Tawonga - All About (Board of Directors)

	Steve Catechi President, 2010 Steve Catechi is an owner of AMAC Plastic Products, a family-owned and operated product design and manufacturing company in Petaluma. A Tawonga camper throughout the 1970s and a staff member in the mid 1980s, Steve credits Camp Tawonga with inspiring his love of music, the outdoors, and community service. He received a B.A. in International Relations from CSU, Sacramento and a Masters in Regional Planning from Cornell in 1996. He and his wife Kate live in San Francisco with their two children, Ben and Sam, both of whom are Tawonga campers.
	Libby Silver Vice President, 2010 Libby Silver has three grown children, all of whom attended Camp Tawonga. Her two daughters were regular Session 3 campers for as long as possible and then worked at Camp in various capacities during college and afterwards. She has practiced law for 35 years. She is one of the founding partners of Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson, a law firm headquartered in Oakland which represents cities, special districts, counties and redevelopment agencies throughout the State as general counsel, special counsel and in litigation. She lives in Oakland with her husband, Frank. Her interests include duplicate bridge, yoga and hiking.
	Brian Permutt Treasurer, 2010 Brian has been a member of the Tawonga family since first attending camp in 1991. After several years as a camper there was no doubt that he would return to work on staff. Brian worked in almost every department at Camp Tawonga most recently leading trips with TSL including the first ever TSL Tawonga trip to El Salvador. Brian is extremely thankful for all the experiences Tawonga has given him and for giving him a place to grow both personally and professionally. He currently serves as the board treasurer and also works full time in Real Estate Finance. Brian loves to make it up to camp as often as possible and also being an active member of his community here in San Francisco.
	Ari Baruth Secretary, 2010 Born and raised in the Bay Area, Ari currently works as an attorney at Long and Levit in downtown San Francisco. Ari was a camper at Tawonga from the mid-late 90's, a counselor in 2002, 2003, and 2005, and is currently chair of the board's governance committee. Right behind the desk in his office hangs a framed picture of Ari and three campers at Snow Creek , Yosemite, looking across the valley at Half Dome in 2002. When not working or remembering how 2002 may have been the best summer possible, Ari plays on softball and basketball teams and loves nothing more than a sunny afternoon in his hammock.
	Sharon Weinberg Member at Large, 2008 Sharon's expertise lies in business management and marketing skills. She is an Alumna of Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School as well as Camp Tawonga's young adult and weekend programs, serving as staff for Tawonga's Grief and Growing weekend. She is a Member of Temple Emanu-El, SFJCC, and the "Moon Mamas" Rosh Chodesh group. She serves as the Chair for Chai Baby, the SFJCF welcome baby program and is a member of Georgetown Alumni Admissions Committee.
	David Coffman 2007 David has been a Tawongan since 1984 and is proud to be a second generation board member. He has served as Chairman of the Tawonga Audit Committee for the past three years and was successful in switching auditors two years ago after Camp had employed the same firm for 14 years. He and his wife Heather live in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco with their dog Winnie, and their daughter Naomi Rose, who was born in January 2009 and is excited to be a G-1 camper in 2017. David is a certified public accountant, and for the past three years has worked just a block from the Tawonga office, at Salesforce.com. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University, an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California and he expects to graduate from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business with an MBA in May 2010. David is a 4th generation San Franciscan and a lifetime member of Congregation Emanu-El. He is a season ticket holder for the Oakland A's and Cal Football and plays fast pitch baseball in an adult league in the City.
	Jessica Colvin 2008 Jessica has education and training in social work (MSW) specializing in the management and planning of programs serving children, youth and families and public health (MPH) specializing in adolescent and community public health. She has extensive experience creating and coordinating youth leadership and development programs. Jessica spent the past 7 years developing health, mental health and substance use prevention programs for teens through the Wellness Initiative. She has worked with teens around sexual/reproductive health needs, cultural adjustment issues, and crisis assessment and intervention. Jessica is a Camp Tawonga staff alumna and previous Tawonga Art Director.
