Team Bios

Lizbeth Melendez, MPA

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Philip Betito, MPA

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Adrian Mendoza, MBA

Ajay is an accomplished professional with a robust background in financial management, grant administration, and regulatory compliance. Over his career, he has developed a strong track record of optimizing funding utilization, improving receivables collection efficiency, and ensuring precise revenue recognition. His expertise in managing financial and compliance structures for grant activities has consistently upheld transparency and accountability across various projects. 

In his current role as a Grants and Contracts Administration Manager, Ajay manages subcontractor and subgrantee agreements, ensuring that all vendor contracts align with funders' requirements. His ability to streamline payment processes and foster strong relationships with stakeholders, such as the State Water Resources Control Board, has been instrumental in navigating complex compliance landscapes. 

Ajay recently completed his MBA at CSU, Sacramento, further solidifying his skills in budgeting, financial analysis, and strategic planning. He has successfully partnered with senior management to develop comprehensive financial strategies that align with organizational goals, securing and managing diverse funding streams across multiple channels. 

Outside of his professional life, Ajay has been dancing for nearly 20 years and previously coached a competitive dance team, showcasing his dedication to both his career and his passions. 

Nancy Salcedo Del Toro, RN

Nancy Salcedo Del Toro is an accomplished Registered Nurse whose clinical expertise and leadership abilities align with the principles of integrated healthcare delivery. Her extensive experience serving diverse patient populations from varied socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds has equipped her with a deep understanding of whole-person care approaches and the complex needs of vulnerable populations.

As a certified instructor in both Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Ms. Salcedo Del Toro maintains the highest standards of clinical excellence while working with high-risk and medically complex patients. Her role as a preceptor for new graduate nurses has been instrumental in developing culturally competent healthcare professionals who understand the importance of coordinated care and population health management.

Her clinical focus includes working with individuals experiencing chronic conditions, seniors requiring comprehensive care coordination, and patients requiring enhanced care management. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, she has developed expertise in care transitions and implementing effective care management strategies.

Ms. Salcedo Del Toro's leadership extends beyond direct patient care to system-level improvements, where she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to enhance care coordination across multiple settings. Through her approachable and compassionate demeanor, she demonstrates an unwavering commitment to transforming healthcare delivery for vulnerable populations.

Veronica Melendez

Veronica Melendez is an experienced healthcare professional specializing in behavioral health integration and community-based care delivery systems. With a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at UC Davis, she combines academic knowledge with extensive hands-on experience in coordinating comprehensive care services. 

Her career began at Learning Enrichment Academy, working with adults with disabilities, before advancing to Lead Behavioral Therapist at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. In this role, she provided high-quality behavioral therapy to a diverse group of patients and demonstrated expertise in developing innovative engagement strategies for high-needs populations, coordinating care across multidisciplinary teams including primary care physicians, educators, and specialists. She excelled in strategic staff development, creating comprehensive training materials, conducting performance evaluations, and implementing quality assurance protocols to ensure optimal service delivery. 

At BlueRidge Management Solutions, Veronica provides crucial technical assistance for organizations implementing CalAIM initiatives. She specializes in strategic planning and implementation support, helping organizations navigate MCP registration processes, develop service delivery workflows, and build capacity for Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports programs. Her work includes creating operational frameworks and protocols for housing programs, service delivery, care coordination.

Her expertise extends to designing comprehensive staff training programs, establishing recruitment strategies, and developing burnout prevention protocols. Veronica brings particular strength in creating innovative outreach strategies for engaging high-needs populations and establishing effective systems for service delivery across the care continuum. 

Matthew Giesecke

Matthew Giesecke (they/them) is an accomplished researcher and advocate specializing in community engagement, culturally competent service delivery, and strategic planning for underserved populations. At the University of Southern California, where they earned a BA in Political Science with a minor in Spanish, Matthew developed expertise analyzing complex systems through their work with the Near Crisis Project's International Crisis Behavior (ICB) research. As lead student researcher in Kyrgyzstan, they conducted field research on regional water conflicts, demonstrating their ability to navigate across diverse stakeholder needs and cultural contexts. 

At the Borgen Project, Matthew implemented innovative strategies for engaging high-needs individuals, developing language-specific outreach materials and advancing U.S. engagement in global poverty reduction. Their international experience extends to Argentina, where they strengthened their expertise in culturally and linguistically appropriate service delivery while researching immigration patterns and domestic political movements. 

Matthew has established themselves as a specialist in language access planning, supporting first-generation Spanish-speaking students throughout California and developing targeted educational materials for limited English proficiency populations. Most recently, as Communications and Queer Research Intern at Queer University, they conducted educational outreach for LGBTQ+ individuals. 

Drawing on their extensive experience in cross-cultural communication and community advocacy, Matthew specializes in developing and implementing comprehensive support systems for historically underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and rural communities. Their work focuses on creating culturally competent service delivery models that effectively bridge gaps across healthcare, behavioral health, and social service systems. 

Piper Christensen

Piper Christensen is an experienced professional specializing in high-needs population engagement. Her background in Anthropology from UC Davis has equipped her with a unique holistic perspective on healthcare delivery, enabling her to understand the complex cultural, social, and systemic factors that influence individual and community wellbeing. She developed expertise in designing responsive member and family support systems through her role as an events and operations student manager, where she demonstrated strong tactical leadership in staff recruitment, developing hiring protocols and conducting candidate evaluations. 

As lead student researcher for the Human Development and Media Lab, Piper navigated complex intersections of behavioral health and social needs, conducting groundbreaking research on adolescent mental health outcomes in relation to social media use. This work enhanced her understanding of stress management strategies for both clients and service providers. 

Her extensive work as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and her role coordinating resource distribution for foster youth through Contra Costa County's Independent Living Skills Program demonstrates her expertise in developing targeted support systems for high-needs populations. She further expanded her expertise through her volunteer work at EA Family Services, providing direct childcare support during foster parent training sessions and coordinating comprehensive support services across health and social service systems. 

Her professional focus centers on implementing innovative engagement strategies while supporting staff wellness and burnout prevention. She brings particular expertise in developing responsive family support frameworks and coordinating cross-system services for justice-involved individuals and vulnerable populations.