Trustees of Sonoma Academy 2008-09
Lawrence Amaturo is the Managing Partner of New Generation Media, a nationwide media sales consultancy firm, co-owner of Nissan of Santa Rosa, and the Managing Partner of Empire Real Estate Holdings in Santa Rosa. He is also the Chairman of the Board of New Northwest Broadcasters, a privately held broadcasting company of 37 radio stations based in Seattle, WA. Previously, he was the Managing Partner of Amaturo Broadcasting of Santa Rosa and the sales & marketing director for Amaturo Groups of Los Angeles, Austin, TX, and Riverside, CA. A graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and the University of the South, Lawrence attended Pine Crest Preparatory School in Florida. He also serves on the boards of the Wells Fargo Center for the Performing Arts, Salvation Army of Santa Rosa and the United Way of Sonoma, Lake & Mendocino Counties. He is married to Dr. Susan Amaturo, and they have twin girls.
Katherine Angell owns and manages Cape Creek Farm and Angell Family Vineyard. She farms her vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley, and produces small lots of zinfandel under the label Amelia’s Acre. Katherine was formerly vice president of sales and marketing for a national beverage company. A graduate of UCLA, she has served on the boards of the American Cancer Society, Sonoma Country Day School, and Live Oak School. Katherine is married to Robert Angell and they have two children, Nicholas (SA Class of 2009) and Amelia.
Barbara Banke is vice chair and proprietor of Jackson Family Wines, a group that includes Kendall Jackson Wine Estates, Cambria, Stonestreet, Lokoya, Cardinale, LaCrema, Matanzas Creek, and Verité in California; Calina vineyards in Chile, Arcanum in Tuscany, Chateau Lasseque in St. Emilion in France, and Yangarra Estates in Australia. Formerly a land use attorney in San Francisco, Barbara has degrees from Hastings Law School (JD) and the University of California at Los Angeles (BA). She is currently a board member of Sonoma County Community Foundation and previously served as a member of the board of trustees at Sonoma Country Day School. Barbara Banke is married to Jess Jackson, and they have three children, Katherine (SA Class of 2004), Julia (SA Class of 2006), and Chris (SA Class of 2007).
Francisco (Paco) Canales is a plastic surgeon and the director and co-founder of Plastic Surgery Associates of Santa Rosa. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Alure Medical Corporation, a medical technology start-up company. The former chief of surgery at Warrack Hospital and former chief of plastic surgery at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Paco has participated in volunteer missions in reconstructive plastic surgery with organizations that include Healing the Children, Interplast, and Rotaplast. He was a surgical member of volunteer missions to Nicaragua, Mexico, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Kenya, El Salvador and Honduras. He is also a former member of the board of trustees of the Santa Rosa Symphony. A member of the 1976 Olympic swimming team for his native Puerto Rico, he also captained the swimming team at Harvard, where he earned the Eugene Wyman Award and the Harold S. Ulen Award. Paco is a graduate of Harvard College and earned his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. His wife, Heather Furnas, M.D, is also a plastic surgeon and partner in their practice. They have two children, Diego (SA ’10) and Siena (SA ’12).
Clement Carinalli is the president of Sonoma Mortgage and Investments and the owner of Carinalli Investments, as well as a co-owner of North Bay Corporation. He is a founding director of Sonoma National Bank and serves on the board of Northern Empire Bancshares. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University. Clement is on the board of directors for the Assistance Dog Institute and is a past chair of the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation board of directors. He has also served on the Finance Council of the Diocese of Santa Rosa and the Northern California Center for Well-Being. He is married to Ann Marie Carinalli.
Ben Cushman was president of IntelliTools, Inc., an educational technology company, until November 2004. Previous executive positions include president and CEO of HomeChef Corporation and senior vice president of Supercuts, Inc. In addition Sonoma Academy, he currently serves on the boards of Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and the Sonoma County Humane Society. With his partner George Tuttle he is also a beekeeper and pinot noir grape grower in western Sonoma County.
Electra de Peyster is the founder of SeedStewards, an organization that promotes the saving and distribution of seeds that are in danger of becoming commercially unavailable. She was previously a garden designer, landscape contractor, commercial lavender grower, and co-owner of an aromatic oils distillery. Electra volunteers as a Master Gardener and teaches a class on seeds and seed saving. She was also co-founder of the Village Pocket School (grades 5 and 6), founding board member of a proposed private high school, and a volunteer with Harvest for the Hungry Garden. She has degrees from Stanford University (BA), Claremont Graduate School (MA), and UCLA (MBA). Electra is married to George L. de Peyster, and they have two children, Palmer (SA Class of 2007) and Bradford.
