Meet the Mentoring Alliance team

Administrative
Staff
Mentor
Facilitators
Board of
Directors
Alliance
Founder
Coaching
Team

Administrative Staff

Susie Gallo

executive director

susie@sonomamentoring.org

A resident of Sonoma for over 20 years, Susie Gallo joined the Mentoring Alliance in May of 2020, just as the pandemic was gaining momentum. Originally from Duxbury, Massachusetts, Gallo graduated from Hamilton College and the Radcliffe College Publishing Program. She has a decade of experience in sales and marketing for Harvard University Press and the University of California Press. Most recently, she served as Director of Operations at NapaLearns, where she worked closely with donors and superintendents to bring innovation to classrooms throughout Napa County. She and her husband Geoff have two children, Daniel and Mary, both recent graduates of Sonoma Valley High School.

Brooke Finley

Program Director

brookef@sonomamentoring.org

Brooke Finley has a degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Sociology, along with a teaching credential from Sonoma State University.  In addition to teaching in the Sonoma County School District, she enjoys spending time participating in community outreach, traveling, gardening and hiking with her rescue dog. 

Megan Hansen

Director of Operations

megan@sonomamentoring.org

Megan is the Office Manager at the Administrative Office of the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance. She received her BA in Political Science and Black Studies from UC Santa Barbara. After working for a Civil Rights Organization in DC, for start up technology companies in California and Colorado, she has returned to Sonoma to be a part of a community that she loves, and an organization she believes in strongly in. She has been a Mentor to an elementary school youth for the past 4 years.

Mentor Facilitators

Annette Giroux-Smith

El Verano Elementary School Mentor Center

elverano@sonomamentoring.org

Annette has studied Child Development, and Nursing prerequisites at Santa Rosa Junior College.  She received an AA in Medical Assisting from Empire College.  Annette has enjoyed working with people of all ages, and especially enjoys working with children.  She is a long-time Sonoma resident and proud mother of two children.

Silvia Soto Cabral

Altimira Middle School Mentor Center

altimira@sonomamentoring.org

Silvia was born in Sonoma County and then spent her early years living in Zacatecas, Mexico. She comes to us with many years of experience working with non-profit organizations that support underserved youth. Silvia is bilingual and bicultural. During her time off she enjoys spending time with her son, Sebastian, and her dog, Chepa. You can always count on her for a Giants game, a movie, a trip to Zacatecas, or a moonrise

Dulce Silvi

Sonoma Valley High School Mentor Center

Dulce graduated from the University of the Philippines where she focused on European Languages. She grew up in the Philippines and Malaysia, and moved to Sonoma over 20 years ago with her husband Greg. She has over a decade of experience in public relations and advertising, hotel management, event planning, being a parent volunteer and serves on the board of Crescent Montessori School. She enjoys traveling, going on adventures, and spending time with her husband and their three children, as well as being actively involved in the community and their church. Their daughters, Isabella and Alegria, are enrolled at the Sonoma Valley High School, and their eldest, Joseph, is an alumnus.

Brooke Cheeseman

Flowery Elementary School Mentor Center

flowery@sonomamentoring.org

Brooke Cheeseman received her Business degree from California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo. With that she made a career managing events benefiting non-profit organizations and worked for the Boys and Girl’s club in San Francisco as their event manager. Now a mother of two boys who attend Flowery Elementary school as well as having a mentee at flowery, she is able to further her career in the non-profit world benefitting her favorite cause, children.

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Lulu Balderas

Adele Harrison Middle School Mentor Center

adeleharrison@sonomamentoring.org

Lulu was born and raised in Napa California where she currently lives with her husband and children. She is bilingual in Spanish and English, and especially enjoys helping children and watching them grow. Lulu’s son attends Prestwood Elementary and absolutely loves it. Her family has a passion for sports and they love watching their son play soccer every weekend. 

