About Us

Our Story

Open Doors to Future Possibilities, Inc. is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and  tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. (EIN 83-3226119)

Since our establishment in January 2019, we have been dedicated to providing life-changing, free-of-charge services to military veterans and their families. We honor their service to our nation, ensuring their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

About the Founder,

the Board & Our Team

At Open Doors to Future Possibilities, we are dedicated to empowering individuals to embrace positive change and achieve their full potential, and we are honored to serve those who have sacrificed for our freedom.

LEADERSHIP

Dr. Simone Lundquist
Founder, Executive Director

Dr. Simone Lundquist is more than an educator; she is a philosopher, a seasoned counselor, and an international authority on human resilience. With a career spanning over 40 years, including being a well-loved professor at San José State University, she has dedicated her life to helping individuals navigate the darkest chapters of their lives impacted by trauma.

Her expertise isn’t just academic. Dr. Lundquist has worked on the front lines of global crises with the United Nations and the International Red Cross, supporting our troops and the survivors of war and violence. These experiences, combined with her deep studies in quantum physics and spirituality, led her to develop Tri-Axis Narrative Theory. This innovative approach to counseling and suicide prevention integrates mental, physical, and spiritual fitness to foster true healing and creativity.

Today, her work impacts thousands of lives, from struggling families to hundreds of veterans. Beyond the classroom and the clinic, Dr. Simone is known for her straightforward, high-energy personality. She is the proud mother of a successful engineer and stays active alongside her stubborn (but beloved) Malinois, Lady Luck.

Lisa Intrieri Caputo
Board Member, Vice President

Lisa Intrieri Caputo has been a leader at Ferrari Ottoboni Caputo & Wunderling LLP for more than two decades, joining the firm in 1994 and becoming a partner in 1999. She focuses on complex estate planning, wealth transfer, family business succession, tax planning and litigation, charitable planning, and trust and probate matters, guiding individuals and families through sophisticated financial and legal decisions. Lisa has also contributed to national policy discussions, presenting before the United States Senate Finance Committee and the Treasury Department on federal generation-skipping transfer tax regulations. Recognized as a California Super Lawyer in Estate Planning and Probate and named among Northern California’s Top Women Attorneys, she is respected for both her legal expertise and leadership. Beyond her practice, Lisa is deeply committed to her community, serving in leadership roles with the Catholic Community Foundation and the San Jose Police Department Foundation.

Patricia Manzo
Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer

Patricia Manzo is a senior finance executive with over 20 years of experience leading accounting, financial strategy, and operational optimization within the food manufacturing and distribution industry. She specializes in financial planning and analysis, cash flow management, M&A integration, and ERP strategy, as well as partnering with executive leadership and boards to drive growth, profitability, and operational efficiency. Known for her collaborative leadership style and strong analytical approach, Patricia has a proven track record of strengthening internal controls, improving financial reporting, and leveraging technology to support data-driven decision-making and long-term business success.

BOARD MEMBERS

Dr. Clyde Horn
Board Member

Dr. Clyde Horn is a semi-retired licensed psychotherapist and Vietnam Combat Wounded Veteran who served in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade from 1967-68. He has received numerous medals of honor for his service, including the Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, Army Commendation Medal, and three Vietnam service, unit and campaign medals. His education at California Baptist University, Southwestern Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University and Colton University culminated in three Masters Degrees in Theology, Education and Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He is an accomplished writer, speaker, photographer, and advocate for veterans, authoring two books: "PTSD in Pictures & Words" and "Veteran Guilt in Pictures & Words", in which he utilized his hobby of photography as a medium for creative expression and his own therapy. As a 100% disabled veteran and semi-retired licensed psychotherapist, he meets weekly with other veterans to help them navigate the disability system and provide support.

Colonel Christopher Starling, USMC (Ret.)
Board Member

Colonel Chris Starling retired from the Marine Corps with 26 years of service as an infantry officer, completing ten overseas deployments including three combat tours. He served in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Divisions, participating in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Iraqi Freedom. While on active duty, he commanded the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines in Camp Lejeune, NC, and the 23rd Marine Regiment in San Bruno, California. His post-retirement work has been focused on the Veteran community. Currently, Chris is the Executive Director of NPower California, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission of creating pathways to economic prosperity by launching digital careers for military Veterans and young adults from underserved communities. He also serves on the board of trustees at San Francisco Maritime National Park Association as well as Veteran Launch Board of Advisors, Main Street Launch.

Nha-Nghi Nguyen
Board Member

For the past 16 years, Nha-Nghi Nguyen has been part of the California State PTA Board of Managers. On that board, she has served on the Family Engagement Commission as vice-chair of the commission, on the Program and Services Commission, Convention Commission, Resolutions Committee, Student Involvement Committee, and Reflections Art Committee. She previously served as executive vice president of Sixth District PTA, which encompasses several counties, and as auditor and secretary of her area PTA council. She has served as PTA president at her child’s elementary and middle school and has been employed in different levels of education including pre-school, special education, elementary, middle school, and now higher education at San Jose State University, in the Psychology Department.

