Local talent named Executive Director of La Luz
La Luz Center announced with great pride that Yvonne Hall has been chosen to take the helm of the nonprofit which has been serving the community since 1989. Board president Kimberly Blattner made the announcement following a meeting on Monday, August 9 at which the Board unanimously approved the search committee’s selection of Hall as Executive Director. The committee conducted a broad search, and diligently reviewed 28 applications, ultimately interviewing seven candidates who came from San Diego to Calistoga, and all around the greater Bay area. As Blattner remarked to The Sun, “We found gold – the most qualified candidate – in our own back yard.” Hall has been serving as interim director of the Center since the middle of June, and has proven her mettle with all the stakeholders – from clients to staff to community leaders.
A ten-year resident of Glen Ellen, Hall comes to the job at La Luz from a stellar career in top management, including 20 years with Levi Strauss, where she started as a secretary and ended as President, Canada/Latin America Division. During the five years that she lived in Mexico City and worked as General Manager of Levi Strauss Mexico, Hall became fluent in Spanish. She led her team of all native Spanish-speakers to double the business to $100 million, and strengthened the company’s community service presence.
Hall stated that she has fallen in love with La Luz in her ten weeks as interim director, and she has seen “tremendous opportunities for growth and for better serving our client base.” She plans “to utilize full-time the marvelous space in Booker Hall,” the structure named for La Luz’s founder Ligia Booker. Hall identifies in particular the young mothers and their very young children as an underserved group in the Valley whose needs La Luz can address. She has begun connecting with other local nonprofit leaders with the aim of “collaborating and avoiding duplication of services.”
Hall has served the community over the past ten years as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Vice President and Treasurer of the Board of Directors of La Luz, Docent at Quarry Hill Botanical Garden, Docent at the California Academy of Sciences and a member of Metropolitan Club in San Francisco. She holds a B.S. from Santa Clara University.
In her letter of intent, Hall pointed out that she is already familiar with the players, the programs, and the issues. “Now,” she affirmed, “I have the opportunity to give my time, my skills and my passion to La Luz Center.”
