The CDA Foundation board of directors plays an important role. The board’s guidance leads ongoing efforts to support dental professionals, reduce barriers to care and improve Californians’ oral and overall health. Today, get to know Linda Seifert, Esq., a public member of the board.
A long-standing connection to dentistry
This year, Seifert celebrates a 50-year connection with the dental profession, which includes a long history with the California Dental Association.
In 1973, the day after the Northern and Southern California associations combined to form what is now CDA, Seifert joined the staff as its first administrative assistant. Her duties with CDA grew over the next eight years, until she left to attend the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She went on to practice law as a partner in a civil law firm.
After Seifert’s spouse, a CDA member, died suddenly in 1995, she accepted an invitation to return to CDA, becoming CDA’s general counsel. Notably, the Foundation was formed during her tenure as general counsel.
Experiencing CDA Cares as a community leader
Seifert eventually left CDA when she was elected to the Solano County Board of Supervisors. During her years of leadership in the county, she worked with the Foundation to bring CDA Cares to Solano County residents. “The care delivered changed many lives over those two days [of the clinic] and left me with a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation for the program and volunteers with whom I had the privilege to work,” Seifert remembers.
Involvement with the Foundation
Upon her retirement from politics in 2016, Seifert jumped at the opportunity to apply for the public seat on the Foundation’s board. “Since my early days working with dental leaders at CDA, I have always appreciated their philanthropic and patient-centric manner,” Seifert explains. “The laudable commitment to increasing patient access to quality care through the Foundation’s initiatives is a noticeable and appreciated goal.”
Describing her first experiencing visiting a CDA Cares event, Seifert mentions being awed by the line around the block of patients nervously anticipating their upcoming treatment within the San Jose Convention Center. “Inside, I saw hundreds of volunteer dental team members donating their time and skill, hundreds of dental chairs and observed the loving way in which services were delivered,” Seifert recalls. “The best part was speaking with the patients – some with tears of joy – about their experiences. You needed to look no further than the smiles on their faces to understand the importance of the volunteer services that were underway.”
Seifert encourages CDA members to continue to gift their time and skills to promote Foundation efforts, particularly as plans evolve to broaden the Foundation’s outreach. “As we move forward with plans, the expectation is that members will be offered opportunities to serve patients both in a clinic setting and in their private offices,” she notes.
Joking that she “grew up” at CDA, Seifert says with a laugh, “I suppose it is now appropriate to say that I am ‘growing old’ with CDA, as well. Thank you for all that you have brought to my life!”