Board Leadership

Erika Calderon, Executive Director (Management of the Board's resources and staff)

Erika Calderon became the Executive Director of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California (OMBC) effective November 1, 2022. Ms. Calderon gained criminal justice experience by participating in a 4-year criminal justice academy magnet program, sponsored by the Sacramento Police Department. There, she attained her first leadership role as Lieutenant. In July of 2006, Ms. Calderon obtained her Associates in Applied Science Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accountancy from Heald College in Rancho Cordova, CA and in 2009 she earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior from the California State University of Sacramento.

Ms. Calderon began her professional career with the MAXIMUS diversion program in 2002 where she received extensive knowledge and experience with chemical dependency and mental health. She began her state career with the California Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) in September of 2010, as a Staff Services Analyst in the Enforcement Unit and in April of 2014, promoted to the Medical Board of California (MBC) as an Associate Governmental Program Analyst. Ms. Calderon led the inappropriate and overprescribing case load as well as the prescription review program. In August of 2018, she attained her first state leadership role as Staff Services Manager I, overseeing the operations of the Medical Board’s Quality of Care Unit. In July of 2021, she took over the management of the Board’s Discipline Coordination Unit (DCU) and in April of 2022, transferred to the Physical Therapy Board of California (PTBC) as the Enforcement Program Manager.

Ms. Calderon is a highly accomplished leader with vast experience in service excellence, organizational behavior in the workforce, staff recruitment and retention, education, and regulatory affairs. She has received numerous recognitions throughout her career and has presented on topics such as the complaint review process, investigations, the Medical Board of California Prescription Review Program, and the disciplinary process.

Machiko Chong, Licensing Program Manager

Machiko Chong has over 17 years of state service with a diverse employment background and commitment to public service. Her state career includes prior service with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) where she provided support to Field Office Technicians and consumers regarding foreign and domestic vehicle compliance matters. She then went on to work for the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), handling sensitive and high priority retirement disbursements for those families of members who passed away while in active status.

Ms. Chong began her tenure with the Osteopathic Medical Board of California (OMBC) in July 2010, as the sole Licensing Analyst for the Board under the supervision of the late Donald Krpan, D.O. She later transitioned to the Executive team, serving as the primary point of contact for the Executive Director and Board Members, while also acting as the liaison for many of the Board’s dealings. In her current role as the Licensing Program Manager, Machiko brings her wealth of knowledge and experience gained from her prior appointments to the Program. She has also made a commitment to the provision and maintenance of the customer service given to both internal and external stakeholders, while also ensuring that staff feel supported in their roles while obtaining hands on experience.

Although, a brief hiatus was taken to pursue other goals, Ms. Chong hopes to finalize her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in the forthcoming future.

Terri A. Thorfinnson, J.D. Administrative Services Program Manager

Ms. Thorfinnson has almost 30 years of executive experience in both the private and public sector. She brings an impressive blend of executive, health policy, legislative, political strategist, media strategist and spokesperson, photojournalist and legal services skills and experience to her work at the Board. She is a lawyer, licensed to practice in New York.

Terri joined the Board in 2016 as the Assistant Executive Director. Over the past year (2023), she has transitioned to her current role as Administrative Services Program Manager. Her prior public services jobs include being the Executive Office for the California Acupuncture Board and being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as the Chief of the Office of Women’s Health within the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH). In that role, she represented the Administration on women’s health issues, administrated the Gynecological Cancer Information Program (GCIP), co-authored research publications and produced two award winning Women’s Health reports and Adolescent Report and published “Women’s Health Data Points” research and collaborated with the interagency Women’s Health Survey researchers to publish women’s health research. She organized a team of public health physicians and researchers that produced a 70-page evidence-based report making seven recommendations to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) workgroup on what additional health services should be added to the Affordable Care Act. Five of the seven recommendations were added to the Affordable Care Act.

Her private sector experience included government affairs work for the California Primary Care Association where she created the “Cedillo/Alarcon Community Clinic Investment Act,” that provided infrastructure grant funding for community clinics needing to expand their capacity to serve the growing number of uninsured patients. The program was later used as a model for public foundations to fund additional infrastructure expansion for community clinics. She also worked for Planned Parenthoods in California and New York where she learned community organizing, lobbying, media, and marketing. While in Santa Barbara, she created Planned Parenthood’s legal structure for the organization to participate in federal, state, and local electoral races and ran independent expenditure campaigns for federal, state, and local races within Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties.

She has a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire and her BA Political Science and Anthropology from University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI and is a member of the New York Bar. She was awarded the last of the prestigious “Reginald Heber Community Lawyer Fellowships” created to fund lawyers to work in underserved inner cities and rural areas.