Leaders Support Academy

With some help from NorthBay Healthcare, the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce Leadership Today program helped raised $40,000 for a new Public Safety Academy, which will open in Fairfield in August.

The funds came through at a zany dinner event, hosted at Travis Air Force Base, which featured a celebrity waiter or waitress at every table. NorthBay’s table host was Trauma Medical Director and Chief of Surgery Pete Zopfi, M.D., and his wife Kim, who decorated the table for the theme, “Trauma Services.”

Daman Mott, director of Emergency Services and Trauma, provided wheelchair transports, offering rides for a fund-raising fee.

The Leadership Today program runs during a nine-month period and involves a dozen to 14 participants from the community. This year, NorthBay representatives who participated in the program included Deb Thorson, Director of Women’s and Children Services and Jerry Gonzales, Director of Pharmacy.

“The program involves instruction on leadership core values and principles in addition to connecting and networking with other community members and leaders,” explains Jerry.

Each week the group toured businesses and historical parts of Fairfield and Suisun City, to better understand the community. 

 The program culminates each year with a class project, which includes selecting a charitable program and coordinating a fundraising event.

“We thought the Public Safety Academy would be a valuable recipient,” says Deb. “The academy is open for middle school children as a alternative to traditional public school and is intended to develop future public safety individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical careers. It’s a great project and will prepare students for careers that will partner with NorthBay and benefit the whole community.”