Janet Durgin is the Sonoma Academy Head of School. She was previously dean of curriculum at Northfield Mount Hermon School. She has a master’s degree from the School for International Training and earned her BA from Northwestern University and The Evergreen State College. She is the recipient of the NMH Academic Dean’s Award and was named Northfield NMH Parents’ Council Faculty Chair recognizing academic excellence. A founding member of The Five Schools—an association of new independent schools in California—Janet is a trustee of Megan Furth Academy in San Francisco. She has also served as a consultant on world languages curriculum at independent secondary schools. Janet is married to John Durgin, and they have two children, Keefe and Sean.
Kate Ecker is the chair of the Sonoma Academy Board of Trustees. She was previously the principal of U.S. Marketing Services, LLC, a senior consultant at Arthur D. Little, and a senior consultant for Peat Marwick & Mitchell. Kate founded and was first president of the Bennett Valley Education Foundation. Producer of an award-winning educational video, "Cholesterol Control: An Eater's Guide," she has degrees from Harvard University (AB) and Stanford University (MBA). Kate is married to John Mackie, and they have three children, Zander, Julian (SA Class of 2010), and Clare (SA Class of 2010).
Marinell Eva is executive director of the Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County, Inc. (4Cs), and has been with the agency for over 17 years. 4Cs is a large non-profit organization that provides child care for over 1500 children each day, as well as a variety of child development training and resource and referral services to Sonoma County child care providers and parents. She also worked at the YWCA as program director for A Special Place, a child care center for children who have been abused or neglected. Previously she was the owner of Santa Fe Weaving and Knitting Center, a school and retail/mail order business. She serves on the SRJC Child Development Advisory Committee, First Five Professional Community Advisory Committee, and the California Child Development Administrators Association. Marinell has volunteered with the Sonoma County Child Abuse Council and served on the Board of Directors of the Extended Child Care Coalition. She has degrees from Sonoma State University (BA) and the Sacramento Professional School of Psychology (MA). Married to David Pittman, she has four children and four grandchildren: Nemo Swift (SA Class of 2006), Ivan Redus (SA Class of 2010), Zella Redus, and Violet Cole.
Carol Farrow is a professional photographer and owner of Grove Street Studios and the owner of Farrow Ranch Vineyards. She served on the boards of the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County and the Healdsburg Performing Arts Center. She has an Art History degree from Sonoma State University (BA). Carol has two children, Bianca (SA Class of 2009) and Sarah (Class of 2013).
Jane Fitzsimmons worked in the financial services and insurance industries both in Detroit and San Francisco. After the birth of her daughter, Jennifer, in 1987 with severe disabilities, Jane was devoted full time to her care until her death in 2002. She currently serves on the board of the Napa Valley Opera House and is a member of the Opera House’s Ensuring Our Future Campaign Committee. Formerly, she co-chaired the live auction for Sonoma Country Day School’s La Dolce Vita fundraising event and was a member of the development committee for the Napa Valley Opera House. She is married to Ken Fitzsimmons, and their son Christopher is SA Class of 2009.
Kenneth R. Fitzsimmons, Jr. is a private investor. He was a founding partner and managing director at Robertson Stephens. Ken serves on the board of trustees of Brown University and on the board of directors for the Napa Valley Health Care Fund, and the Brown Sports Foundation. He was a member of the board of the Piedmont Boy Scouts Council. Ken has degrees from Brown University (BA) and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA). He is married to Jane Fitzsimmons, and their son Christopher is SA Class of 2009.
Gregory French is chairman of G & C Enterprises, a privately held investment and holding company. Greg currently is on the board of directors of Oculus Innovative Sciences in Petaluma, California. Greg has held various engineering management and senior management positions in Arterial Vascular Engineering, Peripheral Systems Group, and Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (now Guidant). He is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University (B.Sci.). He is married to Lisa French, also a member of the board.
Lisa French is CFO of the French Family Foundation. Formerly, she was a senior marketing manager for Octel Communications, a product manager for Northern Telecom, and a communication consultant for various Fortune 500 companies. She is married to Greg French, also a member of the board.
