Community Foundation Sonoma County names new board members and officers

Community Foundation Sonoma County has named Tania Amochaev, Harriet Derwingson, Herb Castillo and Whitney Hall to its board of directors. David Voss is the new board chair, Pete Golis is chair-elect and Linda Kachiu is treasurer, while outgoing chair Barbara Graves is secretary.
Recently installed CFSC President and CEO Barbara Hughes said that she is “thrilled” with the caliber of the new board members and the broad representation throughout the county. With regards to boardmember and fellow Sonoma resident Harriet Derwingson, Hughes pointed out her exemplary years of service to the board. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with and getting to know Harriet over these past weeks. She is a tireless board member, is very active in the Sonoma Valley and I’m ecstatic to have her as part of the team.”
Derwingson is chair-elect of the Sonoma Valley Fund, another affiliate of Community Foundation Sonoma County. She is a retired vice president of External Affairs at Pacific Bell in Sacramento. Her professional background includes experience in public affairs, local and regional government relations, strategic planning and marketing. Harriet also serves on the Distribution Committee of the Community Foundation and is an advisor to the Women’s Health & Welfare Task Force.
For her part, Hughes took the reigns at the CFSC in mid-May. She and her husband Greg DiPaolo have just returned home to Sonoma after five years on the East Coast. She said that her first five weeks on the job have been an immersion in the work and mission of the Foundation, which is strengthening local communities through effective philanthropy and civic engagement.
“It has been interesting for me to see how much this foundation stands behind its mission. Indeed, how many hands across Sonoma County have helped build this organization and the connections we’ve made because of that commitment,” said Hughes.
The other board members are from outside the Valley. They include:
Tania Amochaev, who resides in Healdsburg and also serves on the board of the Healdsburg Area Fund, an affiliate of the Community Foundation. She is currently president of the Public School Support Team, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to leveraging the knowledge, energy and philanthropy of the Healdsburg community to significantly increase the number of students graduating from the public school system. Having retired from executive management, she previously served as CEO and Chairman of several computer technology companies, including QRS Corporation and Comserv, and on several boards including Symantec Corporation.
Herb Castillo of Sebastopol is executive director of Project Avary (Alternative Ventures for At-Risk Youth), which assists children in overcoming the devastating effects of losing parents to the criminal justice system. He is currently serving as a volunteer trustee with Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. His extensive background in organized philanthropy includes positions as community services director at United Way of the Wine Country and program officer for the San Francisco Foundation and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund. Through the Diocese of Santa Rosa, he established the Catholic Immigration Office, which helped with the legalization and amnesty of thousands of North Bay residents in the early 1980s. His is also a former board chair of Northern California Grantmakers.
Whitney Hall is a retired Army commandant of the Presidio in San Francisco, a post that involved youth programs, civic activities and volunteer commitments. He also served as Chief Administrative Officer of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and on the Advisory Board of St. Mary’s Medical Center. After moving to Petaluma in 1995, Whitney became a community volunteer, serving on the boards of the Petaluma Health Care District, Petaluma Youth Commission and Hospice of Petaluma.
For over 25 years, Community Foundation Sonoma County has served as a bridge for strengthening our local communities through effective philanthropy and civic engagement, linking donors with the causes they care about and convening community benefit organizations – all with the goal of translating good intentions into effective programs and, ultimately, into lasting positive impact. Since 1983, the Community Foundation and its donors have awarded over $120 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and scholarships to individuals.