Michele Neely has been a CASA advocate since 2004 and joined the Board of Directors in 2006. She has an undergraduate degree in international economics and German from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where, upon graduation, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to the Economics University of Vienna, Austria.
The majority of Michele’s professional career has been spent with Citigroup, where she was a Vice President in the Private Banking division. Time in New York City was also devoted to obtaining a Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
from the NYU Stern School.
Since having moved to Santa Barbara, Michele has been active as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and committed to volunteering for and, offering support to, in addition to CASA, the Junior League of Santa Barbara, the Lobero Associates, Community Arts Music Association (CAMA) and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
Michele enjoys spending time with her husband, Andre, and dog, Bo, and leisure activities which include tennis, cooking and reading.
Development: Ginny Maloco
Ginny Maloco joined the CASA board in January 2009. She is currently Development Chairperson. She is a business woman who built Freedom Designs, Inc., a small children’s wheelchair manufacturing company, into a globally recognized market leader. The company, based in Simi Valley, CA, was recently sold to Invacare, a
Fortune Five Hundred company and the largest manufacturer of medical equipment. Ginny is known to be a first-rate product innovator and marketer, but first and foremost she is a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother. She’s also a generous philanthropist who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars of new wheelchairs to needy children around the world. She also has given generously of her time in developing funding guidelines for Medicare and Medicaid and she has helped develop standards of best practice for Rehab Technology Suppliers. She has also been at the forefront of the campaign to develop safety standards for transporting wheelchairs in vehicles. She has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from The National Registry of Rehab Technology Suppliers, Wheels For Humanity and National Seating and Mobility.
Currently Ginny volunteers for Women’s Economic Ventures as a consultant and a speaker and has served as Treasurer of Bonnymede HOA for 6 years.
Treasurer:
Bruce Stevens picture coming soon
bio coming soon
Secretary: Tony Papa
TonyPapa joined the board of directors in 2009. He is secretary and serves on the finance committee. Tony is the founding partner of Ciralta Associates, an organizational consulting firm based in Santa Barbara. He is also chairman and co-founder of Impulse Internet Services, a local provider of business telephone and internet services.
Tony is a past commodore of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, where he served as a director and the 2009 chairman for the Yacht Club’s annual charity regatta. In 2008, he served as a director for the Santa Barbara Youth Foundation and is the local committee chair for the new pilot Adventure Leadership Program (ALP) sponsored by Wilderness Inquiry (www.wildernessinquiry.org). Tony served as a board member for the Girl Scouts of Tres Condados, during which time he helped the organization reintroduce a girls’ mariner program in Santa Barbara.
David Beard picture coming soon
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Scottie Ortiz
Peggy (Scottie) Ortiz has been a CASA advocate since 2003, and a member of the CASA Board of Directors since 2006. From 1992-1997 she was an active volunteer counselor for the Women’s Center of San Joaquin County. She spent nearly 25 years in the banking and local government finance profession, and retired from the City of Pismo Beach in 2000. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from U.C. Davis. In 2007, Scottie joined a group of area Rotarians to travel to Lagos, Nigeria where they immersed themselves in administering polio immunizations for hundreds of young African children. She currently resides in Santa Maria with her husband Frank, and has two grown children and two grandchildren.
Drew Simons
Andrew D. Simons is a corporate lawyer with a practice focused on general business and corporate law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, technology licensing, contracts, franchise law and healthcare issues. Prior to joining Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy in April 2001, Drew served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for two different public companies: Santa Barbara Restaurant Group, Inc. and Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc., which are restaurant holding companies that operate national brands. Mr. Simons previously served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Circon Corporation and Tokos Medical Corporation, both of which were publicly traded medical companies. Drew started his career as an associate in the corporate department of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he worked for several years.
Mr. Simons graduated cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1988. He served as the Lead Articles Editor of the Law Review and received several scholastic awards.
His publications include Expand Your Business Through Franchising (2002) Pacific Coast Business Times, The Effect of Dual Class Capitalization on the Shareholder: Voting Rights Come Full Circle (1988) Santa Clara Law Review and Expanding Bankruptcy Protection to the Individual Debtor, Taking Chapter 12 One Step Further (1987) University of San Diego Law Review. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Directors of the Santa Barbara chapter of CASA and is the head coach of an AYSO All Star traveling soccer team.
