Monique Sugimoto, Chair

Monique Leahy Sugimoto grew up mostly in El Paso Texas and lives in Palos Verdes Estates with her husband Haru. She studied at the University of Texas at Austin. After teaching French in Texas and English in Japan, she was involved with research and software development in natural language. She continued graduate school at UCLA. Since 2012 she has been the archivist and Local History librarian with the Palos Verdes Library District. She learned about PVP Village at the initial information meeting that was held at the Library and has been following the progress ever since.

Ann Steiner, Secretary

Ann is a native southern Californian who moved to PVE in 1956. After attending Palos Verdes schools, she attended UC Davis, where she earned BS and MS degrees. She then earned a DMD degree at the University of Florida and spent 10 years in private practice in Central Florida, where she met her husband, Tom.
Ann’s interest in Gerontology and desire to be closer to her parents led to her move back to California in 1990. She completed a Fellowship program in Geriatrics for Dentists at the VA Medical Center in Loma Linda, and an MPH from Loma Linda University. She stayed with the VA until she retired.
Following the deaths of her husband and mother, Ann returned to PVE to live with her father. When he died, she and her sister remodeled their childhood home. Eventually the plan to live there and “thrive gracefully in place.”

Nancy Gragg, Director

Nancy Gragg is the CEO and Founder of Advanced Planning Solutions, Inc. With a career in financial services spanning more than four decades, she brings deep experience and a genuine passion for helping clients build thoughtful financial and retirement plans.

A native of Southern California and longtime resident of Palos Verdes, Nancy attended Palos Verdes High School and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She works alongside her son and business partner, continuing a family-centered approach to serving clients.

Nancy previously served as a board member and active participant in the auxiliary group for Harbor Interfaith Services, reflecting her longstanding commitment to supporting her community.

Outside of work, Nancy enjoys traveling and staying active with her husband, Bob—playing pickleball most days and golf when time allows.

Anne Herron, Director

Anne Herron is a native southern Californian. She has lived in Rancho Palos Verdes since 1974. She worked as a classroom teacher and administrator with LAUSD. Anne holds a BA in Spanish from UCLA, a BS in Human Resources and Marketing from CSULB, and a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from CSUDH. Before retirement she was a faculty member of the UCLA School Management Program which focused on improving school leadership and student performance. Her volunteer experiences include facilitation of one of the Village book clubs, Village Program Committee and she is a Village driver.

Francine Hwang, Director

Francine Hwang, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, moved to the South Bay in 2004. After two decades of experience in sales and marketing, Francine in 2020 discovered her true passion: elder care.
As the former Director of Community Outreach for a local in-home care agency, Francine established a strong network of professionals and aided countless families. Motivated by the need to address staffing shortages, she founded FrannyCares, a modern solution that matches caregivers and employers.

Through FrannyCares, Francine has facilitated efficient hiring for various organizations, including assisted living facilities, in-home care agencies and skilled nursing facilities. She is a respected speaker dedicated to making a difference in the elder care industry.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Francine finds joy in hiking, cooking, traveling with her husband, and tackling the latest New York Times Crossword puzzles.

Kerry LaPine, Director

Kerry grew up in Connecticut and earned her degree in English and Sociology from the University of Rhode Island. After graduating, she traveled extensively while working at American Airlines.

In 1996, Kerry and her husband settled in Rancho Palos Verdes, where she built a successful marketing career at Mattel and DIRECTV before starting a family. She is the proud mother of three children.

Following a family legacy, Kerry began her real estate career 12 years ago and is currently a sales associate with RE/MAX Estate Properties. Real estate is in her blood—her mother owned a successful agency in Connecticut, and her father was a real estate attorney.

In her free time, Kerry enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her beloved dog, Scout. She was an active member of PV Juniors for many years and first learned about PVP Village through a presentation by Colleen Cotter at a PV Junior meeting.

Gale Mattison, Director

After 7 years of spending winters here, Gale and his wife Donna moved from

Connecticut to Palos Verdes Estates in 2021, to continue to help with their two

grandchildren who reside in Hermosa Beach. Gale has a BA from Thiel College

and a Masters in Social Work Administration from Florida State University, where

he and Donna met. Retiring after over 30 years working for the State of

Connecticut, he has served as the Chair of the Board of Seabury, an Active Life

Community, Vice Chair of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation and continuous

activity in his hobby of showing dogs.

