Veriditas Board of Directors 2008
Board Chair
Gary Petersen
Pacific Grove, California
Gary Petersen is currently
chair of the Veriditas Board and the Airport Manager for the City of Salinas California Municipal Airport along with being
the Principal of Petersen and Associates a consulting practice that uses collaborative whole system processes to resolve
complex issues with communities, organizations and individuals. Gary has also served as the Nevada County Airport Manager
and before that served as an Airport Manager for the County of San Mateo for thirteen years.
In 1994 Gary began a parallel career as an Organizational Development Consultant working with communities, agencies and organizations to increase effectiveness and performance. In this capacity Gary is a graduate of the Association for Quality and Participation School for Leading and Managing Change and has been involved in the facilitation of interpersonal skills development for students in the Stanford University MBA program.
Gary has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Southwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives, was a Board Member and Past President of the San Carlos California Chamber of Commerce, a volunteer with San Mateo County California Special Olympics for twenty three years, and served on the Board of Directors of the Peninsula Association for Retarded Children and Adults and Friends for Youth, a youth mentoring program. Gary is a founding member of the Housing Forum of San Mateo County and considers himself a community activist on issues related to planning, housing and homelessness particularly in relation to special needs populations. In his spare time he has restored a 130 year old Victorian house in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and currently resides in Pacific Grove California. Gary first walked the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1993 and has been walking them ever since.
Board Secretary
Jane Cayley
Toronto, Ontario, Canada jcayley@sympatico.ca
Jane Cayley
is a Director of Jane Cayley & Associates Ltd. and practices in association with Hugh Arnold Associates Ltd. in Toronto, Canada. Prior to founding her own firm in 1998, Jane was a partner with a midsized Canadian consulting practice focusing on leadership, organizational strategy and development. Dr. Cayley has practiced as an industrial psychologist and management consultant for over 25 years.
Jane came to Veriditas by way of Chartres France, where she has attended the weeklong Veriditas programs over the past few years. Her most recent visit was attending the May 2007 week with Marion Woodman. Jane also participates in the Woodman Foundation Body Soul programs, along with other members of the Veriditas community.
Jane is pleased to provide her organizational development expertise to Veriditas and is especially interested in ensuring the organization is fiscally well managed; is able to develop and execute a sound strategy and that Veriditas plans well for our future through effective fundraising and succession management.
Jane balances her professional and volunteer work with active leisure pursuits. She is a former Masters swimmer and triathlete, now focusing on overall wellness rather than competitiveness! Her two children have graduated from Canadian universities. She and her partner Hugh plan to move to the west coast of Canada the summer of 2008.
Christina Margason
San Jose, California
Tina Margason retired from teaching after 33 years of challenging and joyful work with children.
Now she has time to participate on the Board of Veriditas since joining in the Fall of 2005.
Tina first walked a labyrinth at a women's retreat in 1996 and has been actively involved with them ever since.
She is the coordinator for the labyrinth of Trinity Cathedral, San Jose, for which she has presented meditations and labyrinth walks for many groups in her area: Women's Day for the Diocese of El Camino Real, workshops and walks for several parishes in her diocese, a two-day labyrinth walk for University of Santa Clara during their spiritual renewal week for students and staff, and labyrinth walks for San Jose State University where over 600 students walk at the beginning of each semester. In addition to working with the Catholic Diocese of San Jose at parishes and at the yearly Young Adult Retreat at Lake Tahoe in the summer, Tina also helps the Grace Cathedral Labyrinth Guild with the Friday Peace Walks when she is not teaching. After completing her facilitation training in 1998, Tina attended Let Us Walk With Mary at Chartres in 2002, and facilitated there the last two years. Tina and her husband, Jim, enjoy volunteering for Veriditas and are supported in this by their three grown children. When she cannot get to a labyrinth, Tina nurture her soul with walks, centering prayer and sitting in a hammock with a dog in her lap.
Phyllis Mayo
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
phyllis.mayo@cox.net
Phyllis Mayo is a 6th generation Louisianan who went to kindergarten in Morocco, junior high in Japan, and graduated from high school in Honolulu, Hawaii. She holds a bachelor's degree from LSU and will soon receive her masters in urban studies from the University of New Orleans. Phyllis has a broad career background that includes the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She was the first woman elected to the Alexandria, Louisiana City Council and was one of ten mayors and council members nationwide selected by the National League of Cities to facilitate conflict resolution within public bodies. Phyllis has developed new telecom and Internet businesses, directed a contemporary arts center, produced award winning media campaigns and spearheaded numerous special projects in state government. From 2004 to 2008, she served as a senior policy advisor to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and now consults with private companies, public agencies and non-profit organizations in business and organization development, strategic planning, project management and implementation. Catherine Pyke
Catherine Pyke has worked as a program officer for the William Randolph Hearst Foundations, a nation foundation with headquarters in New York and a western office in San Francisco, since 1986. She assists the Foundations in making grants to non-profit organizations that serve needs in education, health, social services and the arts. She is on the road frequently, visiting organizations located west of the Mississippi River. She enjoys researching and writing about women philanthropists. Catherine is active in the Scripps College Alumnae Association. She also sits on the audit committee of the Junior League of San Francisco and the advisory committee of the Mental Health Association of San Francisco.
Catherine holds a BA from Scripps College in Claremont, California and a Masters degree in Education from Stanford University. A native of Salt Lake City, she lives in Larkspur, California.
Larkspur, California
Cynthia J. Ries
Cleveland, Ohio
Cynthia Ries lives in Cleveland, Ohio and works as the Director of Development at Beaumont School, a college-prep high school for girls sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland. She has over thirty years of experience working in the nonprofit sector, including grant making, advocacy, development and marketing. Twenty-five of these years were spent in New York City, where she held various positions at the New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Metropolitan Opera, American Composers Orchestra, Theatre Development Fund, and the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Her passion for women's issues and social justice led her to also work at The New York Women's Foundation.
A frequent speaker and consultant, she has served on several boards, including The Artists' Community Federal Credit Union and Women's Advocate Ministry and she continues to serve on the advisory council for the Images of Divinity Project. She currently is an adjunct professor teaching arts administration at New York University and Milano: The New School for Management and Urban Professions.
She is a member of Marble Collegiate Church, her first introduction to the labyrinth was in Ohio at Ursuline.
Cynthia holds a BA from Lake Erie College and an MPA from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service.
