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  • 4035 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. #235, Westlake Village CA 91362
  • 805.374.2124
  • info@bumblebeefoundation.org

Board Members

The Leadership Team of the BumbleBee Foundation

 

Executive Board Members

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Jason Donatini

Co-Founder, President

Jason Donatini serves as the BumbleBee Foundation’s President and is also the Co-Founder. After graduation Jason began studying political science but left to pursue a career in the HVAC industry while simultaneously completing his certification in an apprentice training program. Jason currently works as a Project Engineer for Ontario Refrigeration.

The BumbleBee foundation was born of Jason’s vision as he and his wife were so moved by the outpouring of love and support from friends, family and community when their son Jarren was diagnosed with liver cancer. In part of his role in the foundation Jason has a fervent desire to support fathers of pediatric cancer children. He is a passionate Christian and a devoted husband and father who enjoys cooking, golf, and traveling.

Arica Harris

Secretary

Arica Harris is a native of Southern California with more than 30 years of Office Administration, Human Resources, Payroll, and Bookkeeping experience, having served the past five years as an Executive Administrative Assistant.

She is very passionate when it comes to helping those in need, especially children and families affected by cancer. For the past five years she has been a Casa Pacifica Angel and assisted with their Spotlight on Style Fashion Show as well as other events.  She has been a long-time supporter of BumbleBee since our inception and has been shaving her head for almost a decade with St. Baldrick’s Foundation in memory of Jarren. Along with going bald for Jarren, she has also had the honor of serving as a head shaver for St. Baldrick’s during her volunteer tenure.

Arica and her husband of 30 years Ken, and their fur-kids Harley and Finn are in the process of relocating to Boise, Idaho where she will continue to pursue her love of the outdoors and keen sense of community. She is excited for this new chapter in their lives and is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the BumbleBee Foundation Executive Board.

Barbara Ito

Treasurer

Barbara grew up in Orange County, CA. Shortly after high school she married husband Daryl and they have two daughters, Arica and Stephanie. After moving to Ventura County in 1984, she started Five Star Bookkeeping. Since 1996 the company continues to grow with 4 full-time employees and is the industry leader in agricultural accounting.

Barbara’s philanthropic endeavors started with Bingo at the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club.  From there, she began volunteering for Casa Pacifica, Center for Children & Families, where she served on the Angels board; an integral fundraising component for Casa Pacifica.

With her background in bookkeeping, Barbara initially served as the Angels Board Treasurer then ultimately as Board President. She is no stranger to events as she has overseen all event aspects from silent auction to sponsorships.

In her role as Executive Board Treasurer, she is excited to bring a fresh perspective and a willingness to work for the promotion of the Bumblebee Foundation.

Curtis Scheetz

Director

Curtis Scheetz is the founder and owner of Total Environmental Management, Inc., a leader in the HVAC industry. After obtaining his AS in Heating, Ventilation and Cooling from Cypress College, Mr. Scheetz entered his profession on the ground floor, working in a stock room and later as a Controls Application Engineer. Mr. Scheetz’s passion for his industry combined with an astute ability to think outside the box led him to found TEM in 1985 as a way to provide emergency and temporary HVAC services lacking in the industry at that time. Today the company has the largest inventory of any HVAC rental company on the West Coast.

Mr. Scheetz is passionate about community service and fund raising. He currently volunteers for The Millers Children and Women’s Hospital of Long Beach and also Serving People in Need (SPIN) – an organization that helps homeless individuals in Orange County. He serves as the Vice President for Cypress College’s Foundation Board (his alma mater), where he helps fundraise and promote the school’s stellar HVAC program. He is also a regular blood and platelet donor and now a proud Board Member of  BumbleBee Foundation.

Mr. Scheetz has been married to his beautiful wife, Jill, for 43 years and is the proud father of a son, Curtis and daughter Natalie.

 Crista Hermance

Director

Crista Hermance was born and raised in Ventura, California. She majored in business management at San Diego State University and soon thereafter started working for Citigroup in Jacksonville, Florida. She worked as a project manager for Citigroup and traveled extensively throughout the world. She even ended up relocating to the Philippines for a year which was an opportunity of a lifetime. After living in the Philippines, she moved back to Ventura and began her legal career.

Crista started her legal career by volunteering at the Ventura County District Attorney’s office. She then  started law school while simultaneously finding a position as a law clerk with a firm in Westlake Village where the flexible schedule allowed her to finish law school and take the California bar exam. After passing the bar, she received a promotion to associate attorney and focused on estate planning, personal injury and bankruptcy cases. She really enjoyed helping families with their estate planning and decided to start her own practice where she could focus solely on estate planning and ensuring that young families know how to protect their family. She finds great personal and professional satisfaction in helping parents create estate plans that provide them with that peace of mind. Crista now owns a law practice that is very family orientated.

