Executive Leadership Team
Larry Byer, Chief Financial Officer
Larry joined the Company as Chief Financial Officer in September 2019. He is responsible for all financial-related activities at the Institute, including management of the Business Office, Financial Aid, Information Technology and Campus Facilities. He had senior-level finance positions for a wide variety of manufacturing, distribution and service-related businesses. One of his primary goals is to make everyone’s job easier, ideally through the implementation of best-in-class policies, procedures and systems.
Loraine Devos-Comby, PhD, Interim Provost & VP, Academic Affairs
Dr. Loraine Devos-Comby is the Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Before joining Pacifica, she worked at the University of Arizona Global Campus, San Diego State University, Yale University, and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in administrative, teaching, and research positions. She has published 15 peer-reviewed articles and seven book contributions on psychosocial processes, health behavior and beliefs, and the interplay between the public and private spheres. More recently, her conference presentations demonstrate an understanding of adult learners and their needs. Dr. Devos-Comby is delighted to collaborate with the faculty and the executive leadership team to create and implement new student-centric initiatives.
Bahara Stapelberg, JD, MBA, Vice President of Policy and General Counsel
Bahara Stapelberg serves as the Vice President of Policy and General Counsel at Pacifica. In this role, she guides policy development, fosters collaboration, and leads training initiatives. She also acts as a policy expert and spokesperson in legal and regulatory matters, contributing to our strategic vision at both state and federal levels. Bahara’s career began with marketing roles at Rusty Surfboards and Quiksilver after graduating from UCLA. She earned her law degree from Chapman University of Law and is a member of the California Bar. She has served as In-House Counsel for Tikehau Resorts, LLC, and as Executive Director of SurfAid, an international NGO. Her community service includes board memberships at her children’s schools and roles such as CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) and member of UCI’s Well-Being Circle Board. Recently, she earned her MBA at Darden Business School while serving as the CEO of DEF, Darden’s investment fund.
Rica Toribio, Ed.D., Vice President of Strategic Enrollment at Pacifica Graduate Institute.
Dr. Toribio serves as the Vice President of Strategic Enrollment at Pacifica. As foreign-born Filipino immigrant, Dr. Toribio has personally experienced and continue to behold the plight of underrepresented communities in California collegiate campuses. She had to navigate the US higher education system as a new arrival inchoately needing to acculturate into its new milieu. During her undergraduate studies at UCLA, she was able to observe fellow Filipino Americans, seeing their scholarly trajectories based on their socioeconomic backgrounds and their parents’ level of education, but without acknowledgement of their academic or extra-curricular achievements that could be attributed to their ethnicity or culture, since Filipinos have become cultural straddlers because of the decades of western influence. She has therefore devoted her professional and scholastic endeavors to streamlining administrative processes to allow for a multitude of ethnic voices to be heard and represented, as well as to allow an understanding of the necessity to diverge from panethnic labeling that elicit misguided assumptions about specific groups. She received her Bachelor’s in English Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); her Master’s in English Literature at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA); and her Doctoral in Educational Leadership at California State Polytechnic University Pomona.
Loralee M. Scott, MFA, Senior Director of Pacifica Extension and International Studies
Loralee M. Scott is the Senior Director of Pacifica Extension and International Studies. In addition to an MFA in inter-disciplinary studies, she brings over two decades of successful organizational leadership and a proven track record of post-graduate, Jungian informed curriculum design, development and delivery. A thought-leader, entrepreneur and sought-after speaker, she has lectured internationally in several countries. Her work as an award-winning choreographer was responsible for the passage of anti-trafficking legislation in Troy, NY and is featured in the book: Grief and the Expressive Arts published by Routledge. She is passionate about creating communities where soulful engagement and transformative learning can happen.
Nick Sabatino, M.P.A., Chief of Staff
Nick is proud to serve as the Chief of Staff out of the President’s Office at Pacifica. The Chief of Staff’s primary responsibilities focus on managing content and communications to and from the Office of the President, as well ensuring the continual, collaborative analysis and effectiveness of processes and systems that affect the overall performance of Pacifica and the achievement of its mission, vision, and strategic objectives. Through his role, Nick also sits on Pacifica’s Executive Leadership Team, Coordinating-Operations Committee, Communications Team, and Incident Response Team. Starting at Pacifica in 2014, Nick began with Program Administrator roles for the Clinical Psychology and Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices program, before moving on to serve as Co-Director of Academic Affairs and Student Services. His time and experience at Pacifica have allowed him to build positive relationships across the Institute and a strong sense for Pacifica’s mission, potential, and service to learners. Prior to Pacifica, Nick worked in online education after completing his B.A. from Villanova University. He also has earned an M.P.A. (Public Administration with an emphasis in Management) from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
