Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Donna Blitzer, President
Director, Government & Community Relations, University of California, Santa Cruz

Donna Blitzer has served as the Director of Government Relations for the University of California Santa Cruz campus since May, 2001. She serves as the campus liaison to local, state and federal elected officials, government agencies and community organizations and neighborhood groups. She organizes advocacy programs to support the legislative priorities of the university and works with a broad constituency both on and off campus.

Prior to joining UCSC, Donna spent eighteen years in the district office of Congressman Sam Farr as his district Chief of Staff while he was in both the state Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives. During that time she worked on issues such as the establishment of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the conversion of the former Fort Ord to civilian uses, the 1992 National Oceans Conference and Pajaro River flood control. She helped to organize four presidential visits by President Bill Clinton to the Monterey Bay region including the dedication of California State University, Monterey Bay. She has been awarded a Congressional Record, state Senate and Assembly Resolution and several Mayoral proclamations in recognition of her service to the Monterey Bay region.

Donna is on the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce and O’Neill Sea Odyssey, She is a graduate of U C Santa Cruz and has lived on the Westside of Santa Cruz since 1980. She and her husband, Rob, are fortunate that their two grown daughters and five grandchildren all live in the Santa Cruz area.

Eric Summers, President-Elect
Vice President, Comerica Bank

Eric Summers is Vice President, Business Banker for Comerica Bank. A banker for over 13 years, he has been with Comerica Bank since 2005. Eric attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where he obtained a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Management and a minor in Economics.

Jess Brown, Past President
Executive Director, Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau

Jess Brown serves as executive director of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and the educational organization, Agri-Culture. Jess’ involvement in the community includes president of the Tannery Arts Center, past-president of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, the Monterey Museum of Art, Cabrillo College Foundation and Goodwill Industries. Jess was a founder of Ag Against Hunger that has distributed, since its inception in 1990, 200 million pounds of donated local produce to people in need. Jess is a graduate of three state and national leadership programs which allowed him to study in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Germany and Denmark. Jess has volunteered five times to teach organizational skills to re-settled farmers in Zimbabwe. He has also taught financial skills to agro dealers in Mozambique.

Patrice Edwards, Past President
CEO, Times Publishing Group

Patrice Edwards started Times Publishing Group back in 1991, which has established itself as one of the leading newspapers in the Santa Cruz Area. In 2008, she was appointed to a 4 year term by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve on the Santa Cruz County Fair board. There she aims to grow the fair as well as the interim events at the fair.

Kirsti Scott, VP Communications
Principal, Scott Design Inc

Kirsti is the Creative Director and founder of web design firm Scott Design, providing creative marketing services to the technology industry. Kirsti's work includes websites, online marketing campaigns, and integrated print campaigns for clients such as Adobe, Autodesk, eBay, Cisco, Apple, and IBM. She was previously an art director at CKS Partners and she worked as a software engineer specializing in interface design at Decision Focus and IBM. Kirsti is a TEDxSantaCruz organizer and is one of the co-founders of 100 Women Who Care Santa Cruz. She has degrees in Economics from Stanford University and in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design and studied French and political science in Paris at L'École des Sciences Politiques and La Sorbonne. She lives in Aptos with her husband and three teenaged children.

Mark Mesiti-Miller, VP Community Affairs
Principal Engineer, Mesiti-Miller Engineering

Throughout his career, Mark has provided the structural design and civil engineering of many ordinary and several challenging projects including landmarks such as the Walton Lighthouse at the Santa Cruz Harbor, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, the O'Neill Seawall and the World War II Memorial in Washington DC. His expertise is the design, planning and engineering of buildings, bridges, coastal, PV solar and retaining structures. In 1987, he founded Mesiti-Miller Engineering, Inc. (MME). In his role as Principal Engineer, Mark directs a professional staff of structural engineers, civil engineers, engineers-in-training and other support personnel. More than half the firm's work is performed for architects and other design professionals, while the balance is conducted with MME as the prime design professional. Mark earned his BS in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 1983. In addition to his work with the Chamber, Mark also serves as a planning commissioner for the City of Santa Cruz and chairs the economic development team for COPA.

