 WonderWoman: Jane GarciaPublished: May, 2007  Jane Garcia In 1978, Jane Garcia, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, began a six-month work program at La Clinica de la Raza, a series of East Bay health clinics that focus on multilingual and multicultural communities. Now, as CEO of the Fruitvale Avenue clinic in Oakland, she has literally worked her way through the ranks, taking on positions as they became available, over the past 29 years. Garcia, who grew up in El Paso, Texas, always knew she wanted to work in the healthcare field. In her current position, she continues her lifelong love of caring for others. As leader of a dedicated program that focuses on wellness and prevention, in alignment with cultural and linguistic needs, Garcia' s work touches those who need her help most. Before La Clinica was established in 1971, many low-income East Bay residents were forced to make emergency room visits for problems that could have been avoided with adequate care. La Clinica now has 23 clinics throughout the Bay Area — with services ranging from mental health to dental care — and served 45,152 people last year alone. Each day is different for Garcia, with diverse tasks that can include meeting with community members, speaking with policy makers, and presenting to the Senate Committee on Health. However busy her schedule might be, Garcia finds motivation in the fact that her work makes a difference. Although La Clinica is established in the Bay Area as a cutting-edge health care delivery system that focuses on community and neighborhood, Garcia continues to hope for its growth. She also hopes that other programs in the health care system, which she finds to be fragmented and disjointed, can adopt similar models because, according to Garcia, focusing on the community is the way to go. What's the most important thing you learned in school — or in the "school of hard knocks?" Face your demons, stay focused, and don't hesitate to ask for help along the way. What has been your biggest challenge? My biggest challenge has been balancing motherhood and family with leading a large and growing nonprofit. I credit my husband with my sanity. Were it not for him, I could not have pulled off doing both. | ||
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