Daria Charlesworth, President 

Daria lives in Kenwood Park with her husband Paul and has been a full-time resident of UP since 2008. "Every day, I say we are the luckiest people in the world to live in UP!" Prior to moving to Florida, Daria and Paul lived in Morristown, NJ. They have two daughters who live in Los Angeles and Seattle. Daria has been involved in the UPWC since 2022, when she retired from her full-time job as Director of Nursing at a residential adolescent behavioral health facility in Bradenton. Daria has a master's in nursing from Rutgers University and she still works part-time as an RN. Her UPWC involvements are French Conversation, Art Discovery, and Film Fans, in addition to being a past luncheon chair in 2023-2024. 

Jan Doench, Treasurer 

Jan graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Business Education. Shortly thereafter she joined IBM and moved to Dallas, Texas. Over the next 12 years, IBM moved her every two years from Dallas to Houston and back to Dallas. She loved living in Texas! IBM next sent her to Washington D.C where she spent the 14 years. Her job responsibilities continued to increase over time and she spent the last 25 years as a global manager and a global Executive.

When she retired she was serving as the Global Sales Executive responsible for Platform Computing. IBM sponsored her for an Executive MBA at George Mason University where she had the opportunity to attend Oxford. In 2009, she went back to school and earned a doctorate in business administration. She began teaching as an Adjunct Professor and retired from IBM after 41 years. She is still teaching for two universities. She has served UPWC in the past as Social Chairman, Outreach Chairman, 2nd Vice President, and President. She is looking forward to working on the Board again. Did she mention she also loves living in Sarasota?

Jane McIntosh, Recording Secretary

Jane McIntosh lives in Eaton Place with her husband, Michael Weis. After almost 30 years in central NJ, they lived in Santa Fe, NM for 6 years before settling here in mid-2019. After earning an MBA from Columbia University in 1980, Jane worked in new services development at HJ Heinz and Johnson & Johnson affiliate companies. In 1990, she left the corporate world to partner in various small publishing entities. Between 2005 and 2015 she produced a series of 10 guides to historic art sites in Italy. In 2015 she launched ArtGeek.art, an interactive website search tool for art lovers who travel, facilitating exploration of almost 1700 art museums, gardens, and historic houses in the U.S. Besides art and travel, Jane enjoys reading, painting, gardening, friends, and Florida living.

Alison Sackley, Membership Executive

Alison was born and raised in the United Kingdom, the eldest daughter of a Royal Naval helicopter Test Pilot and Special Ed. Teacher/Child Psychologist. For educational and social stability Alison attended boarding school in the UK from ages 11-18 where she made some long-lasting friendships. She graduated as a Food Process Engineer from Loughborough University.   After 3 years working at a flavor company and then a flour milling company and baking research center, Alison joined the Kellogg Company in Manchester, England in 1987 as a Product Developer.  Alison moved to Kellogg HQ in Battle Creek Michigan with her new husband Brian in 1997.  After 32 years in various technical leadership positions working long days and traveling globally, she retired in 2019. Alison and Brian purchased their first home in UP from a close friend’s parents in the Wentworth neighborhood and after 5 years decided they loved the community, but needed a little more space and moved to Regents Park.  They still spend summers in West Michigan taking their pontoon boat out on one of Michigan’s many small inland lakes and spending time with friends. Alison and Brian also love to travel, enjoy good food and wine, and play tennis, pickleball and euchre together. After retiring Alison joined the board and started volunteering for a local non-profit providing legal assistance to residents of their county, most of which are unable to afford legal representation. Alison is a member of a book club in Michigan and enjoys knitting including prosthetic breasts for an organization called ‘Knitted Knockers’ distributing these soft and lifelike breasts to those needing them after mastectomy surgery.

Viveca Wright, Ways and Means Executive

Viveca and her husband (Ryvers) have owned their home in the Stanhope section of University Park since 2021.  They retired and moved to Florida full time in the summer of 2024.  She moved here from Richmond Virginia, where she and her family lived for 30 years. She has 3 young adult children, a wonderful son-in-law and a grandson.  She is a CPA and worked in corporate finance ( Treasury, Strategic/Financial Planning and Controllership functions) for both Fortune 250 and medium sized companies.  She graduated from the University of Miami with an MBA and Master of Accounting. She is a native Floridian and is very happy to be living in Florida again. She enjoys golfing, traveling, going to the beach and throwing dinner parties.

