2013 Board of Directors

Georgann Scally, Chair

Georgann is a recently retired financial services executive who specializes in alliance management, high-tech innovation planning, project management, and strategic planning.  Her career began in Santa Cruz at County Bank and Trust, and progressed with other financial services companies, until her retirement from Visa International.  On behalf of Visa International, Georgann served on the Boards of Directors of several high-tech start-up companies, representing Visa’s interests and assisting the companies during their growth periods.  Georgann graduated from San Jose State with a BA degree in Elementary Education and has a Certificate from Wharton School of Business in Alliance Management.  She was active in the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, Alliance of Technology and Women, and the Alliance Professional Group. 

Georgann is passionate about the environment and our parks.  She worked with the Sierra Club to maintain and improve parks in Northern California, and fought to bring spraying of the Light Brown Apple Moth to a halt.  She has been Friends’ Board Chair since 2011.  You can find Georgann working on our Mission Adobe committee, Board Development committee and Finance Committee – or out on various hiking trails in Santa Cruz state parks.

Maggie Mathias Vice-Chair

Following a smart friend’s advice, Maggie moved to Santa Cruz 12 years ago and has never looked back.  She is an environmental science consultant for locally-owned 2NDNATURE LLC, and spends her days monitoring water quality and developing better ways for natural resource managers to track the ecosystem benefits of their projects.  Maggie grew up in the open spaces of rural central Pennsylvania, appreciating the freedom that comes with being out in nature. She studied the environmental and economic issues surrounding community development in college and graduated with a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. 

As Friends’ Vice Chair and Chair of the Mission Adobe committee, Maggie brings her interdisciplinary understanding of the pressures on our state’s cultural and natural resources, her strong project management & problem solving skills, and her inclination to volunteer for anything. In a previous life, Maggie was a champion ultimate frisbee player and now spends her time at Twin Lakes State Beach learning beach volleyball.

Phil Duval, Treasurer

Phil is a retired professional contracts manager with over 35 years of experience in acquisition, procurement, and contract administration.  Phil brings all that experience to Friends in his role as our Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair.  Phil also has working knowledge of federal, commercial, and educational contracting processes acquired during his career working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Bechtel, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems.  He served in the US Air Force, attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel – Command Pilot.

Phil is a hands-on contributor to Friends, and you can find him pounding nails, painting, and working on various projects with the Castro Adobe committee.  Phil has a BA in Industrial Arts and Aerospace Studies from Fresno State University, and an MS in Procurement and Contract Management from St. Mary’s College of California.

Kirk Lingenfelter, State Park Liaison

Kim Delkener, Secretary

Dr. Kim Delkener is an Emergency Veterinarian at Pacific Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Hospital in Capitola.  She is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.  Kim completed an internship at the prestigious Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego prior to moving to Santa Cruz to continue her dream of practicing high quality emergency veterinary medicine.  She has a special interest in emergency surgery, enjoys challenging critical care cases and has found a recent interest in physical medicine and acupuncture for animals.

When Kim is not working hard saving lives, she can be found enjoying a “stay-cation”:  mountain biking, hiking or surfing in many of our local state parks.  She is passionate about the environment from the mountains to the oceans and feels volunteering for the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks gives her an excellent opportunity to be involved in their future.  Kim serves as Friends’ Secretary and is Chair of the Board Development committee.  She also enjoys training her two border collies for dog agility and competes on both the local and national level.

Charlie (Castro) Kieffer

Charlie became a docent at Wilder Ranch State Park in 1989 and fell in love with state parks.  Charlie is the Chair of Friends’ Castro Adobe committee and serves on our Mission Adobe committee – perfect fits since he is a direct descendant of the Castro family that came to California 1775 with the Anza Expedition out of Mexico, and whose family was also one of the 15 founding families of San Jose in 1777.

