Our Team

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Program Director
lisa.putkey@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133 ext. 150

Lisa is excited to be back in her home county working for the health and wellbeing of fellow LGBTQ+ community as the Program Director of the San Mateo County Pride Center. She has previously worked as a Peace Studies teacher, program administrator, community organizer, youth program coordinator, and union representative. She is pansexual, polyamorous and has experience creating and facilitating curriculum and trainings on gender diversity, queer liberation, anti-oppression, peace and environmental justice. Lisa has collaborated with multi-issue, multi-generational activists and educators nationally and internationally to organize peace and justice conferences, workshops, trainings, direct actions and demonstrations focused on amplifying youth and community voices omitted from mainstream narratives. She received her masters in Peace Education from the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica and a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies for the University of California at Berkeley.

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Clinical Program Coordinator
catherine.haueter@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133 ext. 147

Catherine “Cat” Haueter, a native of San Mateo County, has known she wanted go into counseling ever since she learned what a therapist was at 10 years old. She comes to us from Pyramid Alternatives where, since 2014, she has served the community’s mental health needs by providing therapy to individuals, couples and families, in addition to leading groups for domestic violence offenders, teaching classes on Nurturing Parenting, and working with transitional age youth around trauma and substance use. Other relevant experience includes facilitating therapy groups for teens in the Inpatient Adolescent Behavior Health unit at Mills Hospital in San Mateo, providing telephone counseling for StarVista’s San Mateo Crisis Line, and assisting with research on complex trauma in children and adolescents through UCSF Child and Adolescent Services at San Francisco General Hospital. Cat is a proud alumna of the Wright Institute in Berkeley, a program she selected for its strong social justice approach to mental health. Her clinical specialities include couples and intimate partner work, family therapy, nonmonogamy and polyamory, sex therapy, and BDSM/kink. In her down-time, Cat enjoys cooking, making art, playing her ukulele, petting friendly dogs, laughing with friends and family until her ribs hurt, and taking time to leave technology behind and venture into nature, especially redwood forests. Cat is thrilled to be working at the new Pride Center and serving her LGBTQ+ community.

Advocate and educator, Ellyn brings over twenty years of experience working in community based, non-profit organizations serving the needs of disabled and aging adults. Ellyn has assisted older adult community members in finding affordable housing by locating available resources to support services for eviction defense, healthcare, employment, and mental health counseling. Ellyn also coordinated Friendly Visiting and Senior Peer Counseling Programs where LGBT community members were matched with volunteers to help overcome isolation and create community connections and additional support. She has been a certified long-term care administrator (RCFE) at the Home for Jewish Parents and a guest lecturer in the gerontology department at San Francisco State University. The former Social Services Manager at Openhouse, Ellyn has assisted hundreds of LGBT older adults with accessing aging and community resources and services.  A resident of Foster City, Ellyn considers herself a lifelong learner, curious, and growing day by day.

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Training and Peer Group Coordinator
andres.loyola@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133 ext. 151 or 650-733-4991

Andres Loyola is a proud Bay Area Native from the city of Oakland, CA. Andres is the Peer Support Worker here with the San Mateo County Pride Center. In this role, Andres provides knowledge and experience, and emotional, social and practical support to clients and program participants. A big believer in Social Justice, Andres supports intersectional social movements across the globe and uses their Spanish to provide services to a larger community. Andres is a qualified Cultural Worker and holds a B.A. Degree in Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara. On their time off, Andres likes to read novels and go for hikes around the SF Bay Area.

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Lead Case Manager & Clinical Data Coordinator
alex.golding@sanmateopride.org
650-465-6795

Born and raised in Fremont, Alex has lived in the Bay Area his entire life. Driven by his passion and dedication to help improve the lives and well-being of fellow LGBTQIA+ individuals, Alex earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Santa Clara University in 2016. Since then, he has gained valuable experience serving local community-based nonprofits and has specialized in work with homeless and at-risk youth. As the Pride Center’s Case Manager, and a member of the queer community himself, Alex brings his knowledge, enthusiasm, and creativity to the forefront of his work. By cultivating the unique strengths and abilities of the those under his care, and by connecting them to any resources and services they may need, he aims to help individuals achieve wellness and autonomy while meeting their goals. Outside of work, Alex enjoys unwinding by spending time with his loving partner and family; staying fit through yoga, dance, and kickboxing; rocking out on the drums; and binge watching his favorite shows with his cat.

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Administrative Specialist
lowellyn.sunga@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133

Lowellyn Sunga (She/Her or They/Them) resides in San Bruno, CA with her partner. She has various years in customer service as well as administrative skills in her professional background. Her experience with a life-changing event a few years ago allowed her to look at the world through a different lens. She realized that she wanted to give back to her community and help people in any way possible. She works at the San Mateo Country Pride Center as an Administrative Specialist where she can interact with visitors and guests with her easy-going personality. As part of the LGBTQ+ community, she is extremely excited to get to know folks of all ages that walk into the Pride Center. During her free time, she enjoys listening to all types of music and spending time with her family and friends.

