Kimbookai Children's Museum
The Team: Board of Directors
Marianela Peña, President Lin-Lin Ava Tsou-Otani, Vice President Cherryl Figone, Treasurer R. Fewel, Secretary
Marianela has a wide range of business experience specializing in the areas of market research and analysis. Until 2001, she worked as a product manager for Nextron Communication where she oversaw the developmental cycle of the company’s flagship product. Prior to Nextron, she was a project coordinator for International Survey Research, a Chicago-based consultancy. A native of Venezuela, Marianela served as a senior economist for Procompetencia, the government’s antitrust office, and as a financial analyst for the banking industry. She is the mother of two small girls. Marianela holds a BA degree from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello and an MBA from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion in Caracas, Venezula.
Lin-Lin works for the Cupertino Moreland and Saratoga Union School Districts as a long-term substitute teacher. She is actively involved in her church, children’s schools, community and family. Lin-Lin has a varied and international background. She studied Mandarin with the Education Abroad Program in Taipei, worked for the Japanese Embassy teaching English in Morioka, Japan and studied Japanese at the Hokkaido Japanese School in Sapporo, Japan. The mother of three active children, Lin-Lin is a founding member and driving force behind Kimbookai. She conceived the idea of creating a children’s museum for the Tri-City areas of Fremont, Union City and Newark in the San Francisco/Bay Area and has worked tirelessly to make the dream a reality. Lin-Lin received her BA in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a minor in East Asian Studies.
A native of Burma, Cherryl brings a unique international perspective to the Kimbooaki Board, as well as solid accounting experience. While studying for her business administration degree in this country, she worked at the college bookstore and for Malone Associates as a bookkeeper and accounting clerk. The mother of two active girls, Cherryl has been working for the Fremont Unified School District as a teacher’s aide for parenting classes for the past several years. Cherryl holds a BS degree in Physics from Rangoon University in Burma and AA degree in Business Administration from Cañada College in Redwood City.
Ms. Fewel has spent most of her career creating life-enhancing programs for low-income and disadvantaged adults. She is currently working at Santa Rita prison as a teacher for adult men and women, teaching computer skills. She also coordinates the academic assessment of students and is an active official GED examiner. She has served as a program manager, case manager and housing inspector for homeless families in the affordable housing industry. Randy is also a registered cosmetologist and worked in the beauty industry for a well-known stylist. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Management, has served on the boards of many community organizations and is Past President of the American Association of University Women, Fremont Branch.
Joel Butler, Database Director
Joel is a Librarian for the Alameda Free Library and has previously worked for the Butte County Library and the Pleasanton City Library as well. He was born in San Francisco and attended Lowell High School in that city. He received a BA in Drama from California State University Stanislaus and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. Joel has worked with several non-profit theater companies in the Bay Area and Chico and as Database Director, keeps track of Kimbookai’s volunteers and donors.
Shirley Gilbert, Communications Director
Shirley is a Canadian citizen born in Toronto. After graduating with a Journalism degree from Ryerson Institute of Technology in Toronto, she joined the staff of the Toronto Telegram and was sent to Japan as a foreign correspondent where she lived for eleven years with her husband and two children. While in Japan, she graduated from Sophia University in Tokyo with a BA in Far East Area Studies. Since returning to the U.S. and California, Shirley has worked as a Communications Manager and Director for Hewlett-Packard and Xilinx, Inc. She retired three years ago and has since worked with several non-profits as Board Member, website content manager and communications director.