Two New Faces in the Development Office
Kristin Berger and Joseph W. Valentine have been appointed as new directors in the Development Office.
Kristin Berger recently joined the Development Office to contribute to and build upon the successes of Sonoma State University’s varied development efforts currently underway. As a resident of Sonoma County for the past seven years, Berger has served three local centerpiece community based organizations in Santa Rosa: the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, and the Arts Council of Sonoma County. She feels she has been fortunate to form strong relationships with local community leaders who are generously inspiring arts education, volunteerism, and community engagement through their contributions and efforts. Berger is looking forward "to getting to know the Sonoma State University’s community, and working together to fulfill the aspiring goals set by its leadership."
Berger brings 18 years of experience in development and public relations service in higher education, the American Association of Museums, and community- based organizations. She currently resides in Santa Rosa with her husband Tom, Galina, their seven-year-old daughter, and Mischa, their two-year-old son.
Joseph W. Valentine has served his entire career in non-profit organizations
in the health, human services, and higher education fields. For more than
30 years, he was the chief professional officer of a number of
organizations, including having served for 12 years as the President
and Executive Director of the United Way of the Bay Area in San
Francisco. During his career, Valentine provided the
professional leadership to raise over $600 million in the private
sector for local and national non-profit human service and
educational organizations. He is known as a "turn-around" manager, an
innovative program developer, and as a builder of community
leadership in mainstream and minority-based community organizations.
One of his special interests has been the development of leadership and management training programs for professionals in the nonprofit and education sectors. He recently served as the Executive Director of The Morris Stulsaft Foundation in San Francisco. He is very active on the boards of a number of community-based agencies. He currently serves as the Chair of the Board of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services.
He is immediate past-Chair of the Public Policy Council of the California Association of Nonprofits, and of the Advisory Board of The Institute of Nonprofit Organization Management at the University of San Francisco. He has also served as Special Assistant to the President of his undergraduate school, Springfield College, and as the Director of Development at Boston College, where he received his master’s degree in social work. Both schools are in Massachusetts.
His wife, Eunice, is the new executive director of the Sonoma Volunteer Center and they recently moved to Santa Rosa.