OUR BOARD
Nicholas Mendelson-Ontiveros
Board President
Nicholas Mendelson-Ontiveros was born and raised in Sonoma Valley and is deeply rooted to his community and home town. Nick attended Flowery Elementary School, Adele Harrison Middle School, Sonoma Valley High School, Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University. Nick graduated cum laude from Sonoma State with a business degree and a concentration in finance. Upon graduation, he started working in finance. His mother, Leticia Ontiveros, inspired Nick to give back to the community that raised him, take action on what he believes in and to put others first. He is also a frequent speaker at clubs and organizations at Sonoma State University. Nick lives an active lifestyle and in his free time he enjoys being outdoors, working out, playing guitar, cooking and reading.
Jose Alvarez
Vice President
Jose Alvarez moved to Sonoma Valley in 1999 from Janamuato, Michoacan, Mexico. He attended Sonoma Valley High School and Santa Rosa Junior College. Shortly after graduating from high school, Jose started his banking career and has worked in financial services for 16 years. Jose is very passionate about financial literacy and has been partnering with local organizations over the last several years, sharing vital banking and money management information with the Sonoma Valley community. Jose has been recognized at the county level providing financial education. In 2018, Jose received the Forty Under 40 Award from the North Bay Business Journal, and in 2019 he was also recognized by the Business Journal with the Latino Leadership award for his work and dedication to improving financial literacy in our community. Jose is a former board member for the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center and he also serves as a board member and is part of the executive committee for the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce.
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Kelli Anderson
Active Board Member
Kelli Anderson grew up in Hollister, CA, and graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Anthropology before starting her career in journalism as an intern at the Point Reyes Light. After moving to New York City, she joined Sports Illustrated, where she covered college basketball and the Summer Olympics, among other things, for more than 20 years. As a freelance writer, she has written about a range of subjects, from ground-breaking brain cancer research to innovative educational technology to the comparative coffee cultures of San Francisco and Seattle. She has lived in the Sonoma Valley for the last 24 years and is a member of Sonoma’s Impact100, a woman’s philanthropic organization.
Kimberly Blattner
Active Board Member
Kimberly has been resident of Sonoma since 1982. Kimberly was raised in Oregon and came to California to attend Stanford University where she received a B.A. in Political Science and was the captain of the women’s varsity swimming team. She received an M.A. and elementary and secondary teaching credentials from UC Davis and taught high school from 1976-1990. She was the chair of the English Department at Sonoma Valley High School from 1988-90. She has served on the boards of Presidio Hill School, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, SFMOMA Docent Council, League of Women Voters of Sonoma County, and Enterprise for High School Students. She currently serves on the city’s Community Services and Environment Commission and the board of The Sonoma Valley Fund. As a La Luz board member, Kimberly has served as Board President and now serves as the chair Development and member of the Nominating/Governance and Noche committees. She is one of the founding members of Impact 100, an organization of women committed to making a significant impact in our community.
Bill Blosser
Active Board Member
Bill grew up in Oakland, California and moved to Sonoma in 2011 with his wife Dorinda. In 1970 he co-founded Sokol Blosser Winery in the Dundee Hills of Oregon, building it to one of the largest wineries in the state. The winery is now operated by one of his sons and his daughter, leaving Bill time to continue his long history of public service. In Oregon, he successively served as chair of three state commissions and served on numerous industry and non-profit boards. He also worked many years for an international engineering firm; his work took him to live and work throughout Latin America. Prior to joining the Board, he served on the La Luz Latino Leadership Program committee.
Ligia Booker
Board Member Emeritus - Founder of La Luz Center
Born in Colombia to a large philanthropic family of strong faith, Ligia came to the US first at age 17. After her mother passed away she returned home to care for 10 siblings, only to fall in love there with Don Booker, an American helicopter bush pilot, who after several job stops brought her to Sonoma. Ligia saw Sonoma through the eyes of an immigrant. In the beginning, she met with those in need at local Churches and at her home. Once the official La Luz center opened, she says, “ We were overwhelmed by the needs of the community”.
Thirty-plus years later, Ligia feels La Luz continues to be faithful to its original mission, and she sees the organization developing into a multi-cultural center that addresses the needs of all. When asked why she is so passionate about La Luz and the other community efforts she is a part of she said; “it’s about sharing, giving, and serving. Sharing what I have because I have been so blessed!”
Among Ligia’s many honors for her contributions to our community are: the “For Those Who Care” award from KRON TV in 1989; Alcaldesa of Sonoma in 1992; “Woman of the Year” by the State of California in 1995; Woman of Color Humanitarian Award in 1998; honoree at the Red and White Ball, and the Sonoma Amistad Award both in 2010. She shares La Luz’s great pride in receiving the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2013.
Ligia and Don Booker have 7 children and 16 grandchildren. And she says, her front door is “still open to everybody. Most of those calls usually end up at La Luz or FISH, but those whose needs are more sensitive, hopeless or immediate, become my personal task -- first with prayer, then with action!"
