FRC Board of Directors
John Benitz – President
Descendant of William Benitz of Fort Ross pioneering ranch era in the mid-1800s; Founder; Canoe Group; CEO, Producer – Wildhorse; filmmaker, conservationist.
Sarah Sweedler – Vice President
Sarah stepped down as FRC staff in 2022 after several decades of service, and now volunteers on the board. Prior to her transition to not-for-profit work, she worked for several decades as a high-tech independent consultant and as a freelance journalist focusing on natural and cultural history, with bylines at KQED and NPR, 7X7 magazine, Bay Nature, and beyond. Sarah serves on the Advisory Council of the Eurasia Foundation and as a NOAA Greater Farallones Beach Watch volunteer. She is co-author of Fort Ross and the Sonoma Coast
Deborah C. Gordon – Secretary
Ms. Gordon is Retired Executive Director of the Preventive Defense Project. She is currently an independent advisor and consultant to several high technology companies and has over 40 years of experience in algorithm design, signal processing, network design, and network security. Former Mayor of Woodside, California.
Jonathan Tiemann – Treasurer
Founder and President of Tiemann Investment Advisors, LLC, an investment management firm in Menlo Park, California. He has served in investment and finance roles in several Bay Area nonprofit organizations. He researches the economic history of California and the Pacific Basin and is an associated researcher with the Global History of Capitalism Project at the University of Oxford.
Timothy Kelly – Director
Timothy has been an educator for over 13 years. His goal is to facilitate youth access to nature and his work with Ft. Ross has focused on expanding educational programming. Tim Kelly is an attorney with his own practice and is also an author of a number of books for children. He grew up in the Ft. Ross region and is devoted to using his professional career to protect and promote the incredible natural beauty of the region and the unique history of the park.
Jennifer Levy – Director
Jennifer is a retired partner/CFO of a private equity real estate fund manager, Rockwood Capital, that invests in various property types across the US. Prior to that, she worked at two regional real estate developers (Catellus and Associate Capital), an NFL team, and acquired her CPA working at Ernst & Young. Jennifer moved to Sebastopol in 2022 and became enthusiastic about FRC after visiting Fort Ross and enjoying the beauty of the park and learning about the long history of the region. Previously, in other non-profit work, she served on the board of the SF-Marin Food Bank for 6.5 years, was a member of Golden Seeds (venture investing in female led startups) and an adviser at Pacific Community Ventures (advising small businesses). In her free time, Jennifer enjoys gardening, travel, hiking, golfing, and supporting the Golden State Valkyries.
Rich Panter – Director
Bodega Bay resident, filmmaker, editor, writer, and producer. As a member of the board of director at the Fort Ross Conservancy, Rich Panter brings his extensive video production and educational background and long-time interest in international, historical, and cultural programs to support the FRC’s mission as a California Historic State Park Conservancy to bring innovative educational, historical, and cultural programming to as many people as possible.
Sabrena Rosenberg – Director
Sabrena serves FRC as an Alaska Native representative. She is a Sonoma County native with Alaska Native and Northern European ancestors, enrolled with the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska and related through her grandfather to Dushkins of Aleutian descent. Sabrena is a shareholder of the Aleut Corporation and has been employed as an operating engineer for 34 years.