Director of Sonoma Community Center steps down

Toni Castrone, the Sonoma Community Center’s long-time executive director, has resigned effective July 31, 2016.

“It has been a great honor for me to serve as executive director,” Castrone said. Being at the center of the action at the Community Center has meant that there hasn’t be one dull moment for the past eight years. It’s an amazing place in an amazing community.”

Castrone added, “I have appreciated the opportunity to grow and work with so many dedicated board members, staff, and volunteers over the past years. I look forward to continuing my support of the Center’s great mission moving forward.”

Castrone’s contribution to the Community Center and, by extension, to the entire community, has been monumental,” said Stephen C. Kyle, board chair. “She will be sorely missed,” he said. “By the same token, we are all delighted to learn that she has decided to hone her redoubtable skill still further by pursuing full-time a graduate degree in nonprofit management.”

The Sonoma Community Center board of directors, under Kyle’s leadership, has formed a transition team to guide the search for a replacement. Says Kyle: “Toni has given us a very generous transition schedule and will stay on throughout the process working with the board to ensure a seamless leadership transition.”

“We want to thank Toni for her service to the Center and to Sonoma and wish her well in her future endeavors. An executive director like Toni, an island of calm in a sea of chaos and excitement, will be difficult to replace, but we look forward to continuing the Center’s long tradition of stellar leadership,” Kyle said.

Asked to list just three accomplishments at the Center she would include on her resume as she advances down her career path in nonprofit management, Castrone noted the following: professionalizing the Center’s administrative systems, strengthening partnerships with community organizations, and raising class enrollment to an all-time high.