Nancy Allen, Special Interest Groups Executive

Nancy and her husband, Rich purchased their home in Hampton Green in 2022 and they became official residents in 2024. Although they spent most of their lives in Pennsylvania, they have a connection to Siesta Key, Florida. During one of their beach trips, they found University Park Golf Course….and that single golf game ultimately led them to live in University Park.

Nancy raised her three children while working part-time in the healthcare arena. Once the kids were older she obtained her RN, BSN and MBA. After a brief time in Pediatric Intensive Care Nursing she went into a career in Pharmaceutical Research and Development, working in many therapeutic areas, but mainly focused on Oncology clinical trials. After remarrying, relocating and retiring in short order, life changed quite a bit. The blended family has doubled in size to six children and thirteen grandchildren. Because the grandchildren and their parents live all over the United States, Nancy spends a good deal of time making travel plans.

Nancy’s to do list includes becoming fluent in Spanish and writing a children’s book. She loves to meet people, try new things (especially new food and wine) and thoroughly enjoys making a challenging jigsaw puzzle.

Carol Shabe, Luncheon Executive

My husband and I are from Queens, New York. We have lived on Long Island, in East Northport, and Commack. And in the Greater Northwest Washington, D.C. area for 32 years where we raised our three children. We came to Florida via Coconut Grove, Miami where I served as Head of School, and we lived there for 14 years.  We have been full time residents of UPCC for seven years and living the “dream” retirement in Virginia Water. Jack and I have been active on various community committees: Jack currently serves on the UPCC Ponds Committee and served on the Virginia Water Committee for several years. I served UPWC as former Publicity Chair and 2nd VP and 1^st VP. I play tennis on the UPCC Tennis Team and am a very beginner golfer. I love to cook and entertain, shop, and be outdoors. We enjoy meeting friends and attending UPCC and UPWC events and the opportunities of the area’s cultural and dining scene.

I am an experienced educator holding a M.S. Ed. in School Leadership, Ph.D. coursework in Educational Leadership and Public Policy, and a B.S. in Education. In my long career in independent education, I have been a Head of School at two schools and Interim Head of school at three schools in Maryland and Florida. My background as senior administrator at the Sidwell Friends School led to the endeavor of a lifetime, the founding of a school in Potomac, Maryland. Along the way I have served as an education consultant for several organizations, and most recently chairing the school accreditation committees for the Association of Independent Schools of Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Barbara Brooks, Ex-Officio President

Barbara and her husband, Peter, started in University Park in 2007 and moved from Edgewater, NJ to became full time residents in Jan 2019. Barbara joined the UPWC in 2021 and started the Special Interest Group for birding where she continues to serve as chair of this popular group. Barbara and Peter are active in various community committees both in their Wentworth neighborhood and for UPCC including the UPCC Social committee, and Racquets committee. She also volunteered to be part of the Answer to Cancer SRQ committee for 2024.

Barbara has an M.A. from The Ohio State University and spent her corporate life leading sales & leadership training departments for several Fortune 100 financial services/insurance companies. She retired as VP of Learning & Development for Prudential. Today she enjoys tennis, scuba diving, birding and hanging out with her 2 grandsons in Miami.

EXECUTIVE BOARD CO-CHAIR BIOS 
AS CO-CHAIRS, THESE LADIES RECEIVE SUPPORT AND TRAINING FOR EXECUTIVE BOARD JOBS
THAT THEY MAY TAKE ON IN THE COMING YEAR.

Betty Boswell, Co-Treasurer

Betty was born and raised in Southern California and moved to Sarasota in August, 2019 from Alexandria, Virginia. Betty met and married a Naval officer, having been introduced to him by her brother Jim Barrett.  They moved every two to three years with the Navy – from Hawaii to Connecticut to Washington, Virginia, Germany and then back to Virginia for post-Navy life. Betty’s first career as a paralegal, of necessity, was transportable due to the frequent moves with the Navy. The second part of her work life was as an analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (a not-for-profit organization that supports the US Government), on projects for several Department of Defense and intelligence agencies. Betty knew she wanted to retire in a year-round warm climate. Having visited her brother and sister-in-law (Jim and Barbara Barrett, our SIG Website Coordinator) several times since they moved to UPCC, and loving the Sarasota area, it was not a hard decision to settle here.  Betty still consults for IDA, sings in her church choir, and enjoys mahjong, book club and the cultural life Sarasota offers.

