All posts by Mary Radovan

Museum-Comic-Con, Additional Active

Melissa Peterman is the Vice President of the Comic-Con Museum located in Balboa Park.

She is a proud native San Diegan and has spent most of her personal and professional life working to make San Diego an amazing place to live, while also focusing on equity work.

Melissa studied Political Science at SDSU, then went on to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her graduate studies in theories of social justice and the intersections of pop culture and the social movement. She originally wanted to be an academic and started her Ph.D. program, but then realized she wanted to have a more direct and immediate impact.  So she made the decision to move back to San Diego where she spent 10 years working in affordable housing and homelessness with Father Joe’s Villages and the San Diego Housing Commission, before eventually joining the Comic-Con Museum.  Melissa says working at the museum is a perfect cumulation of everything she is passionate about…San Diego, DEI and the impact of popular art and culture.

Melissa loves to travel and be with friends and family, but her real hobby is planning and organizing anything and everything. So she says she is ready to put those skills to work with Rotary!

Ingrid de Llamas, Wendy Urushima-Conn and Katie Sawyer were her sponsors.

Federal Government – U.S. Attorney’s Office, Additional Active

David Finn is a Federal Criminal Prosecutor/Assistant U.S. Attorney at the Office of the United States Attorney here in San Diego.

He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri and moved to San Diego 21 years ago.  He attended Mesa Community College, then UCSD, then California Western School of Law.  He has worked for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the last 10 years.

David is a big fan of community service and one of his favorite organizations to volunteer with is Reality Changers, who work to get first generation college students into college and to succeed.

In 2020, David was the chapter president of the Federal Bar Association with over 500 members.

He has several hobbies (he says his wife would say too many!): he likes to compete in triathlons and has competed in 2 full Ironman triathlons in the last 3 years, he likes to sail, golf, and play music.  David and his wife Rebecca have been married for 8 years and have a beautiful 2-year-old daughter named Claire.

Jordan Harrison, Eric Beste and Jonathan Cole were his sponsors.

Social Services – SBCS

Kathie Lembo is the President and CEO of SBCS, a social service organization that strengthens communities by supporting the well-being and prosperity of San Diego children, youth and families through over 50 different programs.  Kathie is responsible for the overall administration of the agency, which includes managing the now $90M annual budget, networking and fundraising with the community, advocating for youth and family issues at the City, County, State and Federal levels, and building County-wide collaborations.  SBCS is the agency that is overseeing the immigrant children’s shelter currently at the Convention Center. Kathie has served as their President/CEO since 1982 and has grown the agency into one of the largest social service and community development agencies in the County, touching the lives of 50,000 people each year.

Born in New York to an Italian family, Kathie had 2 brothers and 14 male cousins. She said she always had a ride home from a high school dance…even if she didn’t want one!

She received her undergraduate degree from Stony Brook University and her graduate degree from St. John’s University.  She came to San Diego in 1980 and has been here ever since.

Kathie lives in the Sunset Cliffs neighborhood with her husband and son who are avid surfers.  She enjoys the beach, dinner with friends, tequila tasting, bike riding and just having fun!

Phil Blair, Mel Katz and Cindy Marten were her sponsors.

Information Technology – National Defense

Mark West is the San Diego Waterfront Director for CACI International, a defense contractor specializing in information solutions and services in support of national security and littoral combat ships.

Marks bio David Letterman style:

10.  He and his wife, Megan, have been together for over 20 years
9.  He is an avid traveler and has been on every continent in the world.  He cannot wait to travel again!
8.  He is a life-long public servant, having served in the Navy for 24 years, served as a board members of the SD County Airport Authority, an Imperial Beach Councilmember, and is a founding board member of the San Diego Community Power
7.  He is a lover of public murals and founded an art bureau that has done over 30 large scale murals throughout San Diego
6.  He is HUGE Rolling Stones fan
5.  He is a lover of the arts.  Be prepared to hear him singing Broadway musicals (or crying to one)
4.  He is the first person in the Navy to have done a swim call on both variants of a littoral combat ship in the Atlantic and in the Pacific
3.  Albeit cliche…he did meet his wife while he was bartending, during flight school, in Pensacola, Fl.
2.  He is self-proclaimed energy nerd
1.  He is an avid surfer and avid outdoorsman and has hiked over half of the fourteeners in the US.

Stephanie Saathoff, Mel Katz and Betsy Brennan were his sponsors.

Credit Score Management-Marketing & Media

Liz Richards is the Creative Director for ScoreShuttle, a technology built to help consumers manage their creditworthiness.

Before diving into her current role, Liz started her career as a news producer for two morning shows in Evansville, Indiana.  She then moved to L.A.  and worked as Director of Development for High Noon Entertainment, the production company behind shows like Fixer Upper, Cake Boss and Good Bones. No longer a fan of the L.A. traffic, Liz moved to San Diego where she made the transition from television to digital marketing.

Her current community involvement includes volunteering with the San Diego Library Foundation and the Epilepsy Foundation.  In her free time, Liz enjoys Pilates and boxing, and loves to explore the outdoors on a sunny hike or camp adventure with her fiancé, Jeff.  The pair have their first child on the way and just bought their first home in University Heights.

Wendy Urushima-Conn, Ginny Ollis and David Oates were her sponsors.

Museum-Automotive

Leonard “Lenny” Leszczynski is the CEO of the San Diego Automotive Museum.

Lenny was born and raised in San Diego;  he was born in Poway, grew up in La Jolla, spent his twenties in Point Loma and Pacific Beach, and started his family in East County.  He has worked in the non-profit sector his entire life because he believes that service to others is essential to helping create a better community.  He has worked for the YMCA for 20 years, and was with Promises2Kids for 5 years before joining the Automotive Museum.

He graduated from Cal State Northridge, received his masters from Western Governors University and is currently enrolled in Harvard’s extension school for Museum Studies.

When he is not working, you can find him coaching his daughters’ at softball.  He and his wife, Falon, have four daughters.  You can also find them at the carousel at Balboa Park trying to get the golden ring for another ride!

Lenny also loves to teach youth about football and loves working on committees that get kids to go to camp.  He believes camp is a great alternative learning environment.

A fun fact about Lenny: while living in L.A., he worked at the Staples Center, Dodgers Stadium, Arrowhead Pond and Anaheim Stadium.  He has been to 3 NBA championships, 2 World Series, 1 Stanley Club Series and 1 PGA event.  All that is left is for him to attend is a Super Bowl!

Michael Brunker, Sidd Vivek and David Oates were his sponsors.

Consultant-Non-profit Development, Additional Active

Valerie Attisha owns her own philanthropic consultant business.

She is Chaldean and her first language is Aramaic, which is the language she still speaks to her parents with.  Her family immigrated to the US in the 1970s and first settled in Detroit.  Eventually, they moved and were one of the very first Chaldeans to call San Diego home, which now number in the thousands.

Valerie grew up in the East County, graduated from USD and received her graduate degree from Sacramento State University.  Her original plan was to have a career in government, but the non-profit sector called!  She was in development for over 20 years and just over a year ago, established her own firm.

She says that service is really at the core of her being and it has always been important to her to make a meaningful impact and give back to her community.  She was previously a Rotarian of the El Cajon Rotary Club for 6 years.  She loves to travel, play tennis, cook for family and friends and attend concerts and the theatre.

Wendy Urushima-Conn, Joe Horiye and Trevor Blair were her sponsor.

Investment- Wealth Management, Additional Active

Rick Brooks is a Principal and the Director of Investment Management at Blankinship & Foster, LLC. He oversees their investment analytics and serves as Chairman of the firm’s Investment Committee.

Rick was born in Texas and raised in Maryland. He earned a BA in Political Science from Duke University and a MBA in Finance from San Diego State. He also served in the Navy for 6 years and 9 months.

He is past Chair of the Board of Girl Scouts San Diego (the first male to serve in that capacity), currently serving on their Investment and Board Development committees.  He volunteers on the KPBS Professional Advisor Council and on the San Diego Foundation’s PAC.

Alan Spector, Jan McDonough and Keith McKenzie were his sponsors.

Painting – Residential

Jon Ray is the owner of PaintGreen, a full-service painting company based here in San Diego since 2006.  As an entrepreneur and community organizer, Jon has found that happy balance between the two different worlds.

Jon started a 501c3 that supports local artists.  They hold an annual 4 day and 3 night art and musical festival that is attended by some 3500 people and generates over $500k.  The proceeds of YOUtopia are invested back into the event, as well as a local makerspace he co-founded called CoLab.  CoLab hosts fancy tools that artists and inventors could not afford or house themselves, so they allow art and prototyping to be done for free or at minimal cost.

Duke Sobek, Dick Eger and Rick Chatham were his sponsors.

Analytics-Business

Justin Rajah is the Demand Generation Manager at Wrike, a work management platform.

He was born and raised in Santa Clara County, CA by a single mom, who taught him to love all things Disney and country music.  A first generation college grad, Justin received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2017 from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  He has called San Diego his home since last summer.

Justin’s connection to Rotary began in 2010 with the Sunnyvale Sunrise Club. They had selected him to attend a RYLA summer camp with the intention to start a service club when he returned to high school in the fall.  He says RYLA changed his life forever.  Now, after being involved with RYLA for the last 10 years, he says it is still the strongest influence in his life.  He continues to be a mentor to campers and younger staff.

A fun fact about Justin: he is a marketer by day, but a karaoke singer by night.

“I promise to bring my passion for service and youth leadership to all Rotary activities.  And I promise to show up for this club and for what this club stands for.”

Jordan Maharaj, Jordan Harrison and Chuck Pretto were his sponsors.