Who We Are

Get to know our team and board of directors...

Care Team

Barbara Beach, M.D., Co-founder, Medical Director & Board Member

Barbara has been a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland for more than 30 years. As a result of her clinical interaction with Dr. Kathy Hull in the 1990’s, Barbara’s long-held dream of building a pediatric palliative care center was realized with the opening of George Mark Children’s House in 2004. Barbara received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology with honors from the University of California, Berkeley and her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Southern California. She completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital Oakland and her pediatric hematology oncology fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. She also has served as medical advisor for Hospice for Young People and Comfort for Kids. Barbara also has volunteered with the International Committee for the Red Cross and previously served as a board member at the Robert Sturhan Foundation. Barbara is married to Geoffrey Kotin, M.D. and has three sons.

Kathy Nicholson Hull, Psy.D, M.A., Co-founder & Vice President of the Board

Kathy has been active in clinical psychology for more than 25 years. For the last ten years, her professional life has been focused on the development of the George Mark Children's House. She is the staff psychologist and vice president of the Board of Directors. Kathy is also an adjunct staff member of Children's Hospital Oakland, where she spent several years as part of an interdisciplinary team that treated young oncology patients and their families. In addition, she has been a staff member at the Ann Martin Children's Center, a local non-profit organization that offers low-fee counseling services to the culturally diverse Oakland community.

She is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the Northern California Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and the Association of Transpersonal Psychology. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Master of Arts in marriage, family and child counseling from Santa Clara University, and a Doctor of Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. Kathy is married to Bill Gisvold and has seven daughters, one son, and eight grandchildren.

Administrative Team

Peter A. Farber-Szekrenyi, Dr. P.H., M.P.H., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer

Peter is a healthcare executive with a successful track record in managing companies from $5 million to $2.5 billion in annual revenues in a variety of ownership structures, including governmental, non-profit, for profit, and a New York Stock Exchange company. He has more than 20 years of CEO experience in administration, finance, and turn-around management in the healthcare industry and has been a teacher and lecturer at the University of California. As founding principal of Szekrenyi Consulting Inc., Peter has been providing administrative/operational and consulting services in the Bay area since 1995 to such institutions as Alameda County Medical Center, Alameda Healthcare Services Agency, Marin Healthcare District Board, Contra Costa Healthcare District, and San Joaquin Healthcare Services Agency. He has also been Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointee to the Federal Courts regarding the delivery of healthcare in the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. Peter is married to Nancy Farber, the CEO of Washington Hospital Healthcare System and has five children and four grandchildren.

Ken Sommer, Director of Advancement

Ken has more than 25 years of experience working for Bay Area nonprofit organizations in fundraising, marketing and communications, public relations, and special event production. His previous work experience includes positions with Children’s Hospital Oakland, Glide Church and Foundation, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. Ken grew up in Berkeley and has been a Bay Area resident for over 40 years; he is married to Emily and has two sons, Benjamin and Nathaniel. He serves on the Boards of Directors for Aurora School and North Oakland Community Charter School, both located in Oakland. Ken enjoys sports, gardening, cooking, and music.

Board of Directors

Barbara Beach, M.D., Co-Founder, Medical Director, Board Member
(See above information under “Care Team”)

Kathy Nicholson Hull, Psy.D, M.A., Co-founder and Vice President of the Board
(See above information under “Care Team”)

Peter A. Farber-Szekrenyi, Dr. P.H., M.P.H., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer (See above information under “Administrative Team”)

Adam J. Cohen, President of the Board

Adam currently works for Apple, Inc., previously he served as executive vice president of Sonic Focus and president of AJC Venture Consulting. As a founding member of The Angels’ Forum, Adam has more than 14 years of experience investing and working with early stage companies at the board and executive levels. Earlier in his career, he was a licensee with McDonald’s Corporation operating multiple locations in the Bay Area and served as president of the Ronald McDonald House of San Francisco. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from the University of Colorado, Boulder and resides in Oakland with his wife and son.

