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HBGF Board of Directors

Officers

  • President, Evelyn Giddings (Eureka, CA).  Ms. Giddings is Senior Vice President Commercial Banking Center Manager for the Humboldt Region for Umpqua Bank.  She is an advisory board member for the City of Eureka’s Redevelopment Agency and a member of the board of governors for Eureka’s Foreign Trade Zone.  She holds a MBA in International Business from San Francisco State University and is especially interested in projects that enhance the prosperity of the Humboldt Bay and Harbor Community.  Ms. Giddings serves on the HBGF Building Design and Funding Steering Committees.
  • Vice President, Larney Ford (Arcata, CA) is a Commercial Lines and Life Insurance Agent at George Petersen Insurance Agency in Eureka, and has over twenty years of experience in the financial services industry.  Mr. Ford is a Humboldt County native and a graduate of Humboldt State University. A member and supporter of many community organizations over the years, Mr. Ford joined HBGF’s Board of Directors in 2007.
  • Treasurer, James T. Sessa (McKinleyville, CA).  Mr. Sessa is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Coast Central Credit Union, with over $650 million in managed assets, and which provides financial opportunities to over 50,000 members and businesses on the North Coast. He holds a BS in Management from Humboldt State University and is a graduate of the Western CUNA Management School at Pomona College in Claremont.  He is past President of Mad River Rotary and is active in a number of community organizations with an emphasis in community enrichment and youth related projects.  Mr. Sessa is the Chair of the HBGF Fundraising Steering Committee.
  • Secretary, Leslie Lollich (Eureka, CA).  Ms. Lollich is the Public Information Officer for the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services.  She has over twenty years of experience in broadcast journalism.  She serves on several boards of directors including the Humboldt Library Foundation and is especially interested in education.  Ms. Lollich devotes her time to special HBGF projects.

Board of Directors

  • Debbie Bussman (Bayside, CA).  Ms. Bussman is currently the Commercial and Personal Lines Manager of George Petersen Insurance.  She is also the owner and president of DBA: Financial Premium Finance Company.  A member of many community organizations, Ms. Bussman was also on the Board of Trustees for Vector Rehabilitation from 1999-2000. She was appointed to HBGF’s Board of Directors in November, 2007.
  • Barbara Groom (Loleta, CA).   A thirty year resident of Loleta/Table Bluff, Ms Groom started the Lost Coast Brewery in 1989 following a career in pharmacy.  Under her guidance Lost Coast Brewery moved from being a small brew pub to becoming a national and international award winning regional brewery.   A member of many community organizations and boards of directors, she brings a keen awareness of the community, business sense and her love of botanical gardens to the Humboldt Botanical Garden project.  Ms. Groom serves on the HBGF Fundraising Steering Committee.
  • Dave Kenworthy (Eureka, CA) Mr. Kenworthy has been with Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. for over twenty years.  He is the Garden’s official aerial photographer, documenting the changes in the Garden that are sometimes difficult to see from the ground.  He coaches for the community masters’ rowing team and gardens.
  • Janna Snell (McKinleyville, CA) Ms. Snell brings her landscape, graphic and web design experience to the HBGF.  Ms. Snell has studied Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Construction at College of the Redwoods and Landscape Architecture at UC Berkeley Extension.  Ms. Snell also serves on the Humboldt Arts Council Board.