BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Campus by the Sea, Inc. is led by individuals deeply devoted to Jesus and dedicated to making Him known to youth, college students, and families. Our leadership team and Board of Directors are comprised of seasoned professionals with expertise in ministry, education, operations, finance, and marketing. With almost 75 years of impacting lives for God’s glory, Campus by the Sea remains committed to continuing this life-changing ministry for generations to come.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jim first visited Campus by the Sea CBS as a college student in 1970. He joined the staff of InterVarsity in 1973. For the next four years, Jim relied upon CBS as a resource for discipling students, training student leaders, and strategic planning events. Jim then worked in marketing and sales of computer systems for 16 years.

During that time, CBS Family Camp became a significant and formative experience for Jim, his wife Connie, and their three daughters. In 1994, Jim transitioned into a new career of ordained pastoral ministry where CBS served as a place for staff and leadership retreats, confirmation classes, and men’s and women’s retreats.

After retiring in 2015, Jim joined the Executive Board for the Center for Enriching Relationships and served as a member of the CBS Advisory Council until joining the CBS Board of Directors in 2021.

John and Laura, along with their five sons and seven grandchildren, have been faithful attendees of CBS Family Camp for nearly twenty years. John, who serves as the CEO of EEC Environmental, a thriving California-based environmental consulting and construction firm, brings a wealth of expertise to the table. His extensive experience includes spearheading various environmental initiatives on Catalina Island, where he has developed a deep understanding of the island's water management, waste disposal, and accessibility issues. Alongside Laura, they have been dedicated members of their local church and actively involved in church ministries.

Steve has decades of experience in finance, accounting, and public administration with local government agencies and as a successful franchisee in the food service industry. He currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for South Feather Water and Power Agency, a public agency that provides domestic and irrigation water service to 7,000 customers and operates four hydropower generation plants.

He and his wife, Valerie, currently serve as elders in their church in Chico. As InterVarsity students at Sacramento State in the seventies, Steve and Valerie participated in a special month-long leadership training which culminated with a week at Campus by the Sea. They have attended InterVarsity alumni camp and have now introduced their grandchildren to Campus by the Sea.

Tom first experienced Campus by the Sea as a student at UC Riverside while studying the Gospel of John with other college students from InterVarsity chapters in Southern California. After graduating and working in city government, Tom joined InterVarsity in 1987 as co-director of the campus ministry at UC Riverside, along with his wife Denise. Since then, Tom has directed InterVarsity’s campus ministry on colleges and universities in Orange County and the Inland Empire and served as the Regional Director for Southern California from 2008-2018.

He currently serves as InterVarsity’s Executive Director for External Partnerships and gives leadership to InterVarsity’s partnership in EveryCampus, a coalition of more than 120 ministries and organizations seeking God for revival by making Gospel fellowships a reality on every college campus. For more than 30 years Tom has experienced God at Campus by the Sea while leading InterVarsity student and staff conferences, directing InterVarsity alumni camps, and participating in family camps with Denise and their two sons. Tom and Denise live in Riverside, California.

David Bastedo is a lifelong educator with 50 years of teaching experience. After earning a BS in Biology from the University of Redlands, he taught high school for 16 years while also serving with Youth for Christ as Yucaipa/Redlands Area Director, including three years full-time. He later earned an MA in Education from Redlands and an MS in Sports Medicine from Chapman University. David went on to teach Anatomy at San Bernardino Valley College for 31 years, serving six years as Biology Department Chair, before retiring in 2023.

He is the founding President of C.S. Lewis College, an educational ministry of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, where he now serves as Vice President of Operations and as a board trustee. David and his wife, Vonny, raised their three children attending Campus by the Sea (CBS) each summer. They worked four full summers on staff, their children have also served at camp, and today their five grandchildren attend CBS Family Camp annually. The Bastedos live in Yucaipa, California.

Gina Edwards has worked with today's youth in a variety of ways. An alum of Westmont College, she knew early on that she wanted to pursue a career that could focus on developing strong relationships and connections and encouraging others to reach their fullest potential. Gina quickly realized that her gifts were best used in education and has spent the past twenty-six years committed to teaching lower and middle school grades.

