State of the American Veteran: The Southern California Veterans Conference

Luke Bergmann is the Director of Behavioral Health Services for the County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency. Prior to this position, Dr. Bergmann worked for 9 years in New York City. He most recently served as Assistant Vice President over Behavioral Health at NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation’s largest public hospital system and before that, as Director of the Office of Program and Policy in the Bureau of Alcohol and Drugs at the NYC Department of Health. Dr. Bergmann has also held a variety of academic research and faculty positions, including at Oregon Health and Science University, The University of Michigan and the City University of New York. Dr. Bergmann was trained at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Ph.D. in Social Work and Cultural Anthropology. He completed post-doctoral fellowships at UC San Francisco’s Institute for Health Policy and UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.

John W. Boerstler severed as the Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from February 2021 to September 2024. As Chief Veterans Experience Officer, John led the Veterans Experience Office (VEO), the Secretary’s customer experience (CX) insight engine supporting and enabling the Department in providing the highest quality experiences in the delivery of care, benefits, and memorial services to service members, Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. He provided executive oversight of VEO’s many innovative projects and programs, working collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access, outcomes, and experiences for all VA’s customers. Prior to this position, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a Community Information Exchange and collaborative technology company whose purpose was to effectively connect customers to thousands of vetted government and non-profit services to address social determinants of health and health-related social needs. John has a distinguished career as a leader in the Veteran services field as a recipient of both the Eisenhower and Marshall Memorial Fellowships, having travelled to Bosnia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Israel, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom to write comparative papers on their military transition systems. As the first Marshall Prize recipient, John recently completed a three-year project in Ukraine to assist in the development of their Ministry of Veterans Affairs–the first of its kind in Europe. John was also honored to be selected in the inaugural cohort of Stand-To Scholars at the George W. Bush Institute’s Veteran Leadership Program in 2018. John is a native Texan who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999-2007 as a non-commissioned officer and infantry unit leader, including one combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004-2005 and Operation Natural Fire in the Republic of Kenya in 2006.

Umeka Franklin began her career at USC as an adjunct practicum faculty lecturer in the Virtual Academic Center, teaching integrative seminars as well as courses in Military Clinical Experience and Virtual Practicum. Dr. Franklin is currently an associate teaching professor, practicum education in the Department of Children, Youth and Families. As a licensed clinical social worker, she has worked across the lifespan providing services to various populations. She served in a leadership role as a social work coordinator working with military veterans at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. After earning a Veterans Health Administration Mentor Certification, Franklin mentored and supported employees and staff at the VA. She has also worked as a psychiatric social worker for the Los Angeles Unified School District, providing direct clinical services to individuals, families and groups. In addition, she has expertise as a medical social worker with an emphasis on nephrology, as well as working with children and families who have experienced traumatic events. Dr. Franklin received a bachelor’s degree in social work and a gerontology certificate from California State University, Los Angeles. She received her Master’s degree in Social Work and a Pupil Personnel Services credential from USC. She earned her Doctor of Education at the USC Rossier School of Education.

Waco Hoover is an entrepreneur and investor with over 20 years of experience in venture capital, M&A, entertainment, media and live events. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1997-2001 as an infantry Marine, combat water survival instructor and infantry scout. He served on deployments across Southeast Asia. After separation from the military, Hoover graduated from New York University, cum laude, received his MBA from The Florida State University, and completed Harvard Business School executive education programs. He then became an entrepreneur and investor who now has over 18 years of experience in venture capital, M&A, entertainment, media and live events. He is currently Chair of the Be The One program, focused on brain health and suicide prevention for the American Legion. He is also the Founder of IMPCT Group, advisor to Founders Factory, a London based venture capital firm, founder of MCON, and serves on the board of Grunt Style Foundation, a non-profit preventing veteran suicide. He has advised global brands including MGM Resorts, Informa, Vivendi, and Las Vegas Sands Corp. He was a co-founder and investor in businesses sold to Informa, Emerald, Endeavor Business Media and Onstream Media. Hoover speaks at industry events including VenuesNow, PTTOW!, CEMA, The American Legion, Military Influencer Conference, SXSW, Pollstar, TSE 100, Society for Independent Show Organizers, National Sports Forum and XLIVE. He lives in Southern California with his wife, son and two yellow labs, Tucker and Winnie. In his spare time, he enjoys surfing, diving, and mountaineering as often as possible. He is a member of The American Legion and recently hosted the Be the One Symposium at the 105th American Legion National Convention in New Orleans.

