La Luz elects three new board members

La Luz has added Marcie Waldron, Michael Muscardini and Molly Curley O’Brien to its Board of Directors.

“These new board members add invaluable skills and experience to La Luz’s team,” said Board Chair Marcelo Defreitas. “We are fortunate to have such talented and dedicated people willing to work with us.”

Waldron joins the La Luz Board after having spent 2015 as Sonoma Valley’s Alcaldesa, when she launched a program to increase organ donor registration in Sonoma.  For the past 25 years she has been immersed in nonprofit work, holding board positions at Vintage House, Sonoma Community Center, Willmar Center and Kiwanis. She brings experience and expertise in event planning, program management, strategic planning, group facilitation and community outreach. Marcie started a jewelry co-op for marginalized women in the Dominican Republic; here she teaches jewelry classes for teens and has an online jewelry business. She lives in Sonoma with husband Dave, a recently retired landscape architect, and two beautiful cats.

Michael Muscardini owns Muscardini Cellars in Kenwood and has been an active member of the Sonoma Valley community since moving here in 1997. He served on the board of the Sonoma Valley Vintner and Grower’s Association and Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.  He was raised in San Francisco, graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1972 and founded the general contracting company Creative Spaces in 1978. At the same time, he raised a family with two children and now four grandchildren. During this time he was President of the Berkeley Architectural Society and the Alumni Association of CCAC.

Molly Curley O’Brien grew up in Sonoma.  She is Outreach Coordinator for Summer Search, a national organization that helps low-income teenagers become college-educated leaders.  Curley O’Brien has worked in schools, universities, and educational agencies in the Bay Area, Louisiana, Europe and South America, and brings her diverse perspective, dialogue and skill set to La Luz’s table. She lives with her husband Flynn, Exhibitions Manager at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, local artist and water polo coach, down the road from other family members. She is an active member of the Sonoma Valley Aquatic Club’s Masters Swim Team, loves eating dinner at the Farmer’s Market on Tuesday nights, and enjoys the live music scene in Sonoma County with friends.

The mission of La Luz Center is to be a catalyst for change in Sonoma Valley through Health, Education and Financial Security. Laluzcenter.org