Policy and Advocacy

Seneca is committed to informing and improving the local, state and federal systems that serve children and families. For decades, Seneca has drawn upon lessons learned in providing Unconditional Care to children and families to drive public policy change at the local, state, and at times the federal level. Our advocacy work takes many forms, from attending county Board of Supervisors meetings, sponsoring state legislation, participating in state-level advisory councils and workgroups, and participating in advocacy coalitions.

Seneca’s long history and proven commitment to the children and families in our programs, paired with our large geographic reach, gives us a “seat at the table” in many policy advocacy conversations about reforming family-serving care systems. However, we are, first and foremost, a direct care agency committed to supporting families through the most difficult times in their lives. Our policy advocacy work seeks to achieve reforms that will best support the children and families we serve and our program staff who are doing the critical work of providing unconditional care Our efforts to inform public policy should always be substantively informed by the voice, experience, and need of the dedicated program staff working across Seneca sites, and the youth and families in our programs.

Clink on the following links to learn more about:

Seneca’s Policy Priorities 2023-2024

Current Projects and Policy Resources

Advocating in Partnership

Seneca leverages our policy impact by working in coalition with other nonprofit care providers. In California, Seneca is a member of two advocacy organizations: California Alliance for Child and Family Services and California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies. On the national level, Seneca advocates as a part of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.

If you are an employee of Seneca, you are also a member of these three advocacy organizations. Check out their websites for updated information on state and federal reform work related to Seneca programs!

If you are a Seneca staff person or a current or past program participant, and would like to connect about our policy work, please find our policy teams’ contact information below. We hope to hear from you!

Esperanza Ocegueda, Policy Advocate, at [email protected]
Patricia Gish, Policy Analyst, at [email protected]
Emily Allison, Chief Strategy Officer, at [email protected]

TOSHIA COOPER

[email protected]

Where you received your degree and/or any certifications you all have

Bachelors of Science, Business Administration

Concentration: Marketing

San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Master of Arts, Counseling

Concentration: School Psychology

Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA

Where you began your career and what brought you to work at Seneca

I started out my professional career working as an account manager for Kaiser, because I thought I wanted to be the high-powered businesswoman that you see in the movies. That all changed when my younger cousin (like me, also raised by my grandmother) struggled with the absence of her parents. In turn, she exhibited externalizing behaviors that continued to escalate, and none of the support staff assigned to her knew what to do. I stepped in to support since my grandmother had no clue what to do with her either, and we eventually agreed during a family IEP meeting she required a higher level of care to unpack the layers of trauma she had experienced, and she landed at James Baldwin Academy, a Seneca NPS program.

Her and I were on a journey together to change the trajectory of her future, and I was committed to supporting her the entire way. That was my first introduction to Seneca, engaging in that level of therapeutic work and experiencing firsthand someone's ability to reshape their future with the right support in place, when the system is designed to support no matter your circumstance, and when people are committed to your success. It was life changing, for the both of us. From there, I ended up working at JBA as a mental health counselor in 2009, and the rest is history!

Why Seneca’s mission is important to you

I have an unwavering commitment to leading for equity, which embodies the values of both Unconditional Care and Unconditional Education. At Seneca I am able to engage in transforming unfavorable situations impacted by various systems into positive outcomes for the students, families, and communities we serve by challenging, disrupting, and transforming systems to support equity and inclusion for all. I am able to advocate for education and mental health services to be designed to accelerate progress and close the educational achievement gaps experienced by students from low-income communities, students of color, and students enrolled in special education programs. The cherry on top is that I get to do this work while pouring back into our most underserved and under-resourced communities, which happen to be the same communities that raised and shaped me! Seneca’s commitment to doing whatever it takes to disconfirm previous experiences of institutional harm, simply put, is my passion and my life’s work.

What is/are things that you like to do outside of work

I love being a wife and mom! My 6-year-old is amazing, and I enjoy watching him learn, grow, and explore the world all while being proud to be his most authentic self.

Dion Aroner

Dion Aroner began her professional career as a county social worker with the Alameda County Social Services Agency in 1967, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. Dion had the opportunity to work with families receiving assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, with seniors and the disabled in the Old Age Security (OAS) program, now called SSI/SSP, as well as with single men and women receiving the county assistance program known as General Assistance.

Concurrently, Dion was active in the Social Services Union Local 535, a statewide union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union. Eventually she became the President of Local 535 – the first woman and youngest person to serve in that position.

In 1972 Dion left county service to join the campaign of Tom Bates who was running for an open seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. With Tom’s successful election, Dion returned to county service but as an Executive Assistant to then Supervisor Tom Bates. She established the first constituent services program at the Board and staffed the County Arts Commission during the development of 1% for the arts in new county buildings. When Tom ran for the California State Assembly in 1976, Dion joined him first as his District Administrative Assistant before moving to the State Capitol to become Chief Consultant to the Assembly Human Services committee which Tom chaired at the time. Dion served as Chief of Staff to Tom’s personal staff at the same time until he was termed out in 1996.

Dion succeeded Tom as the Assemblywoman from the 14^th Assembly district in 1996 representing the East Bay cities of Richmond, Hercules, Pinole, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont and North and West Oakland. Dion became the Chair of the Assembly Human Services (HS) committee and led the state’s efforts to adapt our programs to federal “welfare reform” passed by President Clinton in 1996, developing the most progressive response in the country. In addition to chairing the HS committee, Dion sat on the Assembly Budget, Appropriations, Revenue and Taxation committees, among others. She also held a leadership position and chaired the Assembly Democratic Caucus in her last two years in office.

In 2002, Good Housekeeping magazine honored Dion with the prestigious “Award for Women in Government” along with United States Senators Olympia Snowe and Barbara Mikulski.

