Our Team

Wendy Urushima-Conn is the president and CEO of UPAC. Prior to joining UPAC, Wendy was the president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County. Wendy has more than 30 years of experience in community outreach, fundraising, and marketing. She previously served as president and CEO of the Asian Business Association and associate executive director of the Center for Community Solutions where she was the chief fundraising and marketing officer focusing on sexual assault/domestic violence intervention and prevention. Wendy also worked for more than a decade at KGTV/10News as community affairs manager, promotion manager, and as a weather and traffic reporter.

Her core belief is to improve our community. She is the immediate past President of San Diego Rotary Club 33, and the President of the San Diego Rotary Club Foundation.  She is the Vice Chair of the City of San Diego Women’s Commission. Wendy is the immediate past chair of the Board of Library Commissioners, and the immediate past chair of the Southern California Diversity Council. She is a former Trustee with the San Diego Public Library Foundation and recently served on the Mayor’s Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Council. She is also the past board chair for the Asian Business Association Foundation as well as past board chair for Girls Incorporated.

Wendy has served as a respite care provider for foster youth, and for more than a decade she personally underwrote the Harvey Simmons Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of her late husband, to assist high school students heading to college.  Her awards include: Distinguished Women of the 40^th District from Senate Minority Leader, Brian Jones; California’s 20 Most Powerful and Influential Women, National Diversity Council; Women of Dedication, Salvation Army; Women of the Year, State of California; YWCA Twin Award; San Diego Business Journal, Women Who Mean Business and SD500; San Diego Magazine, Women Who Move the City; Girl Scouts Cool Women. A graduate of UC San Diego, Wendy is a sought-after speaker, and frequent guest lecturer at UCSD Rady School of Management, as well as a professional moderator and emcee. She is married with two daughters and enjoys running 100-mile ultra-marathons.

Sarah joined UPAC as CFO in 2025. She brings nearly two decades of experience managing finance, operations, grants, contracts, and strategic planning in both non-profit and governmental agencies.  Prior to coming to UPAC, Sarah led the finance and administration section of the City of San Diego’s Homelessness Strategies & Solutions Department. She has also served 15 years in non-profit executive and leadership roles across multiple housing and social service organizations throughout San Diego and globally. Across all her roles her focus has always been on leading strategic finance, organizational growth, budget management, and systems improvements.

Louise joined the UPAC team as Interim Chief Operating Officer in January 2025 after providing consulting grant writing and program management services to UPAC for 14 years. Louise has a MBA and MA in Marriage and Family Counseling and more than 4 decades of experience in non-profit program management. Louise served as Assistant Executive Director at New Alternatives, Inc. prior to starting her own grant writing and non-profit program management consulting business. Louise is passionate about helping individuals living with mental health and substance use challenges as well as our underserved communities. Louise currently serves on the Urban Street Angels’ Board of Directors and is a past president of the NAMI San Diego Board of Directors.

With an undergraduate degree in French, Louise is fluent in French and loves to travel. She has lived abroad in France and the Middle East and enjoys being absorbed in different cultures.

Jason joined UPAC as Development Director in 2025. He has worked in San Diego’s philanthropy community for over a decade, bringing deep experience in major gifts, grants, and planned giving. Jason most recently worked in stewardship and development with First United Methodist Church of San Diego, one of the largest United Methodist churches in the region. From his early career as a Spanish and music teacher to development roles at Ocean Discovery Institute and Access Youth Academy, Jason has been committed to working with and supporting underserved families and communities throughout the San Diego regions. Fun fact: Even though Spanish is his second language, Jason has primarily spoken Spanish at home with his daughter since birth, and she is fluent as well!

Lisa is originally from New York, and you will occasionally hear an accent come out. She has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2004. She has worked extensively in crisis residential treatment and private practice settings. She has a dedication for working with children, women, men, and those who struggle with trauma, grief, loss, anxiety, and serious mental illness.  Lisa believes in inspiring and motivating everyone she works with. She will often provide comfort, guidance, empathy, and an honest approach. Her focus is on one’s strengths and abilities. She often strives to have a win-win solution and wants to ensure that the delivery of client and mental health service programs are consistent with values and principles.

Courtney has lived and worked in San Diego for the last 10 years as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has worked serving the addiction community as she enjoys working with clients as they work towards recovery and beginning to feel more comfortable in their own skin. Courtney has enjoyed working with clients who have struggled with multiple addictions and multiple or long-term incarcerations as a result. It has been empowering to see clients begin to rebuild their lives and learn more about themselves in the process. She always particularly enjoyed working with teens in their struggles as they become adults. She has worked regularly within residential and outpatient programs on building skills and having tough conversations that they may not have anyone else to talk with! Courtney thrives with the passion her team brings to their clients and enjoys being creative with finding solutions for our clients and their families.

Natalie joined UPAC as the Human Resources (HR) Manager in 2025. She previously held the role of Vice President of HR at SurgLogs, a healthcare technology company, where she worked to build the HR department from the ground up. Natalie comes to UPAC with experience in talent acquisition, employee relations, HR compliance, learning and development, payroll and benefits administration, as well as building scalable HR processes. She holds a BA in Psychology, a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification, and brings a strong passion for destigmatizing mental illness. In her free time, you can find her spending time with her husband and her two pets or singing with her a cappella group.