VOLUNTEERS

Adrian Ramirez
Afraz Gill
Alexia Amezcua
Arshleen Kaur
Beyda Hernandez
Brandon Nguyen
Brianna Frodin
Caitlin Cortez
Cash Faron
Cathy Tseng
Chet Hastings
Christopher Borges
Desiree Magpusao
Diana Weiss Romero

Eli Teklu
Emma Wunderling
Ethan Kiryczun
Evan Lachnit
Hanley Chan
Heather Arnold
Jacob Annab
Jeff Borg
Jennifer Noble
Joanna Abellera
Joey Caputo
John Wunderling
Karen Beveridge
Kathy Smyrniotis

Kenneth Hastings
Kristen Annab
Marita Caldecott
Mary Lachnit
Melissa Frank
Mellany Uranga
Natalie Tobar
Nicole Caputo
Nicolas Lachnit
Paul Caputo
Paula De Velasco
Paulina Diaz
Paulina Munoz Macias
Peter Silveira

Phil Rolla
Reza Khorami
Ricardo Jaramillo-Franco
Ryan Magpusao
Sarah Mahi
Sarah Wheeler
Sarira Gharavi
Savannah Persing
Sharon Newton
Sheila Schneider
Sherry Borg
Theodore Kim
Tracy Trieu
Travis Wynn
Valerie Sheibels

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Alex Ortiz

Managing Director

Additional Roles: Lead Grant Writer, Counselor, and Office Manager

Katherine Hastings

Assistant Executive Director
Additional Roles: Training Director

Drew Cole

Strategic Operations Director; Additional Roles: Counselor, Communications

Chris Hughes

Development Director; Additional Roles: Counselor, Veterans Connection Liaison

Nate Chase

Community Connections Liaison; Additional Roles: Counselor

INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE GIVING BACK

Laurie Whetstone

USA (Ret.) – Team Member

Ruthie Wunderling

Structured Language Therapist & Consultant

Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter

Team Member

Our Approach

Working Together to Achieve Success

At Open Doors to Future Possibilities, our style of consultation is collaborative instead of imposing. We assist people to find alternative ways of being, thinking, and living so they can succeed. Our belief is that people suffer from stress that is informed by their expectations about what it means to be a real person in our culture. In the work we do together, we help our consultees to identify these alternatives that are often made visible to the consultees through tracing the histories of the consultees’ resistance to dominant culture.

Through healing conversations, we help consultees separate the problem from their personal identity, opening up possibilities for them to become who they want to be. We believe that the person is never a problem; the problem is the problem and we view the problem as coming from outside of the person. We view the problem-saturated stories people tell about themselves as not just stories of these individuals, but stories dictated to these individuals by society. Therefore, as their allies, we help our consultees to reclaim the other stories they have about themselves that have been overshadowed by other narratives. We carry the responsibility to help them create more helpful and more healing stories that in turn will make it possible for them to feel ‘accountable’ for the choices they make in relation to the problem and for taking necessary steps to revise this relationship if it is not helpful to them. We truly believe that people are not their problems that all people are capable of change.

As influential allies, we help our consultees learn how to:

Improve the quality of their life and relationships
Overcome problems and obstacles
Manage stress due to deadlines at work and/or school
Establish values and intentions for life and effectively communicate them
Free themselves from unhappy or abusive relationships

Consultees will be able to:

Feel passionate, courageous, and enthusiastic about life
Get unglued from fear (of being rejected, ridiculed, not liked, judged negatively…)
Achieve personal and professional goals
Provide their family with a warm and loving environment
Attract more desirable people and circumstances into their lives

Programs to achieve these results focus on:

Mental Fitness is the ability to improve intellectual, emotional, and social well-being through a shift in perspective and frequent utilization of critical thinking to foster creativity, resilience, emotional and mental flexibility and sharpness. As ones Mental Fitness improves, they feel more powerful and confident to succeed in navigating life’s challenges, managing stress, and achieving goals including financial stability, effectively with a collaborative attitude.
Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) is a positive psychological transformation that can happen after trauma. By changing the narrative around trauma, struggles can become a catalyst for change. From trauma to triumph, trauma does not have to be the end, it can instead be the beginning of positive personal transformation that may not have happened without it.

Tri-Axis Narrative Theory (TNT) is a multidimensional therapeutic model that evaluates an individual’s life through three primary axes of fitness: mental, spiritual, and physical. It posits that a narrative cannot be reclaimed without a comprehensive Power Analysis, which identifies how external systemic forces impact the client’s ability to maintain health and agency across all three axes.