BIANCA BANKS
Board Chair
Bianca Banks is an entrepreneur, community outreach advisor, consultant and philanthropist with over 25 years of experience in pharmacy and pharmaceutical service. She is the pharmacy/business coordinator for Intra World Wide of America, Inc., a company that operates as the parent company to retail pharmacies within the southeast Los Angeles area.
Banks’ father established Intra World Wide of America, Inc. in the late 1960s. Banks continues her active support of her family's legacy and business while also collaborating and partnering with other community providers to establish future pharmaceutical and discharge service programs, focusing on the underserved population.
Banks is responsible for developing and launching the first-ever discharge program at St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles. In 2020, she launched her radio show, in which she and her daughter discuss a variety of topics. “Our goal is to raise awareness and have healthy conversations that focus on generational perspectives,” says Banks, who has served on various hospital boards and foundations within the Los Angeles area.
Banks has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Xavier University of Louisiana, dual Master of Arts degrees from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and is a distinguished alumnus recipient from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy in St. Louis, Missouri.”
DANA MARTIN
Vice Board Chair
Dana Martin is a home care advocate and former owner of the Seniors Helping Seniors Home Care Agency.
For over five years, she has been on the Harbor Community Health Center’s board of directors. She also has experience in the import/export industry.
As a life-time San Pedro resident and graduate of San Pedro High School, she attended Harbor Community College and has taken a wide variety of courses that include certification for U.S. Import Tariffs, homecare practices, accounting and more. In her spare time, Martin enjoys music and boating.
IDA TAYLOR
Secretary
Giving back to the community through volunteerism has been a lifelong passion for Ida Taylor. She is a charter member of the Carson branch of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc., a national women’s community service organization with branches in over 120 cities. Through her church, she is also a member of The Order of the Daughters of the King, an international Christian outreach organization.
Additionally, Taylor served on the Women's Congressional Advisory Council for 10 years and volunteered for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 39 years. For 11 years, until 2019, Taylor was president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Federated Auxiliary 8 in Wilmington. She was also president of the ILWU Federated Auxiliaries for the entire West Coast for two terms, 2015 through 2019.
Her occupational background has included working for the Danica furniture company in San Pedro for 15 years and five years for Nippon Shuppan Hanbai USA, a Japanese publishing company. Taylor moved to San Pedro from Pueblo, Colorado in 1968 and graduated from San Pedro High School in 1969. She has been married 54 years and is the mother of four daughters.
CHAD SPARKS, MD
Treasurer
Dr. Chad Sparks has a multifaceted history of medical experience, highlighted by his service in the U.S. Navy. Following medical school, he served as an internal medicine physician for seven years and oversaw inpatient and ambulatory care at the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital as the Chair of Internal Medicine. Additionally, he was a leader for quality improvement as the “Clinical Champion” for several population health measures and served on numerous hospital committees.
He also completed a deployment to Kuwait. Following his military tour of duty, Dr. Sparks practiced as a hospitalist physician for the Veterans Health Administration and subsequently at community hospitals. He also has experience in managed care doing utilization management for California Medicaid and TRICARE, a government-based healthcare program that provides civilian health benefits for U.S military personnel and retirees.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Dr. Sparks was an assistant professor of medicine. He is also currently on the Western Territory Advisory Board for the Salvation Army.
Dr. Sparks received his medical doctorate from the University of Hawaii and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA.
JANE CASTILLO
Board Member
Jane Castillo, a Los Angeles native, is a REALTOR® for Keller Williams – L.A. Harbor. Inspired by buying and remodeling her first home with her husband, she came to real estate from the art world and the field of education. Applying artistic vision to her own properties has resulted in a vast array of experience in the restoration of historic properties for the National Register of Historic Places, the renovation process, vacation rentals, and of course, buying and selling properties.
Castillo’s work transforming spaces sharpened her eye for seeing the potential in a home and has enabled her to find creative solutions for each client’s needs. Being bilingual in English and Spanish, along with a background in teaching, gives her a keen ability to guide, listen and respond to client needs, as does her familiarity with Los Angeles geography, neighborhoods and resources.
Jane is published in the international bestselling book, Becoming a Local Leader. She was recently chosen to join the new Keller Williams Sports & Entertainment Division while serving on the Keller Williams Agent Leadership Council and teaching in her office. She holds various special designations and titles that include certified probate real estate specialist, first-time homebuyer specialist, senior real estate agent and new home specialist.
Castillo enjoys serving the community in various capacities and has served on her neighborhood council as a neighborhood watch block captain. “My mom used to take my brother and me to the neighborhood health center for our immunizations for school,” says Castillo. “I directly benefitted from this experience then as a little girl, and now I get to give back to this health center [Harbor Community Healthcare Center] as an adult.”
In her spare time, Castillo and her husband also enjoy rescuing, fostering and finding homes for rabbits for local rabbit rescue organizations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in art education from California State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from Claremont Graduate University.
