Tressa Thompson attended CSULB prior to beginning her career at the CA Department of Motor Vehicles. Her professional training as a Driver Safety Hearing Officer included a Physical and Mental module covering various physical and mental conditions, treatment and medications. Tressa continues training/conferences offered by DMV addressing medical conditions and the aging process and how it relates to traffic safety. As Senior Driver Ombudsman Tressa conducts presentations to various senior organizations regarding DMV policy and procedure as well as safety. 

Edward Duag is a Registered Kinesiotherapist with the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Long Beach, CA. In this role, Edward looks after, manages and performs all aspects of the Long Beach VA Driver Rehab clinic, including administrative duties, safety evaluations, and auto adaptive equipment assessments. Edward is a qualified Certified Driver Rehab Specialist and holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Kinesiotherapy, a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration, as well as a Minor in Psychology from California State University of Long Beach. 

Ubaldo Arellano received his Bachelors in Kinesiotherapy from California State University of Long Beach. He has been working as a Registered Kinesiotherapist at the Long Beach VA Medical Center for 17 years. Ubaldo has gained experience working in a variety of specialized inpatient and outpatient clinics within the VA. The last seven years, he has served as a Driver Rehab Specialist assisting to address behind the wheel evaluations and auto adaptive equipment assessments. 

Sean attended Ohio State University and majored in marketing and logistics. After graduation he joined the Marine Corps and spent 8 years as a Marine Officer. During that time he also received a Master’s degree from University of San Diego. After leaving the Marine Corps Sean worked for a couple advertising agencies. Eleven years ago he joined the team at GoldenBoy Mobility. Sean started by learning process, sales, mobility equipment and quickly attended as many training events as possible throughout the industry and became a certified mobility consultant. Sean also became involved with Collebuilt systems (manufacturer of reduced effort steering and braking systems). He wanted to understand the manufacturing side of the business and attended conferences and trainings to understand all products available within the industry. I currently sit on NMEDA, SAE, and NHTSA equipment and manufacturing committees that help write the guidelines for the industry. Sean is currently the General Manager at GoldenBoy Mobility and continue to work with Collebuilt.     

Jill received her Master’s Degree in Public Health from UCLA and holds a CA Community College Teaching Credential. She has expertise in program management, research, curriculum design and training delivery. Jill currently directs programs for the UC San Diego “Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety” (TREDS) Center that address traffic safety priority areas including interventions to keep older drivers safe and mobile. Previously, she held the position of Training Coordinator for a CDC cooperative agreement and was charged with implementing national training institutes to increase health promotion programming for youth. In earlier years, Jill was employed as a Health Educator with Marin County and Santa Cruz County Public Health Departments, Kaiser Permanente, and served on an advisory panel to the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing to develop health education standards for teacher preparation. 

Purnima Karia, is an occupational therapist since 1977, and a certified driving rehab specialist (CDRS)since 2006, providing services to clients with various neurological disorders. She has a Bachelors of Science in Occupational therapy from University of Bombay and has been practicing in United States since 1992.She has recently completed Graduate Certificate Program in Low Vision Rehabilitation from University of Alabama, Birmingham (August 2015- April 2017). Her passion and expertise involves working with clients focusing on integrating back in the home and community including driving and getting back to their previous productive activities. Her work experience includes 12 years at Daniel freeman Hospital in Inglewood California responsible for evaluation and treatment of clients in the outpatient day treatment program (NEW PATHWAYS -HOME AND COMMUNITY RE-INTEGRATION) and led Driver Mobility Program for inpatients, outpatient, and community referrals since 1998.Since 2011, she has been working at Providence Little Company of Mary, San Pedro as a senior occupational therapist working with clients with acquired brain injury. Since 2008, she has launched 3 driving programs at various hospitals (Long Beach Memorial, Providence LCMSP, Hoag Hospital Newport Beach) and her own private practice in Southern California providing services for clinical and an on-road driving assessments. She has been involved with multiple community awareness projects regarding driver safety, including Car-fit, interview with KCET TV producer on Senior driving concerns and role of an Occupational therapist in providing an objective driving evaluation which was aired on multiple channels throughout Southern California. Purnima has been instrumental in educating Physical and Occupational Therapy Master’s students in Bidada- Kutch (Jaya Rehabilitation Center), G.S. Medical College, and Nanavati Super Specialty Center in Mumbai. 

Debbie Ricker graduated from Loma Linda University with a degree in Occupational Therapy. Debbie is a Driving Rehabilitation Specialist and works with older adults who have impairments from medical conditions such as Parkinson’s, stroke, brain injuries, and various types of cognitive impairment or dementia. She is one of
the nation’s leading experts on driving and dementia and is a Certified Dementia Trainer. Debbie has presented on the state and national level regarding the effects of dementia on driving. Debbie recently published a book on the topic of how dementia affects driving. The book, Dementia and Driving, is sold on Amazon.com.