Board of Trustees

Renée Schor is a Library Foundation Trustee, serving as the Board Secretary and as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee. She is a partner with the law firm Partner, Schor Vogelzang & Chung LLP. Renée has been practicing law since 1990, helping employers around the world meet their vision for an ideal work community. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1990 and her B.A. from Northwestern University in 1987. She is admitted to practice law in California. She is a member of the State Bar of California and the San Diego County Bar Association. She is also a member of the San Diego Lawyers Club.

Ruth Bush is a Professor of Health Science at the University of San Diego. Her career has spanned the pharmaceutical industry, the Department of Defense, and academia as a federally funded researcher committed to increasing health literacy and improving patient engagement. Ruth has been an active library supporter since receiving her first library card in kindergarten. Ruth received her PhD from the University of California, San Diego, and her AB from Princeton University.

Arnulfo Manriquez is the President and CEO of MAAC, a community organization providing services, leadership development and advocacy throughout San Diego. Arnulfo has worked in the nonprofit field since 1993 and has served on boards of several organizations since 1994, presently with Unidos US, San Diego Housing Federation and Library Foundation SD. Arnulfo is an alumnus of UC San Diego, earning a BA in Urban Studies and Planning, and he earned an MA in Leadership and Nonprofit Management from the University of San Diego. 

MAAC, with just under 500 employees, has expanded its work in Early Childhood Education, Education, Health, Economic Development, Housing and Leadership & Advocacy and currently has projects under construction with a growing pipeline of housing developments. Arnulfo became CEO in 2012, and since then, MAAC has grown from $32 million in program operations to over $65 million in this current year. In 2023, MAAC raised its minimum wage, currently at $19.10, and most recently, increased salaries for preschool teachers and center support staff by up to 35%, on average of 24%. Now, a preschool teacher with a BA degree will start at an average of $65,000/yr. MAAC has great positive impacts throughout San Diego County and helps over 100K individuals on an annual basis. 

He was born in Mexicali, BC, Mexico, immigrated to the US in 1981, and has lived on both sides of the San Diego/​Tijuana border ever since. Arnulfo is the youngest of five, with four older sisters, and is a single father to two daughters and one younger son, currently a Senior in High School.

As Audit Shareholder with LevitZacks, Bryan works primarily with government contracting/​DOD, manufacturing, including the craft beer industry, and employee benefit plans. He identifies opportunities to improve internal controls and accounting processes. Bryan also identifies clients’ specific needs and helps them make connections with people who can address those needs.

Bryan graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of San Diego, receiving a Bachelor of Accountancy with an emphasis in Real Estate and a Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and Information Technology.
In addition, Bryan obtained a Professional Certificate in the Business of Craft Beer from San Diego State University. Since 2016, he has served as Treasurer of the San Diego Brewers Guild. Bryan participates in the CalCPA’s mentorship programs, which provide guidance and advice to college students and young professionals. Through Junior Achievement, he also teaches financial literacy to second graders in economically disadvantaged areas.

Bryan enjoys trekking on glaciers, climbing volcanos, and discovering waterfalls and hot springs around the world, as well as visiting his hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to hike and kayak with his parents. He joined LevitZacks in 2008.

After a long and rewarding career in legal education, Nancy Carol Carter retired as a Professor of Law and Director of the Legal Research Center at the University of San Diego. Before attending law school, she was a university librarian. She created the first website chronicling the history of Native American tribal groups in San Diego County and the first guides to creating tribal legal histories and researching American Indian Law. She holds a BS, MS, MLS, and JD and is admitted to practice by the State Bar of Oklahoma and the Northern District of California. In retirement, her research and published work focus on the history of horticulture, gardens, and landscapes, with a concentration on Kate O. Sessions and Balboa Park. She is the associate editor of California Garden magazine. She has made invited presentations on legal and historical topics to scores of community groups and offers continuing education classes as a member of the SDSU Osher program faculty. 

She serves on the boards of the California Garden and Landscape History Society, the San Diego Floral Association, and the Balboa Park Committee of 100, and sits on two committees of Forever Balboa Park. Carter is a past president and continuing supporter of the Mission Hills-Hillcrest Friends of the Library and is a member of the Library Foundation Governance Committee and the Foundation’s Carnegie Society.

Janice Charley has spent a parallel career doing volunteer work, serving the communities in which she has lived. Since childhood, she has regularly visited her local libraries for continuing education and personal enjoyment. Bringing together volunteer work for the San Diego Public Libraries is a perfect combination for her. Janice served on the Audit Committee before joining the Board as Audit Chair. Her other volunteer work includes being on the Audit Committee of SDCERA and chair of the Governance Committee and Board Member of Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation. Janice has a 30 year in corporate finance in executive roles for both private and public companies, is a CPA and has an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Katherine Johnston is a seasoned nonprofit and public affairs professional with extensive experience in public policy development, strategic communications, and community outreach. Currently, Katherine serves as a Strategic Advisor to District 6 Councilmember Kent Lee. Previously, Katherine has served in various public affairs and nonprofit roles. Most recently, Katherine served as the Executive Director of the San Diego Parks Foundation. In this role, Katherine was able to accomplish several important initiatives. The organization’s accomplishments include: planting more than 200 trees, advocating for the passage of the first Parks Master Plan since the 1950s, launching of a youth recreational corps program that provides job and leadership training to low-income youth, installing free public Wi-Fi in more than 50 individual park locations, supporting free swim lessons, and implementing Come Play Outside, a youth recreational initiative that provided summer enrichment programs for more than 16,000 youth.