Crista is married and has two young girls. Her passion for protecting kids got her involved to support organizations like BumbleBee and she is dedicated to helping families.

KaSandre Kirby

Director

KaSandre Kirby was introduced to BumbleBee shortly after her nephew, Asher Calloway was diagnosed with brain cancer. BumbleBee showered the Calloway family with love and resources leading KaSandre to invest in their work after Asher received his angel wings.

KaSandre’s desire to be a walking example of her Christian faith, and connect with people, led her to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from California State University, Northridge and her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California, focusing on Community Organizing, Planning and Administration. 

KaSandre has over ten years of experience in organizational development. Her expertise specifically lies in policy analysis, human resources investigations, and diversity inclusion. With a macro social work lens KaSandre uses her gift of compassion and policy analysis to connect people with resources.

KaSandre’s passions include quality family time, reading, watching a comedic film, and being in character on a film or television set.

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 Christopher Dukes

Director

Christopher Dukes is originally from Omaha, Nebraska. He currently resides in Newbury Park with his wife Kristina, kids Sienna and Dylan and three spirited dogs – Vegas, Reno and Aspen. He began his financial career in 2003 and founded Dukes Wealth Management in 2007. Today, he has over 500 client households across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. 

Christopher currently serves on the board of directors for two nonprofit organizations supporting cancer – Wespark Cancer Support Center in Sherman Oaks as well as BumbleBee Foundation.

Additionally, Christopher has appeared in over 100 TV shows and movies as an actor and stunt performer. Some notable appearances include The West Wing from 1998-2000, GI Joe: Rise of Cobra in 2009, and our personal favorite, Transformers in 2007.

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Mike Hale

Director

Mike Hale came to BumbleBee after serving for five years as an Executive Board member for a charity foundation that raised money for kids with cancer and other terminal illnesses. During his tenure he created and managed events, volunteers, and worked to raise funds for projects aimed at supporting the children. In 2017, the charity decided they had accomplished their goals and it was time to help other charities meet theirs and that’s when he found BumbleBee. Mike was thrilled to find another nonprofit that shared in similar aspirations and goals.

Mike has a passion for charity and enjoys working with philanthropic individuals and organizations who are looking to contribute to their communities. He also passionate about sports and played baseball and football from a early age to semi-professional. Mike coached girls softball getting and his teams made championships several times in 6 years. Additionally, he’s exploring a new hobby in acting and will be featured as a detective in an upcoming film, “Trade”.

TBD

Director

Seeking passionate individuals with a desire to oversee and ensure BumbleBee’s mission.

 

BEEhive Staff

Boy in bed with bald head and Mom holding him

Heather Donatini

Executive Director & Co-Founder, aka Queen BEE

Co-Founder Heather serves as BumbleBee’s Executive Director, aka Queen Bee. She is a Liberal Studies graduate from Cal Poly Pomona. Prior to BumbleBee, she worked as an Executive Assistant for many years at a Graduate University of Medical Sciences before quitting to be a stay at home mom with the arrival of first son, Jarren. After Jarren’s passing, Heather and her husband Jason created the BumbleBee Foundation to assist other families on their cancer journey.

Heather is grateful to have the opportunity to run the foundation’s day-to-day operations and enjoys being able to share love and hope with cancer kids that become a part of her “family.” Heather is still a very involved stay-at-home mom to two more blessings that bring much love and grace. She is as passionate about her faith in Christ as she is about her family and BumbleBee.

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Amy Wing

Vice President of Operations, aka BEEkeeper

Amy grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to Thousand Oaks to attend college at California Lutheran University. She earned her BA in Liberal Arts, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, and a Masters in Educational Administration. She spent 17 years in public education as a teacher and administrator. Having had pediatric cancer kiddos as an educator, she continues to pursue her passion for kids with BumbleBee as the Vice President of of Operations and is affectionately known as the “BEEkeeper.”

Amy and her husband Robert recently married in May 2019 and together they enjoy golfing, going to Disneyland, and adventures with their pup, Sammy.

 

Advisory Council

 

James Shipe

Chair

 
Danni Cugini Campa

Danni Campa

Co-Chair

 

Ida Carlson

Past Chair

 

Teresa Andolfi

 

Andrea Estes

 

Brandon Feder

 

Tami Foreman

Cheryl Hirsch

 

Stephen Hatke

 

Mike Kruzel

Ava Kirk

Jr. Advisory Council