Staff

Silvia Soto Cabral
Bilingual Case Manager Silvia Soto Cabral began her career as an eligibility case manager qualifying families for state subsidized pre-school programs in Marin & Sonoma County, a role she still performs for SVUSD/SVEF. Silvia came to Sonoma Valley Youth & Family Services in 2017. She is a trained bilingual facilitator for The Parent Project, and is trained in Trauma Informed Care, Implicit Bias, and Compassionate Dialogue. She provides SVYFS families empathetic care, and treats all participants as productive members of the community.
silvia@svyfs.org
Direct line: 707-732-1507

Vanessa Rognlien
Executive Director Vanessa Glamore Rognlien has been working with youth development programs for the past 25 years beginning in Los Angeles with the HeArt Project and City at Peace. She has served on various Sonoma committees and Boards including, SVUSD LCAP, Sonoma Education Foundation, The Presentation School Board of Trustees, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Sonoma Community Center. She also co-owns a business with her husband in Sonoma.
vanessa@svyfs.org
Direct line: 310-714-2386

Board of Trustees

Robert Smith
Robert A. Smith graduated Cum Laude from the University of San Diego School of Law. For more than thirty years he has been the City Prosecutor for the City of Sonoma, as well as maintaining a private practice. He has enjoyed volunteering as a mentor with the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, and sitting on the Boards of local NGOs including Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma and the Sonoma Community Center. He has also served on the Board and as a Facilitator for Challenge Sonoma Adventure Ropes Course, an experiential education experience targeting youth-at-risk, for more than twenty years. Smith is the Program Director for Sonoma Valley Youth and Family Services, a juvenile diversion program utilizing a trauma-informed care model to keep juveniles from entering the juvenile justice system. A three-time Boston Marathon finisher, he is an active runner and involved as a “want to be” actor in local theater.

Kathy Wikiwiki
Kathy Witkowicki is the Founder and Director Emeritus of the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, a non-profit organization that began in 1996 and provides one-on-one mentoring for at-risk youth in Sonoma, California.

She has received wide recognition for her work with young people, including a 2013 Jefferson Award for Public Service, 2014 National Classic Woman Award from Traditional Home Magazine, and the Jewel of a Woman Award from the Girl Scouts of Northern California.

She ‘retired’ from the Mentoring Alliance in 2015 and co-founded Sonoma Speaker Series in 2016, where she presently serves as President. The Sonoma Speaker Series is a local non-profit that brings to the Valley major thinkers and players in the world of politics, art, celebrity, sports, science and inspiration.

Kathy has lived in Sonoma since 1979, where she raised 4 kids and stayed very active in their schools & their sports.  Her passion has always been children, their education, and their well-being.  Presently, she also  serves on the Board of Directors for Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance and Speedway Children’s Charities.  Her most rewarding role as a volunteer is mentoring Jackie for the past 12 years, and Angie for the past 3 years.

Nancy Dome
Renowned speaker, author, and equity consultant Dr. Nancy A. Dome co-founded Epoch Education in 2014 to provide leaders in education and business with accessible professional development in diversity, inclusion and belonging, and equity. As an educator for nearly three decades, Dr. Dome taught in the juvenile court and community schools teaching our most vulnerable students and has served as a Distinguished Teacher in Residence and faculty member at California State University San Marcos.

Her transformative approach helps school districts and educational agencies throughout the country navigate complex topics, build bridges, and work together for inclusive, impactful change.

Richard De Leon
Richard De León facilitates community empowerment initiatives in Sonoma Valley. After spending time in large corporations, Richard served in several roles for Sonoma State University. He co-facilitated the SSU Faculty Retreat and the Sustainability Summit, using World Café to gather information to restructure General Education. Inspired by the joy of being an ally to youth, in 2017 he served as an Educational Opportunity Program Advisor to incoming SSU students from diverse backgrounds to support their empowerment and academic success. As an Organization Development professional, he has served corporations, non-profits, small businesses, community groups, and individuals.

With his parents having migrated from Guatemala, Richard identifies as a proud Latino. Richard is the first in his family to graduate from college with a B.A. in Chicano and Latino Studies in 2005.  In 2018, Richard earned his MA in Organizational Development at Sonoma State University. Every day, Richard aims to be a better son, father, husband and an authentic human.

Richard Thomson
Richard Thompson developed a broad-based Family Practice in Sonoma, which included OB-GYN, Pediatrics, Adult and Geriatric Medicine. He has served multiple committee assignments at Sonoma Valley Hospital including Chief of Staff.  He served on Spatz Charitable Foundation Grant Committee, serving as liaison with multiple research Institutions to facilitate research grants for cutaneous T-Cell lymphoma research.  Also, Facilitated multiple scholarship programs, overseas medical training programs, medical learning centers, and helped negotiate an international consortium of some 50 medical facilities in over 40 countries to cooperate and share data, patient tissue and other information for clinical trials that has become a role model in medical research world wide.  He also helped fund a lay educational program for patients of an uncommon disease.  Richard has worked extensively with Sonoma schools including and other Sonoma youth organizations including Mentoring Alliance and Prestwood School Site Council. He enjoys theater and has acted and participated in somewhere between 40 and 50 plays, dramatic readings and radio plays over the last 18 years.

Karen Smith
Assistant Superintendent of Novato Unified School District and current Executive Director of Futures Explored Inc., a nonprofit serving adults with disabilities.

Diana Rhoten
Founder of Challenge Sonoma Ropes Course and Rhoten Productions serving generations of Sonoma youth.