Board Members

If you are interested in becoming a Board Member we are interested in hearing from you. Questions can be directed to Dave Cort at 415-488-8888 ext. (# 224) or email him at director@sgvcc.org. You can download our short questionnaire, fill it out, and send it in also. Click here to down load questionnaire.


Officers:

Anne McClain , President
Don Holmlund,Treasurer
Barbara Brauer, Secretary

Click on Board member's names for bio's.
Members:
Debra Amerson
John Beckerley
John Carroll
Marian Cremin
Liza Crosse

Georgiana Hernandez
Helen Zucker
Jean Berensmeier, Founder

Board Member's Biograghies
Anne McClain, President
Anne McClain

Anne McClain grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and moved the San Geronimo Valley in 1976 after graduating with honors from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree from their Fine Arts program. She was drawn to the Valley by its natural beauty and by the strong feeling of community. That feeling was exemplified by the little Spanish-style building right in the heart of the Valley dedicated to community and art, the Community Center. It had to be a good place to put down roots.

Currently, she wears many hats as mother, artist, building designer (primarily local residential remodeling projects) and along with her husband, Skag Dukkers, as an investment property owner and manager. She is also an active volunteer in the Open Classroom of the Lagunitas School District and has served on various Open Classroom and school district committees.

Previously she has worked as a designer, draftsperson and office manager for a local contractor; co-owned a high-end custom cabinetmaking business in Woodacre; designed and produced t-shirts sold at Toby’s Feed Barn and the Sausalito Ferry Company; was an apprentice carpenter for beloved Valley contractor, Harlan Floyd; worked for the statistical office of the Employment Development Department; was Program Director for a YWCA summer camp in Pennsylvania and backpacking trip leader for Girl Scout Camp Riamo also in Pennsylvania.

Georgiana Hernandez, Treasurer
Georgiana Herandez

Georgiana has lived with her family—Paul, Emiliano and Camila—in the San Geronimo Valley since 1995. Georgiana is the executive director and founder of the Institute for Social and Environmental Justice Education (ISEJE), a nonprofit organization in Oakland that uses participatory planning and evaluation tools to advance the work of organizations with social change missions. Georgiana has spent most of her career in the nonprofit sector developing, managing and evaluating human service programs. She holds a Masters in Nonprofit Administration and a Doctorate in Organization and Leadership. She is a senior research fellow with the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at San Francisco State University. Georgiana has served on the boards of: Acción Latina; The Youth Law Center; the Women’s Foundation of California; the Mission Armory Foundation; LatinoNet; the Association for Community Based Education; and Friends of the Urban Forest. She served on the advisory board of The Rockefeller Foundation’s JOBS Initiative from 1999 through 2001.

Don Holmlund, Treasurer

Psychology Professor at College of Marin (1964-2003). At various times at the College of Marin, Don served as Faculty Coordinator of the Behavioral Science Field Work Program; Faculty Advisor to Alpha Gamma Sigma, the California Community College Honor Society; Faculty advisor to Students for Social Responsibility; Behavioral Science Department Chair; Chair of Educators for Social Responsibility; and President of the Faculty Association. Don has lived in San Geronimo for 34 years, and can't imagine a better place to live, raise children, and help build an even better community.

Barbara Brauer, Secretary

Barbara BrauerBarbara Swift Brauer is a freelance writer and editor who has worked in Bay Area publishing since 1975, on books on every topic from cookbooks, fine art, and public policy, to family psychology, travel, and poetry.

Barbara and husband Laurence moved to San Geronimo in 1984 with young son Gordon and fledgling business Wordsworth, both of which soon thrived in the Valley community.

Barbara remembers back to Wordsworth’s early involvement with the Community Center, which had just been renamed the “Cultural Center.” In 2004, she and Larry were recruited for the editorial committee of the 2006 Resource Guide for the now re-renamed Community Center. It was so much fun, they have remained on the Communications Committee and now produce the Center’s quarterly newsletter, Stone Soup.


Debra Amerson, Board Member
Debra Amerson

Debra Amerson received an MA Business from the California Institute Of Integral Studies (CIIS), participating in one of the nations first graduate-level academic programs in social entrepreneurship and socially responsible business management, emphasizing "new paradigm" management practices.  That MA program now called the Green MBA resides at Dominican College in San Rafael.  

Debra Amerson has been a green business pioneer since 2002, becoming Marin County’s very first Certified Green Business.  She’s  a visual artist & founder of deeper greeN, an award-winning  interior landscape design firm, that uses plants and art to create soulful & healthy spaces that connect people with the spiritual aspects of nature and rejuvenate lives. 
http://www.deepergreen.org

John Beckerley, Board Member

John was born and raised in San Francisco, he is a graduate of San Jose State and a Vietnam Veteran.  He married his wife Kathy in 1970 and they have 3 sons and 7 grandsons.  They moved to San Geronimo in 1976.  John served 30 years as a San Francisco Firefighter and is now retired.
During the 34 years that John has lived in the San Geronimo Valley he has coached soccer, basketball, and Little League Baseball.  He has been the head of St. Cecilia CYO for 30 years.  He began working on the building of a Gym for the youth of the San Geronimo Valley in the late 1970's and the dream came true this year with the opening of the Gym. John has played and still plays basketball on Saturdays at the schoolyard.  The game has been going on continually for 34 years.  John is happy to join the board and contribute whatever he can to enhance this wonderful community organization.