Charlie has been an active volunteer in Santa Cruz County for many years.  The long list of organizations that have benefitted from Charlie’s participation include the Museum of Art and History, Friends of Longs Marine Lab, the Optimist Club, SCOPE, and the Boy Scouts of America.  Charlie is a proud member of “Los Californianos”, an organization whose members must be of Hispanic heritage and whose family must have arrived in “Alta California” prior to 1848.  Charlie is a retired businessman and former owner of Santa Cruz Mattress and Upholstery Co., and served three years in the Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Paratroopers Division.

Stuart Kitayama

Barney B. Levy, Jr.

Ed Newman

Edward Newman has been a Friend’s board member since 2008, and a resident of Santa Cruz County since 1973 where he opened a law office in Capitola and never left. Ed was the first tenant in the newly restored Hihn Building and six years later developed his own office in the Trestle Building in Capitola Village. He served on the Mobile Home Rent Review Board, eight years as a Capitola Planning Commissioner, and currently chairs the Capitola General Plan Advisory Commission.  He built three commercial buildings in Capitola, 60 homes in the city and the surrounding area, rehabilitated the Bayview Hotel in Aptos in the 1990s, led the restoration of the Pasatiempo golf course to its original design eight years ago and most recently took on the historic Leonard Building in Santa Cruz.  Ed has served as Friends Board Chair, and brings his wealth of expertise to bear at Friends’ Board Development committee.

Don Nielsen

Curt Simmons

Curt is a fourth-generation Californian, raised in Riverside.  He graduated from UC Riverside with a degree in biology, and from UC Berkeley, attaining the degree of Doctor of Optometry.  Curt has been practicing in downtown Santa Cruz since 1987, emphasizing family vision care, prevention and treatment of eye disease, and contact lens management.  An active volunteer, Curt currently coordinates vision care services for the Project Homeless Connect Santa Cruz and works with the Santa Cruz Lions Club, Western Service Workers Association and the Homeless Persons Health Project.  Curt has served on the boards of the Santa Cruz Kiwanis Club, the Monterey Bay Optometric Society, the Downtown Association, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Curt says that state and national parks are his favorite places to hang out.  Having grown up camping and backpacking in the Sierra, he learned to love the beauty and solitude that the parks provide.  Curt and his wife, Karen, live across the street from Henry Cowell State Park, and are in there nearly every day taking long walks amongst the redwoods.  In his spare time, Curt enjoys reading, bicycling, snowboarding, playing guitar and, of course, hiking.

Adam Steckley

Adam Steckley is a graduate of Stetson University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Environmental Studies. Born and raised in South Florida, Adam’s path into environmental education began at an early age while teaching about the Biscayne Bay ecosystem and instructing sailing lessons during high school and college. He spent three years as the Program Manager of the MSD Biscayne Nature Center prior to relocating to Santa Cruz in 2004. The following year, Adam began instructing marine ecology and navigation for O’Neill Sea Odyssey where he continues today as the Operations Coordinator.

Exploring the Florida Everglades is where Adam developed his passion for “wild” areas and the park’s system. As urban sprawl and invasive species encroached further into this natural landscape, he was motivated to help preserve what remained. Through volunteering with local habitat restorations, organizing community outreach and coordinating fundraising events, Adam found a natural fit with Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.  He has also worked closely with the City of Santa Cruz as a member of the Tree Trust.

Jim Toney

Jim maintains that the most important thing he has done is to raise three sons who are now in Bellingham WA, Salmon ID, and San Jose with their four grown grandchildren.  But besides that, Jim attained a degree in engineering and then attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He worked for Crown Zellerbach and a successor paper manufacturing company in the Bay Area and ended his career as Group President of one of the company’s four businesses.

Upon retirement to Aptos, Jim did nonprofit volunteer consulting, mostly in business planning and fund raising strategies. He also worked as a docent at Seacliff State Beach and the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.  In 2000, Jim joined the Friends board and has served as Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Park Support Committee member.  Living in Santa Cruz County also provides Jim with a multitude of opportunities to hike, bike, kayak, ski and run on the beach.