St. Paul's Towers residents playing musical instruments

From strategy, oversight, and our financial strength to legal and ethical accountability, the Front Porch board
works to ensure the organization’s long term impact and fulfillment of our obligations.

Meet the Board Members

The invaluable experience and insights of these individuals enable Front Porch to pursue our mission.

Mr. Forte built a long career in investment banking at Paine Webber and Goldman Sachs and most recently served as the Director of Finance and Administration at the Edgewood Center for Children and Families. He has held senior management positions at other nonprofit, financial, private healthcare and cultural organizations. He has served as an advisor and a board member to a wide variety of organizations, including Sutter Health, Better Health East Bay and Noora Health.
Vince Forte
Chair
Mr. Kroeker is the General Counsel for SCAN Health Plan. Previously, he was a partner in the Los Angeles office of the international law firm Crowell & Moring and co-chair of the firm’s Health Care Group, where he represented health care organizations on a wide range of state and federal regulatory matters and health care transactions. Mr. Kroeker has more than 25 years of experience representing managed care plans and insurers, Medicare Advantage Organizations, Medicaid Managed Care Plans, medical groups, and community clinics, among others. He counseled health plans and providers concerning compliance with federal and state health care laws and regulations and represented health care entities in connection with enforcement actions and internal investigations related to compliance matters. He also counseled non-profit organizations on governance and compliance matters. Mr. Kroeker received his J.D. degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and his B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Kevin Kroeker
Ms. Tonnu brings more than 30 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer in the health care industry to the Front Porch Board of Directors. She currently serves as Chief Financial Officer for the Orthopaedic Institutefor Children in Los Angeles. Previously, Ms. Tonnu was the Chief Financial Officer for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for over 25 years. Prior to CHLA, she held progressive positions for twelve years in the Audit Department of Ernst & Young, including Audit Senior Manager, where she worked with numerous health care clients. Ms. Tonnu is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Public Management Accountant. She has an MBA with an emphasis in Information Technology from California State University, Los Angeles.
Lannie Tonnu
Mr. Dunckel is a retired executive from Crown-Zellerbach Corporation, leaving in 1996 as Vice President of Marketing. Previously he served the company in a variety of management capacities and as Managing Director of Crown Van Gelder in Switzerland, a joint venture company. Since his retirement he has volunteered at a number of Bay Area nonprofits. Mr. Dunckel recently served as Chair of the Covia Group Board of Directors. Mr. Dunckel and his wife are residents of San Francisco Towers.
Peter Dunckel
Board Member, San Francisco Towers
Ms. McGovern is an entrepreneur and business strategist. She co-founded M Squared Consulting, one of the first niche-consulting firms that matched independent consultants to client needs. Following the sale of the company to a South African conglomerate, she chaired the Board for its US subsidiary negotiating disparate operating approaches. Ms. McGovern has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco’s School of Management. She currently serves as Board Chair of The Myers-Briggs Company, the publisher of the most widely used personality assessment tool in the world. She is the author of two books about the evolving workplace, most recently Thriving in the Gig Economy. She received a BSBA degree from Boston University School of Management in International Economics and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley in International Finance.
Marion McGovern
Mr. Wesson recently retired from his position as a senior vice president in Bank of America’s California Healthcare and Institution Group. As a senior client manager, he was responsible for managing the relationships of several multi-billion-dollar healthcare clients. Mr. Wesson’s financial experience includes over twenty years at J.P. Morgan & Co. in New York and San Francisco. As President and Chief Operating Officer for the J.P. Morgan Community Development Corporation, he identified and structured financing for affordable housing and other community development projects. He subsequently joined The Retail Initiative Inc., also based in New York, providing equity capital for the development of supermarket anchored inner
city neighborhood shopping centers. Mr. Wesson is a United States Navy veteran and holds a B.A. degree in Economics and an MBA in Finance from Stanford University.
Oliver Wesson
Ms. Duranteau is Chief Learning Officer at University of California, San Francisco, where she leads the Learning & Organization Development Department. She has worked for over 20 years as a strategic organizational development and leadership consultant, with experience in coaching, consulting, staffing, training, assessments, competency modeling, conflict resolution, and management development.
Nancy Duranteau
Ms. Murphy was a leader in the development of public relations and communications programs for hospitals creating the Public Relations Program for Columbus/Cuneo/Cabrini Medical Centers in Chicago in 1968. After relocating to southern California in 1971 Ms. Murphy created the Public Relations Program for Northridge Hospital Medical Center and served as its