Laurel Mohring

Prestwood Elementary School mentor center

prestwood@sonomamentoring.org

Laurel was previously an Area Director for Camp Fire Boys & Girls and ran her own daycare before working for several pre-schools. She also ran the Primary Intervention Program at Prestwood Elementary School, a non-directive play therapy program. She spent 11 years as a local soccer coach and served on the Sonoma Valley Soccer Board . She and her husband Glenn have five adult children, four grandchildren, and several now adult Foster children as well as 5 “foster” grandchildren. They were chosen to receive the Foster Parent Caregivers of the Year in 2006-07 for their dedication to keeping foster siblings together.
Laurel is now enjoying her 15th year as Prestwood School Mentor Facilitator.

Maureen Crumly

Sassarini Elementary School Mentor Center

sassarini@sonomamentoring.org

Maureen is a California native and graduate of San Francisco State University, with a BA in Spanish. She also holds a Bilingual Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University. Maureen taught Kindergarten for several years in Santa Rosa before starting a family. She and her husband have two grown children who attended Sassarini Elementary School, Altimira Middle School and Sonoma Valley High School. For ten years she was a mentor to Maricela and a classroom volunteer as well. She truly enjoys working with children and helping them realize their potential. Maureen loves Sonoma Valley and has lived here for over 30 years.

Board of Directors

Marie Bradley

Board Chair

Marie has been a resident of Sonoma Valley for over 20 years, where she has lovingly raised her two sons. A dedicated professional, Marie is a licensed real estate agent with Sotheby’s and serves as the Director of Operations for Daniel Casabonne, Sonoma’s leading real estate agent for the past two decades. Her career in real estate follows a rich background in education, having previously worked as the business manager of a Montessori school in Marin and playing a key role in launching Crescent Montessori’s Elementary School in Sonoma. Marie’s commitment to her community extends beyond her professional life. She became a mentor in 2018, joined the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance Board of Directors the same year, and was honored as a Star Volunteer by the Sonoma Valley Fund in 2021. Marie has a deep passion for volunteering, having served as team mom for all her sons’ sports teams over the years. She enjoys giving back to the community in multiple ways. In her spare time, Marie enjoys traveling, baking, and spending quality moments with her husband, Erich, their two sons, Sean and Chance, and their beloved pets.

Jordan Kivelstadt

Vice Chair & Treasurer

In 2006, after working in management consulting for over two years, Jordan began his career in the wine industry as production manager for The Donum Estate. Since then he has made wine in four countries, founded Kivelstadt Cellars, Free Flow Wines and Bloom Carneros. He currently runs Trellis Management, and is a partner in Marin-Sonoma Impact Ventures. He lives in Sonoma Valley with his wife and two kids.

Cindi King

Secretary

Cindi is a retired corporate attorney who relocated to Sonoma in 2018 from Mill Valley with her husband. Cindi received her J.D. from UC Davis and her M.B.A from the University of Nevada. She practiced law at the Cooley firm specializing in venture capital financing and software licensing. She moved to working in-house and consulting for businesses and eventually for non-profit organizations, primarily in public media. She has served on a number of non-profit boards in the arts and education both in San Francisco and Marin County. She is an avid music lover, has performed in classical choruses and currently serves on the board of the Valley of the Moon Music Festival, a Sonoma chamber music festival. Cindi became a mentor in 2022.

Lisa Burnett

Lisa is a retired marketing consultant who helped nonprofit and government organizations articulate and deliver their message to achieve their missions. Her clients included the Napa County Office of Education, Mentis, Up Valley Family Center, Our Town St. Helena, Voices, Cope Family Center, Jackson Hole Community Foundation, and the American Institute of Wine & Food. After receiving a degree in English/Mass Communications from Sonoma State University, she worked in public relations in San Francisco before commencing a career in commercial property management in Palo Alto, which included managing a real estate portfolio for Stanford University. As a Napa Valley resident for almost 30 years, Lisa volunteered in her community to help empower young people. She moved to Sonoma in 2022 and promptly sought to get involved by becoming a mentor. When she’s not spending time with her adult sons and grandchildren, Lisa enjoys playing bocce ball, Mahjong, kayaking, archery, and cooking.