From 2018 – 2021, Katherine was a consultant to the San Diego Library Foundation. She supported creating the LibriariesTransformSD advocacy campaign that restored more than $7 million in budget cuts to the City of San Diego Library Department. At the Comic-Con Museum, Katherine helped the organization secure $3 million in public grants to revitalize its historic location in Balboa Park. At The San Diego Foundation, Katherine played a leading role in developing and launching the Early Childhood Initiative. Additionally, Katherine has worked with the Downtown San Diego Partnership to activate public spaces downtown and represent them in lease negotiations with the City of San Diego Department of Economic Development.

Before her work as a consultant, Katherine served as a senior policy and communications advisor to the Mayor of San Diego. In this role, she managed the development and legislative approvals of the City’s annual $3.3 billion budget, oversaw the administration’s economic development and workforce development initiatives, and spearheaded major capital and environmental projects. Katherine volunteered as the Chair of the City of San Diego’s Parks and Recreation Committee and Balboa Park Committee from 2016 — 2023.

Elizabeth A. Hansen is the President of Southwest Strategies LLC, a senior strategist and project manager with 20 years of experience in strategic planning and the implementation of community, government and media outreach programs. At Southwest Strategies, Hansen assists a wide variety of private and public clients through the entitlement process, overseeing outreach programs related to land use, transportation and infrastructure projects for clients such as Pardee Homes, Starbucks, SANDAG, Caltrans, Poseidon Water and the City of Carlsbad. A veteran event planner, Hansen has coordinated some of the firm’s largest special events, including grand openings, community celebrations and ribbon-cuttings. Hansen is a graduate of Arizona State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. In 2018, she was appointed by Mayor Kevin Faulconer to the City of San Diego’s Board of Library Commissioners, named one of San Diego’s Most Influential Women by The Daily Transcript and received the Deborah Baker Public Relations Professional of the Year Award from the San Diego/​Imperial Counties Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Prior to joining Southwest Strategies in 2000, Hansen was a staff writer for Arizona’s leading sports magazine and a photojournalist for San Diego Magazine. Elizabeth is a member of the Library Foundation’s Advocacy & Public Policy Committee.

Gregory Markow grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He has lived in Boston, Washington DC, and Chicago. Gregory moved to San Diego at the end of 2000 and is pretty sure this is the terminus of his moves.

Gregory has been a lawyer for 32 years. Since moving to San Diego, he has been a litigator working for clients in the real estate industry. Before becoming a lawyer, he was an advertising account executive selling dog bones and cereal.

Gregory served on the Board of Second Chance San Diego for ten years and chaired their board. He served on the executive committee of the real property section of the State Bar of California and chaired the section. He served on the board of Congregation Beth Israel for eight years, was treasurer, and served on the Executive Committee. He has been on the board of Art for Elan for nine years and chaired the board.

He has been married to Julianne Markow for 35 years and has two adult sons.

In addition to reading, Gregory keeps bees, takes lots of mediocre photographs, hikes, searches for tacos, and is a devotee of dive bars.

Melissa Peterman is a native San Diegan. She holds a Bachelor’s in political science from San Diego State University and a Master’s in political theory from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For over 10 years, Ms. Peterman has worked in affordable housing and homelessness solutions with Father Joe’s Villages, the San Diego Housing Commission, and Townspeople. As Vice President of Homeless Housing Innovations with the Housing Commission, she led teams responsible for managing multimillion-dollar projects, including the citywide strategic initiatives, Housing Our Heroes and Housing First – San Diego, to permanently house 4,000 individuals experiencing homelessness. Prior to joining Townspeople, Ms. Peterman served as Vice President of the Comic-Con Museum, where she was responsible for leading the project’s strategic operations, which resulted in more than $7.5 million in funding commitments, nearly 14,000 Charter Members, as well as programming and exhibits experienced by thousands of visitors.

As Executive Director for Townspeople, a San Diego-based affordable housing and homelessness solutions nonprofit, Ms. Peterman provides executive leadership for housing solutions designed to help realize the organization’s vision of a fully housed San Diego. In alignment with Housing First, examples of these solutions include affordable housing, supportive housing, non-congregate emergency housing, and the San Diego Shared Housing Collaborative. 

Samadi (Sam) Yoeuth is a Library Foundation Trustee and a Marketing & Communications Committee member. She also serves as the President of the Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Friends of the Library and manages their official Instagram page. She has worked in the Aerospace industry for over 15 years as a Materials and Processes Engineer and has had a lifelong passion for her role as an avid reader since childhood. Besides reading, her hobbies include sending New Yorker comic clippings via snail mail to friends, buying books for strangers at restaurants, and watching her husband cook.

Misty is the Director for the San Diego Public Library overseeing the Central Library and 35 branches. Previously, she was Deputy Director for the Central Division which included overseeing the move, opening and operations of the Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common. A graduate of the Masters of Library and Information Science program from University of South Carolina, Misty started her library career at the Greenville County Library in South Carolina. She then worked for nine years at the Charleston County Library before coming to the San Diego Public Library. Misty believes libraries are the great equalizer, always inclusive and never exclusive. She thrives on change and believes that the strength of libraries is in their ability to redefine themselves to fit public need. It is because of this that she committed herself to library advocacy. While at Charleston County Library she founded and chaired Libraries Out Loud, a grassroots advocacy program to help restore funding to the library system by promoting libraries to the public as well as legislators and other elected officials throughout the state. Misty is Past President of the California Library Association.