio was responsible for the overall administration of the at-risk youth diversion program serving over 2500 youth and families.

Jessica is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and has worked at UPAC since 2019.  Prior to her current position, Jessica served as the assistant program manager at New Leaf Recovery Center and helped support the addiction division with clinical supervision.  Jessica has spent her career as a therapist working with young and older adults dealing with substance and mental health conditions, in individual and group settings, using EMDR, CBT, ACT, and Motivational Interviewing modalities. Jessica is passionate about therapy and mental wellbeing as she knows it’s essential to helping others and her community to thrive.

Daisy’s experience with non-profit organizations include assurance and advisory services in the sectors of biotechnology and research, social services, private foundations, academic institutions, education, arts and culture, charitable, religious, and healthcare organizations. Daisy advises clients in areas of assessments and review of internal control systems; implementation of detailed business plans, budgeting/forecasting, internal audit programs, operating system procedure and accounting manuals, internal control analysis reports and board governance issues. Daisy’s private industry experience includes management and director level positions overseeing the fiscal and administrative functions of an organization, including areas of finances, investments and asset management.

Dung is himself an immigrant. After enduring a harrowing journey at sea, he arrived from Vietnam to San Diego in 1982 with only his father and older brother, as a political refugee. In his own words, [they were among the “boat people”]. Dung is a local and grew up in City Heights where he attended Hoover High School. He has directly benefited from the services that UPAC offered him and his family during their early years living in San Diego. He is glad to be able to give back to the organization and community that has helped him.

Sophia graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and taught high school science with Teach for America in Hawai’i prior to entering medical school. She graduated from Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and completed her family medicine residency training at Kaiser San Diego. Perhaps the most important lesson of her schooling is the fact that winter does not agree with her constitution, and she is very excited to set down new roots in San Diego. As an immigrant from Taiwan, Sophia has been very fortunate to have the educational opportunities and mentorships that helped her succeed in her career. She is excited to continue working with the immigrant population and hope to pay it forward as a board member of UPAC.

Prior positions include regional business banking manager, relationship manager, and human resources recruiting manager. Her background encompasses nearly seventeen years of experience in banking of which 13 years have been in business banking. Ms. Oudinarath lives in La Jolla with her husband and 2 sons. She has lived in San Diego for over 22 years and is involved in many JP Morgan Chase’s internal and external community organizations such as Diversity Action Group, Women on the Move, Adelante, Aspire, Pride, various Lao Community Groups, and Asian Business Association to support diversity and foster growth for San Diego. Ms. Oudinarath holds 2 bachelor’s of science degrees in psychology and biochemistry from the University of San Diego, California.

Felix C. Sablan, currently the Vice President of Client Solutions at TalentSmartEQ, is a seasoned executive with a diverse background spanning six major industries. In his role at TalentSmart, he excels in senior-level leadership development, building performing teams, and organizational growth strategies. Felix’s leadership extends to higher education, having held roles such as Vice President of National Development for Global Health Education, Assistant National Director of Strategic Alliances at Excelsior College, and Workforce Solutions Advisor at Apollo Education Group. His career started in Retail and Automotive, where he managed district operations and business development for a flagship automotive dealership. As a proud Chamorro, native to the island of Guam, Felix has an insatiable passion for helping under-represented communities find access to education, workforce readiness, and career/life success. In addition to serving on the UPAC board, he also sits on the City of San Diego’s API Advisory Council, California Selected Services Board, and The County of San Diego’s Mental Health & Wellness Advisory Board.