Board of Directors

Wendy Feng is an attorney at Covington & Burling LLP in San Francisco, representing corporate policyholders in insurance coverage claims. She has lived in Mill Valley for more than two decades, and has been attending plays at the Marin Theatre Company for nearly as long.  Wendy is the past Co-President of the Board of Directors of FACES SF, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that provides early childhood development, workforce training, and family support services to low-income families in the City of San Francisco.  She is a graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School.

Matthew is a Creative and Product Executive with 20+ years of experience building internet startup businesses as a founder, developer, designer, product manager and business leader.  He currently works at Adobe as Sr. Product Director for the Creative Cloud.  He holds an MFA in studio art from JFK University’s Art & Consciousness department, exhibited his paintings professionally and taught UX design at Bay Area Colleges.  He has been involved in the performing arts throughout his life as a writer, director, actor, designer, producer and now board member.  He was the co-founder of the immersive theatre group Odyssey Works and has a BA in theatre from Northwestern University.  He lives in Mill Valley with his wife Liz and their 2 children, for whom he performs a puppet show almost every morning.

Barbara Roberts was the majority owner and served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of Wright Engineered Plastics, a local manufacturing company.  Prior to purchasing Wright she was an investment banker, a Chief Financial Officer of a venture funded startup, and held various audit and tax positions at Deloitte.  She has been an active mentor for engineering and business students at both Cal and Stanford.  

Ms. Roberts served on the Boards of Directors for Motion Analysis Corporation and the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary.  She has been Treasurer and Project Manager for Engineers without Borders, President of the Silicon Valley Engineering Council, President of the Society of Plastic Engineers, Chair of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and a trustee of Golden Gate University.

Ms. Roberts received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from UC Berkeley, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and a Masters in Taxation from Golden Gate University.

John is a partner in the health care client group at the international law firm Ropes & Gray, where he has worked with nonprofits and their boards since 1985. He brings that experience and interest to board service at MTC

Kipp is an educational consultant, specializing in college counseling. She works with high school students in the Bay Area and in Asia. Before becoming certified as a college admissions consultant, Kipp was a lawyer and lived in Hong Kong and Taiwan for seventeen years. Most of that time was spent as Legal Counsel for Dupont China Limited. When Kipp returned to the States in 1997, she obtained a secondary school teaching certificate in English. Shortly thereafter, Kipp joined the founders of 142 Throckmorton Theater, helping to establish the non-profit and serving as it President and on the Board of Directors until 2006. Kipp has also served on the Board of the Mill Valley Library and on various education and arts committees at The Branson School and San Francisco University High School.

Denmo Ibrahim is an artist and entrepreneur working at the intersection of experience design and advocacy. She is the founder & CEO of Earthbody Day Spa in San Francisco and Omcali Sacred Skincare in Petaluma, CA. Her creative work is generously supported by The Doris Duke Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and Theatre Bay Area.

Denmo holds an MFA from Naropa University and a BFA from Boston University. She teaches workshops on devised work, embodied communication and facilitation, somatic meditation, wellness and self-care. She is a founding artistic director of Mugwumpin, a resident artist of Golden Thread, and serves on the steering committee of MENATMA (Middle East North Africa Theater Makers Alliance). She lives in Mill Valley and Brooklyn.

Vera has worked in concert touring, property management and construction management.  She has a business degree from San Francisco State University. Vera currently serves on the advisory board of the Mill Valley Library Foundation and was a board member 5 years, board chair 2 years, founded the fundraiser ~ Beyond The Book Bash ~ and chaired it for 3 years.  She is a founding member of How Women Give / How Women Lead.  Vera was also on the board of the Environmental Forum of Marin as the Director of Membership.  She has volunteered with a number of other organizations, as well as, the schools her 2 children attended growing up in Marin. Vera and her husband, Ken, have been subscribers and supporters of MTC for 24 years. Vera has been on the MTC board since 2018.

Kathryn is a philanthropic leader, serving on the boards of civic, women’s leadership, and environmental non-profits.  She has been a Corporate Officer and Chief Marketing Officer / EVP at Nordstrom, Wrigley, Leapfrog and Shutterfly. She spent a decade at The Quaker Oats Company, including two years as Director of Marketing, Gatorade Europe. 

Kathryn Olson is the Past-Chair, and former Chief Executive Officer, of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to creating leaders by ensuring girls access to sports. The WSF was founded by Billie Jean King and has awarded over $50 million in educational and cash grants. 
 
