4 Community Leaders Elected to Saratoga's Montalvo Board of Trustees

Editor's Note: The following press release was submitted by Montalvo Arts Center.

Montalvo Arts Center, 15400 Montalvo Rd., welcomes four new members to its Board of Trustees for the fiscal year 2012-13.

These individuals are Mickie Anderson, Kelleen Sullivan Finn, Bruce McCann, and Daniel J. Muller. Their three-year terms are effective immediately, and the institution will gain from their expertise in the diverse areas including arts education and practice, wine-making, cuisine, and employment law.

“Since Montalvo was founded in as an independent nonprofit in 1953, we have been guided by a Board of Trustees comprised of forward-thinking, arts-focused community members,” said Montalvo Executive Director Angela McConnell. “We are are honored to welcome Mickie, Kelleen, Bruce, and Daniel to this distinguished group this spring.”

For all of her life, Anderson has been passionate about learning and the arts. Professionally, Anderson is a speech therapist, art therapist, and teacher to the deaf who received her bachelor of science degree from the University of Texas, and two master's degress in arts, one from the College of Notre Dame de Namur and the other form San Jose State University.

Anderson has served on the board of a number of important nonprofit groups in the Bay Area, such as the Saint Andrew’s School, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the San Jose Ballet, of which we was also a founder and executive committee member. Her relationship with Montalvo Arts Center has spanned many years and includes prior terms on the Board of Trustees, and a current active role on the Montalvo Building and Grounds Committee.

Sullivan Finn is a classically-trained visual artist. She has studied at the International Academy of Art in Nice, France, the Brera Art Academy in Milan, Italy, and holds a B.F.A. from U.C. Davis. Finn’s work has been shown in galleries all over the world, in cities such as San Francisco, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Milan, and Bali, and is collected by major corporations and celebrities. She comes from a wine-making family and, along with her brothers, she is actively involved in managing Sullivan Vineyards, a winery estate in Rutherford, CA.

McCann, a Sonoma County native,  was named President of International Culinary Center California in 2012. He served as general counsel to the ICC in its Manhattan headquarters.

A tax and real estate attorney by training, he has advised hundreds of wineries, winemakers, and grape producers throughout California, Oregon, and internationally on all facets of the industry, ranging from vineyard development to business strategy. 

McCann is also an adjunct professor of law in real property law and corporate law at Empire College School of Law in Sonoma County. In this capacity, he has written on the subject of corporate financing of elections for the law review. He has served on numerous corporate boards, both non-profit and for-profit, and has been an officer of several highly regarded California-based wineries.

A partner in the Silicon Valley office of international law firm Nixon Peabody, Muller specializes in California labor and employment law. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Santa Clara University and a law degree from Emory University School of Law.

Some of the highlights of his professional career include representing a large Silicon Valley software company in a commercial defamation matter; defending a start-up company against theft of trade secret claims brought by a competitor; and defending employers against claims of unlawful harrassment, employment discrimination, and failure to pay wages. He is a member of both the California State Bar and the American Bar Association.

The Montalvo Board of Trustees numbers 31, including Charmaine Warmenhoven and Sally Lucas, both lifetime trustees, and four officers: Cathie Thermond, who continues as board president into the autumn of 2013; newly-named Board President-Elect David Hsieh, who will assume the presidency in October; Tom Crotty, board treasurer; and Marcia Hansen, board secretary. The board serves as the governing body of Montalvo Arts Center. For a complete list of board members, visit http://montalvoarts.org/trustees/.