​Staff Bios & Board
Lily May Catanes
Lily May Catanes, MBA is a queer, Igorot -American, singer, guitarist, dancer, wife, sister, auntie, and daughter to Igorot-Filipinx immigrants. As the Kilusan Wellness Director of Finance and Operations (and everything else), Lily May brings over 20 years' experience in finance, accounting, operations, events planning and capacity building in the non-profit, education, training, and family entertainment sectors.
Karen Villanueva
Karen Villanueva, DAIM, LAc, Dipl. OM, RN, PHN, FAIHM has been a health care practitioner for over 25 years. She is a queer, Generation 1.5 immigrant-settler from the Philippines, and is a doctor of acupuncture and integrative medicine, a licensed acupuncturist, and a registered nurse. Throughout her career, Dr. Villanueva has had an abiding commitment to social justice, health equity, and serving low-income, underserved populations of color. She is humbled, honored, and grateful to bring her leadership, stewardship, management experience, and clinical expertise to her role as Kilusan Wellness Executive Director.
Board of Directors
Laurence Padua
CHAIR
Laurence A Padua works for the Alameda County Public Health Department as a Disaster Ready Program Manager. He's also an experienced consultant working in community-based/non-profit organizations.
Dennis von Elgg
SECRETARY / TREASURER
D​ennis W. von Elgg is a California State Licensed and a Diplomate of Acupuncture recognized by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
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Dennis spent 23 years as a professor at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley as well as a being a frequent guest lecturer at UC Berkeley in the Integrative Biology Department, continuing education provider and running a mentorship program for acupuncturists. He currently practices in Occidental, CA at The Redwood Needle Acupuncture Clinic.
Mena Kamel
DIRECTOR
Mena Kamel works for The Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) with a unit called Health Promotion and Community Partnerships where he leads design initiatives for a diverse range of community-based projects that redress health & social related disparities that negatively impact LGBT+ BIPOC residents. He is the coordinator of ACPHD’s health fair committee which organizes free vaccinations, health screenings, safer sex supplies, and other services at 100 different health fairs each year.
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Acupuncture has played a major role in his own learning of what the body's natural healing abilities are, and thinks that this medicine should be available to everyone.
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In this spare time, he enjoys writing, printmaking, and staring at clouds. One of his simplest pleasures is morning yoga.
Ryan Alipio
DIRECTOR
Ryan is a Quality & Process Improvement Manager at Alameda Health System and part of the Value Based Care team where he leads and facilitates performance improvement projects, data analysis, and implements best practices across the care continuum to ensure access to high-quality health care for all. He is driven and motivated by a passion for health justice and eliminating health disparities.
Karla Jean Bacayan
DIRECTOR
Karla Jean Bacayan is an of counsel attorney in the San Francisco office of Ogletree Deakins. Karla Jean’s practice focuses on representing clients in multiple industries, covering the full spectrum of business immigration law.
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She has a broad base of experience in non-immigrant visa matters (including H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, TN, L-1), immigrant visa matters (including the full PERM labor certification process, EB-1, AOS), and naturalization. Karla Jean has represented a wide-range of domestic and multinational corporate clients in industries including technology, genealogy, and technical consulting.