Lisa Foster, Membership Co-Chair

  After more than four decades navigating the fast-paced world of Marketing Analytics and Research, Lisa has officially closed the laptop and opened a new chapter –retirement.  She and her husband Mike, both proud Michigan State Spartans (GO GREEN), are embracing their long-awaited snowbird lifestyle, splitting time between the charm of coastal Connecticut and the sunshine and culture of Sarasota.  Originally from Westport, CT, Lisa met Bloomfield Hills native Mike at MSU.  They later planted roots in Weston, CT where they raised two children before settling into their current home in Old Saybrook.  But after a few idyllic winters spend renting in Sarasota, the sunshine won them over for good –they made it official with the purchase of a home on Ascot Court, UP, in July 2024.  Lisa’s retirement isn’t about slowing down –it’s about shifting gears.  Her calendar is already packed with golf, pickleball, tennis, long walks and hikes and card games (canasta and euchre are favorites).  She’s a lifelong lover of theater, books, travel and enjoys nothing more than gathering friends and family for good food and conversation.  With years of nonprofit board experience back in Connecticut, Lisa is a welcome addition to the UPWC Team.  

Gail Gaum, Special Interest Groups Co-Chair

GailGaum and her husband Winston relocated to UPCC permanently in 2021 from Upstate NY, Cincinnati, Ohio and originally from Canada. They have three children and five grandchildren. Gail has a BSN, BBA and MBA and has held several positions due to their frequent moves to facilitate her husband's training. She has been VP of Marketing Research, Director of a Cancer Center, Director of a private Home Care  company and NE Director of Operations for a national home care company which involved P&L oversight and QA compliance of multiple agencies. 

Gail currently serves as Neighborhood Liaison for Heathfield Ct. and Marlow. She is Chair of the Gourmet Cooking SIG and Co-Chair for the Special Interest Group. Her passion is cooking, entertaining and learning to play bridge.

Lisa Pafe, Outreach Chair

Lisa Pafe lives in Henley with her husband Bob and their chihuahua Little Su. They moved to Florida in 2023 from the Washington, DC area, and spend summers in Maryland. They are proud parents of adult children Ben and Rachel. Lisa has 40 years of experience in government contracting, training, project management and business development. She is a devoted yoga practitioner, yoga teacher, and USA Yoga Federation competitor. She also enjoys strength training, nature, travel, art, reading, and wine. Previous Board experience includes serving on the Outreach Committee for USA Yoga. For the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), she served in elected two-year terms as President, Vice President, and Speaker Series Chair on the APMP National Capital Area Chapter Board of Directors. She holds a BA in Political Science, Yale University; MPP, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and an Executive MIS, the George Washington University.

Heidi Goff,  Website Administrator

Heidi was a senior financial executive in NYC during much of her life. When the NE winds just got too cold, Alan and Heidi moved to Sarasota in 2005, living in a Downtown condo at 100 Central. After six years downtown, the Goff’s moved to Lakewood Ranch where they enjoyed the lifestyle at Country Club East. Heidi participated in her neighborhood as Landscape Chair and the Neighborhood Representative to the BOD. Alan passed away in 2020 after 46 years of a great marriage. So, looking around for a change in life, Heidi moved to Palm Aire in 2022 where she joined UPCC and has been having a great time meeting the women of UPWC. Heidi is an avid reader, golfs two or three times a week, needlepoints and spends much of her time with her large family in the Sarasota area. She loves the beach, her friends, traveling and a good glass of wine.

Nancy Erskine, Communications and Publicity Coordinator

Nancy Erskine and her husband, Mark Vassalotti, started wintering at UP in 2020 when they rented a home, fell in love with the place, and bought a house before their rental was complete. They still spend summers in Stamford, CT. Nancy retired in 2022 from Gartner, an IT and business research and consulting firm based in Stamford, CT, after 32 years there. Her career included stints in Research and Consulting divisions, with her last 18 years being an ombudsperson and head of legal & ethical compliance for the company. She retired so she could spend time with her two very small grandkids (the oldest is 2), who live in Dallas, TX, as well as with her husband, who retired in 2017. Nancy serves as VP of Governance on the board of directors for the Stamford Center for the Arts, a local CT non-profit theater and education organization. She graduated from St. Lawrence University in NY as a writing major and still enjoys all forms of writing (except perhaps poetry). You’ll see Nancy at Pure Barre Lakewood Ranch most mornings, and she also loves to read, cook and entertain. Recently added activities include pickle ball and gardening; it’s amazing how much time you have when you retire!

