CAPK Executive Leadership Team
Jeremy T. Tobias
Chief Executive Officer
Jeremy Tobias joined Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) in January 2009 as the Chief Executive Officer. Under Jeremy’s leadership, the agency has grown substantially and provides a variety of needed services to low-income individuals and families in Kern County, as well as a number of other counties in California. CAPK employs more than 900 individuals and Jeremy leads an executive team that oversees 17 major programs and services with an annual operating budget of approximately $100 million.
Jeremy graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Geography and Planning and he began his career in Delano, CA as City Manager and in Shafter, CA as Assistant City Manager. Jeremy’s wealth of experience and leadership qualities have had a major impact on CAPK and its ability to serve more than 100,000 of the most vulnerable residents on an annual basis, and help them to overcome obstacles, become more self-sufficient and achieve their version of the American dream.
Louis Gill
Chief Program Officer
Louis joined us in February 2023 after leading Bethany Services, Inc., as the CEO, currently known as Open Door Network, for twenty-one years. His impactful work with individuals experiencing homelessness and domestic violence, along with his substantial experience as a non-profit leader and overseeing a staff of nearly 200, speaks for itself. Louis is also one of the most experienced local experts on Rapid Rehousing and incorporating shelter-based child development services in the community.
Other accomplishments under Louis’ leadership include:
- Creating and operating Discovery Depot, the first licensed childcare facility in a homeless center in California
- Encouraging BHC board members to take over the management of The Alliance Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault when it faced a funding crisis and was in danger of shutting its doors
- Developing Small Steps Child Development Center at Alliance to provide preschool and support to children who are victims of sexual assault or who have witnessed domestic violence
- Traveling to Harvard University in 2015 to present BHC’s Job Development Program as an innovative, scalable program at the American Roundtable to Abolish Homelessness.
- Substantial growth in both organizations: revenue increased from $654,684 in 2000 to a combined revenue of almost $10 million in 2021; staff increased from 16 employees to 183
- Partnering with the City of Delano to open a domestic violence shelter to serve Delano, Pixley, Earlimart, Ducor, Lost Hills, Wasco, Tulare, Alpaugh, Tipton, Richgrove, and McFarland
In 2013, Louis received the distinction of a Senate appointment to the State of California Domestic Violence Advisory Council. Louis also served on California State University, Bakersfield’s Department of Social Work Advisory Board.
Louis received a Bachelor of Art in Spanish from San Francisco State University and a Master of Nonprofit Administration from University of San Francisco. He began his nonprofit service career in the Mission District.
Perhaps his greatest role is that of husband and father. Louis has been married to Kate Gill for 23 years. Together, they have 21-year-old Nolan, and twin 19-year-old daughters, Kiera and Bridget.
Tracy Webster
Chief Financial Officer
Tracy Webster has been the Chief Financial Officer for Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) since 2018. She is responsible for overseeing a budget of approximately $100 million combining roughly 80 federal, state, and local funding sources to serve high risk populations in the communities of Kern, San Joaquin, and San Bernardino counties. Tracy also oversees CAPK’s Finance and Operations departments and has played an integral role in the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, developing a robust set of agency protocols to ensure the safety of staff, clients, and the community. She has more than 20 years’ experience in non-profit and governmental accounting, including serving at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS), and the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District (P-BVUSD). One of Tracy’s signature achievements was securing the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting during her time at Panama-Buena Vista. Only three other school districts in the State of California were able to achieve that distinction. Tracy holds a Master’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting as well as a Chief Business Officer Certificate.
Pritika Ram
Chief Business Development Officer
Pritika Ram spearheads the development of agency-level initiatives, new service lines and expansion of existing programs in partnership with the CAPK leadership teams as the agency’s Chief Business Development Officer. This includes organizing and coordinating the work of grant analysts, outreach, advocacy, and government relations. Pritika also coordinates Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA), National Performance Standards, Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and data reporting, and provides oversight of program services, such as the 2-1-1 Call Center, CAPK Foundation, school-based case management services, and leads new initiatives, special projects, and agency fundraising.
Pritika has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Health Care Management, both from California State University Bakersfield. She came to CAPK five years ago from another large non-profit agency in Kern County.
