North Bay professionals news from Redwood Credit Union, Kaiser Permanente, Builders' Studio and more

Aaron Collier has joined Redwood Credit Union as senior vice president of information technology. The credit union stated that in his new role, Collier is responsible for strategically planning, developing, directing, and evaluating all information technology and e-commerce initiatives for the credit union. He also oversees the credit union’s information technology staff.

Prior to joining RCU, Collier spent 13 years at Washington State Employees Credit Union in positions that included director of infrastructure and operations, assistant vice president of software development, and network architect. He’s a graduate and member of the Regional Leadership Forum for the Society of Information Management.

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Denise Laws was recently named continuum administrator for Kaiser Permanente’s Marin–Sonoma service area.

Laws began her career at Kaiser Permanente in 1987 as a staff nurse at the San Rafael Medical Center. In 1990, she transferred to Santa Rosa, where she served in a number of increasingly reponsible management positions, including patient care coordinator, assistant nurse manager, department manager, director Clinical Education Practices & Informatics, and most recently as the Coordination of Care Services Director.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Dominican University, a master’s in nursing administration and leadership from Sonoma State University, and an executive leadership doctor of nursing practice degree from the University of San Francisco.

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Vanessa Apodaca, P.E., has joined the staff of Builders’ Studio in Sebastopol. She has more than 14 years in civil and structural engineering for residential, commercial and municipal projects. Apodaca received her Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from California Polytechnic State University.

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Liliana Garcia has joined Premier Ob Gyn Napa Inc. as a nurse practitioner and certified midwife. Garcia has been a midwife for 21 years.

She has worked in the Napa Valley area as a certified nurse midwife, delivering babies at Queen of The Valley Hospital; she also formerly worked with and for Dr. Jerome Solomon, and for Community Health/Clinic Ole, the practice stated.

Garcia has a certificate in hospice and palliative care and a certificate as nurse midwife/nurse practitioner from UCSF; and an Associate of Science degree in nursing from Napa Valley College.

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Rose M. Zoia, a Santa Rosa attorney with over 30 years of experience in land use, real property, and general civil appellate law, has joined the Arbitration and Mediation Center in Santa Rosa. The center provides alternative dispute resolution services throughout the Bay Area and Northern California.

The firm stated that Zoia has experience in the litigation and resolution of a variety of land use and real property matters including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), general plan and zoning, easements, neighbor disputes and contracts, as well as experience in personal injury cases, probate/trust estate, employment law and banking matters.

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Lenice Smith has been hired as executive director of Bloom, a volunteer-based nonprofit in San Rafael that provides complimentary wardrobes and life skills training to those in need.

Smith is responsible for overseeing operations, community outreach and planning of Bloom, formerly Image for Success. Smith replaces Sherene Chen, who held the post for two years.

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Jennifer Bice, founder of Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery in Sebastopol, and Lewis Warren, shareholder of the law firm Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery, have joined the Sonoma Land Trust board of directors.