Mental Health Guidance Center Welcomes New Boards

The Guidance Center, which provides mental health services to more than 2,400 families in Long Beach, Compton/Lynwood, San Pedro and Avalon, recently added five new members to their Board of Directors and established a new Honorary Board.

The addition is part of center's effort to grow and strengthen its membership, officials said through a news release.

The new members of the Executive Board of Directors are Eric Adler, Joanna Exacoustos, Mike Nelson, Lupe Padilla-Robb, MD and Kathleen Tunney.

Below are brief biographies provided by the center.

Eric Adler is an attorney with Magee & Adler, a Long Beach based law firm, who assists his clients with estate planning and family owned businesses.  Adler has practiced law in Long Beach for 15 years and has lived in Long Beach for the past 10 years.  Adler's wife was a licensed clinical social worker, who worked for The Guidance Center for several years.  Adler has previously served on the Board of Directors for Family Services of Long Beach and on the fundraising advisory board for Miller's Children's Hospital of Long Beach.

Joanna Exacoustos is a long time educator, having taught English Literature and Reading for more than 34 years.  She taught at high schools in Long Beach and Whittier during her career and has been an integral part in English organizations, such as CATE (California Association of Teachers of English) and SCTE (Southland Council of Teachers of English).  Exacoustos was a founding member of the South Basin Writing Project at CSU Long Beach, where she helped train English teachers.  She has held a similar role at UCLA and for the past 25 years has hosted reading and writing workshops throughout the U.S.  Exacoustos has also served as a Language Arts Consultant for Newsweek Magazine, McDougal Litel and Glencoe-McGraw Hill.

Mike Nelson is a Senior Managing Director with CBRE (Commercial Real Estate Services) and has more than 20 years of real estate experience.  He assists both private and public sector clients in developing real estate strategies with special expertise in capital structure optimization, leasing/ownership strategies, financing strategies and accounting and tax implications of real estate transactions. Nelson has an MBA from UCLA and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Lupe Padillia-Robb MD is a physician specializing in newborn intensive care.  She has lived in Long Beach for more than 30 years and is active member for Long Beach Memorial/Miller Children's Hospital, The Child Guidance Center Long Beach and Ronald McDonald House Long Beach.  Dr. Padillia-Robb was a founding partner of Neonatal Medical Associates, Inc. and practices at the Miller Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  She also serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCI.  Dr. Padilla-Robb has been recognized by ABC/Memorialcare, Soroptomist Association, Centro CHA, Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, LA Magazine, Vista LA, the Munzer family, Baby ER, Reader's Digest, Women's Entertainment network and named MCH/NICU Physician of the Year five times.

Kathleen Tunney is the founder and executive director of Ocean Recovery, a gender specific treatment service dedicated to helping young adults overcome addictive disorders.  She has devoted almost 30 years to increasing awareness and reducing the stigma of mental health and substance abuse issues.  Tunney was an employee-assistance professional for 12 years at the Port of Los Angeles and has developed a family program for Hoag Hospital's Chemical Dependency unit for 10 years.  As program director for the Flossie Lewis Center, she developed a highly effective program for recovering pregnant and parenting addicted women.  From 2000 to 2002, Tunney served as a member of a Center for Disease Control's national task force, implementing smoking cessation programs for low priority populations.

The Guidance Center’s Honorary Board is made up of prominent community leaders, who will serve as Center ambassadors and mental health advocates as well as lend their name and expertise to agency events and activities, officials wrote. 

The following individuals have joined the Honorary Board:

• Honorable Bob Foster - Mayor, City of Long Beach
• Honorable Robert Garcia - Vice-Mayor, Long Beach City Council, 1st District
• Skip Keesal - Founding Partner, Keesal, Young & Logan
• Honorable Beverly O'Neill - Former Mayor. City of Long Beach
• Chief Jim McDonnell - Long Beach Police Department
• Chris Steinhauser - Superintendent, Long Beach Unified School District