Christine Rhoades grew up in Orange County and received her Bachelor and Master Degrees in Dance/Theatre for California State University, Fullerton. She taught at the college level for 6 years and transitioned to a career in real estate where she has been the owner and broker of Ocean Real Estates Inc for 30 years. As a lover of Dance and Theatre Christine spent 20 years in active support of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and the Laguna College of Art and Design. Christine is a founding board member of the Laguna Dance Festival as well as a Trustee for the Laguna College of Art and Design. As a resident of Laguna Beach since 1972 there is nothing more rewarding than helping grow and support art in her home town of Laguna. She is a proud mother of two grown daughters, Natalie and Jessica. “Art is what feeds my soul and I could not live without it.”
Joy Dittberner moved to Laguna Beach in 1999 with her husband Tom and quickly became involved in the community. For eight years, she has served on the Board Friendship Shelter, a homeless shelter for adults. Joy functioned as Volunteer Coordinator for the Laguna Dance Festival for four years prior to joining the board. Joy brings twenty-three years of experience in business development, marketing, sales and professional relations working in the pharmaceutical industry. She loves yoga, travel and scuba diving. She is excited and honored to be involved with the Festival as it continues to bring world class dance to Laguna Beach. She is a graduate of UCSB in Biology and earned an MBA from the University of Utah.
Kathy Conway and her husband Michael have lived and worked in Laguna Beach for over 30 years. They have a CPA firm and include among their clients many local businesses and charitable organizations, including The Laguna Canyon Foundation and The Foundation for the Great Park of Orange County. Among her volunteer activities Kathy has served on the boards of Laguna Art Museum as Treasurer for 11 years, as Treasurer of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce for nine years, the Treasurer of the Women’s Club, as well as other non-profits and as Treasurer of Laguna Dance Festival for the last two years.
Kathy and Michael have four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. They love sports, particularly tennis and the Lakers, her rose garden, and traveling, especially Big Sur and New York City. They have enjoyed watching dance locally and in their travels, like The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Complexions. She finds it so exciting to be able to bring members of these companies to Laguna Beach each year.
Nancy Meyer is active in many non-profits including Laguna Dance Festival, United Way of Orange County and the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UCI. Bringing the arts to the people of Orange County has been one of her primary passions for many years. Nancy is a partner of Buttoned Up, Inc., a company that produces a line of products for getting all parts of your life organized. She lives in Laguna Beach with her husband Michael, where they raised their four children.
Bill Callahan, MD is a former Special Operations Flight Surgeon turned Aliso Viejo psychiatrist who has loved dance since being exposed to hula on the Hawaiian Islands during his childhood. He is a national speaker and educator and frequent media contributor on mental health topics. Bill wants to bring the grace, emotion, and excitement of dance to new audiences. He sees Laguna Dance Festival as the jewel in the crown of Laguna Beach’s fine portfolio of arts.
Debbie Naude is originally from South Africa and moved to Laguna Beach, CA almost 20 years ago. BC (Before Children) she had a fifteen-year career in publishing and advertising. She also has served as a volunteer with many local nonprofit organizations. While continuing her volunteer services, she now co-chairs the Parent Education branch of Laguna Beach School District’s PTA, fondly called “Coffee Break”. She is actively involved in the Laguna Beach High School Dance Program as a support and “booster” parent to the Dance Director Lisa Jay. Debbie especially loves teenagers and young adults and s has a twenty-one year old son, Jason and a seventeen-year-old daughter, Frances. She loves spending time with her husband Paul, their kids, and their kids’ friends. She also loves Laguna Beach, her beloved dog Bella, traveling, reading, cooking, dancing, and yoga. As a board member of LDF she hopes to see as many young people as possible participate, be inspired and energized by this unique and exceptional festival of dance.
Edie Tonkon has experience fundraising for several organizations: SchoolPower, Friendship Shelter, Jewish Family Services as well as the Laguna Playhouse where she has served on the board. Presently she is on the board of the Kevin Armstrong Foundation, which sets up extracurricular sports programs for the middle schools in Santa Ana. Additionally she is the Trustee of the Melvin J. Tonkon Memorial Scholarship for Laguna Beach High School. Ms. Tonkon is also a past teacher and trained as a career counselor for college.
Karen Wilson began her life-long passion for the non-profit world in high school and college, bringing her volunteer experience to both Special Olympics and PTA as she raised her family.
When Karen “retired” in 2002, she took some time off to play – she learned to surf and golf, and spent time travelling the globe with her husband and friends.
In 2009, Karen co-founded Impact Giving, a women’s collective giving organization, dedicated to having 1,000 women collectively award $1 million per year to non-profits organizations locally and globally. That same year, Karen joined the Board of The Laguna Dance Festival, a unique company bringing world-class dance to the small stage venue. Karen is currently enjoying her work with The Laguna Dance Festival and Impact Giving, and spending time with her grand-twins.
Colleen Kroha has spent the last 20 years actively managing a family property investment and management business in addition to raising three sons. During the past ten years, Colleen has also managed a small Family Charitable Foundation. Prior to developing a family business, she was a teacher and counselor at Huntington Beach High School. Colleen did her undergraduate work at UC Irvine and received her Masters Degree in Educational Psychology from USC. She also enjoys cooking, travel, skiing and occasional golf.