After being termed out in 2002, Dion became the Legislator-In-Residence both at U.C. Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and the Center for Labor Research and Education at the Institute of Industrial Relations. At the same time, she opened her own lobbying firm with two of her former staffers. While no longer a lobbyist, Dion continues to consult with clients in the caring professions. She is a frequent speaker on public issues, including California’s budget and local impacts.

Dion has been a member of Seneca’s Board of Directors for many years and serves as the Board’s Secretary. In addition, she is a member of the Women’s Foundation of California Board of Directors and has had the privilege of chairing their Women’s Policy Institute’s annual mock legislative hearing. Most recently Dion was appointed by the Senate Pro Tem to sit on the Little Hoover Commission, a statewide body that studies critical issues facing California and makes recommendations to the Legislature and the Administration to improve the quality of state programs.

Dion lives in Berkeley with her husband, David Aroner, and is a parent of two children and a grandparent to four wonderful kids.

Jeff Davi

Jeff Davi is a real estate broker with many years of experience in the real estate field. He is a Broker with Keller Williams in Carmel where he works as a member of the Monterey Peninsula Home Team on real estate sales and he is also a principal at A.G. Davi Property Management which has been a family owned and operated company for three generations. Jeff has significant experience in real estate sales residential and commercial, leasing, management, and financing.

It wasn’t by luck or accident that Jeff Davi became the 22nd Commissioner of Real Estate for the State of California, he earned it. “Double Deuce”, as he is affectionately called by his former colleagues, has over 28 years of experience in real estate sales, leasing, management and financing. He has been a licensed California real estate broker since 1992. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for the California Association of REALTORS®, selected REALTOR® of the year by his peers and served as president of the Monterey County Association of REALTORS®. His experience in real estate has spanned everything from selling real estate to managing his family real estate business to serving as an industry regulator. As Real Estate Commissioner, he was instrumental in passing legislation that help better protect consumers from unscrupulous loan modification schemes.

Jeff has served as a Chairman of the Board of REInfoLink now known as MlsListings. He also served as president of the Economic Development Corporation of Monterey County, was a co-founder of the Affordable Housing Steering Council of Monterey County and was on the founding board of directors of the Monterey County Visitor and Convention Bureau.

But….. he most proud of his family and his community. He is a third generation Monterey Peninsula native and as a caring member of that community he has raised millions for non-profit boards, schools and foundations throughout Monterey County. Jeff currently serves as a Board member of Seneca family of Agencies which is dedicated to providing a family, education and opportunities to children in need. He has given freely of his time, reputation and money to help support those things that make the Monterey Peninsula such a special place.

Just ask him what he loves about his home, obviously it is the natural beauty, the fabulous weather and the resort atmosphere but even more than that, Jeff says his real love is the people in this very special community.

Neil Gilbert

Neil Gilbert is the Milton and Gertrude Chernin Professor of Social Welfare and Social Services. Dr. Gilbert is director of the Center for Comparative Family Welfare and Poverty Research and was the founding director of the Family Welfare Research Group.

Dr. Gilbert served as the School's acting dean (1994-96) as well as chair of the doctoral program for a five-year period. His University service has included posts as vice-chair and chair of the Berkeley Senate Faculty's Graduate Council, and membership on the Senate Divisional Council, the Committee on Privilege and Tenure, the Statewide Senate Faculty Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs, the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, the Committee on Committees, the Committee on International Education and the L & S Executive Committee.

Additionally, Dr. Gilbert was a senior research fellow at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva. He was a recipient of the Senior Fulbright Research Fellowship, which enabled him to study the changing structure of social services in the British welfare state. He has served as a visiting Fulbright lecturer at Tel Aviv University. He was awarded a second Fulbright Fellowship to study European Social Policy as a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science and at the University of Stockholm Social Research Institute. In 1993 and 1997, Dr. Gilbert served as a visiting scholar at the International Social Security Association in Geneva. In 2010 he was a visiting scholar at Oxford University Department of Social Policy and was a visiting professor at the University of Hamburg in 2016 and in 2020 a visiting professor at the Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia in Madrid.

His numerous publications include 15 books, 18 edited volumes and over 145 articles that have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, The American Interest, The Atlantic and leading academic journals. Several of his books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Italian. His book, Capitalism and the Welfare State (Yale University Press) was a New York Times notable book and also reviewed in the New York Review of Books. His 1995 book, Welfare Justice: Restoring Social Equity (Yale University Press) was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Partisan Review and The Washington Times. In 2002, Transformation of the Welfare State (Oxford University Press) was reviewed in the New York Review of Books, The New Republic and well-known academic journals. His 2008 book, A Mother's Work: How Feminism, the Market and Policy Shape Family Life (Yale University Press), was reviewed in the Atlantic Monthly. His most recent book is Never Enough: Capitalism and The Progressive Spirit (Oxford University Press). Vanguard essays adapted from this work have been published in The American Interest(link is external) and The (link is external)Atlantic Magazine(link is external).

Dr. Gilbert has served on many editorial boards, including Journal of Social Policy (British), Social Work, The Journal of Social Service Research, Children and Youth Services Review and Gender Issues. He chairs the editorial board of the International Journal of Social Welfare and is co-editor of the Prentice Hall Series in Social Welfare, the Praeger Publication Series on the Social Services, Oxford University Press series on International Policy Exchange. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford University Press Library on International Social Policy.

Dr. Gilbert was the US Delegate to Oxford University Press for Social Work and Sociology, served on the board of trustees of the Head-Royce School and is chairman of the board of Seneca Family of Agencies. In 1987, he was awarded the University of Pittsburgh Bicentennial Medallion of Distinction. In 2000 he was voted the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare Teacher of the Year.