Our Board
Debbie Stutsman
Board President
Debbie Stutsman retired, in 2017, from the Town of San Anselmo after 27 years of service, the last 15 as the Town Manager. She also served as the elected San Anselmo Town Clerk for 8 years. Prior to working for the Town government, she was employed at Bechtel Incorporated in Human Resource management. She has a BA degree in English from California State University, Hayward. She became interested in Cedars after participating in several tours and helping facilitate Cedars Farm Stand on the Town Hall lawn and would like to help forge greater connections between Cedars and the community. Debra and her husband are 40-plus-year residents of San Anselmo.
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Gail McCallister
Board Vice President
Gail is a native of Marin County where she lives and has raised four children with her husband Tom. Before becoming a full-time mom, Gail received a BA from Dartmouth College, an MA from Columbia University, and MBA from Northwestern University and worked primarily in corporate philanthropy and the non-profit sector, including Edgewood Children’s Center and The Marine Mammal Center. Gail returned to work in 2015 as the Service Learning Coordinator at San Domenico School, and currently works at Hamilton Meadow Park School in Novato running the Mentor Center, a program that pairs K–8 students with caring adults in the community, and other enrichment programs.
Scott Clifford
Board Treasurer
Scott has spent 30 years in the investment industry, the majority of it with Barclays Global (now part of BlackRock) where he held a variety of leadership roles within the firm's active strategies. Scott is currently a founding partner of Redwood Bay Investors, a private investment firm in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
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Maha Hamdan
Board Secretary
Maha’s first career was in the science field, and began after receiving her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of London. She worked as Coordinator for Research Development at Kuwait University, and as Science Reviewer at the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. Subsequently, Maha worked as a NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, at the Cancer Research Lab, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology. Maha’s second career is as a patent attorney. She joined the patent law firm Medlen & Carroll, LLP in 1996, where she still works, specializing in biotechnology and medical device patent prosecution. Maha joined the Cedars Board in 2022. Her daughter is thriving at her Cedars home in Novato.
Brian Colbert
Board Member
Brian attended Oberlin College, earning degrees in political science and theater. He then attended the University of Chicago Law School and the Harris School of Public Policy. In 2011, Brian and his family moved to San Anselmo. He joined the town Economic Development Committee, becoming Chair in 2013, was elected to San Anselmo Town Council, serving a term as mayor. Brian was the President of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers where he advocated for improving fire prevention and emergency preparedness measures and preserving open space. He was also the co-chair of the Mayors Select Committee. Brian is the current Board Chair of the Transportation Authority of Marin. He is the Director of Business Development and Patient Experience for an innovative medical practice in San Francisco.
Robert F. Epstein
Board Member
Rob is a Marin County native where he and his wife Lisa have raised three children, including Zoe, who is a Cedars resident. Rob has been an attorney in private practice for more than 30 years. He also serves as the elected city attorney of San Rafael. He has a B.A. in rhetoric from UC Berkeley and J.D. from UC Law San Francisco.
Scott Erickson
Board Member
Scott has spent over thirty years in the commercial real estate development, investment, and management industry, most recently as Director of Asset Management for Rockpoint Group where he was responsible for its western U.S. asset management activities. Scott is also a Certified Public Accountant and received a B.S. in business administration, accounting and finance, from the University of California at Berkeley. He has served multiple terms on the Board of Regents of Saint Ignatius College Preparatory and the Board of the Undergraduate Business Alumni Association at U.C Berkeley. His connection with Cedars was through his brother Dayton, who thoroughly enjoyed living at Lamont House.
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Mary Gordon
Board Member
Mary is a retired holistic health practitioner who lives in the east bay. She rejoined the Cedars board of directors in 2019 after a two-year hiatus. Her past professional experience includes working for many years as a member of the management team at a facility very similar to Cedars. She has served on various non-profit boards and is a founder and the past board president of Caritas Creek, an environmental education program serving elementary school-aged children in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her sister, Jeannie, has been happily living at Cedars since 1992.
Betty LeFevre
Board Member
Betty is a past president of Cedars Board of Directors, serving from 1994–1997. She is the current President of the Cedars Family Association. Betty retired from the Insurance Industry in 1993, where she was a Vice-president of Design Professionals Insurance Company, based in Monterey California. The company wrote professional liability insurance for Architects and Engineers. She was directly involved in building a start-up company within DPIC for professional liability coverage for accountants in 1987, and served as chief underwriter for both lines. She retired in 1993. She and her husband moved to Danville, CA in 2010, after both retired. Betty has three children, including Gail, who resides happily at Pope Hall.
Chris Mazzola
Board Member
Chris Mazzola has been a teacher, coach, and administrator in independent schools for 34 years and has made working with teenagers her life's work. Chris is currently at The Branson School, where she has served as Head of School since 2016. Prior to Branson, Chris and her husband Rich, also an educator, spent 20 years at Thacher School in Ojai, CA and five years at St. Anne's Belfield School in Charlottesville, VA. Chris has a BA in French from Dartmouth College and a Master's Degree in Teaching from Vanderbilt University. She currently serves on the boards of the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), Leadership & Design, and The Cedars and previously served as a trustee at Mark Day School and Marin Shakespeare. Chris spends most of her free time in her garden, but can also be found playing tennis or pickleball when not tending her flowers and vegetables.
Thomas (Tom) M. McInerney
Board Member
Tom, a graduate of UC Berkeley and Santa Clara Law School, joined the Cedars board in 2022. An employment lawyer with the firm of Ogletree Deakins in San Francisco, Tom has a long record of service in support of various community and professional groups, including serving as Mayor and town council member in San Anselmo, chair of the Ross Valley Fire District and the Central Marin Policy Authority, and as a board member of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Justice and Diversity Center, and the Marin County Bar Association. Tom and his wife Julie (who also served on the Cedars board) raised their two kids in San Anselmo and are strong advocates for the Cedars community.
Sterling (Terry) Ross
Board Member
Terry has served on the Cedars Board since the late 1980s and was its Chair for more than 10 years. A lawyer who lives and works in Mill Valley, Terry is the originator of the Special Needs Trust used throughout the country in estate planning for parents with a son or daughter with disabilities. He’s the former chair of the California State Bar Certified Specialist Advisory Committee in trusts and estates; former chair of the Marin Bar Association Probate and Trust Section; and past president of the Youth Law Center of San Francisco and the Mill Valley Tennis Club. He received a B.A. from Stanford and J.D. from the University of Michigan. Terry retired in 2018 from the Robb and Ross law firm but continues his volunteer activities on behalf of persons with special needs.
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Rebecca Sullivan
Board Member
Rebecca lives with her family in San Anselmo and currently is a Capital Campaign Associate for Big Sky Council. Having received a Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy from New York University and worked in the field including her current practice as a private consultant, Rebecca also has engaged heavily in philanthropy. She has been co-chair for YES, The Ross Valley Schools Foundation, Fundraising Co-Chair for Schools Rule Marin, and a Volunteer Commissioner for the San Anselmo Parks and Recreation Commission.
John West
Board Member
John joined the Cedars Board in 2020. John’s son Andy has called Ferris House home since 2012. Before retiring John spent 40 years in the railroad industry, with the last 20 years involved with railroad equipment financing both in the U.S. and Europe. Following retirement, he served on the Board of a non-profit corporation running a historic railroad in Colorado and New Mexico. He has an undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley, and a graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. John’s wife Barbara is a retired registered nurse, and they have lived in Mill Valley since 1975.