Cecile "Cece" O'Connor is a seasoned registered nurse with over forty years of rich experience in various nursing specialities, including behavioral health, crisis management, hospice, and geriatric care. Her nursing career began in the 1970s at the Grace Hospital Palliative Care Unit in Toronto, Canada, which was among the first hospice services in the country, modeled after the pioneering work of Dr. Cicely Saunders in the UK, and was the second hospice unit in Canada at that time.

In 1990, Cece relocated to California and shifted her focus to psychiatric nursing, deepening her expertise in behavioral health, crisis intervention, communication, and team leadership. She was instrumental in founding the Marin Forensic Multidisciplinary Team, which tackled the complexities of care for frequent users of health and forensic services. Her dedication to psychiatric care led her to a pivotal role at San Francisco General Hospital's Psychiatric Emergency Service and later, to spearhead the establishment of the Dore Urgent Care Clinic—an innovative psychiatric emergency program in San Francisco.