Our staff

Executive Director

Melissa is a well known and respected nonprofit leader with over 20 years of experience supporting traditionally under-served communities. Most recently, Melissa served for nearly 15 years as the Executive Director of San Mateo County’s only domestic violence services agency, CORA. Prior to that, she provided training and consulting on governance-related issues to local nonprofit boards. Melissa knows San Mateo County well, has a track record for building strong relationships with local and regional funders and creating strong partnerships with a wide variety of community leaders.

She and her daughter, their dog and four chickens are residents of Belmont.

Development and Communications Manager

Alie has been in the nonprofit world for most of her career as a volunteer, board member, and staff. After completing her BA in Art History from UC Berkeley and her MBA from New York University she worked in direct marketing, theater education, and magazine publishing. Alie began working in development while at the Oak Hill School for children with autism. Continuing to pursue her passion to support education she then moved to the public school sector working for the Redwood High School Foundation and co-founding Schools Rule Marin, a fundraising nonprofit supporting public schools in Marin County. For the past six years Alie worked in development and community relations helping to grow the Sterne School in San Francisco. A fourth generation Bay Area native, she is thrilled to be working on the Peninsula helping RTP bring volunteers and community together. Alie and her husband have three grown children. She loves writing children’s books, hiking, yoga, and everything chocolate.

Director of Programs

Greg came to the non-profit world after a mid-life career change. He spent the first twenty years in software working as a back end and systems engineer. After the dot com crash of the early 2000s, he traded in fluorescent lights for fencing, pipe dreams for plumbing, and computers for caring. After spending a few years working for a commercial contractor, Greg ventured out on his own running a home repair business for nearly a decade. Eventually he was persuaded to join Habitat for Humanity as a Site Supervisor in early 2014. Greg joined RTP in 2017 after a reduction in force at Habitat. He now assists home owners with their projects as well as working with the technicians in his new capacity. He is also an avid ice hockey fan (Detroit Red Wings) as well as an old punk music fan (though his days in the mosh pit are long behind him…).

Accountant/Consultant

Jan began her career in the nonprofit world working for Planned Parenthood of San Mateo County. After working in the legal sector and as operations manager for a San Francisco startup, she transitioned to accounting consulting specializing in small businesses and nonprofits. Jan’s first involvement with RTP was as a volunteer on an NRD project in 1993. The experience impressed her greatly, and she stayed connected to the organization as an annual donor. In 2003, she offered her services as a volunteer to modernize the accounting system and take over accounting duties. In 2004, she was hired as an independent contractor/consultant to handle all accounting tasks for the organization, a position she has held since then, making her the longest serving person in the RTP family. As she says, “Why not? RTP people are the best!”

A transplant from the Chicago area, Jan constantly celebrates the beauty and progressive attitude of the Bay Area and her luck in ending up in California. She loves reading, hiking, yoga, and was recruited years ago to take up scuba diving by her husband and son.

Project Manager

Josh Woodruff joined Rebuilding Together Peninsula (RTP) on August 10th, 2018. He is originally from Dayton, Ohio but spent quite some time in Atlanta, Georgia as well before moving to California for his AmeriCorps service. For about four years now, Josh has owned and run his own small urban clothing line called “Rebirth of Royalty”. Prior to RTP, Josh worked at a small credit union corporate office in Dayton called Wright-Patt Credit Union. He also competed once in a Men’s Physique Competition in Cincinnati and placed 3rd in his show! Josh has always had a passion for lending a helping hand and finds Rebuilding Together Peninsula a great way to continue to pursue his passion. RTP feels incredibly lucky to welcome such a warm-hearted and hard-working entrepreneur to the team!

Program Coordinator

​Esmeralda has worked for nonprofits for 12 years serving populations from children to seniors. At Head Start, through the Santa Clara Office of Education, she facilitated a team of parenting classes and conducted supervised visits for child custody cases. While working at Abode she was a case manager. Esmeralda is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Psychology. She lives in Belmont where she enjoys trips to the beach for picnics and taking sewing classes at Canada College. She is thrilled to be a part of the RTP team where she can dive into our programs and learn everything about construction.

Development & Data Coordinator

Georgia graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Rhetoric. She grew up in the Bay Area and is excited to work with RTP and serve some of the vibrant communities that have shaped her. Georgia’s experience includes working for the Stanford Law School assisting with database, website, admin duties and event management; and interning at the Riekes Center Film Barn and Fresh Takes Media Arts Center. She is dedicated to serving her community and lives by the motto, “Leave things better than you found them.” In her free time, Georgia enjoys going to concerts, making short films, scavenging thrift stores for vinyl records, and traveling.

Senior Repair Technician

Frank Tijerina comes to RTP with over 20 years of experience in construction. He loves helping neighbors to stay safe and healthy in their homes and finds his work with RTP very rewarding.

Repair Technician