Leadership & Advisors

As co-founder of our nonprofit, Sue has inspired our mission ever since she was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2017. Before retiring, Sue devoted was an instructor in the Department of Linguistics and Language Development at San José State University. Prior to that, her high tech career included work as a Systems Consultant at Gateway Computers, Sr. Systems Manager at Cisco Systems, Director HR Systems at 3Com Corporation, Client Services Manager at Learning International, Director Customer Support at Prism Solutions, VP Customer Support at Walker Interactive Systems, Franchise Owner with Norrell Services, and various IT and HR management positions at Intel Corporation. Sue earned a Master's Degree from San José State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley. She is an honorary member of AAUW-Morgan Hill.   

Chuck is co-founder and Chairman of the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. He is also Sue Berghoff's husband and her primary caregiver/advocate. He sets the vision for the Foundation and is a frequent speaker at healthcare, university and community events. Chuck is co-founder and Chairman of OptoElectronix. He has held executive and staff positions in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales and general management for Ladcor and Supertex, Siemens OptoElectronics Division, Summit Partners, and Summit Microelectronics (acquired by Qualcomm). Chuck earned his BSEE degree and studied Pre-med at the University of Minnesota. Chuck’s community service includes past leadership roles with the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Foundation; Loaves & Fishes; and Rotary Club of Morgan Hill.  

Robin is co-founder, President and Executive Director of the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. She began advocating for Lewy body dementia (LBD) awareness with Sue and Chuck Berghoff in 2017. She  guides the Foundation's mission through programs and partnerships with Stanford, UC Davis, Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara County, San José State University, CSU-San Marcos and other organizations. Robin is a Certified Dementia Practitioner® and a frequent speaker at healthcare, university and community events. Her film credits include "Sue's Story: A Journey with Lewy Body Dementia." She holds a BA in Marketing from Gettysburg College. Her community service in Morgan Hill includes Rotary Club, AAUW and Leadership Morgan Hill. 

Don Larkin serves as Board Secretary and internal legal advisor for the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. He joined the City of Morgan Hill as City Attorney in 2016. Previously he served as Deputy County Counsel for Santa Clara County (2012-16), Assistant City Attorney for Palo Alto (2005-12), and Deputy City Attorney for Santa Clara (2001-05). Don holds a JD degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and a BA degree in Politics from UC Santa Cruz.  

Peggy is Board CFO for the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. She is co-founder of Family Wealth Consultants, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory Firm, where she is a Wealth Manager and educates clients about legacy planning, issues surrounding wealth (well-being), values, family, and caring for aging loved ones. Peggy is a former Co-President of AAUW-Morgan Hill, which named her Philanthropist of the Year in 2015. She is Treasurer of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. Peggy holds an M.S. degree in Financial Services and is a Chartered Financial Consultant and a Chartered Advisor for Senior Living. 

Nick is Health Officer for the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. He is CEO of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, CEO of Nick Gaich and Associates, and a strong advocate for healthy aging. Previously, he was Assistant Dean, Clinical and Translational Research and Education at Stanford, a member of the Consortium Management Group, Nat'l Center for Research Resources/NIH, and VP of Customer Service/Materials Management and Service Line Administrator for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at Stanford. He holds a BBA, Healthcare Administration from National University, San Diego.

Dr. Rochelle Woods is Program Director of the Kaiser Permanente-San Jose Psychiatry Residency, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. It was Dr. Woods who, in 2017, diagnosed Sue Berghoff with Lewy Body Dementia. Dr. Woods graduated from Northwestern University and earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from Pepperdine University. She attended the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago and pursued her combined residency in Neurology and Psychiatry at Brown University. Dr. Woods’ fellowships in Geriatric Psychiatry and Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology at UCLA focused on the dementia spectrum, cognitive disorders, and geriatrics. As an Assistant Professor at UCLA/West LA VAMC, she worked and taught medical students, residents, and fellows in Psychiatry and Medicine. Currently she is Program Director for Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Residency Programs in Psychiatry (at KP San Jose), and serves as Site Director for the Psychiatry clerkship and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

Dr. Kathleen Poston is Chief of the Movement Disorders Division, and Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences and (by courtesy) Neurosurgery, at Stanford University Medical Center. Her research focuses on novel markers to advance understanding of the pathophysiology underlying  Parkinson’s disease and related movement disorders. Her current studies focus on cognitive problems in people with Parkinson’s disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. She is Co-Director for the Pacific Udall Center, serves on the Executive Steering Committee for the Michael J Fox Foundation sponsored PPMI, co-directs the Stanford LBD Research Center of Excellence, and serves as Research Education Component Leader for the Stanford Alzheimer’s disease Center. She holds a BS degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania; and a Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering and an MD from Vanderbilt University. She completed her Neurology residency at UCSF, where she was Co-Chief Resident. She completed a fellowship in clinical Movement Disorders at Columbia University and post-doc research training in Functional Neuroimaging at the Feinstein Institute. 