Jeanette Rodriguez-Chien

Superintendent, Sonoma Valley Unified School District

Dr. Rodriguez-Chien holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California as well as a master’s and bachelor’s degree from UCLA in educational leadership and psychology, respectively. Dr. Rodriguez-Chien has also taught educational leadership courses at Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California. As a public school educator for over 30 years, Dr. Rodriguez-Chien started her career as a bilingual classroom teacher and has served in a variety of capacities including school site principal, director of curriculum and instruction, chief academic officer, assistant superintendent and most recently Deputy Superintendent of San Diego County Office of Education. Additionally, Dr. Rodriguez-Chien is experienced in curriculum development and implementation, English language learner programs, mental health programs, early literacy, special education, accelerated learner programs, as well as strategic planning and data analysis.

Richard De León

Richard joined the Blue Zones Project Petaluma team in 2023 as the Public Policy Lead. In this role, he cultivates and stewards partnerships that support systemic/policy initiatives within the built environment, food systems, and responsible alcohol use. He has successfully implemented multi-agency collaborative projects and partnerships towards greater community well-being and health equity. He is skilled at engaging marginalized community members and applying trauma-responsive systems of care within education, health, and child-serving organizations. Richard is passionate about creating communities of belonging, with a focus on equity for meaningful change in access to well-being for everyone. He is a first-generation college graduate with a B.A. in Chicano and Latino Studies and an M.A. in Organization Development. He is committed to being a better father, husband, son, and authentic human every day.

Steve Evans

After studying Public Policy at Duke University and spending 2 years as an apprentice to a leather furniture designer, Steve found his way to the Bay Area where he received his MBA from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley. It wasn’t long before he discovered Sonoma and has had a foothold here for over 20 years. After a career in brand building and product development that took him from San Francisco to New York and Dallas, he has finally returned home to Sonoma full time. In the last several years he has turned his focus from global brand and foundation work to living life locally.   His return brought him to the Mentoring Alliance and his mentee Joel who keeps him laughing and learning.

Mara Kahn

Mara Kahn was raised to know that if you do good you will do well. Mara was a 2018 recipient of a Spirit of Sonoma Award and the National Recipient of the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Community Involvement Award. Mara is a Mentor with the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, co-mentoring a lively group of four freshmen girls at Sonoma Valley High School. A Realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Wine Country Group, Mara has always felt contributing her time and resources to non-profits is her second job. Mara and Fenway Bark, her Chocolate Labrador Retriever are a Canine Assisted Therapy Team that reads with 3rd-grade classrooms at Sonoma Valley elementary schools each week. Currently the President-elect of Sonoma Valley Rotary, she was instrumental in the fire recovery response. Mara is a founding member of Impact 100, and a member of Congregation Shir Shalom. A native New Yorker, Mara & her husband Phil have lived in Sonoma for 15 years. She is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Consumer Economics, where she was the first woman to be the university’s Rhode Island Ram Mascot.

Joe Koller

Joe is a “mostly” retired Business Development Executive who dedicated most of his 40 career years to QUAD, a Midwest-based manufacturing and marketing company. He began his journey in manufacturing while earning his BA in Marketing and thrived in a performance-driven environment, ultimately concluding his career as a senior executive for the West Coast. In 2002, Joe met his wife Marie after relocating from Wisconsin to Alexandria, VA. They moved to San Francisco in 2011 and settled in Sonoma in 2015. Today, beyond clocking a few hours per week as a Field Economist for The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Joe indulges in winemaking, property improvements, and various investment ventures. His interests also include casual cycling, traveling with family and friends, and of course mentoring with the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance.