Veronica Kelley is the Director of the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA). Dr. Kelley has more than 33 years of experience in the behavioral health field. Previously, she was HCA’s Director of Behavioral Health Services, overseeing the public behavioral health system. She also serves as the Alcohol & Drug Administrator for Orange County, which allows the county to receive federal funds to address substance use disorders. Dr. Kelley spent 13 years serving the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health, with six years as the Behavioral Health Director. During that time, she led the county’s crisis response and recovery efforts following the 2015 terrorist attack. Dr. Kelley remains active at the state level, addressing behavioral health issues as a Board member of NAMI California and the Past President of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association, is an appointee to the Governors No Place Like Home Advisory Committee and a Steering Committee member for the Department of Health Care services Community Mental Health Equity Project. Dr. Kelley earned a Doctor of Social Work from Capella University, Minnesota and a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of California. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Loma Linda University Department of Social Work & Social Ecology, and a part time lecturer at CSU Fullerton, School of Social Work.

Sara Kintzle is currently a research professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

She has focused on building an expertise in the life experiences of individuals who currently or previously served in the United States Armed Forces. Her expertise broadly focuses on four areas: 1) the building and validation of theory as a mechanism for understanding the challenges faced by current and former service members; 2) leading research studies aimed at providing insight into the experience of service members and veterans that include the following topics: diversity and inclusion in the military, the impact of gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and sexual identity on the experience of serving, risk and protective factors related to successful military transition, challenges to psychological and physical health, risk for suicide, sexual harassment, stalking and sexual assault, the experience of National Guard and Reserve service members and securing post-service employment; 3) the development and testing of interventions, informed by both theory validation and research findings, aimed at the prevention of adverse outcomes for service members and veterans; and 4) translating scientific findings into program and policy recommendations.

Kintzle’s work at USC includes a demonstrated record of obtaining external funding. She is currently the principal investigator on several grants, all exploring issues of well-being in military and veteran populations. In 2023 she published The State of the American Veteran: The Southern California Veterans Study, which was the result of the largest and most comprehensive study of veterans in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties. In 2018, as co-principal investigator, she received a grant from the Army Research Institute to examine diversity and inclusion in the Army. The study explored the experience of diverse populations in the Army, as well as how divergence between policy, messaging and actions around diversity and inclusion impact military readiness and performance. From 2015-2018, she served as co-principal investigator on a Department of Defense grant investigating the comparative efficacy of peer-to-peer role play, standardized actor patient training and virtual client training in training social work students in culturally competent military practice.

Kintzle has earned a reputation as an emerging national and international leader on issues related to military service. In 2024, she met with Congressional and Department of Defense staff on how the results from the Southern California Veterans study might impact policy. In 2021, she presented to President Biden's Department of Defense Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military. She represented the United States as an expert on a NATO panel addressing sexual violence in the military in 2017. In 2015, she spoke on a panel at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. regarding her work on economic and employment challenges facing U.S. veterans. Professor Kintzle has over 60 published articles and reports and over 70 accepted conference presentations.

California State Senator Josh Newman represents the 29th Senate District, which is comprised of portions of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties.

After graduation from Yale University, he served as an artillery officer in the United States Army, with duty assignments with a nuclear weapons unit in South Korea and a conventional artillery battalion in the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.

Following the completion of his active duty military service obligation, he relocated to California from Hawaii. In 2012, Senator Newman went on to found an initiative, ArmedForce2Workforce, to assist young military veterans in the pursuit of rewarding, career-oriented employment after completing their own military service and returning to the Greater Los Angeles/Orange County area.

That work coupled with his frustration with the lack of progress and support from various levels of government in doing right by the young men and women who had bravely served, led to his decision to run for public office.

In the State Senate, Senator Newman serves as Chair of the Senate Committee on Education and the Senate Select Committee on Transitioning to a Zero Emission Energy Future, and is a member of the Senate Committees on Transportation; Elections & Constitutional Amendments; Energy, Utilities & Communications; and Budget & Fiscal Review.

Dr. Stephanie Renno is the Vice President of Clinical Practice and Training at the Cohen Veterans Network where she oversees the network-wide training of clinical evidence-based practices and processes and works directly to support each clinic in delivering state of the art clinical services to veterans and military families. An expert in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Substance Use Disorders, Dr. Renno has trained clinicians worldwide in Cognitive Processing Therapy and Behavioral Couples Therapy for Substance Use Disorders.
She has worked in both government and not-for-profit sectors providing and overseeing mental health services for veterans, service members and their families. Dr. Renno received her DSW in social work from the University of Pennsylvania, her MSW from University of Chicago and her BS from University of Illinois.