Pritika is proud of the work CAPK does every day and knows the Agency’s fast response times to those in need allow us to meet clients “where they are.” The staff members really do drive the mission of the organization because of their focus, expertise, and commitment to serving the community.
Yolanda Gonzales
Director of Head Start/State Child Development
Yolanda Gonzales is the Director of CAPK’s Head Start/State Child Development program. She is a veteran executive who has served the agency for more than 37 years and is responsible for providing leadership and guidance to early childhood education program teams across Kern and San Joaquin counties and ensuring full compliance with both federal and state regulations.
She works tirelessly to ensure that all children receive high-quality services and the chance to reach their highest potential through life-long learning.
Yolanda’s biggest accomplishment and greatest pride comes from knowing that she makes a difference in the lives of Head Start families and children by allowing them to access high quality, early childhood education. Learning about the success stories from our past families and children shared with her makes her proud of the work she and her team do at CAPK.
Yolanda’s background is focused on the field of Early Childhood Education, with a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development.
Susana Magana
Director of Health & Nutrition Services
Susana Magana serves as the Director of Health and Nutrition and oversees CAPK’s Migrant Childcare Program, Women, Infant & Children Program (WIC), Cal Fresh Healthy Living Program, Central Kitchen and the Food Bank. She has been with Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) since November 2004. Susana was hired as a Subsidized Reimbursement Specialist for the Migrant Childcare Program (MCAP). She quickly moved into the Subsidized Reimbursement Coordinator position and then Program Administrator, where she was able to grow the program from $5.3 million dollars to $27 million dollars.
One of Susana’s signature achievements was being named migrant expert on Senate Bill 393 authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado. She testified at several committee hearings and was instrumental in getting this bill passed. The bill was signed by Governor Newsom October 5, 2021 and changed Welfare Code language to provide additional administrative funding for the MCAP contract to fulfill the accessibility and linguistic needs of the migrant community throughout California.
Susana holds a degree in psychology and is currently working towards a degree in Business Administration. She lives in Bakersfield with her husband of 22 years, her 15-year-old daughter, their Great Dane and a rescue desert tortoise. Susana is truly passionate about serving the community and feels extremely blessed to be part of CAPK.
Emilio Wagner
Chief Facilities & Technology Officer
Emilio Wagner is the Director of Operations for CAPK. He oversees the agency’s Information Technology, Information Systems, Procurement, Risk Management, and Facilities programs.
Emilio has, in his 21 years at CAPK, led the creation of a proactive internet technology environment at CAPK by migrating from an on-premise to a secured cloud environment for email, software, and file storage. He also developed the criteria for designing a customer relation management system to aggregate and deduplicate client data for the purposes of enhanced reporting. One accomplishment of this endeavor led to the creation of the Information System department which supports the various programs’ data initiatives, by developing custom applications and reporting tools to assist with enhancing the outcomes of the clients served.
Emilio studied architecture, construction management, and computer science at Bakersfield College and Computer Science at California State University Bakersfield. He is a licensed General Contractor with 25 years of experience. Using his 22 years of experience with AutoCAD he has successfully developed and submitted construction documents for CAPK facilities to city and county planning officials for approval. Has also managed several projects from developing in-house conceptual designs to overseeing the construction of multimillion-dollar facilities.
Lisa McGranahan
Director of Human Resources
Lisa McGranahan is CAPK’s Director of Human Resources. She began her career with CAPK in July 2020 after many years of human resource management in both public and private sectors and union and non-unionized industries.
CAPK captured her interest due to its strong service to some of Kern County’s most vulnerable populations. Coming from humble beginnings and then being richly blessed in her life; CAPK allows Lisa to give back to those who now need support.
She is focused on improving the service levels to the organization through attention to the fundamental human resource functions of recruiting the best talent, developing that talent into top performing contributors, and succession planning to ensure CAPK continues to be competitive into the future. Lisa also maintains a concentrated focus on being a strong competitor in the benefits market and in ensuring that CAPK is an organization focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Finally, Lisa is attentive to the fundamental human rights of all staff and works to ensure CAPK follows all federal and state laws concerning employees.
The element of her professional experience that she is most proud is the StrengthFinders Coaching certification she earned. This allows her to assist employees in the identification of their natural strengths and ensure their best fit within the organization. Lisa is passionate about helping employees and CAPK grow together in service to the community.
