The Arc Is Governed By A Dedicated Board Of Directors:

PAT HORNBECKER, BOARD PRESIDENT

I am Pat Hornbecker, a Dental Hygienist by day and a human/civil rights advocate most of the rest of the time. I have 4 grown children and Joseph, my oldest at 40, has Angelman Syndrome. He lives in his own 2-bedroom apartment in San Francisco with a live-in companion and supported living services 24/7. I have affiliated myself with The Arc at the local, state, and national levels for the last 40 years working to create quality lives for all people with disabilities, especially IDD, through public policy development, advocacy efforts, education, and family support. Joseph was fully included in the San Francisco Public Schools and moved into his apartment on Fisherman’s Wharf at age 20 where he continues to be fully included in his community.

I came to The Arc many years ago looking to find answers to questions about my son’s future. I found a community, mentors, and support. I found a home; an organization of a like-mind to help me achieve a dream for my son and others willing to work with us. I stayed all these years because The Arc continues to work toward our shared goals of inclusion, respect, dignity, and equality. I want to help The Arc grow and realize the vision that The Arc be recognized in the public, non-profit, business, corporate and philanthropic arenas as holding the gold-standard for providing the best quality services, supports, and advocacy for the civil and human rights of people with I/DD. I want to see The Arc continue to collaborate with other disability advocacy organizations to expand our reach and create a more powerful political voice for all people with intellectual developmental disabilities.
I have served as President of The Arc of San Francisco, The Arc of California, and on the Board of Directors of The Arc of the United States.
DISABILITY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS!

Grace M. Huerta, Board Vice-President

Grace M. Huerta of Bakersfield, California. Grace is President and co-founder for the Exceptional Family Center in Kern County, which was founded in 2007 by a group of parents and professionals who recognized the need for a center that is culturally sensitive to the unique needs of our diverse community. The center was created with the intent to provide families of children with a developmental disability with the tools and resources that they need to help their children succeed. What began as an annual conference soon turned into a center that, today, assists more than 300 families by providing them with services that target their specific needs. After graduating from The Arc of California’s Partners in Policy Making, she partnered and collaborated with her mother-in-law, Civil Rights Leader, Dolores Huerta. Grace became a community leader in organizing, training other parents with effective advocacy skills. Grace currently supervises and manages the Early Start Family Resource Center, a program made possible by a contract with the Department of Developmental Services (DDS). Grace has seen the difference people make when they get involved in the community. Grace has been recently selected to receive the 2019 Latina Leaders of Kern County Award.

RAYMOND HAMPSON, BOARD TREASURER

Raymond is a parent of a 28 year old Alta CA Regional Center client. Raymond graduated from Partners in Policymaking in 2007 and also spent over 12 years as a member of the San Juan USD CAC. Two of those years, Raymond was the Board Chair. Raymond has been married for 38 years and lives in Orangevale.

SANDY WATERBURY, BOARD SECRETARY

Sandy is the mother of a 25-year-old daughter with developmental disabilities. Sandy is also a special education teacher. She previously served on the Arc of CA Board from 2004 to 2012. In addition to serving on the Arc of CA. Board, she sits on the Self-Determination Advisory Committee for Tri-Counties Regional Center.

BETSY KATZ, IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Betsy Katz has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2009; prior to that she was the Program Director for 15 years at Care Parent Network, the Contra Costa Early Start Family Resource Center. She is the parent of an adult son with an intellectual disability, and as such is committed to The Arc of California’s purpose and core values, including community participation for people with intellectual disabilities and their families, and the leadership, diversity, excellence, and integrity that will enable us to achieve those goals.

CONNIE UYCHUTIN, CCE-CO CHAIR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of THE Arc of SAN JOAQUIN

JORDAN LINDSEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jordan Lindsey was named executive director of The Arc of California in March 2017. Prior to joining The Arc of CA he held a number of leadership positions in advocacy organizations, including executive director of the California Association for Behavior Analysts, and director of policy, advocacy, and public affairs for the California Association for Health Services at Home. He first joined California’s Arc community in 2007 as director of public policy and grassroots advocacy, as well as director of the popular advocacy training program, Partners In Policymaking. From 2005-2007 he worked in the State Capitol as a legislative aide to Assemblymember Carol Liu, allowing him to serve the interests of his hometown Los Angeles area. He holds an MBA from Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree with a major in psychology from UC Davis. From 1999-2001 Jordan worked as a direct support professional in respite care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Jordan lives and plays in Sacramento, CA with his wife, Misha, and their three young children.