Director. She thereafter was the Communications Director for the Hospital Council of Southern California and the Director of Public Affairs for Huntington Hospital in Pasadena until she formed her own consulting firm to assist nonprofit organizations with their public and media relations. Now retired, Ms. Murphy is a resident of the Company’s Claremont Manor community, the current President of its Resident Association and a Resident Director to the Board of Directors. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN.
Kay Murphy
Board Member, Claremont Manor
Ms. Whittaker returned to the Board in January 2018 after a two-year hiatus. She had previously served two terms as a Director from January 2010 through December 2015, including serving as Chair of the Board of Directors from 2012 to 2013. Ms. Whittaker has more than 40 years of experience as a health care administrator and lawyer. She has previously served as Chief Administrator Officer, Governance Counsel and General Counsel of St. Joseph Health System in Orange, California and General Counsel to St. Joseph Health Ministry. She recently retired (May 2020) from her position as Vice-President of Sponsorship for Providence St. Joseph Health, the combination of Providence Health & Services and St. Joseph Health System. Ms. Whittaker holds degrees in Nursing, Health Care Administration, Law, and Theology.
Susan Whittaker
Title, Company
Ms. Handy is the immediate past President and CEO of LeadingAge California and currently serves on the Board of Trinity Continuing Care, the post-acute company of Trinity Health. She was formerly CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston and CEO of the Institute on Aging, one of San Francisco’s major aging services providers. She served on the national Board of AARP and was Chair of the American Society on Aging and served on the national board of AARP. She is currently a consultant in home care, eldercare, and senior living.
Joanne Handy
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Tom Porath
Chair, Front Porch Communities Foundation
Jimmie Kennedy is the retired Chief of the Anaheim, California Police Department where he served for 30 years. Chief Kennedy also taught criminal justice classes at Fullerton College for 36 years, the last four of which he also chaired the College’s Administration of Justice Department. A United States Navy veteran, Chief Kennedy holds A.A., B.A. and M.A. degrees in Police Science, Public Service Management, and Management. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute, and the University of California, Irvine Executive Management Program. Chief Kennedy is a resident of the Company’s Walnut Village community in Anaheim and a former President of its Resident Association and Resident Representative to the Board.
Jimmie Kennedy
Resident-Director
Ms. Heising was the first Executive Director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. She also served on the initial national Board of Directors that established many of the policies and standards by which food banks across America operate today. After moving to Spring Lake Village in 2016, she immediately became involved with many of the committees and activities and served as the Resident Council President in 2019.
Mary Ellen Heising
Resident-Director
Ms. Proctor retired as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Irvinebased St. Joseph Health, a $6 billion not-for-profit health system consisting of 16 hospitals, physician organizations, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, and community outreach services. As the President and CEO, she ushered in a new direction to transform St. Joseph Health into a unified health delivery system. Before leaving for retirement, Ms. Proctor led the St. Joseph Health Board through a decision to merge with Providence Health and Services, resulting in the third largest health system in the country. Ms. Proctor’s career in healthcare included both direct patient care and healthcare education as well as administration. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Master’s degree in Nursing from California State University, Los Angeles.
Deborah Proctor
Ms. Jacobs has been a leader in driving changes to improve healthcare delivery for over 35 years. She is a Senior Advisor at Sg2 Consulting and was previously Managing Principal at GE Healthcare’s consulting division. She also currently serves on the Board of Directors of RadNet, Inc. She is a noted speaker, author, and industry resource on the impact of current trends on health care delivery and critical strategies for success. Prior to joining GE Healthcare Partners, Ms. Jacobs held management positions at St. Vincent Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital in Los Angeles and Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier, California. Ms. Jacobs holds a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in Human Biology, Public Policy from Stanford University and a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), Corporate Management, from the University of California, Berkeley.
Laura Jacobs
Ms. Ramar is an Investment Counselor at Bailard, Inc. Previously, she served as an Investment Manager at Nelson Capital/Wells Fargo Private Bank. She is Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and is a member of numerous other professional organizations. Ms. Ramar has served on the Covia Affordable Communities Board of Directors. Her many volunteer roles include membership in the University Rotary Club of Palo Alto and service on the Board of Directors for Pacific Clinics. She received an undergraduate degree from Mills College in Oakland and an MBA in Business from the University of California, Berkeley.
Suzanne Ramar