While our members commit their careers to serving our communities, many CalPERS members carry that public service commitment into retirement. During April’s National Volunteer Month, meet three CalPERS retirees and learn how they continue to be change agents.
Julie Taylor
Julie Taylor’s drive to make a difference continues into her CalPERS retirement.
As contracts and procurement director for the San Mateo County Transit District (SMCTD), she led an award-winning team whose dedicated work directly resulted in transit improvements for those living, working, and moving throughout San Mateo County.
“I had a role in the purchase of hybrid buses, the selection of an operator for Caltrain, and in the hiring of consultants to provide support services to the transit authority,” she said. “It was the most challenging and rewarding position of my career.”
Even before her time at SMCTD, Taylor was passionate about public service. After a fulfilling occupation in early childhood education, she went on to positions with California State University San Francisco, Santa Clara County, and water districts located in San Jose and Fremont.
But Taylor’s commitment to community improvement hasn’t stopped in retirement. Today, she volunteers with the Interfaith Food Bank and the Amador Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The food bank provides food four days a week from its warehouse and mobile pantry, and AAUW awards scholarships to seventh-grade girls to attend STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) camps, and provides financial support to local women pursuing educational opportunities.
She was initially drawn to the food-bank opportunity to connect with her community during the pandemic, when opportunities to meet as a group were challenging. With AAUW, she took on a branch-leadership fundraising position at the first association event she attended.
Today, in both volunteer roles, Taylor continues to learn and grow in retirement while also drawing on her professional skills, benefiting both herself and the members of the public she continues to serve.
“For instance, with AAUW, I agreed to be the social media editor, requiring me to create graphics and interesting content. While it is time consuming, it provides me a creative outlet that I enjoy,” she said. “I also enjoy fundraising for scholarship donations. I’ve learned marketing and design skills and coordinate with other nonprofits.
“I never thought the organizational skills I used during my public service career would be so valuable in retirement!”
Greg Diaz
When Greg Diaz retired after 37 years of public service, it wasn’t just a gift to him and his wife, but also to the kids in his newfound community.
“I chose Valentine’s Day 2022 as my retirement date,” he said. “It was a gift to my wife, who gave up a lot of her career so I could have mine. I decided we should have ‘our time.’”
Diaz’s decades-long career included serving as a congressional aide, a school district administrative aide, and city attorney for five California communities including the City of Ventura, his last professional position.
“I loved the work because it was always challenging, never boring, and you never knew what was next,” he said. “Sometimes it’s about 120,000 people (the City of Ventura population), and sometimes it’s about one person.”
Diaz is especially proud of providing timely advice, counsel, and guidance during emergency situations impacting cities and their residents, a role that led to Diaz leading the creation of an emergency handbook in partnership with the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties.
After retirement, Diaz and his wife moved to Tampa, Florida, where — true to his public-service roots — he wanted to contribute in a direct way. Inspired by his late brother-in-law’s involvement with Kiwanis International, Diaz joined the Kiwanis Carrollwood Club.
“Kiwanis is about helping kids,” he said. “The focus on service — particularly for youth — was key.”
Diaz now gifts his time to young people by mentoring students, giving motivational speeches, encouraging literacy, and participating in food banks and children’s book giveaways.
“Our projects allow us to use the skills and talents of all of our members for whatever they are willing to give,” he said.
Last year, Diaz was named Carrollwood Club’s Kiwanian of the Year. In addition to making new friends through his volunteerism, he looks forward to continuing to make a difference for his new city, one young person at a time.
Michele Yepez
During her career, Michele Yepez supported small rural hospitals throughout California with their delivery of health care services to their communities. Now, she supports her own community through a variety of volunteer activities.
As a health program manager with the California Department of Health Services (now the California Department of Health Care Services), Yepez led two vital initiatives — the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Program and the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP).
“My work supported our state’s rural hospitals, which provide quality health care to a very diverse population of residents,” she said, noting these small facilities play a huge role for the Californians whose lives depend on them for inpatient, urgent, and stabilization care.
Her program leadership involved seeking and securing federal funds for California rural hospitals via competitive grants, helping them comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements, and acting as a hands-on resource for these unique facilities. She also ensured rural hospitals met state and federal certification regulations and standards of care by providing them with professional services and resources to support CAH conversions.
Yepez served more than 50 SHIP grantees and achieved 12 rigorous CAH hospital conversions from “general” to “critical access” federal designations, cementing their community safety-net status. But even when she was supporting and strengthening health care services for California’s rural residents — including traveling throughout the state to assist facilities and their staff — she made time to volunteer.
“I have always volunteered — Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, school-based organizations,” she said. “I enjoy meeting new people, working in a group to problem solve, and lending my knowledge and skills to improve and update current practices.”
Her Sacramento-area retiree volunteerism has included putting her grant-writing skills to work on behalf of local causes, such as foster youth and pet health. In addition, she is an Arden Park Neighborhood Association (APNA) board member and a River City Quilters’ Guild (RCQG) committee member.
“APNA supports safety and security and participates in community events; RCQG members sew and distribute more than 500 quilts each year to children and adults undergoing hospital care, as well as to veterans,” she said.
“I choose groups that make a visible contribution to my own community and continue my commitment to public service.”
Want to volunteer like these CalPERS retirees? Search and browse opportunities at California Volunteers, a service initiative of the Office of the Governor. To share how you’re continuing to make a difference for your community in your retirement, email editor@calpers.ca.gov and we may contact you for a future PERSpective article.