She has served on the board of the Marin Theatre Company since 2018. She recently completed a term as President, Environmental Forum of Marin. She previously served on the boards of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), Chicago Communities in Schools (CCIS), and the Women’s Board Executive Council of the Joffrey Ballet. 

Ms. Olson has been named a “Game Changer” by the Sports Business Journal and one of the “Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times.
 
Ms. Olson graduated from the University of Illinois College of Commerce and earned her MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Josh Rafner is an investment banker and venture investor with more than 30 years of experience advising and financing high-growth technology companies in the U.S. and Europe. He is the founder and CEO of Ridgecrest Capital Partners, a boutique advisory firm providing merger and acquisition and fundraising advisory services for technology and other growth companies globally.  Prior to founding Ridgecrest, Mr. Rafner was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns with primary responsibility for that firm’s global mobile internet and wireless software banking effort. Josh also spent nine years at Hambrecht & Quist, where he was head of International Investment Banking. While at H & Q, Mr. Rafner opened that firm’s London office, founded a Paris-based investment bank known as Hambrecht & Quist Euromarkets and served as its CEO, and co-founded the firm’s Tel Aviv strategic alliance, Tamir Fishman. Mr. Rafner has advised on innumerable public and private M&A transactions and has managed dozens of IPOs and follow-on financings for technology companies, including offerings on the European markets. Mr. Rafner has been an investor in technology companies and venture funds, and has been a director or advisory board member of many companies. Mr. Rafner is also an attorney, and practiced for 7 years with the international firm of O’Melveny & Myers, where his work included mergers and acquisitions, securities law and restructurings. Mr. Rafner served as a law clerk to Chief U.S. District Judge Frank A. Kaufman in Baltimore, Maryland.

Mr. Rafner graduated from Princeton University, where he was awarded the Pyne Prize, Princeton’s highest undergraduate distinction, and earned his degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is also a graduate of Stanford Law School, where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review. In addition, Mr. Rafner pursued graduate studies at Stockholm University, Sweden as a Fulbright Scholar, and at Oxford University, England.

Among Mr. Rafner’s community and non-profit activities, he currently serves as a Trustee of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a Trustee of the Marin Symphony, and a board member of the Marin Cultural Association.  He is also the Founder and President of the Ralston White Retreat Foundation in Mill Valley, California, and is a co-founder and past board member of the Kentfield-Greenbrae Historical Society.   He is a past President of the Kent Woodlands Property Owners Association.  Mr. Rafner is also the current president of the Marin Rowing Association. 

Stacy Scott is the owner of Stacy Scott Catering. 

Tara has experience in government, politics, and has been involved with philanthropic efforts in theater, education, and international affairs. She most recently owned the political consulting firm of T. Sullivan and Co. It specialized in providing public school districts with the essential tools to prepare for and successfully pass parcel tax and bond measures. She has also held positions with the United Nations Association, U.S. Small Business Administration, and as Director of Federal Relations for Columbia University. She has held leadership positions on the Belvedere-Tiburon Recreation Committee, several Tufts University Fundraising and Admissions Committees, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Alumni Organization, and has served on the Boards of the Marin Theatre Company and the American Conservatory Theater MFA Program. 

Tara received her bachelors in Political Science from Tufts University and completed a master’s degree in Public Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She also studied at the London School of Economics.

A Marin realtor for 18 years, Penny currently lives in Mill Valley and has served in leadership positions across numerous non-profit boards throughout Marin County.

Some of her most memorable volunteer opportunities include: Serving on the board of the National Charity League for 3 years, a community service-based organization for mothers and their daughters in grades 7-12; President for the Reed School PTA & Foundation for 2 terms focusing on getting the parcel tax passed; Board member for the Tiburon Peninsula Soccer League for 3 years; Girl Scout leader for 5 years and was invited to join the board as a director for the Northern California chapter; President of the Paradise Cay Homeowners Association for 4 years, successfully working with Charles McGlashan and Gary Giacomini on the Environmental Impact Report; Suicide Prevention hotline for 3 years, the Marin Food Bank for 10 years, Nature Guide for Mrs. Terwilliger and later, a fundraiser for her foundation. Penny found joy working on her kids’ school plays and assisting in their classrooms and on their field trips. 

Penny holds a business degree from the University of Connecticut, raised 4 children and is the proud grandmother of a 3-year-old and 1.5-year-old.

Penny’s experience and passion is in development.