	Ilana Drummond 2012 Ilana grew up in Southern California and was a camper, summer staff member and year-round staff member of Camp JCA (now Camp JCA Shalom) for over 13 years altogether. She has resided in the San Francisco Bay area since 1989 and has attended Camp Tawonga's Keshet family camp. Ilana is the Managing Partner of Jackson and Hertogs, LLP a corporate immigration law firm in the City. She and her partner have two children ages 3 and 6. They are members of Congregation Sha'ar Zahav.
	Bill Epstein 2007 Bill grew up in the East Bay and spent years as a camper, CIT, and counselor at Camp Swig. He is currently the owner of Eco Marketing, specializing in sales of Horticultural, garden, imported and home decor products. He is Senior Vice President of The American Jewish Community Bay Area Chapter, and trustee of California Trout Conservancy. Bill resides in Piedmont, with his wife of over 30 years, Susan Osher Epstein. He has 3 sons and his hobbies include music, hiking, cycling, travel, tennis, wine and fly-fishing.
	Darin Freitag 2012 Darin has been enjoying the treasures of Northern California for the past 25 years. He is an avid outdoorsman, with a passion for fly-fishing, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, white-water rafting, and camping of all kinds. On his own time, Darin leads groups of novice outdoor enthusiasts on 3-8 day backpacking trips throughout the High Sierras, Emigrant, Ansel Adams, and Desolation Wildernesses.Darin manages the Small Projects Group at RYAN Associates, a General Contracting firm specializing in high-end residential remodels and new construction. Prior to joining RYAN, Darin held brand, account, and business management positions at Levi Strauss & Co. and AOL, Inc. He earned a BS in Sociology from U.C. Berkeley and an MBA in International Management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Darin is committed to connecting with and contributing to the Bay Area Jewish community and supporting healthy child development through outdoor education and recreation. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Lisa and 3 year old son Oscar.
	Steve Gershik 2005 Steve Gershik moved to Marin County from New York at the age of 10 and quickly became involved in Jewish life, serving in youth leadership positions at Congregation Rodef Shalom and as youth representative to the Marin JCC board of directors. He spent years as a Tawonga camper, counselor, Unit Head and finally program director. He met his wife Melinna while working at Tawonga in 1990. He has spent his career in marketing in both the for-profit world, and, when the economy declined, in the non-profit one as well. He's currently CEO of 28Marketing. Steve lives in San Ramon with Melinna and has two children Sam, 12; and Sarah, 5.
	Len Goldberg 2012 A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Len Goldberg moved to San Francisco with his family in 1981. Len spent five summers at Camp Tawonga in the 1980’s, three as a camper and two as a counselor. Len went to San Francisco's Lowell High School and has a master’s in nuclear engineering from UC Berkeley. Len worked for General Electric and Oracle prior to founding an IT consulting company, Imageteq Technologies, in 1999, which currently has offices in the Bay Area and Hawaii. During the 1990’s, Len had spent time living and working in Switzerland, Japan, and Israel. Len now lives in San Francisco with his wife Nancy and two sons ages 4 and 6 (future Tawonga campers), one attending JCCSF Helen Diller preschool and the other attending kindergarten at Brandeis Hillel in San Francisco. Len, Nancy, and their boys all enjoy skiing, traveling, hiking, and spending time with family.
	Oded Herbsman 2012 Oded was born and raised in Haifa, Israel, but spent several of his teenage years in Florida. There he became involved in Young Judaea, where he took on leadership roles and attended Camp Judaea in the mountains of North Carolina. He met his wife, Cheryl, at camp. Since receiving his medical degree at Duke University and completing his residency at UCSF, Oded has been a pediatrician in San Francisco and Marin counties. In addition to his clinical practice, he is the Associate Chair of Pediatrics at California Pacific Medical Center and is involved in philanthropic work through CPMC's foundation. He also has a special interest in alternative medicine. For the past six summers, Oded has served as camp doctor at Tawonga, where both of his children have been campers. Like his kids, he looks forward to going back to camp every summer and being part of the Tawonga community.