As a mother of three adult children, she believes the greatest gift we can give our youth is impactful experiences like Campus by the Sea. Gina cares deeply about raising up the next generation and believes wholeheartedly that CBS has the unique potential to meet people where they are and, through the ministry of its staff, can access the hearts of those searching for the truth found only in the gospel. This is why she is committed to Campus By the Sea and the ministry it serves.

As a camper alum, Gina was sent to camp in the late 80s as an unbeliever. Through the heart of the ministry, the incredible staff, and those committed to CBS's success, her life was forever changed, and a new path was forged. Now, years later, and with a little more of life behind her, she is committed to this ministry's success and being a part of a truly transformative organization. Gina and her husband Ryan live in the Monterey Bay area.

Kendra and her husband Bob first started coming out to Campus by The Sea in 1986 as InterVarsity staff working with college students on the Central Coast. As they started having children of their own, they began to also come out to Family Camp and then InterVarsity Alumni Camp. Between all of these combined, they spent about one month every year enjoying the beauty and community at Campus by the Sea, their home away from home.

Currently, Kendra serves on staff at her church directing the small group ministry and continues to volunteer with InterVarsity, working with graduating seniors and alumni. She and her husband also seek to empower their three daughters and their families (five grandkids and counting!) as they are all involved with various Christian ministries in Southern California. One of their grandsons even bears the middle name of Gallagher, in honor of their family’s love of Campus by the Sea.

Jeff and his wife Susan have been connected to Campus by the Sea for many years. Jeff began coming to CBS as a family camper with the Fletcher family and worked summers and then full-time on CBS staff in the early 90’s. Jeff led the Junior High Summer camp and co-led the High School Summer Camp from the mid-1990’s to the mid-2010’s. Jeff and Susan have three grown children who enjoyed multiple summers being at CBS while growing up.

Jeff was a youth pastor for 10 years at Pasadena Covenant Church, then taught for ten years and was Principal for six years in elementary public schools. Currently, he is the Elementary School Principal at Village Christian Schools in Sun Valley. Both Jeff and his wife are active in their local church, serving in various capacities, including the youth group. CBS has always been Jeff’s “second home.” He has seen God’s hand over the camp changing his life and countless other lives. Jeff’s prayer is that the Lord will continue to move in powerful ways in Gallagher’s cove for decades to come.

Brian’s relationship with Campus by the Sea began long before he was born and has been woven through every stage of his life. His grandparents, Mel and Helen Friesen, together with Paul Byer and others from InterVarsity, founded Campus by the Sea in 1951. In the 1980s, his dad, Ron, served as Camp Manager, while his mom, Joyce, worked in the kitchen. Growing up year-round at CBS, Brian experienced God’s presence in this cove firsthand and saw the ministry’s impact on countless lives.

In the 1990s, Brian joined the program staff for Family Camp, serving alongside his uncle and aunt, Paul and Virginia Friesen, and later as a high school counselor under his uncle, Wayne Herbst, at High School Camp. In the early 2000s, while serving as College Pastor at Rockharbor Church in Costa Mesa, he brought numerous student groups to CBS for retreats and work weekends. It was here, at the Cross, that he proposed to his wife Donna—wanting her to love CBS as much as he did. It worked!

Today, Brian and Donna have three teenage sons who share that same love for CBS. In the summer of 2024, all three chose to be baptized at the Rock Jetty—30 years after Brian and his sisters were baptized in the very same spot. Whether through Family Camps, work weekends, or when Donna serves as camp nurse, the Rottschafer family continues to make CBS a central part of their lives.

Professionally, Brian serves as the National Director of Sales for YoloCare, a web design company specializing in senior healthcare.

Aaron’s connection to Campus by the Sea began in infancy, when his parents, Dennis and Nadia, attended a leadership retreat at CBS and brought him along. His family soon made CBS Family Camp a summer tradition, and as a teenager and college student, Aaron worked at the camp every summer he could. Those formative years sparked a lasting passion for Christian hospitality that continues to shape the life he and his wife, Janelle, cultivate with their four children. Today, they regularly return to Family Camp at CBS and remain deeply involved in their local church.

Aaron holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Hillsdale College, a J.D. from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University. He has spent his career in estate and tax planning with a particular focus on nonprofit law, and he currently serves as a senior lead wealth strategist at a national financial services firm.