John Carroll , Board Member

John Carroll grew up in Marin and moved to the San Geronimo Valley 14 years ago.  He is married to Monique Paltrineri and has two children 8 & 5 in the Open Classroom.  John holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a master’s in Education Administration from Sonoma State.  He is an Eagle Scout and has a first-degree black belt in Shaolin Kenpo Karate.  John has taught in schools in Vacaville, Richmond and Marin County for twenty-two years and is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources for the Tamalpais High School District. He loves the Valley’s sense of community and natural beauty and believes that it is an ideal place to raise a family.


Liza Crosse, Board Member

Liza has lived in the San Geronimo Valley with her husband, Tim Crosse, since 1986.  They and their two sons are active in many facets of Valley life.  Liza is a member of the San Geronimo Community Presbyterian Church, and is engaged in salmon and watershed protection efforts through her membership in the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group and the Tomales Bay Watershed Council.  Currently Liza is part of a team that is designing and fundraising for the proposed San Geronimo Community Gym.  Liza has found fulfillment in her nine years working as an Administrative Aide to Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey.  Prior to 1997 she worked as a graduate program adminstrator at UCSF. Liza attended high school and college in Sydney, Australia.

Marian Cremin, Board Member

Marian CreminMarian Cremin moved to Forest Knolls in the San Geronimo Valley from Hells Kitchen, in Manhattan in 2000 to join her now-husband, poet Albert Flynn DeSilver. She had always been an avid hiker and biker and was thrilled with the miles and miles of trails right in the back yard. Learning about the San Geronimo Valley Community Center, then called the Cultural Center was another wonderful part of moving here. Coming from NYC, where you often don’t even know your next door neighbor, to a place that has such a cohesive center open to all the valley’s residents was a great joy.

Marian has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for 20 years and worked with many different populations. She began her career as a Mental Health Clinician at Rikers Island, New York City’s jail, and went on to coordinate programs throughout the five boroughs of NYC, mostly doing crisis work with families in their homes. Upon moving to the Valley, she opened a private therapy practice in San Anselmo, worked as a consultant to Marin County Community Mental Health and started a girls’ group through the Valley’s own Teen Center. She now directs Visiting Angels Senior Home Care, which she co-owns with her husband. Marian and Albert now live in Woodacre in a house they completed building in 2005.

Georgiana Hernandez
Georgiana Herandez

Georgiana has lived with her family—Paul, Emiliano and Camila—in the San Geronimo Valley since 1995. Georgiana is the executive director and founder of the Institute for Social and Environmental Justice Education (ISEJE), a nonprofit organization in Oakland that uses participatory planning and evaluation tools to advance the work of organizations with social change missions. Georgiana has spent most of her career in the nonprofit sector developing, managing and evaluating human service programs. She holds a Masters in Nonprofit Administration and a Doctorate in Organization and Leadership. She is a senior research fellow with the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at San Francisco State University. Georgiana has served on the boards of: Acción Latina; The Youth Law Center; the Women’s Foundation of California; the Mission Armory Foundation; LatinoNet; the Association for Community Based Education; and Friends of the Urban Forest. She served on the advisory board of The Rockefeller Foundation’s JOBS Initiative from 1999 through 2001.


Helen Zucker, Board Member

Helen Zucker moved to San Geronimo in 2004 after 5 years of life in Fairfax.Through her involvement with her son’s school, The Open Classroom, Helen began to value the community mindedness and support in the valley. Previous work includes working in emergency foster care, summer overnight and day camp program director, and preschool teacher. Currently she does accounting at Marin Agricultural Land Trust and has her own bookkeeping practice. She holds a Bachelors of Science inHuman Development from UC Davis.

Jean Berensmeiser, Founder

Professor of Physical Education at the College of San Mateo (1956 - 1993) coached fencing and founded programs in modern dance, massage, physical fitness and womens weight training; Founding member of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center - Board member (1969 - present), Editor of Stone Soup; Founding member of the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group - Steering Committee member (1981-1996), Chairperson of Community Plan Update 1996, Chairperson of Community Plan Amendment Committee 2003 - present; Marin County Parks & Community Commission (1977 -1996), Trails & Bikeways Committee Chairperson 1977 - 1996; Marin Conversation League Board of Directors (1979 - 2003), President 1990 - 1992; Marconi Conference Center State Historical Park, Board Member 1990 - 2002, President 1992 - 1995 and 1998 - 2002; Co-founding member of Wilderness Way - President 2001 - present; Lagunitas homeowner since 1963.

Please direct any inquiries for board members to nutrition@sgvcc.org or
(415) 488-8888.