Karl Rice, VP Finance, Ambassador
Director, Investments and Acquisitions, Santa Cruz Seaside Company

Karl Rice holds an MBA in finance and real estate from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in business administration and communication from the University of Washington. He works at the Santa Cruz Seaside Company and is responsible for the company’s investments and new business acquisitions. Karl previously served as a Vice President and Relationship Manager at Silicon Valley Bank. Karl is a member of the Board of Directors and the Treasurer of Community Bridges and serves on the organization’s finance and governance committees. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce. Karl is a sixth generation resident of Santa Cruz and he and his wife Lindsey recently gave birth to their first son, the seventh generation of the family to call Santa Cruz home.

Duf Fischer, VP Member Relations, Ambassadors Chair
Chamber Consultant and Past President

Graduate of UC Santa Barbara with degree in economics and accounting. Served in the U.S. Army 8 years. Founded F & M Engineering Construction, Inc. Owner, Partner, President, Executive V.P. of many travel organizations. Community Service: President Santa Cruz Jaycees, President Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce, President Miss California Scholarship Pageant, Chairman Santa Cruz City Planning Commission, Chairman Animal Protection Institute, Chairman Advisory Board, Coast Commercial Bank, Chairman Board of Directors, Family Service Association, Board Director, Rotary Club of Santa Cruz, Served as political advanceman for Ronald Reagan. Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business and Delegate to the first ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. Served as Congress Chairman for ASTA 61st World Travel Congress in Taipei,Taiwan.

Chris Maffia, VP Products & Services, Ambassador, Women in Business Chair
Vice President, Santa Cruz County Bank

Chris Maffia is Vice President, Relationship Manager for Santa Cruz County Bank where she is responsible for business and community development for the Santa Cruz market. In her background of over 33 years of banking, she has held a variety of positions starting as a teller with Bank of America and working her way through lending, and personalized banking positions with Premier Banking. In 2005, Chris retired from Bank of America as Senior Vice President, Market Manager for the Central Coast Premier Banking Team. Chris joined Santa Cruz County Bank in 2005 and has enjoyed working at the bank’s office in downtown Santa Cruz.

Chris is currently the Board Chair for the American Red Cross of Santa Cruz County. She previously served as the Board of Trustees Chair for the United Way of Santa Cruz County for two years as well as the campaign chair. She is also a 15-year active member and past chair for Dominican Hospital Foundation Guild. Chris currently serves as the chair of the luncheon committee for the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce Women in Business.

Past recognitions include Affiliate of the year for the Santa Cruz Board of Realtors, Ambassador of the Year for the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, and the Betty Elward award presented for outstanding participation in the Dominican Hospital Foundation Guild. Chris and her husband, Chuck, live in Scotts Valley.

Mary Gourlay, Board Member
Project Manager Barry Swenson Builder

Mary Gourlay attended Kansas State for her Undergraduate and Harvard for her Master’s degree. Shortly after completing her degree in Urban Design from Harvard, Mary Gourlay joined Santa Cruz powerhouse Barry Swenson Builder as a Project manager.

David Heald, Board Member
President and CEO, Santa Cruz County Bank

David is President and Chief Executive Officer of the community’s locally owned and operated Santa Cruz County Bank. Under his leadership, the Bank has grown to five banking locations and over $350 million in assets. David has an extensive career in banking and previously served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer of Coast Commercial Bank where he had a 21-year career.

He is an active community advocate and leader who currently serves on the following Boards: Santa Cruz County Bank, Santa Cruz County Business Council, Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), Finance Committee of Cabrillo College Foundation, and the Community Board of Trustees for the Good Shepherd Fund. In addition to serving on these boards, David is a member of Santa Cruz Rotary and numerous community and independent banking associations.

