Leadership & Staff

Carolyn Ross

Co-Executive Director, Programs and Member Management

Carolyn Ross has a passion for harnessing the wisdom of older adults to change how we experience the journey of aging. Carolyn was previously VMC’s Director of Strategic Initiatives for two years, launching the Village Incubator. She has also served as the Executive Director of Care Connections Network (CCN) in Huntington Beach for ten years, helping develop and guide CCN through the planning and implementation phases to produce a thriving village of multi-racial members and volunteers. Carolyn is a strong supporter of the village movement and served as a member of the Village Movement California leadership team for two years. She worked as a consultant to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and as president of ALOA: Adult Lutherans Organized for Action to promote intentional programming and ministry for older adults in Lutheran congregations across the country.

Carolyn also currently serves as a board member of the Huntington Beach Council on Aging. She has a BA from California State University, Long Beach, and an MSW from California State University, Fullerton.

To reach Carolyn, call her at 714-874-4219 or email her at carolyn@villagemovementcalifornia.org

Erick Larson

Co-Executive Director, Advocacy and Resource Develpment

In his role as Co-Executive Director, Erick combines his diverse experience in senior care, community development, and advocacy to advance the organization’s mission. His hands-on experience as founder and Executive Director of the Village of Sonoma Valley uniquely positions him to understand and implement the village model.

Erick’s background spans various aspects of senior care and housing. He managed two large senior residential facilities and served as Regional Director of Operations for Sonoma, Marin, and Napa Counties with Hired Hands Home Care, overseeing nearly 300 caregivers. His earlier career in residential real estate development focused on “Up-scaling by Down-sizing,” highlighting the growing need for senior housing and leading to a vision for property development tailored to older adults’ needs.

Erick also currently serves on the Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging and Disability Commission and the Master Plan for Aging Steering Committee for Sonoma County. He attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

To reach Erick, call her at 510-900-6380 or email him at erick@villagemovementcalifornia.org

Patrick Shandrick

Communication Manager

Patrick empowers nonprofits and government agencies through advocacy and strategic communications. He served as a Communications Officer at the California Community Foundation where he helped guide the organization’s Los Angeles county-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For many years, Patrick worked on behalf of the homeless in the Skid Row community at organizations Chrysalis and the Downtown Women’s Center.

He has taught nonprofit communications at UCLA Extension, served on the City of West Hollywood’s Human Services Commission, and has consulted with clients including the City of Santa Monica and Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County.

He holds a Masters in Communications from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California and a Bachelors in Marketing from Parsons School of Design at the New School for Social Research.

To reach Patrick, email him at patrick@villagemovementcalifornia.org or call him at 310-919-8066.

Carol Haig

Newsletter Editor

Carol is a long-time writer and editor. She has more than 40 years of multi-industry experience partnering with organizations to improve their employees’ performance. She holds both a BS and MS in Secondary English Education. Carol is known for her superior skills in project management, analysis and problem/opportunity identification, and instructional design and facilitation. She has consulted with executives and line managers, established and managed training departments, trained trainers, written for professional publications and mentored performance consultants. As the co-chair of the former Walnut Creek Village, she remains committed to the village concept and is delighted to volunteer for Village Movement California.

Charlotte Dickson

Former Executive Director

Charlotte has devoted her career to building organizations and movements to create equitable, healthy communities for people of all ages and backgrounds.

From 2018 until retirement in 2024, Charlotte served as the Executive Director. Under her leadership, solid, statewide organization was built with a powerful brand and portfolio of programs that accelerates the uptake of the village model across California. She successfully advocated for inclusion of villages in the state’s Master Plan for Aging and built relationships with powerful stakeholders crucial to implementation of the Plan’s village goal.

Charlotte has a B.A. from Duke University and an M.S.W. from Boston University.

Kate Hoepke, Board Chair

Kate serves as the Chair of Village Movement CA and was the Executive Director of San Francisco Village (SFV) for 13 years. During her tenure, SFV grew to well over 1000 people: 700 members, 250 multi-generational volunteers, dozens of donors, partners and supporters, all of whom come together to optimize health and well-being for everyone involved.   

Her career in community building started in the 1990’s when she founded more than 40 social support networks for young families in the San Francisco Bay Area, called Mothers Clubs. To date these clubs have served more than a million families. She has a BA in sociology and an MBA from San Francisco State University.

To reach Kate, email her at kate@villagemovementcalifornia.org.

Patrick Brown

Patrick played a lead role in establishing Sequoia Village and the Villages of San Mateo County (VSMC) and is currently board president for VSMC. He sits on the board of advisors for BlueCart, a startup in the food services area. He joined the board of Village Enterprise (a non-profit that works to alleviate poverty in East Africa) in 2013, after serving as Chief Operating Officer for five years. Prior to this, Pat worked for twenty years in the computer software industry. In his last position, he was the Senior Director of Technical Publications for Siebel Systems. Pat has a BA from UC Santa Barbara and an MA from California State University, Fresno, and completed doctoral work at UC Berkeley. Pat serves as the Treasurer for the Village Movement California Leadership Team.

Leza Coleman

Leza is the Legislative Director of the California Commission on Aging. She was introduced into the world of senior advocacy as a Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and later, after working as a marketing director for a large assisted living facility in Elk Grove, California, she resumed her advocacy efforts as the Executive Director for the statewide LTC Ombudsman Program Association. Having successfully navigated the legislative system, getting bills passed, and increased program funding, Leza is excited to share her knowledge, encouraging others to engage in systemic advocacy focused on changing the way we view “aging” in California.

She was exposed to Villages through her mother-in-law, Sandra Coleman, who served as the Village Chair for the North Oakland Village.

Carlene Davis

Carlene has twenty-five years of leadership in the public and non-profit sectors, and brings a comprehensive portfolio of expertise in policy and advocacy, community engagement and capacity building, convening and facilitation, organizational development, participatory research, training and curriculum development, program design, and project management. Carlene is the Co-Founder of Sistahs Aging with Grace and Elegance, and Director of Strategy and Evaluation at the California Black Women’s Health Project. Carlene researched and wrote Sankofa Stories: Black Women Reflect on Aging in Place and Community: A Narrative on Policy as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Fellow.

Laura Peck

Laura is a trusted advisor and leadership coach to courageous leaders and organizations building a more just world. Direct, curious and irreverent, her sweet spot is framing the questions and hosting the conversations that move people into action.

A Philadelphia native, she moved to the Bay Area in a beat-up old Datsun in 1972 and never looked back. She has a BA from Cornell University and an MPH from UC Berkeley School of Public Health and is a certified yoga instructor. Before opening her own consulting business in 1995, she worked for Alameda County Health Care Services and northern California Kaiser Permanente.

A long time board member of Ashby Village, she led the Diversity Initiative as an ex officio member and collaborated on design and launch of the VMC Diversity Institute

A swimmer, yogini, and grandmother, she lives in Albany with her sensei/chef/photographer husband.