Mike Stoker
Mike Stoker is an attorney whose practice emphasizes land use, government, and business law. Stoker served on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors from 1986-1994. In 1992 he was named “Most Valuable Public Official in County Government in America” by Governing Magazine. Stoker was chosen out of 17,532 potential recipients. In 1993 Governor Wilson and Speaker Willie Brown asked Stoker to be one of two California County Supervisors to testify before the California Economic Summit where he provided testimony regarding what California should do streamline and cut waste in government. Mr. Stoker served as the Majority Counsel to the Republican Party in Congress where he was assigned to the Government Reform & Oversight Committee. In June of 1995 Stoker was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson, Chairman of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board where he served until 2000. Stoker also serves on the Agricultural Advisory Board to Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mr. Jack O’Connell. In 2000, California Secretary of State Bill Jones named Stoker Deputy Secretary of State where he served until January 2003. Stoker currently serves on a consulting basis as the District Director in Santa Barbara County for State Senator Tony Strickland.
Stoker has also served as Chairman of the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, Chairman of the Santa Barbara Association of Governments, Chairman of the Santa Barbara County Water Agency and Flood Control District board. And he has served on the Southern California Hazardous Waste Management Board.
Stoker serves or has served on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, The Boys Club of America, the Chamber of Commerce, the UCSB General Affiliates, the Marian Hospital Foundation Board, fundraising Co-Chair for Northern Santa Barbara County United Way, Good Samaritan Homeless Shelter, the American Red Cross (Santa Barbara County Chapter), Coastal Business Finance Corporation, Young America Foundation, Santa Barbara Industrial Association, the Santa Barbara Taxpayers Association, Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, Fighting Back Public Policy Task Force, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and the Los Padres Council of the Boy Scouts of America Stoker is also an Eagle Scout.
Stoker received his undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and he received his Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) where he graduated with high honors and participated in the Scott Moot Court honors program. Mike also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Southern California Institute of Law where he also teaches law school classes in land use, real property and government law.
Mike resides in Carpinteria, California. Mike has a son, Brandon, 24, and a daughter, Courtlin, 22.
Prudence Sternin picture coming soon
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Lisa Ramos Murray
Lisa Murray is a third generation Santa Barbara County resident. She is married to a Chicago native, Ed Murray, who enjoys bragging about living in this beautiful county of ours for over 20 years. Lisa attended local northern county schools and graduated from University of California Santa Barbara, Gervirtz Graduate School of Education; earning a Master of Arts degree in Child and Adolescent Development with a course specialization in special education and at-risk studies. She has taught children from infancy through school-age; and was employed as a grant writer, parent and teen educator, and program director for a non-profit organization focusing on the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse among youth in the Santa Maria Valley. Lisa is currently an online instructor for Allan Hancock College and Chapman University College and is proud to have celebrated one year as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.
Pat Aptaker
Pat Aptaker moved to Santa Barbara in 2007 and became a CASA advocate in 2008.
She joined the CASA board of directors in 2010.
From 1985 to 2006, Pat was Co-CEO and co-owner of Dallas based Nouveau Eyewear, a design and manufacturing company of fashion eyewear, with distribution in North America, South American and Europe.
Pat founded Nouveau’s in-house ad agency to create advertising and marketing programs for over a dozen licensed designer names in the company’s eyewear portfolio. Nouveau became high profile in the children’s category after introducing Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob Square Pants Eyewear with innovative design elements that made wearing corrective eyewear fun for kids. In 2004 Pat was recognized as one of the Fifty Most Influential Women in Optical by the trade publication “Vision Monday. “
From 1981 to 1985, Pat was a Vice President at Bozell and Jacobs Advertising. Prior to that, she held management positions at major advertising agencies in New York and Dallas. She earned her B.A. from Mansfield University and did graduate study at Lehigh University.
Pat is a member of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara and Social Venture Partners. She and her husband, Evan, live in Santa Barbara with their two dogs, Ozzie and Lucy.
Celeste Scheinberg
Celeste Scheinberg joined the CASA board in 2010. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from UCSB and previously worked for Kinko’s Corporate as a Financial Analyst. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. Celeste has also volunteered at Cottage Hospital pediatrics and the Boys and Girls Club Santa Barbara as a volleyball coach. She is the founder of Community Angels Network, a locally based organization that donates to various nonprofits in the Santa Barbara area since 2003. Celeste resides in Santa Barbara with her two children, Maddy, 9, and Conor, 10 and enjoys playing tennis in her spare time.