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Development Associate & Grant Writer 
ivon.hernandez@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133  ext. 252

Ivón came with the passion and the determination to be a part of the Center’s continued success in San Mateo County. She was born and raised in the city of San Mateo and feels privileged to have attended the local schools; all the while, recognizing the lack of an LGBTQ+ space growing up. In their role as Grant Writer/Development Associate, they feel galvanized to assure sustainability and longevity of the first Pride Center in the Peninsula!

They see this role as an opportunity to be at the forefront of community organizing to assure a safer space for the LGBTQ+ community in the county. Ivón remembers when the fire in their belly started to form for community organizing, they were taught early on that “El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido” [The village united will never be defeated], and that is something that has stuck with her community and labor organizing background. She sees this opportunity to assure funding for the Center as a contribution to a movement of more visibility and care for the LGBTQ+ community and an opportunity to create spaces for peoples’ intersectional identities.

Ivón is elated to be working with the Pride Center staff and being surrounded by wonderful members of the community. They hold a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley.  On their time off, Ivón enjoys cycling all over the Bay Trail, outdoor runs with her Brother, swimming, being Tía Bón to her nieces and nephew and foraging the Bay for new “unhealthy” vegan foods.

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Mental Health Clinician
alina.labrador@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133 ext. 244
Marriage and Family Therapist
Supervised by Ralph Notor, #35208

Alina is a queer, polyamorous Puerto Rican graduate student with a diverse background in industrial design, creative writing, and publishing. They are a San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI) Certified Sex Educator, has worked as a health educator and trainer for youth-service professionals, and is a volunteer speaker and panelist on topics of consent, polyamory, and gender diversity.

They hold a BA in English and are completing a Masters in Clinical Psychology at Norte Dame de Namur University. They gravitate towards harm reductions, person-centered therapy, and serving marginalized folk, including gender diverse, nonmonogamous, and BDSM/kink clients.

Alina fills their spare time with thrift-store adventures, fantasy paperbacks, climbing, and things that involve power tools. They like typography and food science, and dislike horror movies and asparagus.

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Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee
menchun.wong@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133 ext. 243
Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee
Supervised by Ralph Notor, #35208

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Youth Program Coordinator
america.yamaguchi@sanmateopride.org
650-591-0133 ext. 148

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Community Outreach Coordinator
marilyn.fernando@sanmateopride.org
650-465-6789

Men Chun is a Hong Kong Chinese, born in The Netherlands, who is determined to make a difference in the communities, and extended communities he identifies with. He has lived in and around the Bay Area for over 15 years. His passion for the creative process, and curiosity for human psychology steered him towards obtaining a BA in Psychology and Art from UC Davis. He is currently working on his Master’s in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Expressive Arts at JFK University in Pleasant Hill. He started training with Star-Vista’s Crisis Center last year, while working with children and youth struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and self-harm. At the Pride Center, Men Chun hopes to gain experience with a wider variety of the population in categories such as age, LGBTQ+, and any intersectional identities that come with them. While also trained in traditional psychological approaches as a foundation, he believes Expressive Arts Therapy can be a perfect holistic modality for working with the LGBTQ+ community, known for their expression of colors, resilience, diversity, and strengths. Furthermore, when working with individuals, groups, couples, and families, Men Chun follows the Pride Center’s lead by using a strengths-based, and client-centered application of therapeutic interventions. He is extremely thrilled to be a part of a community center that embodies the resilience, strengths, and beauties of the communities they serve.

America Yamaguchi (they/them/theirs) was born and raised in San Mateo County and has a genuine love for their home-region. They come to us from Adolescent Counseling Services, Outlet Program where they function as the Youth Program Coordinator. They facilitate peer support groups for youth ages 10-25, and the leadership development group: the Youth Action Board. They also support local high school and middle school clubs, students, faculty, and staff. They do not have a college degree, but have a life-long love of learning and believe firmly in taking the opportunities presented to them. Through such opportunities, they have worked in academic research in botany and ecology, taught lower division laboratories, and participated competitively in intercollegiate speech and debate. They have also worked in the local educational systems working primarily with youth from Transitional Kindergarten through 8th grade, and at a college-aged LGBTQ+ resource center. To relax, America loves to nerd out with their partner playing table top board games (but NOT Monopoly!), roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, and card games like Magic the Gathering. That, and hang out with other peoples’ pets at parties.

Marilyn is the Community Outreach Coordinator for the San Mateo County Pride Center. She is a First-Generation Filipina-American who graduated with BA in Women and Gender Studies from San Francisco State University in 2017. She has been an organizer with the San Francisco Dyke March for the past 5 years and have served as the co-chair for the past 2 years. Her experience as an organizer with the Dyke March and my identity as a QWOC have emphasized my devotion to creating safe, accessible and inclusive spaces for Queer folks to gather and build community. She is originally from Salinas and moved to San Francisco almost 10 years ago. If the Golden Girls were zodiac placements, she describe herself as a Rose Sun, Blanche Moon & Rose/Dorothy cusp rising. Outside of work, you can find her karaoking to George Michael, watching cooking shows, and thrifting or re-watching episodes of Bob’s Burgers on her spare time.