Gonzalo Garretón Named Chair, Natalie Porter Named Secretary

Media Contacts: Sandy Young / Jean Walcher, J. Walcher Communications
sandy@jwalcher.com / jean@jwalcher.com, 619-295-7140

SAN DIEGO (July 18, 2017) – The Alliant Educational Foundation (AEF) has announced a new board of directors executive committee. AEF is a nonprofit organization that partners with Alliant International University and other institutions of higher education to provide funding and resources to support student scholarships and faculty research.

Chair Gonzalo Garretón, M.D., partner emeritus, Kaiser Permanente – Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCMPG), will serve as chair and Natalie Porter, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Alliant International University (Alliant), as secretary. Continuing committee members are Vice Chair Saul Rosenbaum, managing director, Praeger & Co., LLC, and Treasurer Ron Longinotti, retired president and general manager, CBS for San Francisco and Seattle.

With a mission to support post-secondary students as they prepare for careers of service and leadership that improve lives in underserved communities, AEF has pledged $3 million over the next two years to help students with the passion to make a difference pursue their educational goals.

Garretón’s new position continues his service to AEF and Alliant, as he has volunteered as a board director and secretary for AEF and has served as a board director for Alliant since 2009. He is also a consultant physician for his alma mater Catholic University of Chile Medical School in Santiago, Chile, his home country. Garretón is a diplomat for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellow for the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Before his work with Kaiser, Garretón worked at Ukiah OB/GYN Medical Group in Ukiah California, Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio and Hospital del Trabajador in Santiago, Chile, among others. He was elected to the SCPMG board of directors for 15 years and also completed several SCMPG leadership courses. Garretón resides with his wife Isabel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, and they have three grown children.

New secretary Porter has been heavily involved with Alliant for 22 years and is currently a professor in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at Alliant’s California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco. Porter has also held academic appointments at the University of New Mexico and the University of Nebraska. She has diverse administrative experience with the university, including as interim vice president for academic affairs and school-wide dean for the California School of Professional Psychology.

Nationally, Porter is a leader in the American Psychological Association, serving as president of the Society for the Psychology of Women and on the executive committees of other divisions. She is a frequent author and presenter, primarily focused on mental health service delivery, gender issues, psychotherapy ethics and supervision. She was awarded the APA Committee on Women’s Distinguished Leadership Award. Porter resides in Alameda, California.

To learn more or make a donation to the Alliant Educational Foundation, visit allianted.org.