El Dorado County, Calif. \u2014 The El Dorado Community Foundation has announced the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors for 2026, expanding local leadership as the foundation continues to distribute millions of dollars in community grants across El Dorado County.<\/p>\n
New board members include Tara Christian, David Cooke, Janine D\u2019Agostini, Mike Kuhlman and Don Sacco. They join Board President Paul Zappettini, Vice President Lynnee Boyes, Treasurer Pam Maxwell, Secretary Margie Kovarik-Maxhimer, and board members Shelbi Bennett, Jana Ellerman, Gordon Helm, Allan Priest, Dickson Schwarzbach and Brian Veerkamp.<\/p>\n
The foundation said the incoming directors bring experience spanning law, education, faith leadership, event management and health care \u2014 backgrounds that align with the organization\u2019s mission to strengthen the county\u2019s nonprofit sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur board reflects the strength and diversity of El Dorado County,\u201d the foundation said in a prepared statement announcing the appointments. \u201cThese leaders bring deep professional expertise and a strong commitment to service that will help guide our work for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christian is an estate planning and charitable gift planning attorney licensed in California and Nevada and a co-founder of Holmes Christian in South Lake Tahoe. Cooke has served as lead pastor of Cold Springs Church in Placerville since 1998 and works internationally as a leadership coach. D\u2019Agostini owns It\u2019s One Fine Day Events and has coordinated major community and international events in El Dorado County. Kuhlman is superintendent of the El Dorado Union High School District, with three decades in public education. Sacco is a retired health care executive and former CEO within the Blue Cross Blue Shield system.<\/p>\n
The foundation also recognized outgoing board member Katy Peek for her decades of service. Peek was a founding leader of the organization, serving as board president from 1991 to 2001, and later returning for an additional 12 years through 2025.<\/p>\n
According to the foundation, funds held at the El Dorado Community Foundation awarded $3.2 million in grants in 2025 to address both existing and emerging community needs. More than 97% of those grants were supported by local donors and fund holders.<\/p>\n
Founded to support long-term community well-being, the El Dorado Community Foundation works with donors, nonprofits and civic leaders to fund programs throughout El Dorado County.<\/p>\n
For more information, the foundation can be reached at 530-622-5621.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The El Dorado Community Foundation welcomed five new board members for 2026, building on a year that saw $3.2 million invested back into the community<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","layout":"no-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":"Foundation announces new leadership as it reports $3.2 million in local grants awarded in 2025"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n