Meet Your Y Staff

Jessica Martinez
Membership Director

Jessica Martinez is our Membership Director here at the Sonoma County Family YMCA. She supports the overall membership department operations, as well as our Aquatic Director. Jessica is responsible for the implementation, management, and membership growth and retention with a strategic focus on member service and engagement. Jessica brings a diverse career background. Her previous work history included corporate roles for large tech firms and high-end sports resorts before finding her passion in nonprofits that focus on health and wellness.

Jessica is a Sonoma County native who grew up in the small town of Cotati. After moving back home from the Peninsula, Jessica was looking for a sense of community and is excited she found it at the Sonoma County YMCA.  In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her Tibetan terrier mix Benji, and her niece and nephews. She’s also a big foodie and enjoys finding new local restaurants with friends to try.

Mona Mitchell
Member Center Coordinator

Mona began working at the Y in April 1986 in Child Watch and became the Child Watch coordinator at the facility in Cotati when it opened. This was a great learning experience for Mona that gave her the opportunity to grow in other areas of the facility.
 
Mona learned membership transactions, started doing tours and engaging with members which made her a perfect fit for the Member Coordinator position. Mona loves working for the Y because she has learned so much with the support of co-workers and mentors.
 
The Y has given her a place to grow and raise her four daughters (and now 5 grandchildren) who all have all been involved with the Y at some point in time.

Jeremy Hodgdon
Senior Program Director

Jeremy is a Sonoma County native and came to the Sonoma County Family YMCA with his Grandma for swim lessons and overnights when he was 4 years old. He has been connected to the Y ever since. He began working for the Sonoma County Family in April 1992 as a Spring Camp Counselor and has worked his way up through several positions over the years, now currently serving as Senior Program Manager.

Jeremy loves working at the Y because it gives him an opportunity to work with youth from preschool through High school, and if you’ve met Jeremy- you know he loves kids! He also loves sports!

Jeremy holds a degree in Business from Pacific Union College and is happily married to wife Mandy whom he met at the Y, and who still works with us as well. The Y is truly a family affair, as his daughter Madison also attends Y Camp, sports, and takes swimming lessons at the Y.

Crystal Sowards
Youth Development Director

Crystal Sowards is our Youth Development Director. She has been with the Y for the past 16 years as a teacher, and then as the Director at the Evergreen and Monte Vista childcare sites in Rohnert Park. She has worked with children for the past 25 plus years in various settings.

She graduated from Sonoma State with a Bachelors of Criminal Justice with a focus on child development. 

Her significant other, Keith, also works at that YMCA as our Facilities Director. We have five daughters and 1 son ranging from early 30s to the age of four. 

We are a very busy family who enjoys sports, camping and just being together.

Nasrina Evenstar
Health & Wellness Director

Nasrina spent most of her life focused on cerebral pursuits, overweight, and disjointed from her body.  In her mid-20s she found yoga and became dedicated to a more fitness-oriented lifestyle.  In 2006 she started to make a career shift away from academia and towards fitness.  She found the Y five years ago and has been happy to find a career in fitness that also fulfills her lifelong desire to work for a nonprofit organization. 

At Kansas State University Nasrina obtained degrees in philosophy, literature, women's studies and cultural theory. She is additionally certified in Personal Training, TRX Group Suspension Trainer, and in multiple styles of yoga.

Her belief is that fitness is a balance between flexibility, strength, cardiovascular conditioning and mindfulness practices.  Her fitness philosophy places a lot of focus on the mental work of being present and mind/body connectivity.

Keith Neal
Facilities Director

Keith is the Facilities Director overseeing the facilities and grounds of the YMCA, Billing and Program Office and all the childcare sites.  He began his Y career in Aug. 2013. He came to the Y with 25+ years of experience as a Building Engineer in San Francisco and San Rafael.
 
Keith was born in Brooklyn, NY.  While growing up his family moved around with the military. His family moved to Rohnert Park in 1976 where he graduated from Rancho Cotate and attended  SRJC and Petaluma Tech where he studied Electrical  Engineering. 
 
Keith enjoys spending time with his 5 daughters and grandson (with another on the way) and his significant other, Crystal, who also works for the Y as a Site Director in Rohnert Park. Keith enjoys camping, boating, and sports.

Alicia Winters
Sr. HR/Accounting Coordinator

Alicia is the Sr. HR/Accounting Coordinator, responsible for the day-to-day operations of HR & Accounting.

She joined the Y team in May 1996 in the Accounting Department.  Currently her focus is on HR & Payroll but is very versed in all areas of Accounting.

In January 1987, Alicia received her Accounting degree from Heald College of Santa Rosa. From 1987 to 1996, she worked a variety of accounting positions locally until she came to the Y and never left. 

Alicia was born in Middletown, CA.  She is the youngest of nine (9) children.  Her family relocated to Santa Rosa when she was 8 months old. 

She and her husband, Richard (aka the Y Santa 20+ yrs. & former Employee) currently live in Santa Rosa within walking distance of the Y.  They have two (2) adult sons that were raised as Y kids in the After school and camp programs, her oldest son is a black belt in Tang So Do which was first introduced to him through the Y.

Alicia’s hobbies include; walking, gardening and recently took up building miniature houses.

Nicole Martinovich
Healthy Initiatives Coordinator

Nicole loves to exercise. Exercise has been a part of her life informally learning to swim and surf and more formally swimming competitively and later performing in dance groups.

Nicole has a Bachelor’s in Physical Education, a Master’s in Traditional Chinese Medicine and teaching credentials. She has studied a wide variety of health and wellness topics including yoga, Pilates, group exercise, behavior change, sports nutrition, health and life coaching and more! She has special training in diabetes prevention and management as well as lifestyle and behavior change.

She loves to teach and help others achieve their health and wellness goals. Nicole has been with the Y since 1993, teaching, training, coaching, providing programming and supporting the health and wellness of our community all along the way.

Jarrod Johnson
IT/Systems Coordinator

Jarrod is our Systems/IT Coordinator here at the Y. He has a background in retail, management, accounting, and others.

He brings to the Y a love of learning, as well as educating, and has a passion for all things tech.

Outside the Y, Jarrod enjoys playing basketball, tennis, retro video gaming, working on cars, and tinkering with various electronics.