Marguerite Sanchez, Executive Director

Marguerite (Maggie) Sanchez is the new Executive Director for DWW-SBSM. She is a founding member and was the Secretary/Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the past 14 years. She has been the interim Executive Director, but felt her skills were best served by becoming the Executive Director and managing the day-to-day operations for the organization. Marguerite is currently semi-retired and is the financial analyst for the Natalie Orfalea Foundation. Marguerite was a Financial Analyst IV for the Santa Barbara County Court. Ms. Sanchez began her career as a staff accountant with Bartlett, Pringle, and Wolf. She enjoys traveling, cooking, and experimenting with homeopathic essential oils.

Dr. Alex Leasure, Medical Director


I was born in Jacksonville, FL and attended University of Central Florida in Orlando for my undergrad in biology. I later went through EMT training but never worked as an EMT, that was my first introduction to the medical field. I attended medical school at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. It was a unique program that formed from a partnership between the University of Queensland and Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. We did our first 2 years in Australia and our clinical rotations at a large hospital in New Orleans. After med school I completed a Family Medicine residency at the University of Florida in Gainesville. My professional interests include point of care ultrasound, suturing techniques, and infectious disease. Outside of work, I coach at a local crossfit gym, enjoy surfing, spearfishing, stand up paddling, rugby, cooking, fermentation, and cycling. I met my wife, Marie Claire Lamb, in med school while playing touch rugby. I proposed to her some years later, while surfing. She also works at Sansum as a primary care physician and volunteers with DWW. I have 2 hound dogs named Quincy and Fiona and they are both hilarious.

Dr. Chelsea Dean, Medical Director


A California native, Dr. Chelsea Dean is originally from Simi Valley, CA. Her education took her to University of California, Berkeley where she completed her B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology with a minor in Dance and Performance Studies. She received her M.D. from Ross University School of Medicine, graduating with high honors. Dr. Dean returned to California to complete her Internal Medicine Residency at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. She is ABIM Board Certified in Internal Medicine. Intentional about holistic care, Dr. Dean approaches medical problems with an open perspective and whole person mindset.

Dr. Dean’s passion for medicine originated in practicing with underserved populations. She grew up shadowing her Internist father on medical missions to Mexico and the Philippines. During medical school, Dr. Dean volunteered with Salybia Mission Project, bringing medical care to the local indigenous tribes on the island of Dominica. While in residency, she was a regular volunteer clinician with Doctor’s Without Walls. She currently works at the Santa Barbara Public Health Department Adult Clinic as a Primary Care Physician and HIV provider.

Dr. Dean lives in Santa Barbara with her husband and their pit-bull rescue, Reina. When not working, she is usually running along the beach or hiking in the beautiful mountains. She is always on the look out for the best taco in town, along with opportunities to practice her Spanish.

Jorie Nilson, Medical Director, Women’s Free Homeless Clinic

Jorie has been a Nurse Practitioner for the past 40 years. She obtained her BSRN from California State University, Fresno. Immediately after graduation in 1976, she entered an elite comprehensive Pediatric Nurse Practitioner certificate program. From 1978 to 1980, she practiced with the United States Peace Corps and with the United States Embassy in Bamako, Mali, and West Africa. Upon return to the U.S. in 1980, she earned her MSN with a Family Practice Nurse Practitioner Option in 1982. After that, she worked with the Teen Pregnancy Resource Center in Fresno serving high-risk teens ages 16 and under; the Birthing Center in Fresno, an out-of-hospital birthing facility; Central California Indian Health in Clovis, where she made health trips to the various Native American rural clinics; a weekly clinic in various locations in the San Joaquin Valley performing physical exams on the children of migrant farm workers; and briefly at Fresno Juvenile Hall.

In 1988, she moved from Fresno to Santa Barbara and worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner at UCSB Student Health until 2010. During summers, she also worked for Santa Barbara County in various clinics (Franklin, Carpinteria, Calle del Remedio), the Westside Neighborhood Clinic, and Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic (now renamed Sansum Clinic).

After retiring in 2010, she took a year “off,” then began volunteering with Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine, primarily with the Women’s Free Homeless Clinic, but occasionally in both Pershing and Alameda Parks and on Street Rounds. A few years ago, she became the Medical Director of the Women’s Free Homeless Clinic. During retirement, she has also gone on medical missions to Malawi, Guatemala, and Honduras as well as travelled to Vietnam, Cambodia, and China with a group of medical people to study the various health care systems.

Lynn Matis, First Line Supervisor, LMFT

Lynn has volunteered with Doctors Without Walls since its founding in 2005 and is one of the longest volunteers. She is currently the First Line Supervisor and Facilitator, overseeing the Parks Clinics. She is also a member of the Vaccination Team and the Advisory Committee for the Board of Directors. Her additional work with the Street Outreach teams allows her the ability to use her career’s profession as a Licensed Counselor with a LMFT degree.

Lynn got her degree at Antioch University in Santa Barbara in 1990. A Sansum internship turned into a job. She learned of DWW and was inspired at a speaking event with one of the founders, Dr. Mimi Doohan and Jennifer Ferraez, a volunteer social worker with DWW.
Lynn is passionate about the DWW mission, but it’s her personal mission which drives her the most, which is to assist and encourage up and coming medical and public health professionals (UCSB students mostly) in deciding a humanitarian path in medical school. This passion also fulfills her love of working with other medical professionals, doctors, and nurses, in the field, helping those in our community who cannot help themselves. Lynn likes to travel (coming from a military upbringing) and enjoys visiting friends in Colorado. We are fortunate to have her with us.