Our Team
Staff
Ashley Bridges, Director
Ashley Bridges joined Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, as Director, in May 2020. She has a B.A. in Liberal Studies with a minor in Human Development from CSU Monterey Bay, the first in her family to receive a bachelor’s degree. Ashley lives in Watsonville with her husband and three children.
Cecilia Cervantes, Operations & Volunteer Coordinator
Cecilia joined PVLF as a volunteer in early 2017 and later was a full-time job trainee in our Kitchen Program through a partnership with the Center for Employment Training. She previously worked in local agricultural sector businesses. Today she is our Operations Manager, coordinating volunteer services, overseeing food inventory, and managing our facilities.
Jeanette Arias, Pantry Coordinator
Jeanette Arias joined PVLF in 2016. She brings work experience in food service and customer service to her role as Pantry Coordinator. She previously served local residents as a volunteer with her church’s food pantry, Pan de Vida.
Samantha Jarquin
Samantha Jarquin is this year’s AmeriCorps member at PVLF. She recently graduated from UC Riverside where she received her B.A. in Political Science/International Affairs. She is looking forward to serving at Loaves and Fishes and helping the community where she grew up.
Board
Jessica Liddy, President
Jessica, a volunteer since 2010, has fond memories of her mother volunteering here after the Loma Prieta earthquake. With over 25 years experience in special education, she is the South County Supervisor for Community Life Services which supports adults with disabilities expand career goals and obtain competitive employment. Jessica brought many volunteers to PVLF who gained the work experience to move into the restaurant and customer service sectors. Jessica continues to advocate for our disabled and disadvantaged community.
Fabian Leonor, Vice President
Fabian is a Senior Specialist with Community Life Services in South County. He has 15 years of experience working in special education and has served as a recreation specialist with the City of Watsonville. He is continuing his education toward a bachelor'’s degree in Collaborative Health & Human Services.
Brooke Sampson, Secretary
Brooke was previously Executive Director from 2006–2008 after which she went on to serve as the Warehouse Manager and, later, Chief Operations and Programs Officer at a key partner, Second Harvest Food Bank. In 2016 she once again was Executive Director until taking maternity leave in late 2017. Brooke, a graduate of Watsonville High School, earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and Master’s in Community Development from UC Davis.
Chris Lee, Treasurer
Chris is a retired executive and corporate finance professional of 30 years in the technology and renewable energy sectors. She moved to back to Santa Cruz County after 30 years in the South Bay Area. She has been an active supporter and volunteer for the last couple of years and is passionate about wanting to solve the problem of people with food insecurities.
Joan Bosworth
After a 15-year history working as an Executive Director in retirement communities, Joan started her own company, JB Consulting in 2001. She provided interim management for large non-profit continuing care retirement communities while a search was conducted for a new executive director. Ironically, Joan never worked near home. She retired in 2023 and decided to get involved locally. She found PV Loaves and Fishes to be a good fit for her desire to help those in need. Joan confesses to spending more time in the PV Loaves and Fishes kitchen, than in her own and finds the comraderies of the staff, volunteers, and clients to be a wonderful way to give to our local community.
Joe John "J.J." Kapp
B.A. Chico State University 1985
J.D. Santa Clara University 1988
Trial Attorney Santa Clara County (CA) Public Defender’s Office 1990-2017
Joe is married to Pat Flaherty and they have two children, Frank and Kelly.
Kristen Marinovic
Kristen Marinovic is the Founder and President of Equinox Wealth Management, a private independent advisory firm based in Santa Cruz, CA. Kristen is a Trustee of the UCSC Foundation Board and member of the Dean's Council for Physical and Biological Science. Kristen currently lives in Santa Cruz with her husband, Baldo, a UCSC faculty member /Marine Science Researcher and their twin boys, Viggo and Niko
Mary McKenna
Mary has lived in Santa Cruz County since 1979. She is a retired teacher, and taught Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology at Gavilan College in Gilroy for 32 years. Mary has a BS from Cal Poly SLO, and an MA in Microbiology from UC Davis. She is a passionate animal and plant lover. She has been a volunteer at Loaves and Fishes since 2015, and has been an active supporter of Empty Bowls. Mary feels fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of PVLF.
Veronica Schultz
Born in Chile and raised in the US, Veronica moved to the Santa Cruz area twenty three years ago after graduating college with a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies. Professionally she has extensive experience in the insurance industry — ten years as an underwriter of 501c3 nonprofits and currently as an Insurance Risk Analyst at Granite Construction Inc., in Watsonville. In her free time Veronica enjoys community service, getting her hands dirty in the garden, and reading. Veronica joined PVLF as a volunteer in 2021 and the Board in 2022. She believes deeply in the ability of people to positively affect their communities and is honored to support PVLF.
Rachael Spencer
Rachael is a retired business woman living in Davenport with her husband. A long time education advocate, she serves on the Cabrillo College board as trustee. She lost her home and every possession in the CZU fire — a life changing event for sure. What remains of that tragedy is the awareness that community is everything — community support is what gets one through tough times. It is with great appreciation she joins the wonderful work of Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes.
Sandra Varela
Sandra is the Program Coordinator/Work Experience Crew Leader of Community Action Board Watsonville Works! Sandra has over 21 years of experience working for non-profit organizations. She started at Second Harvest Food Bank where she gained experience as a hotline coordinator, outreach worker, and Cal Fresh Client Enrollment Specialist. Sandra's passion for advocacy lead her to become a Family Resource Specialist with Catholic Charities. Presently Sandra coordinates the Watsonville Works! program, which provides work experience for individuals who are unhoused in south Santa Cruz County.
Advisors
Lin Florinda Colavin
Lin is a retired marriage and family counselor. She worked eighteen years for the County of Santa Clara helping adults and teens manage mental health and substance abuse issues. Lin has been one of our volunteers since 2006. Her contributions included her hand-made ceramic bowls to our annual Empty Bowls fund raiser. She joined our Board in 2015.
Casey Wu
Casey is the Senior Manager of Accounting Policy and Compliance at Driscoll’s Inc. He is a CPA with a degree from UC Santa Cruz in Business Economics with an emphasis in Accounting. Raised in Watsonville, Casey enjoys outdoor activities, traveling, and going to the gym.