MIKE LANSING
Board Member
Mike Lansing is a San Pedro native and resident, and a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. He began his 17-year education career at San Pedro’s Holy Trinity and Mary Star High School. In 1988, he founded the San Pedro Youth Coalition (SPYC), a volunteer organization that continues to support the youth of San Pedro and advocate for their needs.
Enhancing his volunteerism, Lansing has served as founder and president of the SPYC board, as well as a board member for Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital and Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes, all while continuing to serve on the Harbor Community Health Center board.
Since 1995, one of Lansing’s special accomplishments is being the executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor (BGCLAH), the largest private child development agency in the South Bay. As an alumnus of the club, Lansing also served on its board of directors for three years and was previously elected to serve two terms on the District 7 Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
During his executive director tenure at BGCLAH, the club has increased the number of youths served by twenty-fold at 21 sites in the Los Angeles Harbor area. It has also expanded ways to help the community raise successful youth through programs such as College Bound, the Education 1st Program and Comprehensive Arts Programming.
MARJORIE LUNT
Board Member
Marjorie Lunt is a retired registered nurse with a varied 45-year history working in both New York and California. As Lunt describes it, she has done “good old fashioned bedside nursing” and was also an emergency department supervisor. Additionally, she conducted supervision and management in an outpatient, university-affiliated urology practice.
Since retiring from nursing in 2006 after being a case manager with UnitedHealthcare for 10 years, Lunt has been doing some part-time home health nursing supervision.
Lunt earned her nursing degree from Northeastern University in Boston followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Health from Hunter College in New York and a Master of Arts in Health Education from New York University.
As a dedicated healthcare professional, Lunt’s earnest goals are simple. “I have always prided myself in being a strong patient advocate. In retirement I have become very involved with two charities that I hold dear,” she says, “and I am eager to offer what I can to promote good medical care as well as easy access in my community.”
DEBORAH OLSON
Board Member
Deborah Olson, a South Bay native, has been on the Harbor Community Health Center (HCHC) board of directors for over 10 years.
As one of six children, Olson grew up in Torrance. Her parents were very much involved in the local school and city. Her father was the founder of the South Bay girls’ softball team, and her mother was a PTA president for many years in the Torrance Unified School District.
Olson came to HCHC because she wanted to give back and contribute something to her community. As a resident of San Pedro, she saw a great need for healthcare and housing for the homeless, as well as the need for recovery programs for substance abuse addicts.
Olson and her family feed the homeless on Thanksgiving, an annual commitment that is one example of her dedication. “That's how I give back,” she says, “and I plan on staying and helping this community in the future.”
JULIE VAN WERT
Board Member
Julie Van Wert is an attorney with over 29 years of experience specializing in insurance coverage and litigation, and the defense of professional liability matters against lawyers and other professionals. She also defends employment-related matters, including wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment claims.
Van Wert started her legal career in the public interest arena, primarily in the area of children’s rights and advocacy for the homeless, and in insurance coverage practice representing policyholders. As her legal practice evolved, she started representing insurers in intricate and complicated coverage disputes with an emphasis on professional liability, employment practices liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, technology and media liability, and commercial general liability matters. Van Wert's breadth of experience makes her uniquely adept at bringing complicated and contested matters to resolution.
In representing lawyers, law firms and other professionals, Van Wert is a passionate advocate for her clients and has achieved success through an aggressive and efficient litigation practice paired with a commitment to exploring all avenues of early resolution.
In the area of employment and labor, Van Wert has successfully defended employers in matters arising out of all aspects of federal and state employment laws, including wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment claims.
Van Wert’s California admissions include the U.S. District Court, Central District of California; U.S. District Court, Southern District of California; and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is also a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and National Association of Women Lawyers.
Van Wert has a Bachelor of Arts in English, High Honors in Major, from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of California, Los Angeles.
ALAN WEINFELD
Board Member
Attorney Alan Weinfeld’s legal practice specializes in trust and estate and business litigation. He has represented clients in a wide range of trust and estate and business litigation matters, including business torts and shareholder disputes, trustees and beneficiaries in trust administration and trust and estate litigation.
Mr. Weinfeld’s legal accomplishments include obtaining a summary judgment awarding more than $2 million in insurance proceeds to a trustee of a trust for members of a famous Hollywood family; successfully defending a trustee of a trust set up by an iconic author against petition by a claimed beneficiary of trust; and obtaining a summary judgment completely dismissing business tort claims seeking $1.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Mr. Weinfeld has a Bachelor of Arts in political science with a specialization in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of California, Berkeley.
He was also honored as a “rising star” for four consecutive years by Southern California Super Lawyers, an organization that recognizes top lawyers through a patented multiphase selection process involving peer nomination, independent research and peer evaluation. He has also published The Right of Occupancy, California Lawyer, Vol. 35, No. 9 (September 2015) as discussed in Quezada v. Ramirez (2d App. District, June 16, 2017) Court of Appeal Case No. B272093, 2017 WL 2609539.