Natural Bridges Media Board of Directors

Rachel Goodman

Board Chair, Journalist/Cabrillo College Journalism Instructor

Rachel Anne Goodman has worked as a writer and radio producer for much of her career, earning a Peabody award for her work as Managing Editor for NPR’s The DNA Files radio series. She writes and broadcasts about environmental, social justice and sustainable agriculture topics. Her most recent radio documentary was the four-part series, Pastures of Plenty: A History of California’s Farmworkers which aired in the U.S. and Canada. She has hosted live radio interview shows in Virginia, Kentucky and California, including KUSP’s Talk of the Bay, where she interviewed thought leaders on the news of the day. She currently teaches at UC Santa Cruz. She is one of the founders of KSQD, where she currently hosts Talk of the Bay and The Coast Ridge Ramble. She plays folk music with several local bands and writes songs.

DIANE COWEN

Board Member/Board Secretary

As the Communications Manager for the Santa Cruz Public Library system, Diane Cowen handles marketing and promotion of library events, operations, programs, and services. Her programming interests include social justice librarianship, civic engagement, and the humanities. She has a BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Santa Cruz and a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from San Jose State University. She is the project manager for the Library’s SoundSwell Local Music Collection, which fairly compensates local musicians for making their music available to library cardholders for free. The project also establishes an archive of local music. A long supporter of Public Radio, Diane is thrilled to work with a community focused radio station that brings together her programming interests along with great music for a real local feel.

Jane Weed Pomerantz

Jane has lived in Santa Cruz since 1974 and been an activist in various capacities over the years. After graduation from UCSC with a degree in Community Studies, she worked at the Resource Center for Nonviolence on campaigns of resistance to nuclear power and weapons and on alternative energy promotion. After working on news programming on KUSP for several years covering local government affairs, she was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council in 1983, was Mayor in 1986-87 and carried on her passion for thinking globally and acting locally. Since then she has focused on building mutually respectful relationships in all sectors by becoming a facilitator and Lead Trainer with the international Positive Discipline Association, and a founding boardmember for the local nonprofit, Positive Discipline Community Resources. She and her life partner, Ron Pomerantz, a retired fire captain, are the proud parents of 4 and grandparents of 2.

David Bean

Tim Fitzmaurice

Tim has been a lecturer in Writing at UCSC since 1983. He is a fellow of Crown College. He is a poet and dramatic writer as well as an essayist. From 1998 to 2006 he served on the Santa Cruz City Council, and as Mayor of Santa Cruz in 2000-2001. He currently teaches Ethics and Technology in the Crown College Core Course, and political/social justice issues, related to mass incarceration, in other core courses. For three years, he has taught Creative Writing at Salinas Valley State Prison, near Soledad, CA.

Christine Barrington

Over my five decades walking this earth, I have lived on three continents and had many thrilling opportunities to communicate with, and connect to, large numbers of people. Besides being the Wisdom 2.0 emcee for six years running, it has been great fun being an NPR news broadcaster in the Midwest, an opera singer in the cathedrals and theaters of Europe, and an unofficial ombudsman of human spirit while crisscrossing amazing Asia. (I once sang with an Elvis impersonator outside an ancient temple in rebel-held Burma!)