Toby Ewing
Toby Ewing, Ph.D., joined the Mental Health Commission in 2015 after working for governance reform as a consultant to the California State Senate, research director at California Forward, and a project manager at the Little Hoover Commission. In addition, Ewing worked as the Director of the California Research Bureau and the California Cost Control Commission.
With the Commission, Toby launched California’s first Mental Health Innovation Summit and an Innovation Incubator to promote novel approaches to improving mental health systems in California. He has also steadfastly worked to increase public access to high-quality data on mental health funding, programs, and outcomes.
Toby has championed community engagement with more than $5 million in annual grants that support stakeholder advocacy, the launch of a youth leadership initiative, and creative ways of reaching the public, including through community engagement and filmmaking. The goal has always been the same: to elevate the voices of consumers, family members, and communities on mental health issues.
Toby did his undergraduate studies at Grinnell College and received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Syracuse University. He served as a Fulbright Scholar in Central America.
Norma Pate
Norma Pate joined the Commission in 2010. After the Commission separated from the Department of Mental Health in 2012, Norma established the agency’s Human Resources, contracting, procurement, and budgeting divisions. Since then, Norma has focused on programs aimed at improving the wellbeing of children, increasing access to crisis services, and addressing disparities.
Norma oversees the Commission’s Innovation, Prevention and Early Intervention, Mental Health Wellness Act of 2013, Mental Health Student Services Act of 2018, Youth Drop-In Centers, and Early Psychosis Intervention programs. She is also one of the Commission’s main liaisons with the State Legislature, where she advocates for legislation to strengthen mental health services in California.
Before joining the Commission, Norma held leadership positions with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations’ Division of Addiction and Recovery Services, the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and the Victim Compensation and Government Claim Board.
Tom Orrock
Tom Orrock MA, LMFT joined the Commission in 2017 after spending 20 years building the largest private practice in south county. Prior to that, Tom worked as a social worker and therapist for children and youth in foster care and juvenile detention settings. Tom has worked as a clinical supervisor, training over 75 LMFT and LCSW interns in community-based organizations throughout Sacramento.
In his work at the Commission, Tom oversees a portfolio of over $500 million which includes the Mental Health Student Services Act, Early Psychosis Intervention, Mental Health Wellness Act, allcove® youth drop-in centers, and statewide advocacy contracts. Tom has led the Commission in the planning and implementation of Commission meetings, the Cultural and Linguistic Competency Committee, the Client and Family Leadership Committee, listening sessions, and outreach events.
Tom is an advocate for the advocates and believes that the voice of consumers, family members, providers, and communities is critical in our effort to transform California’s mental health system into one that is relevant, accessible, and effective.
In his role as Deputy Director of Operations, Tom works to set a clear vision, build partnerships, and to work with key contributors to solve stubborn problems. He has launched learning collaboratives to gather knowledge from various partners to address needs in school mental health, statewide advocacy, and early intervention of psychosis. Tom has a Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology and is a California licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
Kendra Zoller
Kendra joined the Commission in 2023 and is committed to leveraging her expertise in policy development and community engagement to elevate and advance the Commission's mission to ensure everyone who needs mental health care has access to and receives effective and culturally competent care. Prior to joining the Commission, Kendra spent 12 years at the Department of Insurance as Deputy Legislative Director where she focused her efforts on developing and implementing policies that strengthened consumer protections, regulated insurance markets, and ensured fair and transparent insurance practices. Her legislative accomplishments include expanding consumer protection laws to assist wildfire survivors, ensure community and public safety, and protect vulnerable communities. Kendra also previously worked at the California Air Resources Board where she assisted in developing and advocating for policy recommendations aimed at promoting and protecting the public health and ecological resources of California through effective reduction of air pollutants. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in agricultural business from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo.
Andrea Everett Anderson
Andrea Anderson joined the Commission in 2019 and is leading efforts to increase the quality and quantity of messaging with a goal of expanding public understanding of mental health needs, the potential for recovery, and opportunities for improving mental health outcomes for all Californians.
Before coming to the Commission, Andrea was on the senior management team at PBS KVIE as the Director of Marketing, a position in which she creatively connected audiences of the venerable institution to new technologies.
Andrea previously worked as a senior product manager in tech and telecom, responsible for the success of marketing teams across the nation, and also for the Texas International Education Consortium during the initial phases of NAFTA.
Andrea graduated with her B.A. from the University of Oregon and her M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. Andrea served on the Board of Directors for Saint John’s Program for Real Change, the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Team, and the Executive Board of The Sacramento Web Awards.
Melissa Martin-Mollard
Melissa joined the Commission in 2022 to lead the research and evaluation team in its efforts to use data, dashboards, key metrics, and evaluation to support transparency and accountability of the public mental health system. Prior to her role with the Commission, she was Assistant Director at the CalEQRO where she worked on quality reviews of county specialty mental health and supported early implementation of the state’s Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System. Prior to the CalEQRO, she directed quality improvement efforts for Seneca Family of Agencies, a children’s behavioral health provider. Melissa has also taught in schools of social work for the last 20 years, most recently at San Francisco State. She recently joined the board of Options Recovery Services, a substance use treatment provider in Berkeley, CA. Melissa holds a PhD in Social Welfare, a MPH, and a MSW all from the University of California, Berkeley.