Joanna Martinez, Social Events Chair

Joanna Martinez has lived in University Park since 2018, first in the Wentworth neighborhood and now in Eaton. She holds both BS and MS degrees in engineering from Rutgers University and was a licensed Professional Engineer. Joanna worked in manufacturing and supply chain roles for various Johnson & Johnson companies, then became global Chief Procurement Officer for Diageo, Alliance Bernstein, and finally Cushman & Wakefield. Since 2016, she’s worked independently, often educating individuals and businesses on technology, process improvement, and better ways to engage their stakeholders. She published a book, “A Guide to Positive Disruption” about finding and implementing positive changes at work.

Joanna and her late husband Will have three children and four grandchildren, most of whom live in the NYC area.  She is an avid traveler and has visited the Eight Wonders of the Modern World. Joanna also enjoys entertaining, dining, theater and other live events, watercolor classes, learning new games especially canasta, the movie and wine groups at UP, and Friday night happy hours with her Wentworth friends. She loves to connect interesting people with each other, creating a community along the way.

Diane Efthimides, Social Events Co-Chair

Diane and her husband, Emil, came to Sarasota in late 2018 from Central New Jersey and they joined the University Park Country Club as tennis members shortly afterward. Diane retired from a career in marketing and general management in the financial services industry, primarily for American Express and Merrill Lynch. At American Express, Diane led the development and launch of the AmEx Gift Card the stored-value business. She also had significant marketing roles in credit card development and partnership marketing. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a BA in Economics from Villanova University. When she is not enjoying her many activities at UPCC, Diane can be often found at the Ringling Museum, where she is a docent at the Art Museum and the Ca d’Zan.

Beth Bertsch, Corresponding Secretary

Beth lives with her husband Gary in Heathfield. They moved from NJ to Bradenton in 2008 where they lived for 6 years before moving to UPCC. Beth retired from Johnson & Johnson as a World-Wide Director of Information Technology; most recently working in Pharmaceutical Research. She also worked on Wall Street for EDS and as a systems engineer/Program Manager at Pan American Airways and AT&T/Bell Labs. She has a degree in Mathematics from Wheaton College and did her MBA work at Seton Hall University. She is a Six-Sigma Black Belt in Business Improvement. Currently she volunteers at the Mote Aquarium as a Team Leader at the Marine Mammal Center and works at the Dolphin & Whale Hospital and the Turtle Hatchling Hospital and was on the original Planning Board and Board of Supervisors for University Park. Beth is also the Heathfield representative for the UPCC Community Emergency Response Team. She is a Past President of UPWC and of Sarasota Newcomers Club. Beth and Gary have a son living in Virginia with many grand dogs and cats and another son, daughter-in-law, & grandkids who live in St. Louis. Her interests include traveling, as well as cooking, swimming, sailing, non-traditional quilting and, most of all, meeting and making new friends through UPWC.

Cynde Mutryn, Historian

Cynde and her husband, Bill, bought their first home in UPCC’s Virginia Water in 2010 and moved to Mayfair in 2015, where they reside from November through April. During June through October, they live near their family in McLean, Virginia and near Annapolis, Maryland on the Severn River. A native Hoosier, growing up in Indianapolis, Rushville, and Fort Wayne, Cynde has resided with Bill in the Washington, DC area, since their marriage 53 years ago. Cynde is a retired educator, with a B.S. and M.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Maryland and has taught students from preschool through college level and co-chaired the development of a pioneering “Fire Safety Curriculum for Young Children”. For 6 years she served as a project manager at Maryland Public Television, managing projects to educate K-12 teachers in the MPT viewing area how to integrate technology into their curricula. She especially enjoyed her long-term projects, with partners at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, to enable middle and high school teachers in the planning of lessons about environmental health and cancer.Cynde is a long-time student of history anda genealogist; an ardent antiquer; and is almost finished writing her memoirs, ready to publish soon. She enjoys time with her daughter and son and their families (7 grandchildren), attending concerts and musicals, travelling, entertaining guests, and creating & crafting necklaces.