Marin CASA Board of Directors

Richard Bernstein, Chair
Retired Technology Executive & Former CASA volunteer
Richard is a retired technology executive in both academia and the financial services sector. A long-time neighborhood activist, Richard currently serves as the Vice President of the Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods and has volunteered with many nonprofits serving youth. Richard has lived in San Rafael for 38 years. 

Denise Thomas, Vice Chair
Cisco Meraki 
Denise serves as the VP of Operations for Cisco’s Meraki business unit, where she is responsible for Inclusion, Employee Experience, IT, Business Systems, Program Management, Facilities, Business and Manufacturing Operations. Before her current role, Denise served as Meraki’s Chief of Staff at Meraki and Head of People. An experienced operator, Denise played a pivotal role in enabling Meraki to grow from 300 employees to over 2,000, helping the team navigate its high-growth startup stage through a successful integration as part of Cisco. Denise has held a range of roles at leading companies, including Uncommon Schools, Longs Drugs (CVS), TJX Companies, and Frito-Lay. Denise holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Kimberly Best, Treasurer
Emrose Capital/Mt. Tam Capital
Kim has over 20 years of experience in hedge fund operations. She has managed the operations at Mt. Tam Capital Management since 2010 and Emrose Capital since its opening in 2008. Prior to Mt. Tam and Emrose, she was a Partner and headed administration at Botti Brown Asset Management (subsequently Spring Point Capital) from 1999-2004. Kim joined the board of Marin CASA in February 2020 and currently serves as Treasurer.

Janet Epstein, Secretary
Charles Schwab & Co., (retired)
Janet held officer positions at both Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley. As Vice President and Chief Compliance Counsel for Charles Schwab & Co., she was the primary liaison for the firm with federal and state securities regulators. She led teams responsible for responding to regulatory inquiries, examinations at the firm and regulatory complaints.  She also led teams responsible for the licensing and registration of registered representatives.  As Vice President in the San Francisco Law Division of Morgan Stanley, she handled arbitrations, worked on employment and securities litigation matters as well as regulatory inquiries and disciplinary matters. Albeit retired, Ms. Epstein currently serves as a Hearing Panelist for FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers and has been a CASA Board member since 2020.

Shaamini Babu
Saltzman & Johnson Law Corporation
As the President of Saltzman & Johnson Law Corporation Ms. Babu advises Taft-Hartley benefit plans on compliance with federal and state laws for the benefit of tens of thousands of unionized employees in California, Hawaii and Utah.  She also serves as an Arbitrator on employee benefit and consumer matters with the American Arbitration Association (AAA).   Ms. Babu currently serves on the Professionals Committee for International Foundation for Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) and formerly served on the Board of Directors for Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO) and South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA).  She is proud to have had the opportunity to serve as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in the past. 

Stephanie I. Hill
Carta
Stephanie is a Manager of Sales, SMB at Carta. As an executive in the technology industry, Stephanie designs marketing and sales operations strategies bringing innovative solutions to market that consistently outperform client satisfaction and sales goals year after year. As a Homeless Advocate, Stephanie is an active participant of the Practice Fusion GiveBack Program that focuses on serving the homeless population in San Francisco and Oakland. Stephanie also Co-Chairs Allscripts Black Alliance Enrichment Group. Additionally, as a member of both Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and The Links Incorporated, Stephanie serves the Alameda and Contra Costa communities, through the volunteer programs of each women’s organization. Stephanie holds a BS in political science with a minor in English from San Diego State University and an MBA in Marketing from Keller Graduate School of Business. Stephanie was born in Washington, DC, however, the Bay Area has been her home since 1984.

Katie Moore
Katie is a corporate and real estate attorney. She lives in Mill Valley with her family, where she is an active community volunteer. Most recently, she’s dedicated time to the Mill Valley schools, serving on the board of her church, and as an ambassador for ScreenSense, which helps parents teach healthy tech use to their children. Katie holds an AB from Dartmouth College and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. 

Ashley Paff
Ashley was raised in Marin and currently lives in Kentfield. Professionally, her career was in finance/investment banking before retiring from full-time work to raise her (now adult) daughters. She has always been very active as a community volunteer and has served on various local boards including as an elected trustee for the Kentfield School District from 2009 – 2018. Ashley earned an AB in Economics from Princeton University and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Zachary Scott
Scott Labs
Zachary is a product of California through and through. With family that arrived for gold 80-odd years too late, they settled for California wine instead. Since 2003 Zack has worked and eventually led a multigenerational winery supply company. Scott Laboratories was born out of the ashes of Prohibition with the support of the wine yeast library of the UC School of Agricultural (at Berkeley in those days). During his tenure at Scott Labs, Zack grew his specialization in the management of small to medium organizations (10-120 employees) with a focus on business systems and heartful leadership. These skills assisted in the launch of two distinct firms from the ground up as well as guiding a doubling of Scott Labs itself. A third generation UCLA Bruin, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in International Economics, augmented by minors in Spanish and LATAM Studies. He is passionate about the mission of CASA and its work to speak up for the best interest of children in Marin. Zack resides in the county and also serves as a Board Member of California CASA.

Mickey Sobel
Panagora Group
A former foster youth and a native of Marin County, Mickey is a program associate with Panagora Group in Washington D.C. He recently graduated with a Masters in International Development from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. Mickey spent 2 years in the Peace Corps, Ghana as a Community Health Extension Worker where he had the opportunity to demonstrate ability to navigate rapidly changing environments, solve problems, build partnerships, develop innovative processes and solutions, and work closely with stakeholders to meet strategic objectives and goals.

Rebecca Stone
Cisco
Rebecca is the Senior Vice President of Global Revenue Marketing at Cisco. In this role, she oversees integrated marketing and campaign planning, as well as sales development, corporate website strategy, content marketing, media, and marketing technology operations. Prior to joining Cisco, Rebecca held marketing leadership roles for SaaS technology start-ups. Most recently, she was the Chief Marketing Officer at Meraki, where she was responsible for product marketing, lead generation, sales development, and marketing communications and led the transition of Meraki’s acquisition into Cisco. Rebecca holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and lives in Marin County with her husband and two daughters. 

Lissa Sturdevant
Nurse Practitioner
Lissa joined the Marin CASA board in September 2023. She is a graduate of UCSF School of Nursing and is a dedicated Nurse Practitioner with 20 years of experience caring for patients with cancer. She is passionate about education to encourage and empower people to participate in their own healthcare, treatment decisions, and well-being. Lissa has served on several professional nursing boards and serves on her local PTA. Lissa was born and raised in Alaska, but has been in the Bay Area since 2001. She resides in Marin.