SPARKLE BARNES
President and Chief Executive Officer
A visionary, mission-driven leader, Sparkle Barnes is President and Chief Executive Officer of Health Center Partners of Southern California and its Family of Companies, including HQP.
Sparkle was named Interim CEO in April 2025 and was officially appointed in November 2025, becoming the seventh CEO in HCP’s history.
Under her direction, the Family of Companies launched “Next50: A Legacy of Impact, a Future of Innovation,” a bold strategic plan charting the course for HCP’s 50th anniversary and beyond.
Since joining the Family of Companies, Sparkle has held progressive leadership roles, including Chief Strategy Officer for HCP beginning in 2016 and President of CNECT beginning in 2021. She previously managed public-private venture projects for Naval and Marine Corps Shore Installations with the Department of Defense.
A respected thought leader, Sparkle is frequently invited to speak on topics such as supply chain strategies and innovative business practices. She holds a Master of Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University.
NICOLE HOWARD, MPH
Executive Vice President
Nicole A. Howard, MPH, is Executive Vice President for Health Quality Partners of Southern California and serves as the Chief Advancement Officer for Health Center Partners of Southern California. With the Health Center Partners Family of Companies since 2007, she previously served as Director of Programs and Fund Development, and has been managing public health programs since 1991. Prior to joining Health Center Partners of Southern California, Nicole held posts in academia, medical research, and primary care administration. She has been on faculty at University of Phoenix and San Diego State University, and also worked as a program manager at Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego for close to a decade. Nicole holds a master's degree in public health from San Diego State University, with an emphasis in health promotion. Fluent in Spanish, she earned a bachelor's in history and Chicano studies from the University of California, San Diego, and studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
HQP Team
Lauren Abrams, MSW, MPH | Assistant Vice President for HQP Administration
Lauren began working at Health Center Partners in 2009, and has been involved on a wide variety of programs since that time. Her first projects focused on childhood asthma and breast health diagnostics. In 2010 Lauren became the Project Coordinator for the county-wide Oral Health Initiative. After living abroad for a year, Lauren returned to HCP in July 2013 to manage the Covered California Outreach & Education program. She is currently responsible for the Covered California Navigator grant and a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid program that assists families enrolling children into Medi-Cal.
Lisa Beckett | Authorization Claims Processor
Lisa studied accounting and secretarial work for 3 years at Grossmont College. Lisa has worked for our organization since January 1992 on a variety of programs. She currently works on the MHSA program as a Claims Processor. She enrolls uninsured/underinsured clients for Behavioral Health Services and pays the claims associated with those services. Lisa also works on the Oral Health Initiative program as a Claims Processor paying claims for dental services provided to uninsured children ages 5 and under and uninsured pregnant/post partum women.
Mary Ann Bundang, MPH | Program Manager
Mary Ann has been a Program Manager for the Oral Health Initiative since 2011. Mary Ann graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Psychology. She worked as a social worker for 3 years and worked with individuals with mental illness and elderly populations. She received a Master of Public Health with an emphasis in Health Management and Policy from San Diego State University.
Jennifer Covin, MPH | Director of Programs and Research
Jennifer, in collaboration with our team of Program Managers, oversees many of our grant sponsored programs and services aimed at meeting the needs of patients in our HCP member organizations. She has 25+ years of experience managing public health programs aimed at preventing the leading causes of disease and managing chronic health issues.
Douglas Flaker | Director of Resource Development
Douglas joined Health Center Partners in 2019 as Director of Member Services where he reorganized the organization’s Shared Learning Network before assuming responsibility for Resource Development in 2020. Previously he held program and resource development positions within Federally Qualified Health Centers in San Diego and Santa Barbara where he was a managing director. Before his career in non-profit leadership began in 2008, he held senior roles in investment banking, institutional fund management, and entrepreneurial organizations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Diego for more than 20 years. Doug earned a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from the University of San Diego, is an alumnus of the Courage to Lead executive leadership program, is a graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the Wharton School, and studied music at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
Rachel Lang, AA | Senior Data Entry Specialist
Rachel comes to HQP with 11 years of data collection and processing experience. She began her career in market research, and eventually moved onto healthcare where she has remained since 2012. Rachel has worked in a variety of disciplines including market research, pharmacy, SUD treatment, primary and urgent care, with most of her time being focused in behavioral health. She is looking forward to expanding this skillset through her work on the Oral Health Initiative and the SBIRT Project. Rachel holds an AA in Communication Studies from Santa Monica College.
Shannon Okimoto, MSW, MPH | Project Manager
Shannon is a Project Coordinator who is currently working on the Covered California Navigator, CHIPRA, and Behavioral Health Integration initiatives. She earned her Masters of Public Health with an emphasis in Health Management and Policy, and Masters of Social Work with an emphasis in Social Work Administration from San Diego State University. Previously, she worked in Community Health Promotion and Health Care Policy at the County of San Diego and has also held several social work positions in hospitals and long term care facilities.
Amanda Radovic | Associate Director of Member Services
Amanda serves as the Associate Director for Member Services, supporting member health centers through strategic collaboration, program development, and partnership. With more than 15 years in organizational leadership, innovation and association management, Amanda is dedicated to strengthening community health and advancing equitable access to quality care. Prior to joining Health Center Partners, she held executive roles supporting technology transfer, education, and entrepreneurship across nonprofit and public sectors to advance innovation-driven economic growth. Amanda holds a degree in Neuropsychology from The Evergreen State College.
Laura Stanley, PhD | Program Evaluation Manager
Laura is an experienced program evaluator with expertise in conducting community-based public health research among diverse populations. As our Program Evaluator, she employs quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate grant funded programs managed by Health Quality Partners in order to improve outcomes, increase patient engagement, and determine programmatic value at multiple levels. Dr. Stanley earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in cultural anthropology from U.C. San Diego, and a B.A. in Social Ecology from U.C. Irvine.
Carolyn Winn | Member Services Manager
Carolyn is the Member Services Manager at Health Quality Partners. In this role she connects and responds to the needs of member health centers. She brings close to 20 years of experience building coalitions and developing programs for a variety of organizations including Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, and United Way of San Diego County. Her diverse background includes delivering reproductive healthcare services, overseeing health education programs, leading a career pathway program for high school students, and directing large scale economic mobility initiatives.