Dr. Elena Call is a Movement Disorder Specialist working at Kaiser Santa Clara and Redwood City. She joined TPMG in 2017 and completed her Neurology Residency and Movement Disorders Fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. At Kaiser, she leads the Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery intraoperative monitoring program in Redwood City and is currently the Primary Investigator for the FOG-LIGHTS trial studying novel treatments for freezing of gait in Parkinson’s patients who have had DBS surgery.

She directs the Huntington’s Clinic in the South Bay and recently launched the Parkinson’s Disease Multidisciplinary Review Board in Santa Clara/San Jose to help assist with complex care coordination for patients with PD and atypical parkinsonism.

Her clinical interests are deep brain stimulation, Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxias, dystonia, and advanced palliative care. She enjoys teaching medical students and residents and currently lectures to residents in psychiatry about movement disorders and pharmacological management of depression and anxiety in the setting of Parkinson’s disease.

Courtney Jaffe is an advance practice provider with the Stanford Home-Based Senior Care clinic. She graduated with a Master's Degree and certification as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from UCSF School of Nursing and later completed post-graduate special studies at UCSF to become a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner. She provides care to older adults in their homes as a primary care provider. Her interests include dementia care and management of challenging behaviors, palliative medicine, geriatric education for patients and families and home care medicine. She has a special interest in improving care and Quality of Life in older adults with cognitive impairment and dementia. 

Nancy is a Professor at The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San Jose State University. She has led system-level change in healthcare service delivery for older adults with serious illness, through research, development and management of programs in acute care to long-term care settings. She has Master’s degrees in Nursing Administration and Gerontology, and a PhD in Health Policy from UCSF. She completed a Geriatrics and Palliative Care VA Quality Scholar Fellowship at UCSF, and a Palliative Care Fellowship at Stanford. She has partnered with the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation to provide dementia education  to nursing students since 2019. Read her commentary on end-of-life care in U.S. News & World Report.

Bonnie brings to her Advisory role with the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation more than 30 years in public health program development and leadership at local, state, national and global levels. Her work has helped to shift community norms to support public health for all. Bonnie’s early career focused on counseling and education, while expanding her skills and partnerships in the community. Later, she focused on health policy, systems, and environmental change strategies to impact population health. She has served on the boards of the California Conference of Local Health Department Nutritionists and the California WIC Association, and is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Bonnie was honored as Young Dietitian of the Year and received an Employee Excellence Award from Santa Clara County. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Public Health from University of California at Berkeley.

Jennifer Tate is a member of the Community Advisors Group of the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. She held the same role with The Sue’s Story Project. Currently, she also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Community Solutions. Her more than two decades of community leadership include past positions as a member of the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees and the Morgan Hill Historical Society Board of Directors, and as a former President of the Centennial Morgan Hill Committee. She has also chaired major events for Leadership Morgan Hill and the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill. Previously, Jennifer was a small business owner. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from UC Davis. Jennifer received the Gavilan College Community Spirit Award (2005), Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year (2006), and the 27th Assembly District of the State of California Woman of the Year (2011).

Pat Vida has 40-plus years of healthcare experience across the Continuum of Care from wellness and prevention to end-of-life care. From 2012 until her retirement in 2019, she was part of the Kaiser Permanente-Santa Clara leadership team responsible to extend care beyond hospital walls through Home Health, Palliative Care, and Skilled Nursing Facilities. Previously she held Staff Nurse positions within a Medical Surgical Unit, an Emergency Department, and a Cardiac Cath Lab. Pat’s management experience includes hospital nursing units of ED, Critical Care, and Worker’s Compensation. She also served as SVP of Strategic Planning and Business Strategy and as Executive Director of Health and Wellness for Health Quality Partners, a Quality Service Organization. Pat also lead a startup team as subject matter expert for post-follow-up care at Reinforced Care.