John D. Fruth founded Ocular Sciences Inc, a manufacturer and marketer of contact lenses, in 1985 and was CEO and Chairman of the Board from the company’s inception until 2005. Ocular was traded on the NASDQ exchange and grew to the fifth largest contact lens company in the world market. In January 2005, Cooper Companies bought Ocular Sciences. Since January of 2005, John has served as a Director of Cooper Companies Inc. He also serves on the boards of two medical technology companies. In 2004, John founded The Fruth Family Foundation, a foundation whose mission is working with disadvantaged children and education. A graduate of Saint John’s Prep in Minnesota, John went on to attend St. John’s University. His son, Simon Fruth, attends The Healdsburg School and his twin stepchildren Savannah and Sebastian Kochinke are members of the Sonoma Academy Class of 2012.
Sarah Hafner is a graphic designer and assistant winemaker for Hafner Vineyard. She is a current member of the Alexander Valley Union School Board, for which she served as president for 11 years. Previously, she was a member of the Healdsburg Education Foundation and the Healdsburg Arts Council. Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Davis. She and her husband Parke have two children, Kate (SA Class of 2005), and Grace (SA Class of 2009).
Margaret J. Hartigan is a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 2002, she was vice president of strategic relationships at MSI, Inc, a strategic consultancy focused on the energy and telecommunication sectors. Margaret is on the advisory board of WOW, a social venture firm focused on direct investment in women led African companies. She is a graduate of the Brown University (B.A.) and of Phillips Exeter Academy.
Tom Stubbs is co-owner of Stubbs Vineyard LLC with his wife Mary. Prior to that, he was a partner at TMG Partners in San Francisco, which specializes in adaptive re-use and redevelopment of older commercial buildings in San Francisco. He was the co-founder of Stubbs, Collenette and Assoc., a commercial brokerage firm in San Francisco, which was sold to Grubb & Ellis in 1996. Before he became president of Knowlton Realty Ltd. Commercial Real Estate brokerage in the mid-80s, Tom had held various management roles within the company in Calgary, Denver, San Francisco, and Toronto. He is a graduate of the University of Reading in Berkshire, England. He and his wife Mary have three children, one of whom is a current student at Sonoma Academy (Percy ’10).
Rick Theis is the founder and board chair of the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy, a nonprofit whose goal is to train leaders to create public policy that is environmentally friendly and socially equitable for a healthy economy and a sustainable community. He is one of the founding leaders of Slow Food Russian River and has been a delegate to several of their national and international congresses. He is a member of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation Fellowship Network and a recipient of the Models and Mentors Award (Community Foundation, Sonoma County), and the Dick Day Community Activist Award (Sonoma County Conservation Action), He was executive director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association for 14 years and was a founding member of United Winegrowers for Sonoma County. He served on the boards of New Economy-Working Solutions, Redwood Empire Conflict Resolution Service, and Urban Ecology. Rick received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and earned his master’s degree from St. Cloud State University. He and his wife Carolyn live in Sebastopol in their home that won the Best New Construction and People's Choice Awards in the 2005 Sonoma-Marin Built it Green Home Tour. Their family foundation, the Fledgling Fund, supports avian research and habitat protection.
John Webley is chairman of Turin Networks, a telecommunications engineering firm. He is currently the co-chair of the Council on Aging Kitchen campaign and formerly served on the board of the Summerfield School. John earned both his bachelor (BSEE) and master’s degrees (MSEE) in electronic engineering from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. In 2004, he was awarded the NOBLE award from the Sonoma State University School of Business, and he has also been honored with the United Way CEO award. His wife Jennifer is a student, homemaker, and board member for the Santa Rosa Symphony. They have four children, Elizabeth, Sarah (SA Class of 2006), John (SA Class of 2008), and Milan.
Kristine Williams is co-owner and president of Wattle Creek Winery. She is a former board member of the Crisis Nursery and the Phoenix Country Day School. She has also volunteered with the Heart Ball Association in Phoenix, the Girl Scouts of America, and the National Charity League. She has a degree from Burwood Teachers College in Australia. Kristine is married to Christopher Williams, and they have four children Elise (SA Class of 2004), Sally (SA Class of 2009), Millie (SA Class of 2010, and Ben.
Kirt F. Zeigler is attorney and a director of Anderson Zeigler Disharoon Gallagher & Gray. He was the volunteer building project coordinator for design and construction of the new campus of the Sonoma Country Day School. Kirt is also a past chairman of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council, and former board member of the Sonoma County YMCA. He has a degree from Stanford University (AB) and an LL.B. from the Stanford Law School. Married to Beverly Zeigler, Kirt has five children and eleven grandchildren. His daughter Josie is a 2004 graduate of Sonoma Academy.
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