Christopher Henry, CPA, Treasurer of the Board

Christopher is currently Associate Administrator and Chief Financial Officer for Washington Hospital. He is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA), California Hospital Association (CHA), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and California Society of Municipal Finance Officers. Chris also serves on CHA’s CFO Advisory Committee and is a member of the District Hospital Leadership Forum.

Christopher earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from California State University East Bay in September of 1995 in Business Administration with an Accounting emphasis. He worked in public accounting for four years, during which he was certified as a Certified Public Accountant.

Julie Nicholson Brewer

Julie spent 25 years in human resources, including serving as the Vice President of Human Resources at Scios (a Johnson & Johnson company), Heartport, GEC Plessey Semiconductors and Skyway Freight Systems. In addition to her work at George Mark as a board member and interim executive director, Julie has served on the board of directors of United Way of Santa Cruz and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Julie also served as chairman of the Board for Future Families Foster Care and Adoption Services from 1995 to 2005. She was a hospice volunteer for the Hospice Caring Project of Santa Cruz for two years before joining the board of George Mark Children’s House. Julie is married to Dick Brewer and together they have three sons, a daughter and five grandchildren.

John M. Goldenring, MD, MPH, JD

John M. Goldenring has been a Pediatrician and Adolescent Medicine specialist for over 30 years and a medical administrator, serving as a medical director for health plans and medical groups, for 17 years. He also has an active consulting practice in medical legal issues, including serving as an expert for the California Medical Board. He has been consultant for pharmaceutical companies and editor for on-line health education materials.

He graduated law school and has been licensed to practice law in California since 2006. He has written and lectured widely in several different fields and holds Board Certification in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine and has also held sub-specialty certification in Adolescent Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine.

Dr. Goldenring has also been a policy advocate for many years, since attending Georgetown University for undergraduate and medical education and working on Capitol Hill. He is former member of and parliamentarian for the national board of directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Children’s Advocacy Institute at University of San Diego Law School, and is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine.

Andrew G.M. Pitcairn

A senior sales director in the internet technology sector, Andrew joined the George Mark Children’s House Board as a representative of client families. The Pitcairn’s daughter received end-of-life care at the House in 2006. Prior to this, Andrew and his wife, Alex, had considerable experience advocating for their daughter to insure that she received therapy, education, and medical care appropriate to her disability. Andrew was educated and spent the early part of his career in the United Kingdom, and has spent the last 25 years in sales and marketing positions in Bay Area technology companies.

Betsy Strong, CFP

Betsy is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, born in Berkeley and raised in Orinda. She attened UCLA where she earned a BS in nursing. After working as a pediatric nurse, she transitioned to business, becoming a successful sales representative for American Hospital Supply. She later earned her MBA from Golden Gate University. Following the completion of her degree, Betsy was hired by Metropolitan Life to work with health care professionals in the retirement planning area teaching them to save in their 403B plans. She earned her CFP during this time and moved on to Cigna Financial Advisors to expand her financial planning expertise. While at Cigna, now Lincoln Financial Advisors, Betsy learned to advise business owners on a variety of issues ranging from estate planning to business succession and the establishment of complex retirement plan vehicles. In 2000, she was hired to head The L & L Financial Edge, a financial planning division of Lautze & Lautze, a CPA firm. In July of 2009, Betsy formed Strong Legacy Planning to assist individuals, families and business owners with the challenges of financial planning and the transfer of wealth among generations.

Betsy is married to Gary Coover and has one step-daughter, Charlotte, who is a junior in high school. Betsy is an active member of the board of directors of Edgewood Center for Children and Families and volunteers with her daughter Charlotte through a mother/daughter volunteer group - NCL. She is also an avid golfer, skier and traveler and loves to attend cultural events and try new restaurants in the SF Bay Area. Betsy is a member of the San Francisco Estate Planning Council and the Financial Planning Association.

What Families Are Saying

I am so thankful that there were volunteers to keep my four year old occupied while I visited with [my child]. His activities were one less thing that I had to think about.

Volunteer opportunities abound at George Mark! If you are interested in helping out in the garden, organizing events, working with families or have a special skill you would like to offer please let us know. Click here for more information.