Board of Directors

Michael Kadel, a dedicated C-level executive and board director, exemplifies servant leadership, prioritizing people and fostering strong relationships. His commitment to driving change, passion for nurturing talent, and unwavering dedication to leader engagement have consistently delivered high-growth, performance-driven cultures under his guidance. Michael boasts extensive expertise in the financial services industry, spanning Retail, Business, and Digital Banking to Private, Commercial, and Wealth Management, as well as Corporate Marketing and Communications. His entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to make informed decisions, and empowerment of others have consistently delivered exceptional client experiences. Michael has also played a pivotal role in seven successful mergers and acquisitions, offering invaluable insights to small and medium-sized businesses in areas such as Human Resources, Finance/Accounting, and Leading large retail experience teams in credit unions and community banks, Michael has orchestrated successful loan and deposit growth strategies, resulting in multiple “President’s Club” awards for his teams. His leadership has driven impactful re-branding initiatives, including the development of a culture-focused M&A playbook, ensuring a seamless integration of cultures in mergers and acquisitions and achieving a remarkable 95% employee retention rate. Throughout his career, Michael has fostered achievement-oriented cultures rooted in accountability, recognition, engagement, and innovation. He has championed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies, resulting in a 5% improvement in workforce diversity across organizations. Michael actively contributes to various boards, including Working Solutions, the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, Marin Economic Forum, and Marin Literacy, currently serving as Vice Chair of the Board of By The Bay Health. His board roles have encompassed leadership positions in governance, finance, compensation, and human resources committees. Michael has spearheaded numerous projects aimed at enhancing customer experiences, including a significant core conversion project for a San Francisco-based credit union. This project led to substantial membership growth and streamlined product launches, reducing the time required to open online memberships from days to minutes. The technology overhaul eliminated over 500 legacy programs, aligning processes with cutting-edge solutions. Michael’s cross-functional leadership style has fostered strategic alliances, both internally and externally, resulting in stellar outcomes and empowered teams. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University and is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School, where he now serves as an executive student advisor, sharing insights from his DEI experiences. In his personal life, he resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys hiking, traveling, and is an avid reader.

Leon Metz is native of San Francisco and attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2001 and is a California Certified Public Accountant. He specializes in compliance and planning for individuals, partnerships, closely held corporations and non-profit organizations. Leon volunteers his time with many non-profit organizations in the Bay Area and currently serves as the treasurer on the board of directors of Huckleberry Youth Programs. An avid sports fan, he can often be found in the stands cheering on one of his favorite Bay Area sports teams.

Melanie Baskind is a pediatric hospitalist at MarinHealth Medical Center, where she attends high risk deliveries, takes care of pediatric patients, well newborns and infants in the Neonatal ICU. After graduating from Harvard Medical School, she moved to California to complete her pediatrics residency at UCSF followed by a chief residency year. She was drawn to pediatrics because of the inherent advocacy in the field and is passionate about reproductive justice, mental health, preventative, holistic care and ultimately empowering patients and their families through education. She first got involved with Huckleberry while in residency and is humbled to be able to serve and help support such an impactful organization. She lives in Marin with her husband and dog and outside of the hospital can be found on a nearby soccer field.

Lanier has worked for health care delivery systems for 18 years with a focus on bringing high quality, affordable medical care to Northern California communities. Early in Lanier’s career she worked for the Red Cross, and California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), followed by Sutter Health and now Kaiser Permanente. Lanier lives in San Francisco with her husband and three children. From serving on the board of her children’s school to fundraising for the San Francisco Symphony’s music education programs, Lanier is passionate about making San Francisco a city where all children can thrive.

John is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and Principal at NewEdge Wealth, working with affluent families, non-profit organizations and business owners to provide comprehensive wealth management and wealth strategy services. Prior to joining NewEdge Wealth in 2023, John was a Managing Director and Wealth Manager at First Republic Investment Management in San Francisco for 15 years. John is an active volunteer and supporter of Bay Area youth organizations including a memorable 4-year role as middle school volleyball coach and a 9-year term on the Board of the San Francisco Waldorf School. John and his wife Pam relocated to San Francisco’s west side in 2021. Outside of the office, they can be found tracking their four adult children, running at Ocean Beach, hiking the coastal Redwoods or just exploring the City’s restaurants, farmer’s markets and live performances.

Harvey Koo is a transactions lead at Nuveen Real Estate, a wholly owned subsidiary of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America. In his current role, he is responsible for the growth of Nuveen’s affordable housing platform in the West Coast. Prior to this, Harvey was an Assistant Portfolio Manager for Nuveen’s life science fund, and covered life science and office acquisitions in the Northwest region. In that role, he focused on business plan execution on projects ranging from ground-up development to stabilized assets totaling over $1.5 billion. Before joining Nuveen Real Estate in 2020, Harvey served as a development manager for a Hong Kong firm specializing in housing development and management, where he led construction efforts for a $300 million ground-up residential project. Harvey began his career as an analyst at Hines with a focus on acquisitions and development. Harvey graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.

Elom Kpordze is an experienced wealth management executive with a demonstrated history of leading teams of highly specialized investment professionals to advise/manage the global assets of UHNW (Ultra High Net Worth) individuals and their philanthropic ventures. Prior to his current position as Managing Director (Deutsche Bank – International Private Bank), Elom was a Director at Citi Private Bank where he led business development on the west coast for Citi Private bank’s employee Stock Ownership Plan (‘ESOP”)/1042 lending initiative and served as co-chair for Citi’s Black Heritage Affinity Group and as a talent committee member on Citi’s California State Leadership Council. Elom holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering and an MBA from the Haas School of Business – UC Berkeley.

Zoraida Rodriguez is a Bay Area native, first generation Mexican American. She is an experienced Human Resources leader with a demonstrated history of working in the tech start up industry. Zoraida is passionate about giving back to the community. Prior to joining Huckleberry's Executive Board, she served on the Huckleberry Young Professionals Board as a founding member, in 2018.

Pat is a retired partner in the Real Estate & Construction Group and represented owners and developers of commercial real estate projects in the U.S. and internationally, sponsors in the formation of real estate funds, sellers and investors in the acquisition and disposition of commercial properties and tenants of major office and industrial projects. Pat is the former Partner-in-Charge of the Baker Botts San Francisco office.

Tyler Swain is a leader in Deloitte Consulting’s health care strategy practice focused on growth strategy, design, and implementation. He works with private and public health plans, health systems, and nonprofits to define new care delivery and technology capabilities, build forward-looking strategies, and execute large business transformations. 

At Huckleberry, Tyler was a founding member and inaugural Chair of the Huckleberry Young Professionals Board. He holds Master's Degrees in business administration and public health from UC Berkeley, where he first began volunteering with Huckleberry. Tyler and his husband Juan moved to the Bay Area in 2016 and relocated to San Francisco's Nob Hill in 2018. Outside of work, look for Tyler on the hiking trails or in the city's beautiful parks with his dog, Baxter.

Annemarie Clark
Ruth Cowan
Bernie Nebenzahl
Don Rubin
Brian Swift