2020-2021 BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT Originally from northern New Jersey, Matt has lived most of his adult life in California. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz he joined Out magazine in New York from its inaugural issue, working in advertising and leading their online media team. He returned to California to attend USC, earning his MBA in product marketing, and then his PhD in consumer psychology. He is currently Professor of Marketing (Consumer Psychology) in the Department of Marketing at Mihaylo College of Business, Cal State Fullerton. He has published numerous research articles for academic journals and business-trade and -advice publications. At the same time he has always enjoyed writing fiction, and has done so in fits and starts since childhood. He has finally just finished writing his first novel, and is in the final editing process. He has found tremendous value and camaraderie as a member of the PSWG to help him through that journey.Matt has a passion for geography and weather, and can often be found pouring over Google Earth or scouring radar images and weather alerts. He lives in Palm Springs, a truly inspirational place for writing, with his loving husband and adorable pooch Ollie. | DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT philanthropy.pswg@gmail.com Kristina VanKirk Hoffman was born and raised in Northern California. After studying Art History and Political Science at UCLA and Barnard College, she directed Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica from 1984-1988 and Ace Gallery in Los Angeles from 1988 – 1997. During that time, she wrote press releases for each exhibition, coordinated exhibitions, acted as docent to museum tours, provided information and loans of artworks to major museums, placed artworks in significant collections and contributed an article to Flash Art Magazine. She then returned to the Bay Area and began her art consultant/interior design business. During that time she volunteered, chaired the annual fundraiser, and then became the President of Marin Charitable serving at-risk youth. In 2012 she and her husband moved to Sonoma, California where she served on the board of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and was the Chairperson for their annual fundraiser. She was also a contributing writer to Valley of the Moon Magazine. She is passionate about education, fundraising, writing and contemporary art. DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION Cynthia’s background has been almost completely focused on education, having received her B.A. in English from the University of Tennessee and an M.A. and Ed.M. in English and History from Columbia University. She has held teaching and administrative positions in a series of East Coast schools, each time increasing her teaching loads and levels of responsibility. She worked as a speech and grant writer for Princeton University.Cynthia is also a Fulbright Exchange Fellow, spending a year at the Antwerp International school in Belgium teaching the International Baccalaureate curriculum and researching World War I and World II landscape memorials. Following that experience, she created a short documentary video, Remembrance and Reconciliation based on Carl Sandburg’s war poem, Grass. Additionally, Cynthia contributed a chapter and video to the iBook, Bringing the Great War Home, produced by University of North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and The American Battle Monuments commission. TREASURER, MEMBERSHIP, SECRETARY |
Advisory Committee IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Committee Chairpersons SCHOLARSHIP DESERT WRITERS EXPO NOMINATING COMMITTEE FUNDRAISER Shelley Smith: Fundraising Coordinator Website Contributors MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS & MEMBER BOOK PAGE | Assistant/Coordinators To: PRESIDENT To: EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT To: TREASURER
Jackie Peters - Member Renewals To: DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Jackie Bivens Kaufman: Communications Lead Brian Rouley: Social Media Coordinator Ellen Paris: Public Relations Coordinator David Hamlin: Copywriter: To: DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT TBD: Philanthropy Coordinator To: DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS Lynn De Turk: Contest Judges TBD: Special Events Coordinator Jim McFarlin: Mentoring Coordinator Kathy Weyer: Romance Mentoring TBD: Critique Groups Coordinator To: DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION TBD: Scholarship Coordinator TBD: Schools Coordinator |