Meet Our Team

Leadership

David Peck

Chair, Board of Directors

David is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Long Beach. A co-founder of the South County Crosscultural Council and Friendship Shelter, he has been dedicated to community service in Laguna Beach since 1978, advocating for members of underserved and disempowered populations.

Tim Hartshorn

Executive Director

Tim earned his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. As Executive Director of SCCC, he leads efforts to provide critical workforce and educational support to community members in need—particularly immigrants—through education, dialogue, and cultural exchange. Prior to joining SCCC, Tim worked as a community-based researcher, educator, and advocate for local immigrant populations

Joanna Kibler-McNerney

Director, ESL Programming

Joanna is a faculty member at Irvine Valley College where she teaches in the noncredit ESL department. She is also a faculty member at Santiago Canyon College, where she teaches and coordinates ESL in the Division of Continuing Education. She strives to create ESL programs in our surrounding communities.

Teresa Dominguez

Jobs Coordinator,

Laguna Day Worker Center

Teresa was a childcare assistant at La Playa Center for some years before becoming the Jobs Coordinator at the LDWC.

Kolleen Lawson

La Playa Laguna Program Coordinator

Originally drawn to the organization for its commitment to cultural diversity and inclusion, Kolleen has been a devoted SCCC volunteer for over a decade. She began as an ESL teacher and soon took on the role of Recording Secretary for the Council. Today, she serves as the Program Coordinator for La Playa Laguna Beach, where she continues to teach ESL.

Kolleen holds a Professional Teaching Credential in four subjects, along with TOEFL and TESL certifications. Her teaching career has taken her to Spain, Argentina, and Panama. A Laguna Beach native, she is also the proud mother of two.

Board Members

Bob Borthwick

A landscape architect and planner, Bob is on the Board of Hortense Miller Public Garden, Laguna Greenbelt, Inc., and other environ- mental organizations. He taught landscape design at UC Irvine and Saddleback College for 16 years, and has lived in Laguna Beach since 1974. Bob has been a volunteer teacher at La Playa Center for 6 years.

Jerry Curtin

Jerry is a 22-year resident of Laguna Beach. A lifelong student of Spanish and English, Jerry’s B.A. was in Spanish and American History. After several years of working and teaching high school English, Jerry went back to law school, and slogged through the field of corporate law for 26 years until semi-retiring in 2018. Jerry supports the Board as a problem solver with passion for maximizing use of technology to improve outcomes and efficiency.

Juan Carlos Gallego

Juan Carlos wass a professor of TESOL and Spanish at CSU Fullerton with 37 years of teaching experience across various universities and countries. His academic focus includes language education, discourse analysis, bilingualism, and dialectology. He brings extensive expertise in language studies to the board.

Meslissa Hexter

Melissa holds a teaching credential from San Francisco State University, a B.A. in Theatre from Whitman College, and an M.A. in Set Design from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. A former middle and high school English teacher, she has been a dedicated volunteer ESL teacher at La Playa Center.

Joana McFarland

Joana earned a B.A. in Social Ecology from U.C. Irvine, with an emphasis on planning and public policy. After 12 years as a marketing communications manager in the computer industry, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. Joana has been an ESL teacher at La Playa for over 20 years.

Fritzi Werner

Fritzi has lived in Laguna Beach for 44 years, spending 26 years as a Registered Nurse in Public Health and with the Aids Services Foundation. A Laguna Beach Art Museum docent, she continues to volunteer as an ESL instructor at La Playa Center.

In Memoriam

Elinor Freeman

Alice and John Graves

Bob Meyerhof

Evelyn Munro

Judy Sinisgalli

Carl Schwarz