Gretchen Bergman
Executive Director and Co-Founder of A New PATH. She served as State Chairperson for Proposition 36, mandating treatment instead of incarceration for non-violent drug offenders. A native of San Diego, she is Owner/Director
of Gretchen Productions, a Fashion Show Production Company, started in 1979. Her articles on treatment vs. incarceration have been published nationwide, and she has spoken before countless audiences on the topic of therapeutic justice for substance abusers. She has two grown sons who have struggled with addictive illness. “As a parent, I know first-hand how pointless and dangerous it is to throw a drug-sick individual in prison, where he is treated like human storage, rather than giving him the services to recover, to make amends and heal wounds that he inflicted while living in the nightmare of addiction, so as to be able to give back to society
Caroline Stewart, L.C.S.W.
President of the board of A New PATH , and Clinical Supervisor of the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD. She taught anthropology before becoming a licensed psychotherapist. Caroline was a co-founder of the San Diego Infertility Association, a member of the SD Learning Disability Association, and a member of the California Society of Clinical Social Workers. She is a poet and essayist. Caroline’s experiences as both an anthropologist and an ecological social worker have furthered her passionate support of what is healthy and redeemable in individuals struggling with the illness of addiction.
April Ella
Director of Operations and A New PATH's Naloxone Training and Distribution Program Manager. She started as a Production Assistant to Gretchen for her fashion show production company in 2012 and made a career switch to the non-profit world in 2014 with full belief in the mission to heal families and save lives. She has been a Naloxone trainer for 7 years, making presentations to sober living homes, detox facilities, schools, and treatment centers, as well as visits to the needle exchange and aiding in the implementation of Naloxone distribution to Neighborhood Healthcare in North County, AMFM in Orange County, and Hope Dealers/Broken chains, NAMI San Diego. April has recently recorded a webinar training with the County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency Behavioral Health Services Department to provide class for those who would like to take the training online. You can take the training HERE.
Julia Negron
Director of PATH Florida, and Steering Committee member of Moms United to End the War on Drugs. She has currently organized “The Suncoast Harm Reduction Project”, advocating for naloxone access legislation in Florida. She worked in the music industry in the 60s and was married twice to entertainers. In personal recovery since 1985, she has had a career as a Certified Addiction Specialist. She lost both her mother and her sister to drug overdoses. Her youngest son has struggled with heroin dependence for most of his adult life. She’s been active for more than a decade in advocating for changing punitive drug policies, reducing stigma, prison and sentencing reform, and adopting harm reduction strategies.
Co-Founders
Sylvia Liwerant, Thomas O'Donnell & Gretchen Bergman
Advisory Board - Not pictured
Dr. David Bergman, Psychiatrist
Dr. Claudio Cabrejos, Psychiatrist
Dr. Ken Khoury, Psychiatrist
Sylvia Liwerant, PATH Co-Founder
Jessica McElfresh, Attorney at Law
Mick Meagher, Attorney at Law
Aaron Meyer, Psychiatrist
John de Miranda, ED.M., FAVOR Reg. Bd. Member
Tom O'Donnell, PATH Co-Founder
Dr. Joe Shurman, Pain Medicine
Donald Stewart, Professor
Honorary Committe - Not Pictured
2022 Board, Advisory Board & Staff
Top L-R: Donald Stewart, Elon Burns, Vanessa Lupercio, Leo Sandoval & David Bergman
Bottom L-R: Gretchen Bergman, Kelley Gebbie, Caroline Stewart & Larissa Flint
2023 Board of Directors
Caroline Stewart LCSW-President
Kelley Gebbie-Vice President
Tyler Kent- Treasurer
Karen Lenyoun- Secretary
Michaela Blackmon
Elon Burns
Anita Fisher
Mary Hubbard
Clovis Honore
Karen Lenyoun
Rev. Dennis Malone
Julia Negron
Christa Overton
Leo Sandoval
Laura Cain
Geni Cavitt
Rory Devine
Kate Linder
Chuck Negron
Mackenzie Phillips
Little Tommy Sablan
Glenn Scarpelli