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Pam Haessly
Director of Communications and Leadership |
Pam Haessly has lived in Novato over 20 years and has been with the Novato Chamber of Commerce for nearly five years. She is the Director of Communications and Leadership Novato and served on the Board of Directors for Novato Public Access Television (NPAT) for five years, two of those as the NPAT Board President.
Formerly the host of the City of Novato's monthly community cable television show, "This Month in Novato", Haessly does local voiceovers and TV commercials and brings a wealth of communications skills, as well as political savvy to the job.
For four years she has been on the emcee for Novato's 4th of July parade - the largest in Marin. A former dancer herself, she has been the announcer for the Jan Ta School of Dance performances for eight years. She's also emceed the Blues by the Lake fundraiser, Downtown Novato's Nostalgia Days and the Novate Fire District Golf Tournament.
Prior to her Chamber career, she worked for the Marin Independent Journal for four years, was the Spokesperson for PG&E's monthly employee video, and worked in State Government for two former State Assemblymen. Pam earned BA in Broadcast Communications from San Francisco State University
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Bob Finer
Membership Relations Manager |
Originally from Upstate New York, Bob was transferred to California in 1964 after enlisting in the United States Air Force and honorably discharged in 1967.
Bob's journey into the world of business began at the age of ten, working in one of his father's jewelry stores. Bob's background includes ten years of retail sales and sales management. He also has twenty-seven years of marketing, public relations, sales/management training, advertising sales in addition to sales and administrative management experience with Pacific Bell. Along with a partner, Bob started wholesale gift company in a garage in 1989. The company now serves businesses throughout the United States.
Bob graduated from Central City Business Institute and also earned an Associates Degree in Business Administration from Marin Junior College and a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Sonoma State University.
Bob is married to his best friend a partner Elizabeth for forty years and has two grown children. He is also the proud Grandfather of three Grandsons.
Bob has always had a passion for community service. He is the proud recipient of the Eagle Scout-Bronze Palm and elected to the honor society of scouting, The Order of the Arrow. Rotary International awarded him a Paul Harris Fellow, for his service to the Novato community. Appointed by the Marin Superior Court, he served as foreman of the Marin County Criminal Grand Jury. He also served on the Novato Superintendent of Schools Community Advisory Council. He is a volunteer with the Marin Food Bank, the Novato Human Needs Center and has been voter precinct worker. He is also a member of the Novato Historical Guild, Marin Rod and Hunting Club, National Street Rod Association, the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and KQED Public Television.
As a member of a number of Chambers throughout Northern California, Bob has a deep appreciation for the support provided by Chambers to the business community. A year after his retirement from Pacific Bell, Bob joined the staff at the Novato Chamber of Commerce in June of 2000 and has been responsible for the Leadership Novato Program. He currently holds the position of Member Relations Manager, which allows him to more directly serve the needs of the entire membership..
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Coy Smith
CEO |
A long and successful history of fundraising and working with non-profit businesses, plus management experience that impressed the Chamber's Selection Committee, are among the talents that Coy Smith of Petaluma brings to his position as Executive Director of the Novato Chamber of Commerce. Smith lived with his wife, Amy and two sons, Tyler, 12, and Forrest, 10, in Novato for six years before moving the family to Petaluma in 1999. His career began with graduation from San Jose State in 1981 where he was awarded a bachelor's degree in environmental studies and communications. He was immediately hired by Garden State Paper to round up 10,000 tons of used newsprint mull in Pomona. This was the 1980's when State regulations mandating cities to reduce garbage wre unheard of; curbside recycling didn't exist. Smith's efforts eventually led to setting up policies and procedures for the recycling programs of several southern California cities. For the past 11 years, Coy worked at Materials for the Future Foundation (MFF), a non-profit that created jobs for disadvantaged people in disadvantaged communities. The company created jobs by helping to start businesses that used recycled materials.
Coy Smith was chosen as Executive Director for the Novato Chamber of Commerce following an exhaustive, comprehensive search of nearly 40 applicants. |
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Lisa Berdahl
Administrative Assistant |
Lisa Berdahl was born in Berkeley and lived in England for five years of her childhood. For those five years, she lived in London and Cambridge. After her family came back to the United States, Berdahls family relocated to Marin County where she has lived ever since. She went to school at University of California Santa Cruz, then transferred to University of California Berkeley, and graduated with a degree in Linguistics. She went to Norway to work on a farm that belonged to her family of Norwegian descent. When she came back, Berdahl worked as an Administrative Assistant for an environmental engineering firm in north Novato, Harding Lawson & Associates. She then worked for Buckelew Community Mental Health Services based in San Rafael as a peer counselor helping to inform those who were homeless or mentally ill about services housing and psychiatric supportive services available to them. After working additionally at the Sausalito Visitor Center and Historical Exhibit, she was attracted to the Novato Chamber job because it offers a similar environment as a Visitor Center and a place to use her administrative skills. When she is not working at the Chamber, Lisa likes to hike, ballroom dance, read, sew, and spend time with her cat, William. She currently resides in San Rafael. |
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Amy Lindsay
Special Events Coordinator/ Office Manager |
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