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.

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.