The Venice Heritage Foundation is a broad-based organization, big in heart and community spirit, devoted to serving the needs of the greater Venice community.
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The Board of Directors is composed of representatives of Venice’s diverse culture and dedicated individuals from beyond the Venice community who all share a passion for the preservation of Venice history, past and present. 

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​Asterisk (*) denotes Founding Members

GRANT FRANCIS*, PRESIDENT

​A retired woodshop teacher from Venice High School (some know him as “Mr. Francis”), Grant worked on Venice High’s 100th Anniversary and the Myrna Loy statue restoration project. A skilled carpenter, he heads up our Red Car renovation team.

STEPHEN POULIOT*, VICE PRESIDENT

A writer / producer of television specials, including The Oscars and political events. Stephen restored one of the oldest homes in Venice, The Venice of America House.  The home is now a National Landmark and a Los Angeles Historic Monument.

ELAYNE ALEXANDER*, HISTORIAN

A Venice historian and author, Elayne served on the board of Venice Historical Society for 18 years and Los Angeles Genealogical Society for a decade, where she held the presidency of each society.  Elayne has written six books on Venice history and a soon-to-be published biography of Abbot Kinney, founder of Venice.

WOODROW C. COVINGTON, TREASURER

With Southern California family roots and an avid interest in history, Woody Covington fell in love with Venice after moving to Los Angeles. He’s excited to tell the Venice story and bring its rich history to life, and happy to help the VHF with whatever needs doing. You can usually find him either on the beach or in the water when he’s not working.

KRISTINA VON HOFFMANN, SECRETARY

Kristina is a born-and-raised Venetian who grew up cruising the streets of Venice on her longboard and beach cruiser. She currently serves as the Senior Operations Director for the award-winning climate solutions and advocacy organization, Climate Resolve. Kristina manages the Venice Heritage social media accounts as well as heads up the Capital Campaign Committee raising funds to launch the Museum. She is grateful to be giving back to the community that raised her while helping to inspire newfound love and appreciation for Venice history across generations.

CAROL LEVY

Carol is the founder of Pilot Light Foundation, an organization that works with people living in extreme poverty in Africa to help them improve their lives through creating a sustainable, livable income. She first discovered Venice as a teenager and over the years spent much time making friends with local artists. After raising her (now grown) family in Malibu, Carol and her husband moved to Venice 8 years ago. She loves the community that is now her home and is fascinated by the rich, diverse history. Carol had wondered why Venice lacked a heritage museum and was thrilled to learn about the group working to make this a reality and to be part of it.

SERGIO ENRIQUEZ

Sergio is a recent graduate in Sustainable Cultural Heritage from the American University of Rome. He is enthusiastic about showcasing Venice’s unique and oftentimes unknown history within Los Angeles County. His ultimate goal as a board member is to motivate diverse communities to participate in cross-cultural interactions for the conservation of Venice’s cultural heritage.

NIKA DUNNE

Nika loves Venice, history, movies, dogs, and her husband, Martin Meunier, with whom she works on stop motion animation films. She is originally from New York’s Greenwich Village and when she came to Venice finally felt at home again.

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SARAH SCHACHT*

Sarah has been an educator for 4 decades. Together with her husband John, Sarah acquires, archives, and preserves unique collections of Venice artifacts for future generations—currently housed safely in the home they have shared on the Canals since the mid-1980s.

TAKARA TOMEONI ADAIR

Takara is a lifelong visual artist specializing in mixed media sculpture, exhibits, and design. She is a native of Venice whose family runs four generations deep, and after moving away, Takara returns to contribute to a dream shared to see Venice have its own museum.

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​VOLUNTEERS

​Thank you to our current committee volunteers: Jason Benesch; Michael Murphy; Marilyn Ramirez; Justin Yoshimaru.

 HONORARY & ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

 OUR HONORARY BOARD consists of Representative Jane Harman, former Member of Congress, 36th District; Representative Ted Lieu, Assembly member, 33rd District; Orson (d.2020) & Alley Mills Bean; Tony Bill; The Estate of Ray Bradbury (d.2012); Roy & Carol Doumani; Frank Gehry; Robert Graham (d.2008); Huell Howser (d.2013); The Kendrick Kinney Family; Harlan Lee; Fred Machado; Elly Nesis; Earl Newman, 1960s-70s Venice artist; George Pryce, Grandson of Irving Tabor; Tom Schnabel, DJ and sound selector, and Alex and Edizen Stowell, Venice Paparazzi.

 OUR ADVISORY BOARD consists of Chance Foreman, That Step Productions; David Hertz, AIA, Studio for Environmental Architecture; Josh “Bagel” Klassman, Underground Venice Photographer; Juri Koll, Venice Institute of Contemporary Art; Spanto, Co-founder, Born x Raised; and Pep Williams, Fine Art Photographer.

EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS

• ​Maxine Leral*: A 30+ year Venice Canals resident, Maxine, together with her husband, Murray, spearheaded the massive 10-year restoration of the remaining historic Venice Canals. Maxine is a past-president of the Friends of the Venice Library, the Venice Canals Foundation, and Venice Canals Association.
• Nadine Parkos*: With a long record of Venice volunteerism, she has served on the boards of the Venice Neighborhood Council, the Venice Canals Association, Friends of the Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Library, the Venice Canals Foundation, and the Venice Historical Society.
• Bonnie Poon: With credentials in History, Art History, and Arts Administration, Bonnie has worked in museums for 15 years, including the Fowler, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Bard Graduate Center.
• Daniel Samakow*: The well-known restauranteur of Venice’s own James’ Beach, and the former Danny’s Deli and Canal Club. Daniel is a Venice historic preservationist and spearheaded the re-creation of the Venice Sign in collaboration with Todd von Hoffmann (noted below).
• Paul Tanck*: A graphic designer, historian, and poet, Paul wrote a column and book on Venice history, entitled “Venice Firsts.” Paul designs many VHF publications. Together, Stephen Pouliot and Paul Tanck create unique Venice historical community calendars and postcards, which have become collectors’ items.
• Todd von Hoffmann*: A specialist in event programming, Todd was a lead organizer of the Venice Centennial celebration and served as Project Manager for the Venice Sign Restoration Project. He also helped lead the team behind the beloved annual Oakwood BBQ Picnic in partnership with Fire Station 63 for a decade.

In addition to the VHF’s Board members, we thank the many other enthusiastic Venetians who are contributing their time, talents, and financial support to help realize this exciting project.