Archives



SV Museum Board announces new members, officers

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Sonoma Valley Sun
Pictured left to right: Kathy Hodgson, Steve Bush, Holly Sorkin, Philip Tasho, Cherie Hughes, Diana Bugg, Dana Freudenberger, Kathleen Watson, Ken Stokes, Anne Mieling, Ken Wornick, Christine Curry.

The Board of Directors of  Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is pleased to announce the its new members and officers, approved by the SVMA membership at the Museum Annual Meeting in March.

The new Slate of Officers includes Co- Presidents Diana Bugg and Cherie Hughes, Co- Vice-Presidents Steve Bush and Ken Stokes, Secretary Kathleen Leonard, and Treasurer Holly Sorkin. New Board Members include Christine Curry, Dana Freudenberger, Anne Mieling, Philip Tasho and Kathleen Watson (also the volunteer council chair).

Diana Bugg has spent the majority of her forty-year career with IBM, HP and KPMG Consulting in various executive Sales and Management positions. She and her husband Jim retired to Sonoma in 2005. Diana has been a Board member of Sonoma Valley Museum of Art for three years, serving on the Development committee. Additionally, she is a member of Impact 100. Diana also currently serves on the Jack London Park Advisory Board and is a Trustee for Drury University, where she graduated with a degree in Business and Psychology. Diana’s community board service also extends to SFMOMA and St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. She and her husband love to travel and play golf.

Cherie Hughes and husband, Keith, are co-owners of Hughes Family Vineyards, an award- winning artisan winery with organic vineyards in Glen Ellen. Dr. Hughes was a clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children, adolescents, and their families in her private practice and at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Hughes earned her doctorate in Psychology from Southern Methodist University and holds master’s degrees from Northwestern University and SMU. Dr. Hughes serves on the Board of Directors for the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation and previously served as President of the Board for the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance and currently chairs the Advisory Board for Mentoring. She is a founding member of Impact 100 Sonoma.

 Steven Bush is a retired Medical Device Executive with forty-one years of experience in both Fortune 500 and start-up company environments, including 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Baxter International, Tyco Corporation, and Cardinal Health Care. Steve’s main focuses included Marketing, Sales, Operations, and Finance, and included position titles of CEO, President, Vice President Marketing and Sales, COO, Board Member, Board Vice Chair, and Compensation Committee Chair. His community involvement includes Boy Scouts of America, The United Way, St. Paul Ballet Board Member, Chamber of Commerce Board Member, LDS Church Bishopric and High Council Member, 4H Club Advisor, and numerous elementary, secondary, college, and community volunteer fundraising activities. Since moving to Sonoma in 2014, Steve and his wife Lori opened OSO restaurant on the Square in Sonoma. They also farm a small pinot noir vineyard.

 Ken Stokes retired to Sonoma with his wife, Dana Simpson-Stokes, after a long corporate career in Amsterdam and London, where they developed a love for art and collecting. For over 25 years, Ken has overseen businesses in 24 countries across four continents, and served as CEO of companies in the USA, UK, and Spain, serving most recently as EVP Americas & Australia/New Zealand for Reckitt Benckiser plc. Earlier in his career, he spent four years with McKinsey & Company and held senior marketing roles with Wilson Sporting Goods and Clorox. Switching his focus to board, business advisory, and not-for-profit leadership in 2004, Ken’s community service experience includes having served on the Board of Education of a top-ranked K-12 public school district in New Jersey, the Board of Directors of the Morris County (NJ) School Boards Association, and as a firefighter and President of his local volunteer fire department. He holds a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College, and an MBA from the University of Chicago/Booth School of Business.

 Kathleen Leonard specialized in helping people sell and buy exceptional properties in the California Wine Country, where she lives, works, entertains friends, and enjoys the good life with her husband and business partner, Bob Leonard. A graduate of UC Davis, Kathy grew up in Northern California. For over 20 years prior to her real estate career, she owned and operated San Francisco Kitchens, a public relations firm specializing in the food industry.  She is a published cookbook author, magazine writer, food stylist, and developer of recipes and new products. Kathy is active within her community and is a sustainer and past board member of Junior League of Napa-Sonoma. She is a member of the world’s oldest international food society La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a past president of Slow Food Sonoma Valley, and a former “Capital Grant” committee chair of Impact 100 Sonoma. Kathy is also a past board member of Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center and the Sonoma Greens Homeowner Association. She and Bob (a former Marine Corps officer) sponsor the annual U.S. Marine Corps Reserve “Toys for Tots: Disney•Pixar Holiday Movie” at the historic Sebastiani Theater on the Sonoma Plaza. For a decade, they also co-chaired the Wine Country Marine Corps Birthday Ball. She serves on the Board of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art as Secretary.

