2024 HASD&IC Annual Meeting

Dimitrios Alexiou, FACHE
President & CEO
Hospital Association of San Diego & Imperial Counties
Dimitrios Alexiou, FACHE, is the President and CEO of Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties (HASD&IC), a non-profit trade association representing hospitals and health systems. Mr. Alexiou joined the Hospital Association in December 2014. As President/CEO of HASD&IC, Dimitrios provides leadership, representation, advocacy, and acts as an advisory on behalf of over 38 hospitals and health systems in the 2-county region. He also serves as a Board Advisor to the California Hospital Association Board of Trustees.

Mark Cafferty 
President and CEO 
San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation  
Mark Cafferty sits at the center of a unique collaborative of business, industry, community, and education – leading an inclusive economic development strategy and cementing the region as pillar of the global economy. He has spent more than 25 years designing career advancement systems and creating economic opportunity for American workers. Serving on workforce committees for the current and recent mayors and former Governor Jerry Brown, he is a trusted nonpartisan committed to helping leaders shape a more equitable and all-encompassing economic recovery. 

Carmela Coyle
President & CEO
California Hospital Association
Carmela Coyle serves as President & CEO of the California Hospital Association (CHA), a position she has held since 2017. In addition to her role with CHA, Carmela serves on the board of the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, Californians Allied for Patient Protection, and as co-chair of Behavioral Health Action, a coalition of more than 50 statewide organizations creating change to improve behavioral health. She also serves on the Partners in Care Foundation Board of Councilors, and the USC Leonard Schaeffer Center for Health Policy Advisory Board.

Mick Ebeling
Founder & CEO
Not Impossible Labs & Bento
Mick Ebeling has been named a Fortune Magazine Top 50 World’s Greatest Leaders and is a recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award. As a career producer and filmmaker, Mick taps into the power of innovation, technology, and story to change the world. Mick’s mantra of “commit, then figure it out” embraces a unique problem-solving approach, bringing together passionate and talented engineers, doers, idea generators and storytellers to create solutions that better the world. His book, Not Impossible: Do What Can’t Be Done, recounts his life experiences that led to the founding of Not Impossible Labs.

Rebecca Jones
Mayor
City of San Marcos
Mayor Rebecca Jones has served our community for over 16 years. She served on the City Council from 2007 to 2018, serving as Vice Mayor from 2012-2018, and was elected as Mayor in 2018 and 2022. In addition to her role as Mayor, Rebecca represents San Marcos on the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Board of Directors where she advocates for transportation solutions that benefit San Marcos residents. Mayor Jones also serves on the SANDAG executive committee and regional planning committee and sits on the Countywide Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Board. 

Connie Lafuente, MPH 
Director of Regional Health Initiatives 
San Diego/Imperial Counties Community Colleges Regional Consortium 
Connie is the Director of Regional Health Initiatives for all ten Community Colleges in San Diego/Imperial Regions. She leads initiatives and provides support to strengthen the Nursing, Allied Health, and Behavioral Health Programs. Connie brings over 30 years of experience driving strategic initiatives to address health care and workforce challenges in our region. She is highly effective in partnership development and program management. Connie practices servant leadership and she is passionate about serving others to reach their highest potential. 

Luis A. Plancarte
Chairman, Board of Supervisors
County of Imperial
Supervisor Luis Plancarte took office in January 2017 representing the second district of Imperial County. Well-known and respected in the fields of corporate social responsibility, human resources and personal development, Supervisor Plancarte is known as a sound businessman, entrepreneurial trainer and educator, a transformational life-career coach and a socio-civic leader. He serves on several boards and commissions, including the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), California State Association of Counties, (CSAC), California Children & Families First Commission, and San Diego County Association of Governments (SANDAG). 

Kimberly Probus, DHA, DNP, MBA, MSN, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, CEN
Chief Nursing Officer
El Centro Regional Medical Center
Dr. Probus is a healthcare executive with over 30 years of clinical experience in nursing, healthcare operations, rural health, and patient care strategy. She is an accomplished clinician and a recognized national advocate for patients. Dr. Probus has led teams in recruitment, workforce mapping, and implementation of leadership development programs. She is trained in developing highly efficient operations and has helped more than 50 organizations in 20 stats realize success in meeting regulatory requirements and organizational goals.

Nora Vargas
Chairwoman, Board of Supervisors
County of San Diego
Nora E. Vargas was sworn in on January 4, 2021, to represent San Diego County’s First Supervisorial District. A first-generation immigrant, Supervisor Vargas is the first Latina, first binational, and first woman of color to serve as County Supervisor in the near 200-year history of the County of San Diego. She served as Vice-Chair of the Board for her first two terms, and on January 10, 2023, was unanimously elected Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors. 

Amanda Wagner
Vice President, Workforce Development
Policy & Innovation Center
Amanda is a respected champion of workforce development with extensive experience building high-impact workforce systems at the local, regional, and state level. As chief operating officer of a nationally acclaimed workforce organization, she recently earned recognition for community impact and innovation for designing an approach to serving priority populations. Amanda has launched health care partnerships to address issues no single health care organization could tackle on its own.

Samantha Williams, FNP
Co-Founder & CEO
JIREH Providers
Samantha Williams is a family nurse practitioner with over 20 years of nursing and public health experience. In 2020 she transitioned from out-patient direct care delivery to investing 100% of her time providing direct access to care from within the community, health advocacy and education. Achieving equity in healthcare is the goal, uplifting the community through wraparound services is the mission, and the pursuit of generational healing in the Black community is her driving force. Williams co-founded JIREH Providers, a nonprofit mobile community health clinic in 2021.

Marni von Wilpert
Councilmember
City of San Diego
Councilmember Marni von Wilpert represents District 5 on the San Diego City Council and was previously a San Diego Deputy City Attorney. She is proud to serve as Chair of the Committee on Public Safety, Vice Chair of the Committee on Environment, Vice Chair of the Committee on Community Neighborhood Services, and Member of the Committee on Active Transportation and Infrastructure. Councilmember von Wilpert also serves as a Member on the San Diego Regional Airport Authority Board and Chair of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority Capital Improvement Program Oversight Committee.