Our Leaders

Kathy Riggins
President & Chief Executive Officer

Kathy Riggins began her YMCA career as a program director at YMCA of San Diego County. She quickly rose through the ranks and soon became Executive Director of the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas, California. While cultivating dynamic staff and volunteer teams, she developed the branch into one of the largest and most successful in North America, with more than 11,000 facility members, 30,000 program participants, and a $6.5 million operating budget.

Building on her success in San Diego, Riggins moved to northern California in 1998, where she was Senior Vice President of Operations for YMCA of San Francisco for four years. She supervised the Bayview-Hunters Point, Camp Jones Gulch, Chinatown, and Embarcadero YMCAs, with combined revenue of $10.3 million. She also managed the YMCA association’s Training and International departments.

In October 2002, Riggins assumed leadership as President and CEO of YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula. Answering the call to serve youth and families on the Mid-Peninsula, she guided the YMCA in innovative membership and program expansion, fundraising growth, and staff and volunteer development.

In her five years with YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, Riggins is credited with reenergizing and bringing to fruition an initiative to build the Lewis & Joan Platt East Palo Alto YMCA, tenaciously raising $17 million in funding. The 33,000 square-foot facility with a climbing wall and pool operates on an innovative income-based pricing model, accurately addressing the community’s needs.

Riggins also added an offsite Wellness Center focusing on new and returning exercisers, which is vital to the YMCA mission. During her tenure at YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, Riggins built a strategic partnership with YMCA of Santa Clara Valley, bringing new resources and efficiency to the association.

She is Chair of the California State Alliance of YMCAs and Co-chair of the YMCA of the USA Women’s Leadership Network. She is a Sr. Fellow of the American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley and is a member of the Youth Alliance of Santa Clara Valley.

Riggins has received several of the Y’s highest national honors, including Fundraiser of the Year from the North American YMCA Development Organization and the Spirit of the Woman Award from YMCA of the USA.

Elizabeth Jordan
Senior Vice President of Operations / COO

Elizabeth Jordan joins the YMCA of Silicon Valley with more than 15 years of professional experience within the YMCA, having served previously in the YMCA of San Francisco, YMCA of San Diego County, and Valley of the Sun YMCA Associations. Prior to graduating with a degree in Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin (with honors, summa cum laude, 1993), Elizabeth worked as a program instructor at a nearby YMCA and managed a public aquatics facility. After her graduation, she assumed the position of Health/Fitness Director at the Mesa Family YMCA in Mesa, AZ. Her next position was as Fitness and Teen Program Director at the Magdalena Ecke YMCA in Encinitas, CA.

The opportunity to direct a YMCA resident camp (YMCA Camp Jones Gulch, a branch of the YMCA of San Francisco) enticed Elizabeth to relocate to the Bay Area and resume a full time professional commitment to the YMCA. After three years at YMCA Camp Jones Gulch, Elizabeth became the Executive Director at the Presidio Community YMCA in San Francisco. Now at the YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, Elizabeth serves as the association’s Chief Operating Officer to lead the operations of the $20 million organization.

Elizabeth learned to swim at the St. Cloud (MN) YMCA while in elementary school. She subsequently swam competitively, and competed throughout high school and college. She credits the YMCA with providing her with a lifelong interest in aquatics, which has enhanced her life both personally and professionally. Elizabeth and her husband Bill currently live in Redwood City with their daughter, Kate.

Eduardo Barrantes
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Eduardo Barrantes is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the YMCA of Silicon Valley, and brings 30 years experience in the corporate world to the position.

He has held the title of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in high-tech, financial, and medical international corporations, and has spent several years as a financial consultant to many other multi-nationals organizations. Ed has an MBA in Finance from UCLA Graduate School of Management and a BA in Accounting and Economics from San Jose State University and is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese.

Ed is committed to the mission of the YMCA and is particularly passionate about the YMCA's work with youth.

