Board of Directors

Lance Reynolds

Lance Reynolds, Board President, is a native of England who came to the U.S. in 1966. Since his retirement as an industrial chemist, he has devoted much of his time to two areas—organizational performance excellence and elder advocacy. In the former he has served as a Senior Examiner and Judge for the Baldrige based California Awards for Performance Excellence and is currently a Judge for the American Health Care Association Quality Awards. He helped found Egypt’s National Quality Award program in 2006 and 2007. As an elder advocate he has served as a California Long Term Care Ombudsman in San Mateo and Alameda counties. He was a founding Board member and President of Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County, a Board Member of Ombudsman Inc., and the California Culture Change Coalition on whose Advisory Council he now serves. He has taught workshops at the Pioneer National Conferences on the relationships between the Baldrige Criteria and Person-Centered elder care. He spends most Wednesday afternoons at ASEB’s Berkeley center enjoying the company of its wonderfully brave and delightful clients.

Carolyn A. Brent

Caregiver Empowerment Strategist Carolyn A. Brent is author of the book Why Wait? The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Preparing Emotionally, Financially & Legally for a Parents’ Death, which is a guide for family caregivers and aging parents. As a speaker, she travels throughout the United States lecturing about the importance of adult siblings and parents having what she calls “crucial conversations” in preparation for the end-of-life issues they may face, so that instead of being torn apart, they can come together as a strong family. She is committed to enhancing the lives of family caregivers and their aging parents throughout the world.

Carolyn has also worked for some of the leading pharmaceutical companies, and she has volunteered for numerous assisted-living facilities.

Carolyn received a B.A. in Business Administration from National University in Los Angeles, California, and an M.B.A. at the University of Phoenix. She currently resides in Northern California.

Shaun Charles

Shaun Charles was born in Berkeley and for many years has worked passionately in the community to raise awareness for the plight of seniors.

In 2011, Mr. Charles opened Paladin Home Care LLC and joined Beacon Home Care in providing seniors affordable home care options in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. He is an active board member for the City of Albany’s Chamber of Commerce, and enjoys volunteer work with local senior centers. He also serves as the Activities Director for the City of El Cerrito’s Open House Respite Program for their summer sessions. In a joint effort with the Albany Senior Center, in 2011 he assisted in developing a program to assist seniors in the challenges of new technology by offering free computer tutorials to local senior citizens. Shaun and his wife Eunice Benisano Charles R.N., M.S.N., C.D.E., enjoy spending their free time with their son, Isaiah.

Anastacia Corsé

Anastacia has worked for AgeSong for 4 years as their community relations director. She has worked in assisted living communities specializing in dementia care for the last 8 years. Prior to that, she quit her job in Silicon Valley to take care of her grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease and found the experience to be the turning point in her life and has since changed her career to be available to provide education and care options for families needing to navigate the world of appropriate care options for their loved ones.
Anastacia has worked in marketing, management and public relations for the last 30 years. She has a degree in transpersonal psychology and is also a clinical hypnotherapist.

Sister Barbara Hagel

Sister Barbara Hagel was born in Great Falls, Montana and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She is a Dominican sister of Mission San Jose and an experienced elementary and high school teacher. She also brings the knowledge and experience of 24 years of Catholic School administration, specializing in curriculum, supervision, and human resource issues. Sister Barbara has served on several school boards and numerous committees for diocesan-wide curriculum planning. While serving as principal at St. Joseph School in Fremont, CA, she took the school to National Blue Ribbon School status. She served as an evaluator for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program in Florida, New Mexico, and Louisiana, as well as chairperson for several WASC evaluation teams throughout the western states. Current interests include cosmology, community gardens and sustainability practices. She serves on the CORE team and as the Sustainability Coordinator for the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.

Sister Barbra received a B.S. in Physical Science from Holy Names University, an M.A in Science Education from Oregon State University, and a M.A. in School Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Debrenia Madison

Debrenia Madison has lived most of her life in the Oakland Bay Area. She and her family migrated to the Golden State from Alabama when she was six months old. Debrenia attended primary and secondary schools in Alameda and Contra Costa County. Thereafter, she attended undergraduate school at the University of California in Los Angeles obtaining her Bachelors of Arts Degree and Georgetown University Law Center for her Juris Doctorate Degree. Debrenia has been a practicing public interest attorney for over two decades. She worked for the Oakland Board of Education as In-House Counsel for several years and subsequently as Assistant Legal Counsel / Managing Attorney for the San Francisco Housing Authority. In 1997 Debrenia became the Dean of New College of California School of Law in San Francisco, a public interest law school, where she was responsible for the administrative operations of the Law School for approximately eleven years. Since leaving New College in 2008 Debrenia has volunteered on several Bay Area Non Profit Boards and maintains a legal and mediation practice in Emeryville, California advising clients on contract and intellectual property issues. Debrenia and her siblings were care givers of their parents during the last years of their lives. Her father suffered dementia during the last stages of his life. Because of this experience Debrenia became an advocate for person centered elder care and comprehensive assistance for care givers.

Micheal Pope

Micheal Pope joined ASEB in 1997. She served as Program Director and Director of Development before becoming Executive Director in 2008. With a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from New Hampshire College and course work in City Planning and Urban Affairs at Boston University, Micheal has more than 20 years experience in health care management, with an emphasis in marketing. She is a board member of the California Culture Change Coalition Steering Council and a past member of the Long Term Care Steering Committee and the Service Review Advisory Committee/East Bay Paratransit. She has served on the board of Ombudsman, Inc., Alameda ,and is the past-president of the Board of the Contra Costa Child Care Council. In addition to her work at ASEB, she is Lay Leader at the Concord United Methodist Church. She also provides counseling and support to youth in foster care programs.

Micheal believes that everyone must contribute if change is to come about. Serving on the board and staff of ASEB is one of the greatest highlights of her life, an honor that brings meaning to her every day. Her two children, Milton and Jade, provide her with laughter, joy and growth from within. They are the source of her energy.

Reverend Sharon Stalkfleet

Reverend Sharon Stalkfleet joined the board of ASEB in the spring of 2010. She brings the knowledge and experience of leading an outreach ministry to 4 east bay nursing homes from local Lutheran congregations for six and a half years as well as sixteen years of practice as a registered nurse. Sharon has a special place in her heart for the elderly and disabled. She promotes the reality that the elderly and differently abled have much to share and keep us grounded in our humanity.

Sharon has a Master’s of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Iowa Wesleyan College. She has worked with survivors of domestic violence, people with AIDS, advocated for the rights of gay, lesbian and bisexual persons. She currently is working with the Racial Ethnic Ministry Group in her church. She and her partner Larell live in Alameda.

Wanda Wallis

Wanda Wallis is a realtor whose experience includes 25 years of outside and inside sales, including employment with several Fortune 500 companies. A deep concern for the welfare of seniors led her to become one of the few licensed realtors to earn the designation of Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) from the National Association of Realtors. Her understanding of the mature market enables her to educate and advise seniors on a wide range of housing options, and to aid them in making choices that will enhance their quality of life. Remax Accord honored Wanda as one of their top producers for 2008, 2009, and 2010. She is a member of the National Association of Realtors, Contra Costa Association of Realtors, and the Bay East Association of Realtors. She provides outstanding real estate and related services in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Solano Counties.

Wanda holds a BA in Communications and Business from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. She is very active in the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce , where she has served as Chairperson of the Ambassador Committee for the last seven years. She and her husband Larry Willies enjoy golfing, traveling, and simply enjoying quality time together. Their son, Diallo, recently joined Wanda in her business.