Sacramento mental health advocate Al
Rowlett has been named to the governing board of the $3 billion
California stem cell agency, it was announced today.

Rowlett replaces Jonathan Shestack on
the 29-member panel. Shestack had served on the board since 2004,
when the agency was created by the Proposition 71 ballot initiative.

Rowlett is chief operating officer of Turning Point Community Programs in Sacramento. He was appointed to
the CIRM board by California Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los
Angeles. Rowlett will fill one of the 10 patient advocate slots on
the board. He will be only African-American on the panel. The board
had also included one African-American, Ted Love, from 2004 to April
2012, when Love resigned.

Rowlett is no stranger to public and
governmental service. He is in his second term as a member of the Elk
Grove school board, the fifth largest school district in California.
He has worked for Turning Point since 1981.

CIRM's press release said Rowlett also
serves on several other boards including Child Abuse Prevention
Center, California Institute of Mental Health and is a commissioner
for the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
Certification Program. In 2007, Rowlett won the National Association
of Social Work- California and California State University – Heart
of Social Work Award and the Asian Pacific Community Counseling –
Inspirational Mental Health Leadership Award.