Who We Are

Board of Directors - *Independent Voting Members

*Linda Ashcraft Hudak, Esq. - Associate Director of Labor Relations, University of California 

Professionally, Linda presently serves as the Associate Director of Labor Relations for the University of California Office of the President, providing labor and employee relations guidance and advice system-wide to ten campuses, five medical centers and one national laboratory.  Linda has over 30 years of experience representing private industry, state and local governmental entities, in a variety of matters, including collective bargaining negotiations, labor and employee relations, serving as a Trustee on pension and health benefit plans, and providing guidance on a host of personnel and administrative matters. 

Linda also was appointed and served as CEO in one of California’s Superior Courts, managing a staff of over 250 employees. Time spend with the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts, in the capacity of Manager of Labor and Employee Relations expanded the scope of her duties by working throughout the state of California with trial courts, appellate courts, the Supreme Court, the Habeas Corpus Resource Center and the Commission on Judicial Performance.

Upon receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Montana, she taught school in Oakland then proceeded to obtain her Juris Doctorate from San Francisco Law School and an advanced certificate from Harvard Law School in the field of Labor Negotiations.

Linda has served as Vice President of the Junior League of San Francisco and on the Board of Directors of Florence Crittenton Service in San Francisco, while volunteering in the Walnut Creek and Acalanes School Districts. Linda’s community service has included working with Court Appointed Advocates and as Public Affairs Legislative Liaison.

Linda has been married to Richard for 44 years and together they have two daughters, Schuyler and Whitney.

Barbara Beach, M.D., Co-Founder, Medical Director, Board Member
(See above information under “Care Team”)

*John M. Goldenring, MD, MPH, JD - Western Regional Medical Director, Care Management, Anthem

John M. Goldenring has been a Pediatrician and Adolescent Medicine specialist for over 30 years and a medical administrator, serving as a medical director for health plans and medical groups, for 17 years. He also has an active consulting practice in medical legal issues, including serving as an expert for the California Medical Board. He has been consultant for pharmaceutical companies and editor for on-line health education materials.

He graduated law school and has been licensed to practice law in California since 2006. He has written and lectured widely in several different fields and holds Board Certification in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine and has also held sub-specialty certification in Adolescent Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine.

Dr. Goldenring has also been a policy advocate for many years, since attending Georgetown University for undergraduate and medical education and working on Capitol Hill. He is former member of and parliamentarian for the national board of directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Children’s Advocacy Institute at University of San Diego Law School, and is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine.

Peter A. Farber-Szekrenyi, Dr. P.H., M.P.H., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer (See above information under “Administrative Team”)

*Christopher Henry , CPA - Associate Administrator & CFO, Washington Hospital - Treasurer of the Board

Christopher is currently Associate Administrator and Chief Financial Officer for Washington Hospital. He is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA), California Hospital Association (CHA), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and California Society of Municipal Finance Officers. Chris also serves on CHA’s CFO Advisory Committee and is a member of the District Hospital Leadership Forum.

Christopher earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from California State University East Bay in September of 1995 in Business Administration with an Accounting emphasis. He worked in public accounting for four years, during which he was certified as a Certified Public Accountant.

Kathy Nicholson Hull, Psy.D, M.A., Co-founder and Vice President of the Board
(See above information under “Care Team”)

*Bruce L. Miller, Jr. (BJ), M.D. - Executive Director, Zen Hospice Project

Raised in Chicago, B.J. studied art history as an undergraduate at Princeton University.  After several years working in both the art and disability-rights non-profit communities he enrolled at UCSF where he completed his MD as a Regents Scholar in 2001.  He completed his internal medicine residency at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara where he served as chief resident. He completed his fellowship in Hospice & Palliative Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where his clinical duties split between the Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.   B.J. is the executive director of the Zen Hospice Project where he intends to bridge the medical and social models of palliative care.  This would  advance and expand a transdisciplinary approach to care and offer a model for the integration of arts and sciences; it further opens possibilities for lay/volunteer education and professional training in chaplaincy, medicine, nursing and other allied professions.  His larger goal is to affect society concerning the importance of mortality towards humanity’s thirst for meaning and communion.

He continues to attend periodically on the palliative care service at UCSF Medical Center, as well as in the Symptom Management Service of the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCSF’s groundbreaking outpatient palliative care clinic.  His academic work has largely been in palliative care education and leadership development. 

*Andrew G.M. Pitcairn - Geo Team, Apple

A senior sales director in the internet technology sector, Andrew joined the George Mark Children’s House Board as a representative of client families. The Pitcairn’s daughter received end-of-life care at the House in 2006. Prior to this, Andrew and his wife, Alex, had considerable experience advocating for their daughter to insure that she received therapy, education, and medical care appropriate to her disability. Andrew was educated and spent the early part of his career in the United Kingdom, and has spent the last 25 years in sales and marketing positions in Bay Area technology companies.

*Betsy Strong, CFP - President, Strong Legacy Planning - President of the Board

Betsy is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, born in Berkeley and raised in Orinda. She attened UCLA where she earned a BS in nursing. After working as a pediatric nurse, she transitioned to business, becoming a successful sales representative for American Hospital Supply. She later earned her MBA from Golden Gate University. Following the completion of her degree, Betsy was hired by Metropolitan Life to work with health care professionals in the retirement planning area teaching them to save in their 403B plans. She earned her CFP during this time and moved on to Cigna Financial Advisors to expand her financial planning expertise. While at Cigna, now Lincoln Financial Advisors, Betsy learned to advise business owners on a variety of issues ranging from estate planning to business succession and the establishment of complex retirement plan vehicles. In 2000, she was hired to head The L & L Financial Edge, a financial planning division of Lautze & Lautze, a CPA firm. In July of 2009, Betsy formed Strong Legacy Planning to assist individuals, families and business owners with the challenges of financial planning and the transfer of wealth among generations.

Betsy is married to Gary Coover and has one step-daughter, Charlotte, who is a junior in high school. Betsy is an active member of the board of directors of Edgewood Center for Children and Families and volunteers with her daughter Charlotte through a mother/daughter volunteer group - NCL. She is also an avid golfer, skier and traveler and loves to attend cultural events and try new restaurants in the SF Bay Area. Betsy is a member of the San Francisco Estate Planning Council and the Financial Planning Association.