Peggy Padilla, COO

Ms. Padilla began her career in 1984 as the Human Resources Selection and Placement Coordinator with the Chicago Manufacturing Division of R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company, the world's premier full-service provider of print and related solutions. She relocated for a promotional opportunity to R.R. Donnelley's New York Financial Printing Division. In 1990, she relocated to the Bay Area and continued in Human Resources, first as the Human Resources Director at Leaseametric, Inc., a test and measurement instrumentation company. Peggy helped with the company's acquisition by General Electric. She transitioned to Working Assets Funding Service, a long-distance, Internet and credit card company that donates a portion of its revenues to politically active and philanthropic nonprofit groups. She left the business environment and focused on her family, yet continued to provide consultative services in Human Resources. This transitioned into Vice President of Human Resources for a start-up high tech consulting firm. With the downturn of the high tech world, Peggy moved to THX, Inc., to become their top HR professional. She became interested in the nonprofit world and when she interviewed with Chris Stoner-Mertz, President/CEO of LCC, she realized the amazing opportunity that was presented, with Chris leading the organization. She has her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Ethnic Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She also completed her Master's in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in psychometric testing, also from the University of Texas at Austin. She received scholarships to pursue her doctoral work at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Avo Tarakjian, CFO

Mr. Avo Tarakjian joined Lincoln Child Center in May 2011 and brings with him a wealth of financial, administrative and MIS expertise spanning 30 years.  Mr. Tarakjian has dedicated most of his career to non-profit organizations and served as the senior financial and administrative executive of Aviva Family and Children’s Services, Phoenix Houses of California, and Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services.  Having graduated Summa Cum Laude in Accounting from the University of La Verne, Avo has worked in almost every capacity in the finance realm.  He’s keenly aware of the current economic challenges and well experienced to manage them. 

Allison Becwar, Senior Director of School-based Service

Allison is the Senior Director of Lincoln Child Center’s School-based Services. She has been working with children and youth since she was a YMCA camp counselor in high school. After graduating from Miami University in 1996 with a major in Social Work and minor in Spanish, Allison worked at Wediko Children Services, a residential facility for children with severe emotional difficulties. This experience motivated her to focus on early intervention and prevention work so that families did not have to reach a crisis level before connecting with the resources they need. She then received her MSW from Aurora University in 2000 with an emphasis on school-based services. Allison found school-based work to be incredibly rewarding, viewing schools as the perfect setting to provide preventative and early intervention supports to children and youth and create a positive ripple effect with families, teachers, and the surrounding community. She began her relationship with Lincoln over 10 years ago as an ASW at Stonehurst Elementary in East Oakland. After 4 years of direct service, she accepted the role of Program Manager for the school-based programs in Contra Costa County. In 2010 she stepped into her newest role as Senior Director, overseeing Lincoln’s services at 18 schools in 2 counties. Allison strongly believes that people do the best they can with the resources they have. She sees her role as a partner to families, assisting them in breaking down barriers to needed supports while helping them discover their internal resources and strengths.

Tony Thurmond, Senior Director of Community-Based Programs

Tony Thurmond is an elected member of the Board of Trustees of the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Tony previously served on the Richmond City Council from 2005 to 2008. Tony currently works as Senior Director for Community Based Programs at an Oakland based non-profit that provides therapeutic supports to youth and families in foster care and school based settings. With more than 15 years of non-profit management experience, Tony has held leadership positions in Oakland, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, in agencies that focused on neighborhood revitalization, education, and youth development, and that serve emancipated foster youth and individuals with developmental disabilities. Tony has also directed a special services district in Marin City, CA and has served as a director of residential programs at the University of California, Berkeley. Tony is a member of the 2007 Class of the Annie E. Casey, Children and Families Fellowship. Tony received a BA in Psychology from Temple University and did his graduate work at Bryn Mawr College where he received dual Masters Degrees in Law and Social Policy and Social Work.

Callum Eastwood, Senior Director Intensive Services

Senior Director Intensive Services – Callum D. Eastwood, PsyD Following a ten year career as a marketing and developer support manager in the Silicon Valley high tech industry, Callum transitioned to a full time career in mental health, focusing upon addressing the needs of children and adolescents and their families. In over 15 years in the field, Callum has worked with children and youth in a variety of service settings, including community clinics, school-based programs, day treatment settings, and residential treatment. At Lincoln Child Center, Callum has held positions of residential clinician and Director of Training. Callum has published research in the area of secondary trauma and burnout among residential treatment staff, and has held an adjunct faculty position at California Institute of Integral Studies clinical doctoral program. Callum is a licensed clinical psychologist in California, receiving his doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2007. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University.

Nathaniel Foster, Director of Development

As the Director of Development, Nathaniel has had nearly a decade of experience in the non-profit Development world, working with local, national, and international organizations. He graduated from the University of Denver with a Business Degree and also has his Masters in Non-Profit Leadership from Seattle University. Through his experience working abroad, Nathaniel realized that an enormous challenge facing non-profits was that if funding would run out, they would then have to close down. He came to the conclusion that non-profits need to make sure that they do everything in their power to have diverse funding streams and a diverse constituency. Nathaniel enjoys working at Lincoln because it allows him to focus on the growth and sustainability of an incredible organization that both inspires and challenges him.

Nancy Oakley, Quality Improvement Director

Nancy L. Oakley, MA Counseling Psychology Ms. Oakley received her Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University in 1993; she received her baccalaureate degree from San Francisco State University in 1984 with an emphasis in English literature. Ms. Oakley entered the field of children's mental health and social service provision in 2001 after managing several bookstores in Colorado and California (including Cody's Books in Berkeley). During her first year of employment with Lincoln Child Center as the Social Worker for the Kinship Support Services Program officer in Hayward, she led the re-accreditation process for KSSP with Council on Accreditation and became interested in best practices driving the care for children. She moved into Quality Improvement at LCC in the fall of 2005--a field she enjoys because each day is a challengingly different.

Macheo Payne, Director of Training

As the Director of Training, Macheo has 15 years experience as a skilled trainer and facilitator. He spent several years as a national trainer for the Children's Defense Fund's Child Policy Training Institute, training thousands of teaching interns nationally. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Macheo also holds an MSW from Cal State East Bay and is currently a doctoral student in SFSU's Educational Leadership program. Macheo has experience working directly with youth as a coordinator for Leadership Excellence, then as the Oakland Youth Commission coordinator for the City of Oakland, then a founding Director of the Youth UpRising youth center in east Oakland before coming to Lincoln Child Center as the Program Director for a school-based mental health program at an OUSD alternative middle school.