Rayne Dessayer
Secretary
Rayne moved to Sonoma from San Francisco, in a successful search to live in a friendly, mid-sized town. After years in management with Grand Hyatt hotels and Four Seasons hotels, she established and operated The Hospitality Group, providing temporary staffing for hotels and private clubs in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Transitioning from her career, Rayne has been active in CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate for a foster child), Sonoma Mentoring Alliance, the Ceres Project, Sonoma Teen Services, and Impact100. After participating on La Luz's Noche fundraising committee, Rayne joined the La Luz Board as Recording Secretary in 2012. In addition to her Rayne's commitment to La Luz and Sonoma’s non-profit community, she is active with local gourmet groups, her book club, and Free Spirits Choir. Rayne and her partner, Mike, enjoy being with friends and family in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and Oregon, and spending adventurous times on international vacations.
Jennifer Gray Thompson
Active Board Member
Jennifer is a life long resident of Sonoma Valley and resides in the Springs area with her family. She attended Santa Rosa Junior College and graduated from Dominican University in 2001 with degrees in English and History. After teaching for 10 years at Ursuline and Cardinal Newman High Schools, as well as Upward Bound at Napa Valley College, Jennifer went on to earn a masters degree in Public Administration from University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. Post-graduate school, Jennifer worked for District One from 2013 to 2017, covering the Sonoma Valley, for Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. After the devastating fires of October 2017, she accepted her current position as Executive Director of Rebuild Northbay Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping our region rebuild better, greener, safer, and faster..
Bill Hake
Active Board Member
Bill was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his wife Laurie moved to Sonoma in 2006. His involvement with La Luz began when his wife joined La Luz’s Noche Committee in 2008. Bill is a graduate of San Jose State University and UOP’s McGeorge School of Law. He has spent over 35 years as a Trial Attorney, mediator, and lecturer on various legal topics, including advocacy, corporate governance, and ethics. His teaching experience includes appointments at Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of San Francisco, and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. Bill’s community involvement includes various volunteer activities and service on non-profit boards, including Valley of the Moon Natural History Association, Central Marin Soccer League, Ross Valley Soccer Club, Tidalwave Swim Club, and The American Wild Horse Campaign. His work in the non-profit sector has focused on governance and same sector partnership development. Bill serves on La Luz’s Nomination/Governance and Human Resources Committees. In his spare time Bill enjoys traveling with his wife Laurie visiting family and their grandchildren.
Meg Kellogg
Active Board Member
Meg Kellogg has lived in Sonoma for 4 years and Berkeley, SF and Atherton before that. Meg and her husband, Professor Richard Scheffler, love living in Sonoma and contributing to the community. The Latinx community is Meg's priority. She is a Spanish translator for FISH, was on the PR Committee for La Luz, and is now on the Noche Committee for La Luz. In College years, Meg worked with the economically disadvantaged in Morelia, Michoacán. Meg has also chaired and participates on grants committees for Sonoma's Impact100 and is on the Board of the San Francisco Opera Guild.
Meg has extensive experience in all spheres of health care: medical groups, hospitals, health plans, government and medical technology investments. For many years, Meg was Director of Strategic Planning and Product Development at Kaiser Permanente. She was also a Founding Co-editor, Medical Technology Stock Letter, the Director of Corporate Planning for Pacific Medical Center and has held leadership positions in the US Health Care Financing Administration, Washington DC. Her last "gig" was as Founder and Director of the Global Health Leadership Forum based at UC Berkeley and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. 580 senior executives from 63 countries participated. Meg is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UC Berkeley and holds a masters in Community Health from Stanford University. Her publications have emphasized the areas of healthcare integration, quality, and predicting healthcare trends. Meg speaks French and Spanish.
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Brian Nicholson
Active Board Member
Brian and his wife Brooke Geahan moved to Sonoma in 2018 after residing in Los Angeles and New York City for several years. The son of a Mexican immigrant, Brian quickly recognized the incredible value that La Luz was providing to the local community and reached out to get involved. He began his work with La Luz by volunteering with the organization’s microloan program and joined the Board in February of 2020. Brian is a Managing Director with Sonoma Brands, a private equity firm investing in emerging consumer brands across food & beverage, personal care and wellness. He previously spent several years at a New York based private equity firm and before that worked in investment banking in San Francisco. Brian received his B.A. from Brown University in 2004.
Beth Stelluto Dunaier
Active Board Member
Beth and her husband, Howard, have lived in Sonoma County for nearly 20 years, moving from Kenwood to Sonoma in 2019. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and the Wharton Graduate School of Business. After a rewarding career in Personal Finance as a marketing and business line executive with Charles Schwab and other organizations, Beth shifted her attention to the intersection of philanthropy and business. She currently invests in start-up organizations and serves on several non-profit boards addressing systemic change in environment, social justice and economic opportunities. Beth joined the La Luz Board in 2020 and serves on the Strategic Planning and Microloan Committees. Beth enjoys being outdoors here in beautiful Sonoma, singing with the Free Spirits Gospel Choir, learning Spanish – poco a poco, and simply enjoying life a rich network of amazing friends.