Programs


​Sonoma County Forum offers an exciting array of speakers including leaders in business, education, health care, the arts, and local government. Our speakers provide an excellent way to gain knowledge of the community and learn about its vast resources. Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month at 8am at the Epicenter, off of Piner Road, west of Coffey Lane in Santa Rosa.
Scroll below for information about upcoming 2023 speakers.
For biographies of past speakers, by year, click here.

Upcoming Speakers

February 2, 2023
Jennielynn Holmes, CEO of Catholic Charities, "Caritas Village"
element_settings.Image+Text_94464494.defaultJennielynn Holmes
Caritas Village is a unique project that includes both the  Caritas Center and Caritas Homes, located in downtown Santa Rosa. The Catholic Charities’ 48,000 square foot Caritas Center includes a 200-bed family shelter, childcare center, drop-in center where homeless people can shower and do laundry, and recuperation shelter, as well as a new health clinic partnership with Santa Rosa Community Health.  Caritas Homes, operated by Burbank Housing, will include 128 low-income apartments; phase 1 of that projected will be completed by summer 2023. Jennielynn Holmes is the Chief Executive Officer for Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa, which is one of the largest human services organizations in Northern California, serving over 20,000 people each year across Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Mendocino, and Humboldt counties. She was born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA and received her undergraduate degree from the University of California Davis as well as her Masters in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco. Jennielynn was recognized by the North Bay Business Journal as one of the top 40 business professionals under the age of 40 and by Senator Mike McGuire as Sonoma County’s Woman of the Year in 2016. She has a passion for serving those who are most in need and developing innovative programs to end poverty and homelessness, and much of her work has been nationally recognized. 
February 16, 2023
Dr. Steve Charbonneau, Superintendent, Piner Olivet Union School District, "School District Consolidation"
element_settings.Image+Text_94464494.defaultDr. Steve Charbonneau
Dr. Steve Charbonneau has been serving as Superintendent of the Piner-Olivet Union School District (POUSD) since 2020. Previous to his service to Sonoma County students and families, Steve led at two different international schools (Dubai and The Congo). Steve has served in the field of education for nearly 30 years. Steve's wife, daughter, son-in-law, and sister are all teachers.  As Superintendent of one of Sonoma County's 40 school districts, Steve will discuss the issue of school district consolidation.
March 16, 2023
Laura Lorman: Inexpensive Travel Options and How to Travel Safely
element_settings.Image+Text_94464494.defaultLaura Lorman
I got the travel bug from my mother who said she wanted to make me a citizen of the world and because I read travel books by Richard Halliburton.  I began traveling the world right out of high school having now traveled to over 100 countries and led tours of college students to Europe and Hong Kong.  I retired after 31 years in law enforcement and during my career I presented workplace safety classes to colleges, private industry, and governmental entities. If you ask me what my favorite place is that I've traveled to I will always say the last place I visited though East Africa is a special place for me and I go there as often as I can.
April 20,  2023
Margaret Press, DNA Doe Project: Investigative Genetic Genealogy
element_settings.Image+Text_94464494.defaultMargaret Press, Ph.D.
The Sebastopol-based DNA Doe Project was formed in 2017 with one simple, humanitarian mission: identify "John" and "Jane Does" using investigative genetic genealogy.  Co-founder Margaret Press inherited a passion for genealogy from her grandmother. When DNA testing refined the genealogy landscape, Margaret joined the impassioned group of citizen scientists who would propel this new field to where it is today. She teamed up with Forensic Genealogist Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick and the DNA Doe Project began.
 
On March 5, 2018 the DNA Doe Project solved its first case—Robert Ivan Nichols, the John Doe previously known as Joseph Newton Chandler III.  On April 11, 2018, they joined local authorites at a press conference in Troy, Ohio to identify the young woman known as “Buckskin Girl” as Marcia L. King--the first time in history that the world learned of the power of investigative genetic genealogy to solve cold case identifications.  In the past five years, the organization’s work has helped identify the remains of more than 97 “Doe” cases, helping bring closure to families across the country.

2023 Program Schedule
Speaker 
Jan. 5
​(rescheduled due to inclement weather)
Jan. 19
Duskie Estes, Farm to Pantry
Feb. 2
Jennielynn Holmes, Caritas Village
Feb. 16
Dr. Steve Charbonneau, Superintendent, Piner Olivet Union School District, "School District Consolidation"
March 2
Janae Franicevic, General Manager/Owner, Sunce Winery
March 16
Laura Lorman, "Inexpensive Travel Options and How to Travel Safely"
April 6
Brittany Mundarain, General Manager, Montgomery Village "Vision for Montgomery Village"
April 20
Margaret Press, CEO, Co-Founder of the DNA Doe Project
May 4
TBA
May 18
TBA
June 1
TBA
June 15
TBA
July 6
TBA
July 20
TBA
 Aug  3
TBA
Aug 17
TBA
Sep  7
TBA
Sep 21
TBA
Oct  5
TBA
Oct 19
TBA
Nov  2
Sarah Tendall, Rosalind University Prep's Mentorship Program
Nov 16
TBA
Dec  2
TBA
 Dec 21
Holiday meeting (for members only)
Sonoma  County  Forum
PO Box 4193
Santa Rosa, CA 95402