Board of Directors

As a retired software engineer from NASA/Ames Research Center, Jeff has lived in downtown San Jose since 2000. He became interested in beer and brewing while in grad school at Texas A&M. Jeff homebrewed for about nine years after a trip to Germany in 1986. He has been a member of the co-op since 2013 and was elected to the board in 2014.

When Noelle joined our co-op back in 2013, she was intrigued about the possibility of creating a cooperative brewpub and brewery. In college, she worked and lived in the Berkeley Student Cooperative, the largest student housing co-op in the nation. Shortly after joining Umunhum Brewing, she volunteered to run the Board of Directors elections (when it was done by mail and with paper ballots). She’s been an active member ever since, serving multiples terms on the board, with an interest in membership engagement and outreach to other co-ops.

I have served almost two years in my current position on the Board. I was nominated to the Board by several of its current members. Over the last two years, I have learned a lot about the Coop and its history. I look forward to continuing to learn about the Coop while also taking my past experiences from working with several non-profit organizations to help the Coop maintain its current status and build a base that we can grow from.

Jim joined the board in February 2020. Originally from New York, Jim has lived in San Jose for over 20 years but has been enjoying beer long before that. He took his interest to the next level and has been pursuing microbreweries since the ‘90s. Jim enjoys seeking out new breweries, especially when he travels. He funds his beer passion by serving as chief financial officer of publicly-traded technology companies in Silicon Valley.

A fourth-generation South Bay native, Laura enjoyed a long career as a residential design professional prior to joining the Umunhum Brewing sales team, where she continues to expand our co-op's footprint. Currently in the process of becoming certified cicerone, she looks forward to bringing her experience operating a small business to the co-op.