Gabrielle Alexander
Director of Finance
Gabrielle Alexander serves as CAPK’s Director of Finance. She grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and received both a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and a Masters of Business Administration from California State University, Bakersfield. She has worked in a variety of industries including agriculture, insurance and government. This experiences gives her a diverse and expansive understanding of the finance industry which she employs to maintain and strengthen CAPK’s financial health.
Rebecca Moreno
Director of Housing & Supportive Services
Rebecca Moreno is the Director of Community Development for CAPK. She has worked with the agency for three years, overseeing the Coordinated Entry System in partnership with the Bakersfield-Kern Regional Homeless Collaborative. Rebecca has also assisted with the development and implementation of the M Street Navigation Center, supervising the program services and housing. She brings more than five years of experience working in homeless services, over 10 years of case management, and a wealth of knowledge about program development and implementation. Rebecca serves as an officer on the BKRHC Governing Board and Chair of the CES committee. For the last three years, she has worked closely with community stakeholders on regional efforts to end homelessness. Her service and expertise has been recognized by elected officials and community leaders at the local and state levels. In her personal time, she serves as a board member of Housing Outreach Partnership, Inc. and enjoys traveling, cooking, and gardening.
Freddy Hernandez
Director of Youth & Community Services
Freddy Hernandez joined CAPK in 2021 as the Director of Youth and Community Services. This position oversees the agency’s Family Resource Centers, Energy Program, Friendship House Community Center, Shafter Youth Center, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.
Freddy’s position allows him to collaborate with other CAPK programs and community partners whose primary goal is to assist the underserved and improve the communities they live in. The long-term history of CAPK services in the community is aligned with his passion of helping others and making a difference in people’s lives.
He gained his bachelor’s degree in business administration and a Master’s in Public Administration right here in Kern County at the California State University of Bakersfield. He has more than 15 years of experience working with non-profits and providing services to the disadvantaged communities of Kern County.
Catherine Anspach
Director of Development
Catherine is the Director of Development for the Community Action Partnership of Kern Foundation. She develops and manages all fundraising initiatives that support CAPK’s mission to provide services to people who face poverty and economic disadvantage in the counties we serve.
Catherine was born and raised in Bakersfield and is a graduate of Garces Memorial High School and California State University, Fresno. She built her skills in community outreach, event planning and fundraising experience working in the hotel industry, coordinating special events for KGET-TV 17, doing fundraising for the American Lung Association and managing the Kern County satellite office for Make-A-Wish Central California. She took the opportunity to become a licensed loan officer and worked in the mortgage industry for two years before she joined CAPK.
Catherine’s goal is to empower the agency’s ability to fund major projects and make it possible for CAPK to improve the communities it serves. She is excited to be back in the non-profit sector and to be a part of the CAPK team. She is proud of the work the agency does every day by providing essential and life-changing resources people across Kern County and California.
Other Agency Representatives
James Burger
Outreach & Advocacy Coordinator
James Burger is the communications, media and public relations lead for CAPK. He grew up in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and his Masters of Public Administration from California State University Bakersfield. He is proud to serve the families and individuals who need the most help breaking down barriers that stand in the way of their self-sufficiency and success.
Savannah Oates
Advocacy & Public Relations Manager
Savannah Oates, a dynamic force in community engagement and advocacy, epitomizes multifaceted dedication at CAPK. Her deep roots in Bakersfield fuel a commitment to uplifting Kern County, seamlessly blending expertise in marketing, outreach, volunteerism, advocacy, and communications to champion CAPK’s initiatives. With a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Administration from California State University, Bakersfield, Savannah channels academic achievements into transformative change, evidenced by her pivotal role in the Kern County/City of Bakersfield rebranding campaign and crisis communications efforts at the Kern County Emergency Operations Center.
At CAPK, Savannah’s impact extends far beyond her official duties. Serving as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) chair for the inaugural committee and leading the NCAP Young Professionals Advisory Committee, she cultivates the next generation of change-makers while orchestrating successful events and campaigns. Savannah’s unwavering commitment to community engagement and inclusivity embodies servant leadership, leaving an indelible legacy shaping Kern County’s future.
