Board of Directors

• Monica Sanchez, President
• Tom Dalton, Treasurer
• Kim Bozart, Secretary
• Bertha Loaiza
• Will Deutschendorf
• Julie Witte-Landau

Leadership Team

• Lauren Cook, Executive Director
• Michele Madden, Director of Support and Prevention Programs SOSL

MEET OUR BOARD

Monica Sanchez, President

Monica Sanchez is a retired Sergeant who worked in Law Enforcement for over 24 years. In retirement she remains a dedicated Public Safety Advocate for First Responders Wellness and volunteers in her spare time for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and COPLINE. She became involved with SOSL after the loss of her best friend in 2016. She joined the board with a commitment to the safety and well-being of all.

Monica holds a B.S degree in Criminal Justice and an M.A. degree in Emergency Planning from Cal State University Long Beach. She lives with her husband, Greg, and rescue animals in San Diego. In her spare time, she loves spending time with family and friends and travels often.

“I lost my best friend, Captain Christine Harvel, to suicide in 2016. Her tragic death prompted my passion to honor her memory and advocate for first responders in their mental health journey.”

Tom Dalton is a professor of accountancy and taxation at the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business. He served as the associate dean at school from 2000 to 2004 and as the associate dean of undergraduate programs from 2009 to 2015. He has published numerous tax planning articles in professional journals and tax related research studies in academic journals. He is a Certified Public Accountant and, prior to entering academia, was a tax consultant for Touche Ross & Co. (now Deloitte). Recent consulting activities include expert testimony on educational issues and individual and business tax planning.

Kim Bozart

Kim Bozart is a Licensed Clinician Social Worker who has been working as a mental health provider in San  Diego County for the last 17 years. She is a Field Operations Supervisor with PERT, the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team, which provides psychiatric evaluations in the field to individuals in crisis that come into the 911 system. Kim supervises the field-based clinicians that collaborate directly with Law Enforcement to support the person in need by building rapport and gaining an understanding of the crisis. The goal is to connect the person immediately to the most appropriate level of services with the intent of preserving life and increasing their level of functioning

For the past 5 years, Kim has been an adjunct professor at Miramar College, teaching the Persons with Disabilities and Mental Illness course for the San Diego Regional Police Academy. This course is designed to train new Law Enforcement officers on recognizing some signs and symptoms of mental illness and developmental disabilities while learning some basic effective communication skills when interacting with individuals.

Kim became a Board Member in 2016. At that time, she also sat on the planning committee for the Meeting of the Minds annual conference. This conference is specific to San Diego, with the goal of bridging the gap between the Mental Health community, substance abuse treatment community, individuals with lived experiences and support staff.  Although Kim has recently stepped down from this committee, she continues to participate in the conference as a breakout presenter when her proposal is selected.  During her free time, you will find Kim volunteering with her daughter at the Tierrasanta Community Garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to TACO (Third Avenue Charitable Organization.)

“I look forward to serving the community through the SOSL organization. This supports my goal of helping others move forward from tragic situation: To find their peace and happiness within while honoring and celebrating who the individual truly was prior to their illness consuming their life.”

Scott Johnson

Scott joined the SOSL Board of Directors in 2008, bringing with him a long-held interest in helping to reduce suffering related to suicide. Scott has been affected by suicide in many ways, by the loss of his family doctor, the loss of several friends to suicide, a colleague, and a client, and Scott’s father made many serious attempts to die by suicide.

Scott envisions reducing suffering related to suicide in many ways. First and foremost by supporting survivors directly by helping to facilitate groups,   supporting other SOSL facilitators. Scott comes to us with a background in training, experience in the group support process, and setting up and running support groups, which were mostly bereavement in nature. These skills are of great value in enriching the SOSL support groups and enhancing the capabilities of our facilitators.

Second, Scott as Webmaster for SOSL strives to “see how many ways we can connect and support each other through our website: www.SOSLsd.org.” He also aids fundraising efforts by maintaining the Walk in Remembrance with Hope Website at WalkInHopeSD, which serves as SOSL’s biggest annual fundraiser. Lastly, Scott enjoys the camaraderie of being on a well‐run team, lending itself to Scott’s desire to support the Board in carrying out the SOSL Mission.

Bertha Loaiza

Bertha Loaiza, of San Diego, is a married mother of two. She is an advocate for change. When she was three years old, her mother tragically died by suicide by jumping from the Coronado Bay Bridge, with her young daughter in her arms. Bertha’s life was miraculously spared, which has created within her a determination to work towards mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Her goal is that others may live.

Bertha is a frequent guest speaker on radio, podcasts, local TV news and other online groups. She actively works with various community partners to raise awareness, share resources and promote mental wellness. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Coronado San Diego Bridge Collaborative for Suicide Prevention. Her efforts have been instrumental in working towards the goal of securing a safety barrier on the bridge – to prevent suicides.

Bertha graduated from Marian Catholic High School and holds an Associate of Science degree in Advanced Respiratory Science from California College for Health Sciences. She currently uses her bilingual skills in her position with a local healthcare provider.

“SOSL provided an infinite amount of support to me when I needed it the most throughout the grieving process of my mother’s suicide. I proudly now serve on the SOSL board to continue with their mission or reaching out to those affected by suicide, raising awareness and helping to remove the stigma associated with mental health.”

Will Deutschendorf

Will Deutschendorf is a lifelong martial artist who started his own school at nineteen years old with his twin brother.  Unfortunately he lost his twin brother in 2017 to suicide loss and since then has dedicated himself to helping anyone affected by suicide and mental illness.  

Will started facilitating groups in 2019 out of a need for more meetings in the North County area.  He has since helped raise funds for SOSL with different events like benefit concerts and comedy shows.  He also runs suicide loss meetings for twins.  He is passionate about reducing the stigma around mental illness.

Julie Witte-Landau

Julie Witte-Landau is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working full time as a Suicide Prevention Coordinator at VA San Diego Healthcare System. It was clear to her that many suicidal Veterans are survivors of suicide loss. She sought out suicide postvention support models and created a team of skilled and passionate mental health/social work and chaplains to support the VA staff who are affected by Veteran suicide and to help the families of Veterans who died by suicide. When creating this support model, she looked for the already existing frameworks and local San Diego resources. This is where her story begins with SOSL.  She found that SOSL is the gold standard non profit in San Diego providing free suicide postvention support. She began partnering as a VA employee and tabling at the annual Walk for Life as well as referring Veterans and their family members.

“I am a survivor of suicide loss both personally and professionally. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on this board and help enhance their impact and mission.”

OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM