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Santa Cruz Shakespeare Board

Chris Frost

President

Chris Frost (or just Frost, there are already enough Chrises in the world) is the CTO of Cruzio Internet. He is an Infrastructure geek, a theatre lover and a hobby woodworker. He enjoys spending time working at the Grove maintaining and improving the space, which gives him ample justification for his addiction to power tools. In addition to his work with SCS, in 2020 Frost launched Equal Access Santa Cruz, an initiative to bring improved broadband to low income families throughout Santa Cruz county. Frost is married and lives in Live Oak where he can see the theatre space from his house if you climb on the roof and squint a bit.

Mary Anne Carson

Vice President

A native Californian and advocate for the arts, Mary Anne first discovered the wonders of live Shakespeare performances while attending UCSC. She served on the board of directors for Shakespeare Santa Cruz from 2003-2008 and joined the Santa Cruz Shakespeare board in 2018. Mary Anne serves as Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Santa Cruz County Bank. Throughout her 33-year banking career, she has been recognized for her leadership, community involvement and industry acumen by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a Woman of Influence, by American Banker Magazine as one of the Top Women in Banking Teams in the country, by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce as Woman of the Year and by the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce as Volunteer of the Year. She is a graduate of Leadership Santa Cruz County and Focus Agriculture.

Jean Shimoguchi

Secretary

Jean Shimoguchi joined the Board of Directors for Shakespeare Santa Cruz in 2006 and in 2013 helped work through its transition to become an independent organization -- Santa Cruz Shakespeare. After a brief hiatus, she rejoined the Santa Cruz Shakespeare Board in 2016 and is currently its Secretary. After decades of working in marketing and communications in the high-tech industry, Jean retired in November 2019 and is focusing her time on volunteering with Santa Cruz Shakespeare and the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mark Dammann

Treasurer

Mark is a lifelong aficionado of live theatre. His love of Santa Cruz Shakespeare started in December 1998, at his family’s first holiday “panto.” The show opened with giant bunnies marauding toward his family (front row center), causing his young son to burst out crying. A hasty retreat to the back row enabled all to enjoy the show.

In 2016, Mark joined the Board during SCS’s transition to DeLaveaga Park. He served as Treasurer and Personnel Committee Chair. After a brief hiatus, he was delighted to return to the Board in 2024. Mark holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of San Francisco. He recently retired from his career directing services for people with disabilities and low-income families. Mark served on four non-profit boards, including Imagine Supported Living Services. His happy place is the Grove on a starry night surrounded by friends.

Rick Wright

Immediate Past President

Rick joined the SCS board in 2014, serving as president for 8 years. In addition to shepherding the growth of the organization, Rick has played a key role in the design and development of the Grove. Involved from the beginning, Rick planned the theater’s overall layout and designed the stage, tech-booth, bench seating, and most recently the soon-to-be-built multi-purpose actors' center and theater offices. With a continuing eye on the growth and sustainability of the organization and the Grove, Rick continues to work towards improvements, which may include a better sunshade, permanent restrooms, and who knows what else.

When not working on something SCS-related, Rick is an IT exec, having worked as the VP of Ops for a tech consulting firm, and has led teams at Apple, Salesforce, Sony, and many other companies over the past 30+ years.

Bill Richter

Founding Board President

Bill has been on the Festival’s Board since 2005 and is the founding Board President of SCS. By day, he is a corporate and transactional lawyer, and the sole proprietor of Richter Law Offices, a Santa Cruz practice formed in 2002 dedicated to the representation of entrepreneurs, investors and inventors and the companies they form. Bill practiced corporate law for five years at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Shearman & Sterling. He serves in leadership positions on the boards of Mahler Foundation, and the American Farm School & Perrotis College (Greece), and is an honorary lifetime trustee at Kirby School. A NY native, Bill is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale College and earned a Masters Degree in Russian Studies from Harvard University and his JD from New York University School of Law.

Lee Duffus

Education

A native Californian, Lee Duffus has been a member of the Santa Cruz community since 1968 when he joined the cadre of pioneering staff and faculty at UC Santa Cruz. He served in a variety of administrative roles, retiring in 1992 as assistant vice chancellor. For the next ten years he owned and managed an independent bookstore in Aptos.

Lee has served as a leadership volunteer with many organizations, including: United Way, the American Red Cross (chapter chair during the Loma Prieta Earthquake response and recovery; state, regional, and national assignments), UCSC Retirees Association and the systemwide Council of UC Retirement Associations, the Santa Cruz Symphony, Trinity Presbyterian Church, and the Cabrillo College Foundation. He also served two terms on the Santa Cruz City Arts Commission. Duffus joined the SCS board in 2019 and chairs the education committee.

Lee resides with his wife Emily in Santa Cruz.

Anna Hackenbracht

Anna and her husband David returned to California in 1988 to “take up residence” at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Academically, Anna completed her undergraduate education at Pomona College and then her doctorate in Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Settling into Santa Cruz, Anna commuted to her job as Director of Strategic Planning at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. Anna and her family loved attending productions of Santa Cruz Shakespeare with their dear friend Audrey Stanley and when she retired she found time to join the Development Committee and later the Board. Her passion is reaching out to groups within the Santa Cruz community who do not have the opportunity to attend theatre and partnering with other artistic organizations to enrich our cultural life.

Kent Imai

Kent is a retired physician, a married father of 3, grandfather of 6, and our entire family loves Santa Cruz Shakespeare! He's been delighted to be a Board member for 7 years, and is excited to be helping to support SCS as it moves through an innovative period of transition with expanded year-round programming, robust educational outreach, and new artistic leadership and management. He believes that experiencing world class Shakespearean theatrical performance has the power to transform our lives individually and in relationship with our fellow audience members and the acting company. Kent says our community needs and deserves Santa Cruz Shakespeare!

Meg Lilienthal

Meg's 44+ years of academic career history began by working at the UC Santa Barbara Library (where she earned her BA degree). Thereafter, she worked at the University of Montana Library, the Biology Department at Cabrillo College and later employed at UC Santa Cruz as manager of the Education Department and ending her career as manager of the History Department.

She has extended experience volunteering for local organizations and currently serves on the SCS Volunteer/Events Committee and the Education Committee.

Meg is delighted to be involved with this dynamic company and be a member of the Santa Cruz Shakespeare Board.

Aaron Lipton

An attorney working in Santa Cruz County, Aaron's involvement with Shakespeare dates back to attending the festival at UCSC when he attended Aptos High School, and having a summer job working in the Glen at the end of summer.

Aaron attended UC Davis for both his undergraduate degree (Religious Studies) and law degree; he returned to Santa Cruz, departing the world of criminal defense in 2011. He now specializes in consumer bankruptcy practice, working to give a fresh start to members of our community, as well as estate planning. He currently resides in Scotts Valley with his wife, Sue Jung Lee.

Kevin Lohman

Kevin Lohman has been a member of the Santa Cruz Shakespeare board since 2018. He has a diverse background which brings many insights to his work serving on the SCS board, and he loves supporting the arts. SCS means a lot to many in the Santa Cruz community, and Kevin wants to see SCS grow, which it can only do with the help of volunteers who have a passion for the arts.

Kevin grew up in New York (don’t hold that against him) before moving to the west coast (and “mostly” losing his New York accent). He studied marine science through graduate school and loves being near the ocean, had a successful career in technology (most of his gadgets are made by Apple), spent many years playing with improv acting, and has been “developing" (pun intended) his photographic skills for more than 40 years, including becoming an award-winning wildlife photographer. He also practices puns and dad jokes on his understanding wife, family, and friends.

Liz Sandoval

Liz has seen the value of community theater since introducing Shakespeare to her children and grandchildren. She's since brought family and friends to Santa Cruz’s Shakespeare festival and is delighted to know many have developed a life-long love of Shakespeare and the theater.

She attended UCSC in the 1970s with an emphasis in literature and worked at UCSC for 25 years in positions including admissions publications and humanities development director. She has a long history with the festival, currently serving as board treasurer and co-chair of the volunteer committee, and was board president during Paul Whitworth's tenure as Artistic Director.

She has been an active volunteer in both Santa Cruz and Portland, Oregon, working to support the arts and theater community and other nonprofit organizations, including White Bird Dance, Oregon Food Bank, Community Action Board, and Second Harvest. Liz is excited and proud to support SCS as it expands its festival season and adds a long-awaited holiday show.

Dorothy Wise

Dorothy is a seasoned software development executive having worked at such companies as Borland, Novell, Agile Software, and most recently is COO of Mesh Communities. She is a strong supporter of the Arts and education in Santa Cruz County. Most notably she has been associated with the Santa Cruz Symphony since 1991 as a board member, board president and executive director, and has also been a board member for the Association of California Symphony Orchestras, Kirby School and Cabrillo College Foundation. She has owned the Glenwood Equestrian Center for 23 years and enjoys competing in Dressage on her horse Sarah.

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