Leadership & Advisors

Co-founder and Inspiration

As co-founder of our nonprofit, Sue has inspired our mission ever since she was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2017. Sue devoted eight years as 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 the American Association of University Women.   

Co-Founder, Board Chairman

Chuck is Sue Berghoff's husband and primary caregiver. He is co-founder and Chairman of the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation, and co-founder of The Sue's Story Project. Chuck is also co-founder and Chairman of OptoElectronix. He has held engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales and general management positions, including: Intel engineering and marketing management, marketing/sales for LCD startups Ladcor and Supertex, GM/VP of Siemens OptoElectronics Division, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Summit Partners, and CEO of Summit Microelectronics (acquired by Qualcomm). Chuck earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and 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 International.  

Co-founder, Executive Director, Board President

Robin co-founded The Sue’s Story Project with Sue and Chuck Berghoff in 2017. Together, they established partnerships with Stanford, Kaiser Permanente and other organizations to increase Lewy Body Dementia education, research and caregiving resources. In 2021, they formed the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation, a registered public charitable organization, to continue their mission with increased impact. Robin is a Certified Dementia Practitioner® with NCCDP. She is a frequent speaker at dementia education seminars, CME/CE presentations and community workshops. Her film credits include "Sue's Story: A Journey with Lewy Body Dementia." Robin's community service in Morgan Hill includes Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, AAUW and Leadership Morgan Hill. Robin holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Gettysburg College. 

Board Secretary 

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.  

Board CFO 

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. 

Health Strategy Officer

Nick is Health Strategy Officer for the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation. He is CEO of Nick Gaich and Associates, and CEO of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce.

Previously, he was Assistant Dean, Clinical and Translational Research and Education at Stanford. Prior to that, Nick was with the Consortium Management Group, Nat'l Center for Research Resources/NIH. Earlier roles include 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. 

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. Her professional education includes:

• Board Certification: American Nurses Credentialing Center, Nurse Practitioner (2015)
• Professional Education: UCSF Registrar Office (2014) CA
• Professional Education: UCSF Registrar Office (2008) CA
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing, SJSU (2001)

Jane is a Care Manager with Stanford Health Care in New York. Previously she served as Manager of the Palliative Care and Transitions Program at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center San Jose. In addition, Jane was an Improvement Advisor supporting the medical center with projects related to improving efficiencies and quality. Early in her career, Jane worked as a nurse in oncology, ICU and hospice care. She later served as a consultant for a national Hospice and Home Health company, and as Director of Education at a hospital in Houston, Texas. She has served as an Advisor to the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation since 2019.

Nancy is Associate Professor at The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San Jose State University. She has extensive experience leading system-level change in healthcare service delivery for older adults aging 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 in Gerontology, and a PhD in Health Policy from UCSF. Dr. Dudley 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.

Diana Miller is the architect of the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Initiative in Silicon Valley. Her strategic vision—to share knowledge of the program’s benefits to cities—resulted in WHO’s recognition of Santa Clara as the first County in the United States to have each of its fifteen cities designated “Age-friendly.” She is the Seniors’ Agenda Project Director with the Department of Aging and Adult Services for the County of Santa Clara, California; a regional champion of Dementia Friendly USA; and an Advisor to the Susan and Charles Berghoff Foundation.  She holds a M.A. from Wheaton College and a B.A. from the University of Kansas.  

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.