Board of Directors
Michael Nann
President
V.P. W. Bradley Electric
Mike Nann has been a resident of Novato for over 20 years and is a Vice President for W. Bradley Electric and has worked there nearly 13 years. Mike has been a member of the Board for seven years and was inspired by WBE’s commitment to the work of the Center many years ago. ”Our CEO, Leslie Murphy, was on the Board of Directors and her term was ending and she encouraged me to participate as a Board Member. While it has always been important to me to help others in need, I really had no idea of what so many members of our community deal with on a daily basis. Being involved with the Center has opened my eyes to the suffering and challenges of our low-income neighbors and friends. “ Mike delivers food weekly to one of our disabled clients and is involved in the Center’s many activities, including the annual Holiday Share Program in which he participates with his daughter.
Carol York
Vice President
Regional Vice President
Bank of Marin
Carol York, Bank of Marin’s Northern Marin Regional Manager, has 33 years of professional banking experience, the last six with Bank of Marin in Petaluma and Novato. She currently manages four Bank of Marin branches in Novato, Sonoma and Napa. Her numerous community responsibilities include the Novato Chamber’s Leadership Novato Alumni Association (she graduated from Leadership Novato in 2008), Vice President of the Novato Chamber of Commerce, Vice President of Novato Human Needs Center Board, Boardmember of Petaluma People Services Center, and a committee member of “Paint the Town Red.” When not volunteering her time and leadership, Carol’s specialty is working with local business owners on commercial loans and day to day finances to help them better run their business.
Regina Biannucci Rus
Treasurer
Owner
Regina Biannucci Rus CPA
Regina Rus, a local CPA and resident of Novato for 19 years, has volunteered for the Center’s Holiday Share Program through its food and gift drives and participates annually in the Holiday Share shopping days. With extensive volunteer experience in a variety of nonprofit organizations in the community and her affiliation with the California Society of CPA’s, Rus brings a breadth of knowledge to her role at the Center that will help expand agency resources and enhance client services. Rus is currently serving as the Board’s Treasurer during this fiscal year. “I look forward to contributing even more to this local organization that has helped so many people in short term or long term financial crisis,” said Rus.
Richard DeRamon
Secretary
Branch Manager
Redwood Credit Union
John McCarthy
Lieutenant
Novato Police Department
I was born and raised in Marin County. I graduated from Terra Linda High School and later from Sacramento State University with a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice. I joined the Novato Police Department in 1987 and have enjoyed my career as a Novato Police Officer very much. I have promoted to my current rank of Lieutenant in 2007 and I’m currently assigned to our patrol division.
I became involved with the Novato Human Needs Center after graduating from the Novato Chamber of Commerce Leadership program. The Center has afforded me with the opportunity to serve the community of Novato in a very different capacity. I feel very fortunate to make a connection with our community outside my police officer role and hopefully make a positive impact with assisting our less fortunate citizen’s in achieving their goal of self-sustainability. The Center has employed incredibly caring people who, on a daily basis, give to the less fortunate within our community. My hope is to learn from them and to continue to help build on their successes.
I live in Petaluma with My wife Trish and our four children, Nick, Alicia, Emily and Ava.
Eric Nickel
Deputy Fire Chief
Novato Fire Protection District
David Snyder
Executive Director
Berkeley Public Library Foundation
David Snyder currently serves as the executive director of the Berkeley Public Library Foundation where he is engaged in coordinating a $3.5 million capital campaign to assist with the renovations of the four branch libraries in Berkeley. New to the Novato area, David and his wife Judy, moved from New Hampshire in the fall of 2009. Formerly the executive director of the New Hampshire Bar Foundation, David comes to the Novato Human Needs Center with an extensive background in non profit management, fundraising, and community service. “I came to the NHNC board because of the organization’s efforts to assist those most in need within the Novato community. It is important to have professionals in place with a passion for the work to step in with aid when an individual or a family is in crisis. To assist those in need requires a financial commitment on behalf of the agency and I hope to assist the agency with raising the funds needed to continue services today and into the future.”