Holly Sorkin is originally from Minneapolis and moved to the Bay Area in 1997. She received a B.A. from Mills College and an M.S. from UC Berkeley in Computer Science. Her graduate studies focused on Human Computer Interaction and Accessibility. Holly was an academic researcher at the 
Exploratorium before she shifted her career
toward business analytics and marketing for LiveOps. In 2008, Holly decided to be with her children full-time, and in 2013, Holly and her family moved to Sonoma, where she quickly became active within her community at Crescent Montessori School (CMS). She currently serves as the Finance and Development chair on the CMS board and oversees budget planning as well as fundraising.

Christine Curry is owner and principal of Christine Curry Design and began her career with an international commercial furnishings company where she managed projects around the globe. Christine dreamed of making Sonoma her home from the first time she visited in 1990. She and her husband, Jon, owner of Landers Curry, Inc., finally made that dream a reality in 2004. Christine enjoyed her first few years in Sonoma as the owner of the retail stores, Etre’ Sonoma and Etre’ Beauty before establishing Christine Curry Design. The firm includes a significant portfolio of Bay Area interior design projects. Christine has served SFMOMA Modern Arts Council and Sonoma Mentoring Alliance. She and Jon have one grown daughter.

Dana Freudenberger grew up on Mercer Island, Washington. She received her BA from University of Puget Sound. Over the past 20 years, she has been a resource development advisor raising in the school system, and non-profit sector raising over $1 million dollars for underprivileged, learning difference, and her children’s educational programs in San Francisco and Sonoma, CA. Her past employment experience includes fashion design and production as a style fit model for Bebe (96-98) and Athleta 2007-2011, creative direction for magazine pagination and advertisement layouts, sports medicine industry 24 Hour Fitness Corporate, marketing, communications, Real Estate construction design and project management. Currently, she is invested in developing a game educating 9-12yrs in social and global connectivity, and emotional IQ, an investor and advisor for H2O properties which is a development company working on condominium projects in Puerto Vallarta, Mx. She manages 2 rental properties in SF, and Sonoma, an officer in her family business which has two entities that provide aggregate parcel services in businesses throughout the U.S., and is  a member of GenNext Corporation: San Francisco Chapters. She currently resides in Sonoma, CA with her husband Jon. She has two daughters Eliana 20yrs, and Tessa 17yrs. 2 dogs: Sophie and Junior, 2 Donkeys: Daisy and Nickers.

Anne Mieling is originally from Bordeaux, France and graduated from ESMOD Paris with a degree in Fashion Design. She spent several years working for various brands in the fashion industry. She and her husband George have lived in Austria, Switzerland, and Boston before moving to Sonoma in 2006. While raising three children, Anne became involved in wine promotion & sales and joined a small start-up called BeveragesToGo. Currently, Anne is the Area Sales Manager for Five Grapes Imports and Weygandt-Metzler, importing French Country wines and VIP international wines. She achieved WSET Level 2 Sommelier status in 2016. Anne has been actively involved in various school committees, is a member of the Auxiliary Committee of the San Francisco Zoo, and has served on the board of Pets Lifeline Sonoma for the last six years, where she currently serves on the “new facility” committee.

Philip Tasho relocated to Sonoma from Alexandria, VA in October 2018.  Philip is a Chartered Financial analyst and spent 37 years working in the investment advisory profession. He co-founded TAMRO Capital Partners in 2000 and served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Strategist. TAMRO was an investment advisory firm with the focus on small cap stock management for institutions and individuals. Assets under management reached $2.4 billion in 2014. The company closed in 2016 upon Philip’s retirement. He has a B.A. from Grinnell College and an M.B.A from The George Washington University. Philip was born in Boston, MA and grew up in Brockton, MA where he came to appreciate interest in music and arts from his parents. Philip is an avid collector of art, sings in church choirs and also enjoys the culinary arts. He is also a mentor to investment professionals.

Kathleen Watson is Chair of the SVMA Volunteer Council and has volunteered as a Guide and A.R.T.S. Instructor at the museum since 2011. In her capacity as Guide, Kathleen also served on both the Outreach and Continuing Education Committees. She has led and facilitated museum art projects for the community and assisted with annual fundraising events. In 2016, Kathleen was recognized as Museum Guide of the Year. Prior to her involvement with SVMA, Kathleen served on the Executive Committee of the Bouverie Preserve Docent Council for four years. Kathleen graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Landscape Architecture and has practiced in the profession for over 35 years. She and her husband Jay have called Sonoma home since 1994.

Established in 1998, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is a membership supported 501(c) 3, non-profit organization that provides seasonal exhibitions of contemporary and modern art and educational and public programming for children, youth and adults. 




Sonoma Sun | Sonoma, CA