Chair, Jimmy Friedman MN' 19
Vice Chair, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, MI' 20
Treasurer, Anna Freitas, MN' 17
Secretary, Marco Meniketti FN' 10
Editor-Newsletter, Lesley Ewing, FN' 93
Field-Trip Coordinator, Thomas Dietz,Ph.D FN' 20
Social Media, Margeigh Novotny, Sirdar
World Headquarters
Chair: Jimmy Friedman MN-19, With a distinguished career as a professional Martial Arts and Self Defense professor spanning four decades, he has traveled extensively to countries such as Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, and Nepal, both studying and teaching martial arts. Notably, he has organized numerous group trips to Japan for martial arts and cultural immersion and has been leading self-defense seminars for women across the Indian sub-continent, backed by the endorsement of the Indian government. Over the last four years, Jimmy has made significant contributions to the Northern California chapter, serving in various leadership roles such as social media director, Field trip director, Elected director and Chapter Vice Chair. Moreover, Jimmy is also a musician and real-estate developer in San Francisco. Over the last two decades Jimmy has focused on the construction of high-density housing to combat the devastating Bay Area housing crisis. Jimmy has owned and operated one of San Francisco’s longest running Martial arts Dojos; 11th Street Dojo, teaching hundreds of adults and children Aikido and Brazilian martials arts since 1986.
Vice Chair: Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, MI' 21 - No Data Available
Treasurer: Anna Freitas, MN-17 has a background that includes a 35-year career in Finance including CFO of Wells Fargo Credit Card. Educational credentials include an MBA in Finance from University of Minnesota. As practical experience in non-profits, she has served as Treasurer for the Past President's Club of the Stanford Women's Club of the East Bay and also for Parent-Teacher-Student Association for Indian Valley Elementary School.
Secretary, Marco Meniketti FN' 10 - No Data Available
Newsletter Editor: Lesley Ewing, Ph.D., FN-93 (who also served as Chapter Chair starting in 2001). She is a coastal engineer and has traveled through much of the US examining coastal dynamics and the major components that stabilize or modify shorelines. Her interest in the Explorers Club developed out of her work with Sylvia Earle and Graham Hawkes building Deep Flight -- two one-person submersibles that give researchers and scientists access to vast areas of the ocean. In 2003, she pursued watery fame as she trained to qualify as a pilot of Deep Flight.
Field Trips: Thomas Dietz,Ph.D FN-20. Tom's overlapping careers in science, business, and flying have allowed for a life filled with adventure. From global travel and exploration, scuba and submersible diving, cargo, mountain, and backcountry flying, and multiple outdoorsman and conservationist pursuits, to the science of biochemical and molecular adaptation of organisms in unusual and extreme environments, Tom brings a unique set of skills and experiences to his endeavors.
Social Media: Margeigh Novotny, Sirdar.00ÊMargeigh is a product designer whose work has mainly focused on the design of large-scale systems and new technologies. She is Vice President of Product Design at Wikipedia, where she has recently been exploring methods for quantifying and visualizing the "knowledge gaps" between different language versions of Wikipedia; and ways of quantifying and communicating "trustworthiness" of content on Wikipedia. In prior work, Margeigh ledÊa multi-year program at Microsoft to understand and codify etiquette in differentÊcultural contexts in order to create algorithms that behave in accordance with acceptable social norms (with regard to what kind and how much private information they ask for in order to perform some task for the user). An Architect by training, Margeigh is drawn to complex, first-of-category design problems that have required immersive research in social behavior and human perception.Ê