PATRICIA ALBENO, DIRECTOR OF PROJECTS & OUTREACH

Patricia Albeño has been part of the developmental disabilities community working for organizations that support families who have a family member with disabilities. Her passion and mission is to provide support, information and education to parents who need help navigating the complex system of services. Her experience as a mother of a child with a disability allows her to understand firsthand the challenges and needs of the community with which she works. She has dedicated the past five years to coordinating and organizing Congreso Familiar, a conference for Spanish-speaking families who have family members with IDD. She is a strong advocate for the Latino community because she understands how complicated the disability world can be and cannot imagine learning new systems without speaking the language. Professionally, she has actively participated as a Community Advisory Committee member and chair for Special Education in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, is a former Board Member of the Regional Center of the East Bay, has been a member of the committee for the Autism Star conference, has facilitated numerous Spanish-speaking support groups and conducted IEP trainings and workshops throughout Contra Costa county. She has learned that balancing the needs of her child, successful navigation of various service systems and working full time has been a unique challenge, one that has required her to learn special skills to adapt and continue to be the best parent she possibly can.

GREG deGIERE, CIVIL RIGHS ADVOCATE

Greg deGiere volunteers for The Arc California as the civil rights advocate and a member of the Public Policy Committee. He has coordinated a working group of California civil rights organizations advocating legislative and Department of Justice action to combat hate crimes. His twin focuses in that role are hate crimes in general and anti-disability crimes in particular, known as the “the invisible hate crimes.” A former long-time staff member to Democratic leaders of the California Legislature and consultant to the Senate Office of Research, Greg is also the retired public policy director of the Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration. He has developed and drafted major, bipartisan civil rights legislation. He holds a B.A. in political science from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in government from California State University, Sacramento, where he also taught California state and local government.

Tim Hornbecker – Grassroots Advocate

Tim Hornbecker volunteers for The Arc of California, coordinating Grassroots Advocacy. He represents The Arc on the Board of Directors for Gamaliel of California community organizing, while serving as their treasurer. Tim has organized local and statewide trainings with Gamaliel and The Arc families and participants with disabilities to become leaders and advocates. They learn how to tell their stories, decide on their most important issues, become leaders, and organize ACTIONS and Rallies locally, statewide, and nationally. Tim is a former Executive Director of local chapters of The Arc in Washington and California, Past President for The Arc’s National Conference of Executives, as well as Past President for The Arc of Washington State and elected to The Arc United States Board of Directors. He is a former Special Ed teacher with B.A. and M.A. Degrees, but most importantly grew up with his cousin Patti with Down syndrome and stepdad of Joseph with Angelman syndrome.

ELIZABETH GRIGSBY, Consultant – Advocacy and Accessibility

Elizabeth Grigsby has been advocating for people with disabilities for many years. Her philosophy has always been to see everyone as people first and foremost focus on their abilities so we can be able to deal with our disability. She believes that people are much more than their disabilities, which drives her to fight for the rights of all people to ensure that they have the best opportunity to thrive and live a full and productive life. As someone with a disability, she will tell people to not let their disability control them — “we should control our disabilities.” She wants to see everyone reach their full potential. She hopes that one day people with disabilities will live in a world where there is no more special needs. Everyone will be going through their lives based on our abilities, and disabilities won’t be the issue.

JULIA BALLANTYNE, Media Advocacy Consultant

Julia is a public relations, communications and marketing professional who develops and implements strategic public awareness, education and advocacy campaigns to increase visibility and inspire change for the developmental disabilities community. Julia has worked with a variety of national and statewide disability organizations for more than 15 years to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Using multifaceted traditional and digital media strategies, Julia ignites online issue-based dialogues, creates strategic partnerships and fosters information exchanges around campaigns, causes and brands in the nonprofit sector. Before the pandemic, Julia spent two years working with professors at Santa Clara University to design curriculum for the Marketing and Communications Department capstone class and was a regular guest lecturer. Julia holds a BS in Journalism and is in the process of completing a graduate degree in integrated marketing and communications at Purdue University.