ALISON WIELECHOWSKI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Cardiff resident

Alison Wielechowski and her family moved to Cardiff-by-the-Sea during the summer of 2016. She is a long-time non-profit executive with over 15 years of experience in building community. Since moving from the East coast, Alison and her family love to spend time outdoors exploring hiking spots in San Diego County, gardening, and spending time at the beach. She also has volunteered her time with ELL as an assistant baseball coach, has been a den leader in the Cardiff Cub Scout Pack 797, and has been a board member on the Ada Harris Wild Cats Band Boosters. When not working or volunteering, you might see Alison, her husband George, and sons Lennon and Gideon hanging out at the Encinitas Community Park or riding bikes on the Coastal Rail Trail.

JOY SHEPPARD, PRESIDENT

CARDIFF RESIDENT

Joy has been blessed to call Cardiff home for more than 20 years with her wonderful husband and two teenage daughters. Joy departed from her career in biotech to focus on her family and has spent 15 years volunteering in the Cardiff community with her daughters’ schools and school bands, Girl Scouts, Cake4Kids, and other charity organizations. She loves and supports our exceptional community!

In her free time, you can find Joy walking on our beautiful Cardiff beaches and San Elijo Lagoon trails, baking sourdough bread, reading, traveling, and cycling up the coast.

RICHARD RISNER, VICE PRESIDENT

PLA, ASLA, PRINCIPAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

Rich Risner is a landscape architect with 30 years of experience who has led numerous project teams which include architects, engineers, archaeologists, historians, and biologists.  Rich has assisted his clients with all aspects of development including project management, project scoping, site analysis, public meetings, input & data collection, environmental design, urban planning, environmental documentation support (NEPA/CEQA), design & construction documentation, permitting and project construction observation.  As owner and Principal Landscape Architect, Rich envisions every project design to shape expressive places that people “interact and connect with”. Rich’s career has been filled with challenging and varied design assignments such as city & community recreational and/or passive parks, urban parks, coastal lagoons & ecological reserves, state parks, state beaches, state historic parks, state natural reserves, commercial, retail, private residential, master planned communities, and industrial/business parks.

JIM O’HARA, TREASURER

OWNER, Race SaN DIEGO

TIM PIRKEY, SECRETARY

As the Encinitas BCycle Program Manager, Tim brings more than 10 years of cycling industry and bikeshare experience to the BCycle team. A dedicated mountain biker and commuter cyclist since before it was cool, Tim has turned his love of cycling into a career, after teaching mountain biking at summer camps, working in the retail bike shop world, leading a large private bikeshare in the Bay Area, and finally, joining the BCycle team in Encinitas in 2021. His favorite thing about bike share is the potential for equity and access to low-cost, low-impact, active transportation in urban areas.

DEBBI LEVIS

Cardiff Resident & Real Estate Agent, Coldwell Banker

Debbi lives, works, and plays in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. She began her connection to this beach community by camping at the San Elijo campground every Spring Break with her two children. These camping adventures are some of her family's favorite vacation memories. Once Debbi became an empty-nester, her Cardiff campsite became a Cardiff home. Now, she vacations every day in the community that she knows and loves with her husband, Russ, and her dog, Bella. Debbi has been a full-time, full-service Realtor® since 2003 and is consistently ranked in the top 5% nationally. She specializes in luxury properties, relocation, and working with seniors, baby-boomers, and millennials. Debbi is dedicated to providing the best service to her clients for their Real Estate needs.

RENEE ZAU

CARDIFF RESIDENT & Co-founder, Donationmatch.com

Renee Zau and her husband, Darryl Rettig, moved to Cardiff in October, 2021, from Carmel Valley where their kids were raised. It had been a hope of theirs to find their “forever home” in Cardiff, and they couldn’t be any happier.

Renee’s entrepreneurial spirit led her from biotech to opening 5 local franchises in the fitness and early childhood education industries, then launching DonationMatch.com, a cloud-based in-kind donation platform she founded with Darryl in 2010 to streamline how companies donate their products and services to charitable events. The platform is a solution for needs that Renee experienced as both a business owner and fundraising event auction chair and volunteer on 70+ event committees. Her belief in community-based partnerships as the key to business success is a large reason she supports the work of Cardiff 101 Main Street.   

JARED RODRIGUES

Interim Director for Student Services for MiraCosta College, San Elijo campus

Dr. Jared Rodrigues is the Interim Director for Student Services for MiraCosta College, San Elijo campus.  Originally from the Philadelphia area and new to North County, Jared has called Southern California home for the past 8 years. He has a Ph.D. in Higher Education (with a focus on college student health behaviors) and an M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology.  Much of his career in higher education administration has focused on building healthy communities, and the importance of connection and collaborations.  In various roles, he has worked extensively in partnerships with local governments, law enforcement, community organizations, and local businesses. He is a committed meditator, bike commuter, body surfer, and lover of comedy, podcasts, audiobooks, and the arts.  He is excited about serving on the board of Cardiff 101 to capitalize on the myriad opportunities for partnerships with MiraCosta and also give back to his new home community!

GREG LANG

Principal, Pasco Laret Suiter & Associates

Greg is a licensed civil engineer with over twenty years of professional experience. He is a partner with San Diego-based firm PLSA who have an office in downtown Cardiff. The firm specializes in a wide variety of land development projects throughout Southern California. Greg has been a North County resident for over twenty-five years and has volunteered his time in the past on the City of Carlsbad Beach Preservation Committee and on the St. Patrick’s Catholic School Building Committee. In his free time, Greg is an avid runner, mediocre surfer, and struggling golfer. He especially enjoys spending time with his wife, son, and daughter at home, along North County beaches, traveling, and on the running track and soccer pitch.

RAHUL DESHPANDE

Chair, Cardiff Town Council

Rahul has lived in Cardiff by the Sea since 1986 and has been civically engaged with the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Town Council since 1993.  He has participated in various City of Encinitas working groups (WG), including the Cardiff Specific Plan WG and Coastal Mobility and Livability WG.  Rahul strongly encourages Cardiff residents to actively participate in the decisions that affect their quality of life. Rahul appreciates the walkability of our community.  Whether he is enjoying some natural relaxation walking the San Elijo Lagoon trails, the Coastal Rail Trail or the beach…or walking into Cardiff or Encinitas downtowns for a drink and a meal, he values the ability to walk to all these locations as a major community benefit. When not working as an Engineering Executive in the Wireless Communications industry, you will likely see Rahul walking around town, wearing his weighted “ruck” getting in shape for backpacking and travels around the world.