Adele Gordon

Director, Community Health Centers, Fairfield County Sites

Adele Gordon,  a graduate of Boston University  began her career as a Speech and Hearing therapist in the Stratford, CT School System and worked for many years in non-profit agencies, such as the Kennedy Center and the Rehabilitation Center in Bridgeport and ARI in Stamford.

A long standing advocate for public education, Adele served on the Stamford Board of Education for ten years, two years as its president;  and also as president of the Connecticut Association of Boards Of Education.

She  is a founding member of The Connecticut Association of Children With Learning Disabilities (CACLD), the Stamford Public Education Foundation.  Over the years she has served on many boards and commissions, including: Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Stamford Partnership, ARI, Red Cross, Literacy Volunteers, the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission and the Stamford Police Commission.

As a natural transition from education and social service, Adele became a partner in a unique  company called The Training Connection that improved women’s self esteem and helped them to become self sufficient. It was through her efforts to get dental care for Training Connection  clients, that she realized the absence of dental providers for low income people.

In 1999 she led a group of committed community people to open a dental clinic, The Dental Center of Stamford. The mission of the Dental Center was to provide high quality cost effective oral health care  and to ensure that patients were treated with dignity and respect. She first served as the chair of the Board of Directors and subsequently became the executive director. The Board of Directors determined that CHC was an organization that would continue the mission and philosophy of the Dental Center and joined CHC in  November, 2005.

Adele became Faifield County Site Director when Norwalk Smiles opened in 2006 and the Danbury Community Health Center opened in 2008. She continues to promote and provide health care for CHC as the Fairfield County Site Director.

Douglas Larson

Retired Human Resources Manager

Mr. Larson was a member of the professional staff that opened the first central Connecticut Whole Foods Market in West Hartford.  Mr. Larson retired as Principal Personnel Officer for the State of Connecticut Department of Children & Families.  Mr. Larson has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Behavior and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics.  He is fluent in Swedish. 

Jesse White-Frese’

Executive Director of Connecticut Association of School-Based Health Centers

Jesse is an experienced leader with skills in program development and management, budget management, public policy advocacy experience and supervisory skills.  She is the Executive Director or the Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers, Inc.

Kareen Wilson, RDH BS

Dental Hygienist and Director with Bethesda Medical Mission

Kareen Wilson, Registered Dental Hygienist, has been practicing dental hygiene for 16 years, holding a Bachelor of Science degree from Loma Linda University. She is part owner of the family dental practice in West Hartford where her husband practices dentistry.

Starting in 2004, Kareen realized her true calling when she joined mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Peru with several other medical professionals, witnessing the drastic need for better oral health care in these countries and other parts of the world. Driven by that experience, Kareen helped start Bethesda Medical Mission, a non-profit organization dedicated to offering free health services to enrich the lives of global citizens who are less fortunate.

Serving an active role of the Board of Directors of Bethesda Medical Mission, Kareen joins a band of pediatricians, psychologists and general practitioners who love to go on mission trips to territories covering the Caribbean, Central and South America.   For the last two years, Bethesda Medical Mission has travelled to various areas in Haiti.

Kareen received the 2012 Crest^® Oral-B^® Pros in the Profession Dental Hygienist of the Year Award. This is the second year that the award was given to six dental hygienists in the United States whose excellence in education, volunteerism, and patient treatment enhances the public’s oral health with ultimate goal of improving overall health.

Kareen’s passion for improving oral health in other countries is carried into everyday general practice as well. She is committed to educating her patients about whole body wellness and the connection between their oral health and overall health.  Kareen strives to keep her patients bacteria-free and is dedicated to help people, especially children find the preventive health information they need to achieve perfect oral health.