BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A native Sacramentan, Ms. Jennings grew up in the military and is a proud U.S. Air Force brat. She retired from the California State Legislature after serving 31 years as a Senate staffer. With an eye toward the future, she is passionate about the process by which today’s youth will be assured the quality of life we all deserve. Ms. Jennings serves on the Joshua’s House Hospice Board of Directors. Joshua’s House serves members of our unhoused family providing them with dignity and support in their final days. Ms. Jennings has recently become certified by the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA) as an end-of-life Doula for Joshua's House.
As a life-long beneficiary of mental health care services, the availability and quality of services to all those in need is a passion for her. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Mental Health Services Act Steering Committee for the County of Sacramento and also serves as a speaker for the County of Sacramento's Stop Stigma Sacramento Speakers Bureau. The arts remain a strong influence in her life, particularly in the medium of textiles. Ms. Jennings considers it a privilege to serve the South Natomas community.
Jasmine Ferdinand, Vice-President
Jasmine has a passion for community service and lives with the purpose of giving back.
She is a wife and is a mother to three children. She proudly serves as a high school teacher within the Natomas Unified School District.
Raised in the vibrant community of Oakland, she has called Sacramento home for over 20 years, with 11 of those spent in the diverse neighborhood of Natomas. Her educational journey began at California State University, Sacramento, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Science. Currently, she is furthering her expertise by pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching with an English Credential, at the University of San Francisco. Beyond the classroom, she actively engages in community service as a Board Member for both the Natomas Field Townhomes Association and Joshua’s House Volunteer Hospice. As a mother to three NUSD students (one of whom attends UC Merced), she is deeply invested in the success and well-being of our local youth. In her free time, she indulges her passion for literature and exploration through avid reading and a lot of travel. Alongside her roles as an educator and volunteer, she is also a certified End-Of-Life Doula, providing compassionate support to individuals and families during challenging times. With a dedication to lifelong learning, community involvement, and nurturing future generations, she finds fulfillment in wearing many hats -- from teacher to advocate, volunteer, and mother.
Harry is a relative newcomer to South Natomas. He moved here in early 2022 after having spent the previous 52 years in nearby Davis. Harry has practiced law for the past 44 years, nearly all of it in solo private practice in Davis and Woodland. Involvement in the community has been a feature of Harry's life as much as his practice has been.
Harry grew up in the suburbs of Sacramento and graduated from Mira Loma High School in 1970. He did his undergrad work and attended law school at UC Davis, earning a BA in 1974 and a JD in 1978. He supported candidates now remembered only by political junkies and major nerds. When he was in college, he wanted to change the world when he grew up. Actually, he still does but figures that he can do more helping his own community than by supporting losing presidential candidates. That is why he is joining the Board of SNIA. After spending his professional life helping one person at a time, he thinks that he will go back to saving the world and take the larger view of working in his own community. Think globally. Act locally.
Besides law and building community, Harry's personal passion is opera. "I don't have enough drama in my life just practicing law, I need the opera for real excitement.
Harry Roth, Board Member-at-Large
Marlene M. von Friederichs-Fitzwater, BS, MA, Ph.D., MPH is the Founder and CEO of the Health Communication Research Institute, Inc., a 501, c, 3 nonprofit corporation that started in 1989 to address health disparities. In 2016, she began work on creating the Joshua’s House Volunteer Hospice Program to create the first supportive care facility offering hospice care for terminally ill homeless men and women on the West Coast and the eighth in the country.
She retired in January of 2016 as an associate professor of hematology/oncology (1987-2016) in the UC Davis School of Medicine, where she also developed and directed the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Outreach Research and Education Program; and served as adjunct faculty in the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and in the UC Davis MPH Program.
She formed and chaired the UC Davis Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Advisory Board; co-chaired the UC Davis Cancer/Sacramento State Partnership Board to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities; chaired the UC Davis LGBT Cancer Health Disparities Task Force; and represented UC Davis on the Survivorship Committee of the ATHENA Breast Cancer Program. She was a California Legislative Ambassador for the American Cancer Society and was a cervical cancer spokesperson for the California Medical Foundation. She served as a national consultant for the American Medical Association Ethics Task Force on Physician/Patient Communication.
Dr. von Friederichs-Fitzwater is also professor emeritus at California State University, Sacramento, where she served for 20 years (1985-2005) as a professor in communication studies including three years as department chair. During her tenure, she was honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1999 and was named a Minority Faculty Mentor in 1996
Dr. von Friederichs-Fitzwater received the Quintus C. Wilson Alumni Achievement Award in 2018 from the University of Utah; the Alumni Achievement Award from Westminster College in Salt Lake in April, 2019; and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D) Degree from California State University and California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) in May, 2019.
Marlene M. von Friederichs-Fitzwater
Board Member-at-Large