Rick Nelson, President
Rick began his career in recruiting in 1999 as an electrical engineering recruiter during the peak of the dot-com era. He later joined Robert Half International in Novato before spending 5 years leading the recruiting function for Restoration Hardware’s corporate offices. Rick is currently the AVP of Talent Management for Redwood Trust Inc. Redwood Trust is a publicly traded REIT based in Mill Valley. Rick enjoys building strategies around the full employee life cycle including recruitment, workforce planning/development and succession planning.
Rick is very local to the North Bay having grown up in Sonoma County. Prior to his HR career he worked in Marketing at Costco Wholesale in Novato and earlier worked for Marin Produce in San Rafael.
Rick can be reached by email at president@marinhr.org or by phone at 415-380-3435.
Svetlana Whitener, Vice-President
Ten years ago Svetlana Whitener came to the US from Russia with an MBA in organizational development and significant leadership experience in corporate and private enterprises, including ownership. During Russian Perestroika she was able to generate strong revenue streams for companies where she worked by using her business creativity and drive. This kind of approach helped Svetlana to succeed and to become a vice president when she was 28 year old and to start her own business at age 31. Currently Svetlana works at the Coaches Training Institute as the Human Resources Manager. Personal development is her area of expertise where she works on employee engagement, retention and productivity. Her husband is a successful lawyer in Marin and her daughter is finishing her PhD at Harvard. Svetlana is a cultural and personal development junkie who is comfortable with change and pursuing a dream that she will share with you if you ask.
Svetlana can be reached by email at speakers@marinhr.org.
Debi Geller, Membership Co-Chair
Debi Geller is proud to be Account Executive for Nelson Staffing, and a member of the company’s Chairman’s Club. Debi has a diverse professional background of retail, advertising sales, teaching , and non-profit fund-raising. A San Rafael native, Debi feels lucky to have the chance to raise her daughters in her home town. She is very well-connected in the business and non-profit communities here, volunteering for various organizations including Girl Scouts, Hospice of Marin, and Sunny Hills, and at local schools. Debi serves as an Ambassador for the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, and has just graduated from the San Rafael Chamber’s Leadership Institute. She is the Education Coordinator for BNI by the Bay, a local weekly professional networking organization. Debi earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University.
Debi can be reached by email at membership@marinhr.org or by phone at (415) 446-0208.
Chris Reiter, Membership Co-Chair
For over 15 years, Chris has provided industry-leading companies with best-in-class solutions focused on cost-containment and return on investment. In his current role at Woodruff-Sawyer, a full-service commercial insurance brokerage firm headquartered in San Francisco, Chris focuses on client relationship management and Employee Benefits business development in a variety of industries including wine, biotech/life sciences, technology and financial services.
Chris leverages his experience from both the brokerage and carrier sides to bring clients practical and progressive solutions. Just prior to joining Woodruff-Sawyer, Chris served as vice president of employee benefits at ABD Insurance Services, where he used his expertise in consumer-driven healthcare, wellness, alternative funding arrangements and industry best practices to help clients contain their benefits costs. He is a frequent speaker on these and other employee benefits topics.
Chris’ extensive background in benefits began at health care insurer Aetna, where he worked in a variety of business development capacities in the Washington DC and San Francisco markets. As assistant vice president at Marsh, he was responsible for initiating and building a Western Region presence for a joint venture with Definity Health. He later moved on to become director of sales for Great-West Healthcare in Northern California, where he was responsible for new business development and client retention for middle market and national accounts.
Chris earned his bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University. He chaired the Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA) annual employee benefits conference from 2007 to 2009 and is the past president of the Northern California Employee Benefits Council (NCEBC). In 2010, Chris was named as one of the North (San Francisco) Bay Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40,” honoring the most influential executives and professionals in the North Bay area under 40 years old.
Chris can be reached by email at membership@marinhr.org
Michelle Scanlon, Secretary
Michelle has been the Director of Human Resources of UCCR for 3 years. With over 5 years as an HR Generalist, she specializes in nonprofit organizations; having worked most recently for Aldersly Retirement Community, and the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Growing up in Marin there is always a sense of being thankful for the natural beauty and community in which we delight; Michelle enjoys a commitment to volunteerism, and spending time outside in the beautiful Marin weather.
Michelle can be reached by email at secretary@marinhr.org.
Veronika Johnson, Treasurer
Veronika is an innovative and result-driven professional with 17+ years of progressive and diverse HR experience. Her background includes work for US and European based companies in the government, public and private sector. Moving to California in 2000, presented an opportunity for Veronika to build lasting relationships within the community while working for local businesses such as the former Sonoma County HMO, Health Plan of the Redwoods, and CCEnergy, a renewable energy corporation based in San Rafael.
Veronika’s broad range of professional competencies helped her become a valued business partner who is able to successfully align HR strategy with corporate objectives to attract, retain and empower talent, drive efficiencies, fuel savings and maximize shareholder value. For the past few years, Veronika’s focus has been the development of quality benefits, compensation and employee relations programs and initiatives that spur operational growth and increase employee engagement and satisfaction.
In 2005 she joined Bank of Marin and is currently managing its compensation, benefits, retirement, and leave of absence programs. She also shares employee relations and progressive discipline responsibilities with the Director of HR.
Veronika holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and has special interests in behavioral psychology. She volunteers for local non-profit organizations and participates in her children’s schools educational and fund-raising initiatives.
Veronika can be reached by email at treasurer@marinhr.org.
Randy Ferino, Facilities
Randy has enjoyed a diverse career. He began his career as an Air Traffic Controller in the United States Navy, honorably serving for 5 years. Randy moved to Northern California in 1999 to attend Sonoma State University. After college, Randy joined F. Korbel & Brothers Inc. He worked in their HR department for just over 3 years, gaining exposure to many facets of the field. While attending graduate school at Sonoma State, Randy decided it was time for change, so he took a position within the company as a Tasting Room Supervisor at Kenwood Vineyards. Randy worked at the winery until completing his MBA in 2006.
Randy is currently the HR Supervisor at Bank of Marin. He has over 8 years of progressive HR experience and specializes in Recruiting, Employee Relations, and Payroll Administration. He enjoys HR because it gives him an opportunity to impact change at all levels of the organization.
Randy can be reached by email at facilities@marinhr.org.
Gordon Maxwell, Marketing/Communications
Gordon has been the Human Resources Administrator for Aldersly Retirement Community for two years. Gordon graduated with a Management Degree from Dominican University, and just recently obtained his RCFE licensure. With a diverse background in industries such as banking, sales, and healthcare administration; Gordon brings a well-rounded perspective to working with people. Outside of work he enjoys tinkering in his workshop and attending as many San Francisco Giants games as possible!
Gordon can be reached by email at website@marinhr.org
Debbie Zimmerman, Past President
Debbie started her career in Human Resources 15 years ago. Her background includes working for large organizations such as Liberty Mutual, Fireman’s Fund, GE, and Lonza Biologics. In the last 5 years she joined smaller firms to build the Human Resource function in the company. She is currently employed as the HR Field Leader for Esurance in San Francisco, CA.
Debbie is originally from New Hampshire. She moved to Marin county in 1994 and currently lives in Larkspur. She has been teaching aerobics for over 25 years and she enjoys running, hiking, gardening and remodeling homes in her free time.