Robb Hermanson
Senior Vice President of Financial Development

Robb Hermanson is Senior Vice President of Financial Development for the YMCA of Silicon Valley. His career at the YMCA began in 1974 in Denver, Colorado, as a Health and Fitness Director for the downtown YMCA and then as a branch Executive Director for nearly seven years. In 1988 he relocated to San Jose, California, as Executive Director of the downtown Central branch of YMCA of Santa Clara Valley. In 1994, he moved to the association’s Metropolitan office to become the organization’s Chief Development Officer. He assumed his current role in 2007.

Hermanson’s primary responsibilities include directing and managing the association’s $3 million annual giving campaign; helping to coordinate grant requests of $2 million or more; and directing a $19.6 million capital campaign for the organization’s resident camp facilities. Between 1996 and 2000, he helped coordinate and direct the YMCA’s successful $10.1 million capital development program to fund new construction and refurbishing of four YMCA branch facilities.

He is the immediate past-chair of the North American YMCA Development Organization Council and is a past president of the Silicon Valley chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Northern California (Bay Area) Financial Development Network, and the Rotary Club of San Jose North. Among other career accolades, Hermanson has received the Outstanding Professional Fundraiser award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Silicon Valley Leadership Alumnus Excellence Award from the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.

Mary Hoshiko
Vice President of Program and Community Development

Mary has worked with children and youth in YMCA programs for over 30 years, in various capacities, from school-age center director to interim branch executive director. Mary is currently the Vice President of Program and Community Development for the YMCA of Silicon Valley.  In this role, Mary provides leadership and support to twelve local YMCA branches in all program areas with specific emphasis in child care, camping, teen, and family programming. She leads the YMCA Diversity and the Activate America Pioneering Healthy Communities Initiatives, builds collaborative relationships with school districts to create afterschool education and enrichment programs, builds community health collaboratives, directs three major federal grants in health and afterschool, develops staff resources and manuals, writes grants, and supervises the program and training department. Mary received a B.A. in General Humanities from Santa Clara University. She earned her M.A. in Education with an emphasis in school-age care and M.A in Human Services with a Leadership emphasis at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

During Mary’s tenure with the YMCA of Silicon Valley, she has created and or implemented many new programs including family weekend camping, specialty camping, kinder-readiness programs, Fit for Learning Afterschool, 21st Century, state and city funded afterschool programs, and Y-Adventure Guides (contributing-creator and early adopter). She has led teams of staff and volunteers in school-age child care initiatives, afterschool initiatives, Y-Adventure Guides transition, the YMCA Diversity Initiative, Strategic Planning for Camping programs and Teen programs and her newest teams – addressing issues of youth obesity and diabetes prevention in Latino families from a community systemic perspective. 

Mary has volunteered extensively with the YMCA of the USA on committees and taskforces for child care and afterschool, Diversity and Inclusion, Activate America and Adventure Guides. Mary is active on the local and state level with several afterschool committees, regional boards and collaboratives and the YMCA State Alliance.

Mary is blessed with two amazing teen-age children and when she is not with her kids traveling, skiing, camping and fishing, she is riding her horse, roping cattle and reading.

David Fisch
Vice President of Property

David Fisch joined the YMCA near the end of 2001 to help expand and improve Y facilities as the Director of Facility Development. Having recently served in project management capacities for the International School of the Peninsula, as well as the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, David offers a high level of project control to the planning and construction process. David contributed to the expansion of the El Camino YMCA, where a 32,000 square foot addition included a new gym, aerobics, cardio and weight rooms. David’s most recent project is the development of a full-service 32,000 square foot YMCA facility in East Palo Alto.

David received a Master's Degree from San Jose State University in Urban & Regional Planning, as well as professional certification in project management. Having worked to expand facilities for private companies, improve economic and physical developments within cities, and manage facility expansion for non-profit organizations, David brings a variety of skills and perspectives to the YMCA. When not working on major projects, David enjoys hiking, exercising, tennis and soccer.