David is a past Chair of the Advisory Board of Central Coast SBDC, a past President of Easter Seals of Central California, a past President of Cabrillo College Foundation, and a past Board member and Treasurer of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council. David and his wife Jackie have been residents of Scotts Valley since 1982 and have three children.

Tom Honig, Board Member
Freelance Journalist

Tom Honig is a freelance journalist who has covered the Santa Cruz community and its politics for 40 years. He was editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel for 15 years and worked at a variety of writing and editing jobs for 22 years before that. He has won a variety of writing and editing awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Currently he writes an online newsletter called the Santa Cruz Observer, at tomhonig.com.

Virginia Johnson, Board Member
Consultant

Virginia Johnson is the former executive director and chief executive officer of the Santa Cruz-based nonprofit Ecology Action. Under her leadership, Ecology Action evolved from a small recycling operation into one of the state's leading voices on reducing global warming, eventually becoming a co-owner of the transformed former Sentinel building in downtown Santa Cruz. She has recently joined the staff of Santa Cruz County 5th District Supervisor Bruce McPherson, focusing on transportation and environmental policy issues. Ms. Johnson has over 35 years of business experience, including extensive governance experience having served on six local nonprofit boards. She currently serves on the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County Advisory Council and the County Commission on the Environment. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Virginia and her husband of 36 years have resided in Scotts Valley for 28 years.

Bonnie Lipscomb Board Member
Assistant Director, City of Santa Cruz Economic Development Department

Bonnie Lipscomb’s work for the Redevelopment agency has left Santa Cruz a more beautiful place to call home for all of us. Every day she works to make Santa Cruz more welcoming to visitors as well as the residents. She aims at fostering economic development, the quality of urban design and to hit target economic goals for the city.

Anne Mitchell, Board Member
Principal, Anne Mitchell, CPA

Anne was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Dallas, Texas. She received a BA in Political Economics from the University of Dallas and a MS in economics from Oklahoma State University, specializing in international trade, money, and banking. She spent 6 years in St. Louis, Missouri, first as a VISTA volunteer and then in radio, as director of KBDY, a non commercial radio station. She moved to CA to work with KFAT radio in Gilroy. She settled in Santa Cruz, CA and decided to pursue a career as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She studied accounting at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and interned locally to become licensed. In 1985 Anne established the firm, AMMSCPA, at Branciforte Plaza with her associate, Marshall Forrester, a finance specialist, and her mother, Marge Mitchell, who had just retired from White Cap as office manager in Dallas, Texas. One of the keys to Anne’s professional abilities has been her commitment to continuing education and ongoing involvement with business organizations. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce and its Finance Committee.

Martina O'Sullivan, Board Member
Director of Community Engagement, Dominican Hospital

Martina is the Director for Community Engagement for Dominican Hospital. In this capacity she serves on several other nonprofit, business, and government Boards. Martina served for 8 years as Executive Director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Monterey, when the organization worked to recruit emergency foster care homes. In keeping with her commitment to children, Martina continues to co-chair the Healthy Kids Steering Committee, working to ensure that all children of Santa Cruz County have health insurance and a medical home. Martina and her husband Will are the parents of three grown daughters, and have lived in Capitola for 27 years.

Suni Patel, Board Member, Ambassador
Owner, Super 8

Suni was born in Nairobi, Kenya and spent several years in England managing the London base of multinational export-import companies, traveling to the UAE, South Africa, India, and destinations around the world. In 1994 Suni moved to Santa Cruz with her family and she and her husband became owners of the Super 8. They love being in the hospitality business and enjoy travel, spending time with friends, doing yoga, and enjoying walks in beautiful Santa Cruz. Suni serves on the boards of the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce and the Beach Flat Community Center.