	Sheila Himmel 2010 Sheila is a journalist who grew up in the East Bay. She has a BA from UC Berkeley, and attended the Graduate School of Journalism. She wrote a book, Hungry, with her daughter, Lisa, a Tawonga camper. Her son, Jake, is a longtime Tawonga camper and sometime employee. Sheila and her husband are members of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills.
	Marla Kolman Antebi 2007 Marla is a community organizer, Jewish educator, and peace activist. She has a B.A. in Child Development from Tufts University and an M.S.W. in Community Organizing from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Marla has directed programs and facilitated groups on the local and national levels, with a special focus on leadership development and interfaith and intercultural exchange. In 2003 she founded the grassroots non-profit Partners In Peace, which empowers youth to explore their identities, tell their stories and form collaborative relationships across cultural, faith, and ethnic lines. She considers Israel her second home and is currently working on creating a new digital story-based curriculum on Israel using interviews of Israeli youth from a wide variety of backgrounds. She has worked as an advisor and educator with youth of all ages and currently serves as the Director of the Coastside Jewish Community Religious School in Half Moon Bay, California. A student of mysticism from many faith traditions, in 2004 she was invited to present a symposium at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona, and in 2005 she became a certified teacher of Jewish meditation through Chochmat Ha Lev in Berkeley, California. She is also an avid game player and loves spending as much time as possible in nature.
	Justyn Lezin-Haveson 2010 Justyn Lezin-Haveson has been delightedly coming with her family to Keshet family camp since her daughter was 1.5 years old in 2008. She practices family and criminal law at Cabello & Lezin, L.L.P. in Oakland, CA. While her history with Camp Tawonga is not long, it runs deep, and she wholeheartedly supports Tawonga's mission and core values. In addition to her many interests and activities, she is an active member and volunteer at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav.
	Roger M. Low 2011 Native of New York, where he grew up participating in Secular Summer Camp in New Hampshire. His three children have enjoyed Camp Tawonga for an average of 5 years each. Roger is an active member of the Jewish community. He is a member of the board at Temple Emanu-El and has an history of supporting non-profit educational institutions. Roger moved to San Francisco in 1991. He was managing a financial trading partnership for 25 years until end of 2010.
	Larissa Siegel 2012 Larissa grew up on the Peninsula and has a deep passion for working with youth leadership programs. She is the current Director of Development at Aim High, an academic enrichment program for low-income, under-served middle school youth. Larissa has 12 years of work experience with Bay Area nonprofits, specifically in the Bay Area Jewish community. She was originally introduced to Camp through her beloved uncle, Ralph Coffman, and spent years as a CIT, Counselor and Unit Head. Larissa holds a Bachelors degree from Northwestern University and a Masters of Psychology from Catholic University in Washington D.C.
	Diane Stern 2011 Served on Tawonga's year round professional staff from 1978-1987, has volunteered for Tawonga in various capacities over the years, and her two sons Sam and Gabe, who both grew up at camp, are now on staff. Diane lives in SF with her husband Andy who is an ESL teacher at City College. Diane is a psychotherapist in private practice treating teens, adults, couples and families and supervises USF counseling interns. Treasured leisure activities include socializing with friends, cooking, swimming, hiking, biking, and taking trips to her favorite island, NYC.
	Brian Wise 2008 Brian worked for many years at Camp Tawonga as a Counselor, Therapist, Unit Head, and Assistant Director. Brian has experience working as a recruiter for Lucas Arts and Warner Brothers and worked in the field of education for 10 years. He currently serves as a school psychologist for a local school district and a part-time faculty member at Berkeley City College. He brings expertise in camp management, human resources, teaching, counseling, and assessment and interventions for children with special needs. Brian lives in Berkeley with his wife, Jane, and young son, Samuel.