Marianne Propst, Director

Marianne Propst grew up in Camarillo, CA, attending UCSB and receiving her Masters in Public Health at UCLA. She worked for over 15 years in hospital and corporate health care planning and marketing and directed the state wide marketing effort for a Medicare managed care plan.

After leaving the corporate world, Marianne spent several years in various community roles while raising her family including board positions with PTA’s, AYSO, and charity groups. But with a lifelong passion for older adult advocacy and healthy aging practices, she turned her effort to learning more by becoming a long term care ombudsman, working part time running activities for people with mild dementia and doing senior living referral work. Marianne ultimately become the second Executive Director for PVP Village and is now looking forward to contributing to the Village as a board member.

Larry Vanden Bos, Treasurer

As a longtime resident of the Peninsula Larry has assumed high level civil responsibilities. He was a Governing Member of the PVP Unified School District and Planning Commissioner and Parks & Activities Commissioner of the city of Rolling Hills Estates. He was also AYSO Coach, Referee and Regional Commissioner.
Larry attended PVP schools from the elementary level thorough High School, graduated from UC San Diego and obtained Juris Doctor and MBA degrees from USC. He began his career at O'Melveny & Meyers and moved on to Air America where he was VP of Sales and Marketing and General Counsel. He then assumed control of a family-run business. Currently, he is Vice President and General Manager at Rose & Shore where he manages sales, marketing, strategic planning and production.

Laura Diepenbrock, Executive Director

Laura Diepenbrock joined the Village as our Executive Director on August 15, 2022. With nearly 15 years of experience working in social services, Laura is a seasoned social worker and nonprofit leader skilled in program development, management, and community building. Prior to joining the PVP Village, Laura worked at Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, serving in several leadership roles including Director of Health & Wellness for Older Adult Services and Director of Volunteer & Training Services. Before JFS, Laura co-launched a kids literacy start up brand focusing on World War II and worked as an elementary school teacher through Teach For America. She holds a BA from the University of Virginia and a Master’s in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.

Laura lives in Palos Verdes Estates with her husband and daughter.

Pat Sneller, Administrative Coordinator

Pat Sneller began volunteering for the Village in 2016 and became its Administrative Coordinator in April, 2018. She is a native of Los Angeles and has lived in California her entire life, except for 8 years in the Dallas area. She has a B.S. in Business Administration from Cal State Long Beach, which she pursued after the youngest of her 3 children started school in 1981. Her professional career has been spent in a variety of fields, always in a customer service capacity. Prior to joining the Village staff, she worked with 2 different referral agencies, assisting families who were searching for long-term residential care facilities for their loved ones. She loves being a part of the Village and getting to know about the fascinating lives that our members and volunteers have enjoyed.

Antoinette Bacerra, Member Service & Volunteer Coordinator

Antoinette is a native of Southern California and grew up nearby in San Pedro, where she still resides. Her professional career has been in the healthcare industry in a non-clinical setting where she worked for Providence Medical Center, San Pedro and Torrance, always in the capacity of helping others. She worked in Marketing & Community Relations, primarily with the senior population and for 17years as the Volunteer Supervisor at Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro, supervising 200 volunteers, which included adult and high school volunteers. Antoinette has a B.S. in Business Administration from Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, Ca. She and her husband are proud parents of an amazing son and daughter.

Sherry May, In Memoriam
Sherry May, Ph.D., Founder and Director

Sherry May was a long time resident in Palos Verdes and had deep professional and volunteer ties to southern California. Dr. May chaired the Palos Verdes Peninsula branch of the American Association of University Women in 2012-2014 and, among other awards, received the Helen Thomas Award from the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles for her volunteer work. May taught in the Religious Studies Department at California State University Northridge for many years before going to USC. At USC she had responsibilities for alumni relations, was Dean of the College of Continuing Education and Vice Provost, Continuing Studies. After retiring she consulted with non-profit and educational institutions in areas of policy development and project implementation. Clients included California State University Northridge/Partnerships Empowering Youth To Serve, University of Southern California's Center for Religion and Civic Culture, YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, Adolescent Pregnancy Child-Watch, Girls Inc, First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and The Children's Defense Fund.