Meet our Board of Directors

Martin Omoto

Mr. Omoto has served on Paratransit's Board since 2002. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, where he majored in Government. He worked as a legislative representative for AARP and was the Executive Director of the California Commission Action Association, a statewide anti-poverty agency association.

Mr. Omoto is currently Director/Organizer of California Disability Community Action Network a non-partisan link to thousands of Californians with developmental and other disabilities, people with traumatic brain injuries, the Blind, the Deaf, their families, community organizations and providers, direct care, homecare and other workers, and other advocates to provide information on state (and eventually federal), local public policy issues. A strong advocate for seniors and people with disabilities, his commitment to paratransit issues grows, in part, through his personal experience with a family member who was disabled.

Frances Gracechild

Ms. Gracechild joined the disability rights movement as Executive Director of Resources for Independent Living in 1981 with a rich and diverse background in civil rights advocacy. Both as an AFDC social worker and later as a teacher in the barrio of San Bernardino she came to appreciate the day to day struggle of those left out of the American dream.

As a commissioner on the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, she worked on the implementation of Title IX equity for women and girls in school athletic programs and taught parent education classes at Santa Rosa Junior College in non-sexist, non-racist, non-classist children's literature. As President of Health Access of California, Ms. Gracechild was the statewide spokesperson for the Patient Bill of Rights from 2000 to 2001. As a member of the Sacramento progressive community, Ms. Gracechild has been active in labor issues for women, farm workers, seniors, teachers, janitors, in-home care workers and the disabled. Ms. Gracechild joined the Paratransit Board in 2008.

Pete Spaulding

Mr. Spaulding graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a BS/ME in Civil Engineering. He worked on the very first round of the then Urban Mass Transportation Administration Section 16(b)(2) now Federal Transit Administration Section 5310 grant program, at New York State Department of Transportation. He also served as a local transportation planner at the Chemung County New York Planning Department and developed transportation energy conservation programs at the New York State Energy Office. While in New York City, Mr. Spaulding designed employee relocation commuter programs for Moran, Stahl and Boyer. He went on to implement rural transit training and assistance programs for St. Michael's College and the Vermont Public Transportation Association.

Mr. Spaulding relocated to Sacramento, and under the auspices of Carter Goble and Associates, became Resident Administrator for the California Rural Transit Assistance Program. In 1993 he became the Executive Director of the California Association for Coordinated Transportation, CalACT and served in that capacity until 2006. He went on to manage and supervise renewable energy generation projects for the California Energy Commission, and in 2008 joined the California Department of Transportation where he is responsible for maintaining and updating the Strategic Plan. Mr. Spaulding joined the Paratransit Board in 2008.

Catherine Kelly Baird

Ms. Kelly Baird served as the Executive Director of the California Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities from 1984 to 2006 and previously worked as Associate Director for United Cerebral Palsy Association of Sacramento, for the State Department of Rehabilitation and for the County of Los Angeles. She received a Master of Social Work degree in 1977 from California State University, Sacramento and a B.A. degree in Psychology in 1975 from Sonoma State University. Before moving to Northern California, Catherine attended Pepperdine University and also earned an A.A. degree in Sociology from Cerritos Community College. Catherine was named the 1998 recipient of the "Justin Dart Achievement Award" by Chair Tony Coelho, President's Committee On Employment of People with Disabilities; the 1998 recipient of the Santa Rosa Rotary Club's "Thomas J. Farrell Award" for outstanding contributions toward creating employment opportunities; and the 1992 recipient of the "Distinguished Service Award" by the California Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians. She is passionately committed to helping young people to reach their potential and was a co-creator of the nationally acclaimed California Model Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities. She continues her commitment to making the world a better place through her involvement in many volunteer organizations, including the River Park Garden Club and Friends of Californians with Disabilities, Inc. She also is passionate about issues affecting veterans with disabilities and enjoys hanging with her family, friends and two cats. Ms. Kelly Baird joined the Board in 2010.

Patrick Hume

Patrick was first elected to the Elk Grove City Council in 2006, after serving as a planning commissioner since the city's incorporation in 2000. In 2007 he was named as the Elk Grove representative to the Sacramento Regional Transit Board of Directors. That body named him as one of the representatives to Paratransit, Inc. in 2012. From the first orientation, the quality and experience of this organization is impressive.

In addition to public service, Mr. Hume is involved in many community organizations as well. He is the vice president of the Elk Grove regional Scholarship Foundation, a past president of the Rotary Club of Elk Grove and has served as auctioneer for many local charities and causes. Professionally, he is controller for the family homebuilding firm founded by his grandfather in 1964.