Our Team

Gina Belforte is currently serving her third term as a Rohnert Park City Council member. Gina has previously served as the Mayor for two years and as Vice Mayor for three years. In addition to serving on SAY’s board, Gina currently serves on the Economic Development Committee, the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee, on the Water Committee and is a Rohnert Park Foundation board member.

Gina’s background includes a long career in marketing and public relations. She opened new territories for advertising companies, trained sales people and handled multimillion dollar advertising campaigns. A Northern California native, she has lived in Rohnert Park for 31 years with her husband Kevin and has two grown children. Gina is also the local owner of Stanley Steemer, employing over 20 people and servicing Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties.

Kristine Burk is a licensed attorney with over twenty years of experience as a criminal defense trial lawyer. She has proudly spent nearly half of her career as a public defender and was most recently a Chief Deputy Public Defender at the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office. Kristine received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Women’s Studies from UCLA and her Juris Doctorate from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She has long had interests in social justice, gender equity and community organizing. She is a devoted parent of two busy children and, when she’s not keeping score on the sidelines of one of her daughters’ sporting events, she enjoys cooking, Giants baseball and listening to podcasts of all types.

Mike is Vice President with Firma Design Group, a planning, engineering and landscape architecture firm based in Petaluma, California. Mike attended California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, California for his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree (2001). He volunteers his time in many different ways and believes in making Santa Rosa/Petaluma and the North Bay an attractive place for doing business, and believes that Social Advocates for Youth is an essential part of creating a knowledgeable, involved and active generation of our high school students. Mike enjoys playing golf when he’s not working, has two young daughters and lives in Santa Rosa with his family.

Uriah is a Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in Santa Rosa. He specializes in working with adolescents and families, offering individual, family and group counseling. He has a background working with at-risk youth in residential treatment facilities in Sonoma County. He writes a parenting blog and monthly newsletter and also offers educational parenting events both locally and online. Uriah is married and has two beautiful daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys backpacking and playing the drums.

Karissa Kruse is President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers, a marketing and educational organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Sonoma County as one of the world’s premier grape growing regions. In her role as President, Karissa has guided the strategy and implementation of Sonoma County’s commitment to become America’s first 100% certified sustainable wine region. In an effort to continue to lead in the social responsibility component of sustainability, Karissa announced the relaunch of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation in January 2016 that aims to assist local agricultural employees and their families in the areas of healthcare, affordable housing, childcare, education and workforce development. She is a partner in a small winery, Argot Wines, and the owner of a 12-acre vineyard on Sonoma Mountain.

Karissa earned a BS in Economics and an MBA in Marketing from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She has 20 years of experience in various aspects of marketing, brand management, strategic planning and business development, and has previously worked for companies such as General Mills, Universal Studios, Mattel and Dairy Management.

Troy Niday is Chief Operations Officer for Sonoma Media Investments, LLC publisher of the Press Democrat and other Sonoma County publications and websites. He oversees all aspects of audience development, consumer revenue generation, production and distribution for the organization. A native Nebraskan, Troy worked at four other media companies before bringing his expertise to Sonoma County in 2014. He resides near the town of Freestone with his wife Pam; they have two children in their early 20s, and enjoy traveling together.

Steve was brought up in the bay area, Los Altos, where he met his wife Georgia in high school. Steve went to UC Santa Barbara and graduated with BAs in Business Economics and Political Science. Steve and Georgia have 2 children and now are empty nesters. Steve is a past President of Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary, North Coast Hobos and is active in many civic organizations. Steve is the President of Interiors Incorporated, a firm he started 26 years ago. In his free time he enjoys travel, fishing, skiing and hiking in the great outdoors.