Eric Riddell
Administrative Sergeant
Novato Police Department
Eric Riddell was born and raised in Santa Rosa CA and began his Law enforcement career in 1986 at Petaluma Police Department. In 1992, he transferred to the Novato Police Department, where he currently works as the Administrative Sergeant. He has two sons (18 and 14 years old) and enjoys spending time with his family. “I have thoroughly enjoyed serving the community of Novato, as a Police Officer for the last 19 years and look forward to additional community based service, in my new role as a member of the Board of Directors for the Novato Human Needs Center. The Center’s philosophy of helping people help themselves really resonates with me. As a Board member my goal is to help guide and plan for the Center’s long and sustained future. I will be highly active in their fundraising efforts and in helping to educate the community as to the various services they provide.”
Silvina Candia
Customer Experience Manager
Strategic Planning and Operations
Autodesk, Inc.
Silvina Candia is a Customer Experience Senior Manager at Autodesk and has resided in Novato for almost four years. In 2005, Silvina moved from New York to California to pursue a master’s degree in public administration focusing on nonprofits. She has been an active volunteer for many nonprofit organizations and was formerly the Director of the Volunteer Center of Monterey County. Silvina’s background in information technology, program management, and strategic planning positions her to make a valuable contribution to the leadership of NHNC. “The mission of the Novato Human Needs Center resonates with me and I too believe that with a small amount of assistance, people can achieve great things. I am thrilled about the opportunity to serve on the board of an organization that provides much-needed support to people in our wonderful community.”
Mark Hoffman
Retired
Nonprofit Consultant
Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership
I have over thirty years in a variety of fields. I have worked in city planning, consulted in the energy and environmental field, overseen strategic planning in criminal justice, sold large scale co-generation equipment, and owned an executive search firm that recruited in the biotech industry for eighteen years before retiring in 2006. This has been interspersed with travel to over forty countries beginning as a Peace Corps volunteer in East Africa.
The past five years has given me the opportunity to apply my diverse professional experiences as a pro bono volunteer. I have consulted with a variety of non-profit organizations in Marin County as a member of the Center for Volunteer and Non-profit Leadership. It is in this capacity that I assisted the Novato Human Needs Center in the development of a five year strategic plan. Through my work with the planning committee and the staff I came to know NHNC and appreciate the invaluable services provided by this organization to those in greatest need. For me, giving of one’s time to an organization as worthwhile and effective as NHNC is the essence of a meaningful retirement.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Deanna Euritt
Deanna has over 30 years experience in the government and non-profit sectors. She began her career in Arizona as an auditor and certified public accountant moving on to become an administrator at Arizona State University. Midway through her career she decided to attend San Francisco Theological Seminary and became ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1990. She served as a parish minister in a large church in Duluth, Minnesota, but later returned to California to take a position as associate director of a large social services agency in Napa. Approximately three years later she served at Hospice of Marin as a chaplain and eventually moved into a management position. She currently serves as Executive Director of Novato Human Needs Center where her passion for and commitment to serving those in need guides the mission and services of the Center.
BOARD MEMBER OPPORTUNITY
History and Mission: Established in 1972 NHNC is a community based non-profit serving over 4,500 low income residents annually. Our mission is to help low income families and individuals to overcome their crises and move toward self-sufficiency. We provide a diversity of basic services—food pantry, rental assistance, transportation, employment counseling, Holiday Share, information and referral, as well as more intensive programs to provide families with tools to move out of poverty and improve their socio-economic status.
Our Current Board Culture: We have historically had a friendly, small to medium size board of eight to twelve members. Our board is typically composed of professional leaders from local business and service organizations, as well as community members. Our board has always been a cohesive group who takes their oversight seriously. We always welcome more diversity and new ideas to keep us fresh and forward thinking. Terms are for 3 years.
Staff and Finances: We currently have 14 staff members and over 300 volunteers. We have several funding sources, drawing upon the community for 43% of our total revenue. We have sufficient reserves for three months, but always strive to have reserves up to six months worth of expenditures. Our current budget is around $1million.
Who we are looking for: We would like new board members who can attend monthly board meetings on Monday evenings from 5:30—7:00PM, as well as some of our special events. We are very focused on fund-raising and hope to find new board members who may have connections to potential donors, can make their own significant donation, and who are not afraid to ask others for support. We are also hoping to enhance our ethnic and job skill diversity.
Contact us: If this sounds right for you and you have passion for our type of mission, please contact Deanna Euritt, Executive Director at (415)897-4147 ext. 38, or DEuritt@nhnc.org. We would love to hear from you.