Our Board

The Board of the Friends of the Palo Alto Recreation and Wellness Center represents a cross-section of our community and has a passion for supporting the PARWC and its mission. Board Members work hard to promote the long-term sustainability of the organization and its vision for the future.

Anne Cribbs, President 

Anne Warner Cribbs has been a resident since 1964 and loves Palo Alto! A member of the 1960 USA Olympic swimming team, she retired at the age of 15, before Title IX, as there were no opportunities to swim in college. An Olympian, she remains committed to the value of sports, fitness and wellness for all ages. Anne is in her third term as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner. Currently President and CEO of BASOC, Chair of the California Senior Games Association and Director of Rich May Foundation, SJ Earthquakes Community Foundation, San Jose Sport Authority, and President of Anne Cribbs and Company, a public relations and events firm.

Roger Smith, Director 

Roger Smith moved to Palo Alto in 1964. He came from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he earned a business degree, and later an MBA from Santa Clara University.  Roger spent his career in the banking industry. He was founding President and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank in 1984. Twenty years ago he founded two local nonprofits. Mothers Against Murder, which assists families that have had a loved one killed, and Friends of the Palo Alto Parks that partners with the city to enhance and improve Palo Alto’s parks and open spaces, including the Magical Bridge at Mitchell Park. A longtime season ticket holder of the 49ers, the Warriors, and the Stanford teams, he enjoys the beach and spending time with his 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

Judy Kleinberg, Director  

Judy is a business attorney and senior executive, and former mayor of Palo Alto. Prior to her current focus on legal consulting with small and startup businesses, corporate boards and nonprofit organizations, she served for nearly seven years as President and CEO of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, following over four years as Program Director for Silicon Valley for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, where she was responsible for over $31M in grants and program-related investments to a widely diverse group of nonprofit organizations and entrepreneurs, from arts and social services groups to new media enterprises and internet start-ups.

  • Prior to her work with Knight, she was the first employee of Google-created InSTEDD, an international nonprofit focused on public health and technology, where she created the organization's business infrastructure, strategic planning and financial systems. As the COO, CFO and General Counsel, she built the legal, financial and human resources structure, both domestic and international, by which InSTEDD became a dispersed workforce with multiple work sites and a major presence in SE Asia. She had previously been the Executive Director of TechAmerica, Vice President of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, the first full-time executive at the Global Fund for Women and the first full-time executive director of Kids in Common. She has also worked as a legal affairs television reporter for commercial TV in the Bay Area and was a law professor for over a decade at Mills College. She is a native of Rhode Island and received her BA from the University of Michigan Honors College and a JD from Berkeley Law where she was a member of the Law Review.

Tim Stitt, Director   

Tim has 30 years of experience in managing construction projects with 24 of those years having been in Palo Alto with Vance Brown Builders.  He recently served for over 10 years on the Board of The Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. He oversaw the recent renovation and expansion of Avenidas and the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo project.  He currently is serving on the Board of the Palo Alto Police Foundation. Tim and his wife, Mollie, have lived in Palo Alto since 2001, where they have raised three daughters.

Bern Beecham, Director    

Bern Beecham served on the Palo Alto City Council for eight years including a term as Mayor and has been a continuous advocate for increasing the city’s investment in its capital infrastructure. Bern has served on the boards of several Palo Alto nonprofit organizations, participating in their successful major capital programs.  These include the Junior Museum and Zoo, the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation, the Palo Alto Library Foundation, Avenidas, and the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. Bern is married to Cheryl Lathrop and earned an MBA at Stanford University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri. 

Steve Emslie, Secretary/Vice President   

Steve has three decades of experience in land use planning and urban development in Peninsula, South and East Bay cities. He served most recently as the City of Palo Alto’s Director of Community Environment and Deputy City Manager, until his retirement in 2013. Since then, he has operated the Palo Alto office of Lighthouse Public Affairs. He remains active in the community through volunteering with several service and non- profit organizations. Steve and his wife have lived in Palo Alto since 1988, where they raised their son Alex.

Tom Dubois, Director   

Tom DuBois served 2 terms on the Palo Alto city council and was Mayor in 2021. His kids attended Palo Alto schools and were active in music and sports. Tom coached both boys and girls basketball for a dozen years, and he still plays himself a couple of times a week. He is active with several community non-profit organizations.    

Tom has over 20 years experience leading teams developing innovative consumer products. He worked closely with the NFL to capture and broadcast live sports in 3D and on several virtual reality products at Google. 

Jeff LaMere, Director  

Jeff LaMere has lived with his family in Palo Alto since 2016 and has spent much of his professional life coaching college sports, including eight years as assistant athletic director/director of basketball operations at Stanford University and six years at Duke University. LaMere is now the head Boys basketball coach at Palo Alto High School and serves as a commissioner with the Parks and Recreation Commission of Palo Alto.

Marc Guillet, Director  

Marc Guillet and his family have lived in Palo Alto since 2004. As a licensed physical therapist, he founded Agile Physical Therapy which he started after directing rehabilitation for Stanford Athletics. He serves as an advisor on several health tech startups and loves creating equitable, high value health opportunities for the local community.

Nellis Freeman, Director 

Nellis Freeman is in his first term on the Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commission. He and his family have been longtime residents of Palo Alto since 1994.  Their children both attended Palo Alto schools and were active in school government and athletics. 

Nellis is currently a project manager at a local law firm. He has over forty years of information technology management experience, both as an in-house employee and as a consultant to major companies spanning an array of industries: from legal to automotive, healthcare, and energy.

Yudy Deng, Director   

Yudy Deng and her two children moved to Palo Alto in 2018 from Bellevue WA, where she served as Bellevue's Parks and Community Services Boardmember since 2016. Yudy used to be a fitness franchise owner and an enthusiastic group instructor. She is a runner/dancer/climber and enjoys playing soccer/tennis/golf with her children.

As a proud resident of Palo Alto, Yudy and her friends and family were recognized by the Palo Alto Parks & Rec Board, Friends of Palo Alto Parks, and Palo Alto Weekly through their impressive effort to fundraise and donate $10,000 to Cubberley Community Center Track and Field Project in the summer of 2022. As a dedicated leader in the nonprofit sector, Yudy has been honored to be elected as the current Executive Vice President at Ohlone PTA, current board member at the ZGZG Chinese Cultural Events in Silicon Valley, and past President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's alumni association in Silicon Valley. In these roles, she volunteered and organized many athletic, cultural, social, and professional events to facilitate connections and support among well-diversified communities in the Bay Area. These experiences will help her make a positive impact in her new role as a board member for PARWC, leveraging her extensive background in community engagement and service to enhance the organization's mission.