Geoff Leonard

Geoff is a retired law firm partner who has been a resident of Sonoma since 2014. Geoff received his J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center and previously practiced as a corporate partner at Orrick LLP, Ropes & Gray LLP and King & Spalding LLP in San Francisco. He continues to act as a consultant for several former clients. Geoff is married to Sandy Leonard, who serves on the Board of Directors at Jack London State Historic Park, and they have two adult daughters. Geoff is an avid mountain biker who frequents the trails in the six state and regional parks that are closest to his home in Glen Ellen. Geoff is a mentor to Brandon.

Sherry Preiss

Newcomers to Sonoma in 2021, Sherry and her husband, Rich, relocated from New Jersey to be close to family. They became active community members of Sonoma Valley. Sherry is on the board of Impact100 and the Sonoma Valley Ed Foundation, as well as on the advisory board at La Luz where she also teaches a weekly ESL class. Sherry’s career has been focused on education. At LEGO Education, she led an international teacher professional development program. At KIPP Foundation, she was Chief Teaching and Learning Officer. At Pearson, she published and edited ESL textbooks which were sold globally. Most recently, Sherry served as a consultant to Tufts University on a grant from the LEGO Foundation to develop and scale play-based engineering learning programs. Sherry and Rich have a son and daughter -in-law in Brooklyn, and a daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson in SF. She loves reading, listening to podcasts, walking, playing pickleball and most of all, playing the piano. Sherry began mentoring the delightful Victoria in January 2022.

Whitney Sangiacomo

Whitney has been a Sonoma Valley resident for the past 26 years. After receiving a business degree in finance at Santa Clara University, she worked in Commercial Property Management in San Francisco before becoming a full time mom. She currently works part time at Sangiacomo Family wines, which has been in operation since 1927, passing through three generations of dedicated and skilled farmers. However, her main passion has been her philanthropic endeavors. Whitney strongly believes in supporting children and is always looking for ways to get involved and help children reach their highest potential. She and her husband Mike, are proud parents to three grown children whom they raised in the beautiful Sonoma Valley. She is excited to be joining the Mentoring Alliance Board.

Jeff Wiggins

Jeff was born in Midland, Michigan, to a librarian and a fisherman/chemist/mad inventor. After growing up in a town owned by Dow Chemical and attending school where the students proudly refer to themselves as “The Chemics” (whatever that is), Jeff attended Hope College and studied biology and chemistry. He then took the obvious step of enrolling in a master’s program in Opera at Northwestern University. He sang professionally for several years before returning to Research and Development at Baxter Laboratories, then earned an MBA at Northwestern before going to work in the investment business with O’Connor & Associates and later for RCM Capital Management where he became a partner. Some time later, Jeff attended Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he was issued his third master’s degree, in Writing, in 2009. He was matched with his mentee in 2014 and the relationship continues as Danny is now attending college. In whatever time is left after writing, investing, and gentleman farmerhood, Jeff attends to the service of a number of public and private boards.

Founder & Board Member

Kathy Witkowicki

Kathy Witkowicki is our Founder and served as Executive Director for 19 years. During her tenure, the Mentoring Alliance became the Sonoma Valley’s go-to agency for children identified as falling off-track academically, or faced with family or cultural barriers to success. Kathy’s area of expertise lies in her experience of constructing, implementing, and teaching ‘best practices’ for school and community-based mentoring programs. She presented mentoring workshops at the local, state and national level for over a decade, and has received numerous awards for her work. Her career began as a Registered Nurse specializing in Emergency Room practices. She has resided in Sonoma since 1979. She is pictured here with her first mentee, Jackie, matched in 2008 when Jackie was in 6th grade. They are still going strong, as Kathy was the Matron of Honor at Jackie’s wedding in 2023. Kathy is now mentoring Angie, whom she was matched with in 2019.

Coaching Team

Michael Brooks

LCSW

Sue Warnock Brooks

Lmft, lep

Linda Tiefenthal

Retried educator

Sandy Zimmermann

LCSW

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