Tonée Picard, Board Member
Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer, Bay Federal Credit Union

Tonée Picard oversees the member and employee development areas of the Credit Union: marketing, financial education, technology, organizational development, and human resources as well as providing leadership for the Credit Union's community support and volunteer activities. She has over 20 years experience in marketing, brand and business development, human resources, and strategic planning, both in the financial services and high-tech software industries. Mrs. Picard has an MBA from Golden Gate University and SPHR certification in Human Resource Management. During the 20 plus years she has lived in the Santa Cruz community, Mrs. Picard has been committed to local economic development and community improvement issues. She has currently serves on the Deans' Advisory Committee for the Baskin School of Engineering at UCSC, the Governance Board for 2nd Harvest Food Bank, the United Way Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors for the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce.

Lynn Robinson, Board Member
Council Member, Santa Cruz City Council

Lynn is a 4th generation Bay Area native that made the permanent move to Santa Cruz in 1974 when she moved to her grandparent's beach house and enrolled at Cabrillo College. She received her BA in Studio Arts from UCSC. As a small business owner of Lynn Robinson Designs, she continues her passion for garden designs and organic gardening for both her residential and commercial clients. Lynn and her husband John have a daughter currently at Harvard graduate school in Virology, and a son recently graduating from UC Berkeley.

As a second term Santa Cruz Council member Lynn is actively involved on the following boards: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Body, Santa Cruz City Public Safety Committee, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG), Conference and Visitors' Council, Downtown Management Corporation, Santa Cruz Community Farmers Market, Inc., and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District Board.

Adele Talmadge, Board Member, Ambassador
Principal, Talmadge Construction

Born at Sister's Hospital on West Cliff Drive, Adele Talmadge has been a Santa Cruzan all her life. Her parents owned Port O' Call Grocery in Pleasure Point. After attending Cabrillo College, Adele went on gain over 30 years of bookkeeping and customer service experience in residential, commercial construction and property management. In 1984, she co-founded Talmadge Construction. Adele remains an active part in the community, volunteering for the Amgen Tour in 2010, directing the Lifestyle Festival for the Tour in Seaside and the Awards Ceremony for Tour of CA in 2012. When she is not busy giving back, Adele spends time in the Tae Kwon Do Dojo, already having earned a First Degree black belt.

Michael Turpin, Board Member
President and Publisher, Santa Cruz Sentinel

Michael has been the Santa Cruz Sentinel President and Publisher since September 2011. Before that, he held various roles including VP of Sales and Marketing for the Bay Area News Group. Michael also serves on the Boards of the Santa Cruz County Business Council, Cultural Council of Santa Cruz, United Way of Santa Cruz County, and Development Committee for Second Harvest. Michael is a member of Santa Cruz Rotary and a recent graduate of Focus Agri-Culture. He and his wife Sarah have two sons, Will and Jack. @turpini

Ted Whiting III, Board Member
Vice President General Services, Santa Cruz Seaside Company

Ted was born and raised in Santa Cruz. He holds a BS degree from the University of San Francisco. He served ten years in the US Army in a combination active duty and active reserve status. Ted was Chamber President in 1990, the year following the Loma Prieta earthquake, and was honored to be the chamber’s Man of the Year in 1991. He currently serves on the Chamber’s Board of Directors and as a member of its Community Affairs Committee.

Ted’s other community service has included stints as President of the Santa Cruz Area Restaurant Association and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has served on the board of Goodwill Industries, the Beach Area Business Association, and participated on city committees and task forces. He serves as an elder at his local church.

He has worked at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for over half of its centennial years and is the fourth generation of his family to do so. Ted has a great love for the recreational experience his company has created for visitors the world over and is invigorated to work with the next generation of family and staff that will carry the tradition onward.

Bryan Williams, Board Member
Owner and Principal, Avid International LLC

Bryan Williams is owner and principal of Avid International LLC. Bryan opened the doors to his retail store January of 1993 in Bakersfield, California. Over the course several years, he provided marketing and media consulting services to a host of businesses, creating outstanding marketing, media, and website campaigns. Bryan has traveled to national conventions, and has provided online production, and live event streaming, to a variety of clients. Bryan and his wife Renee moved to Santa Cruz County in 2007. In 2010, their son Kai was born. Since his relocation, Bryan has devoted time and energy into creating strong ties in the Santa Cruz community.