January moved to Alpine County from San Diego in 2018. A professional feature writer, she has written about the arts for newspapers and magazines. She is a former Alpine County Supervisor and loves being a part of this beautiful environment and vibrant community. A retired university educator, she has an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and an M.A. and B.A. in English Literature, with minors in life science and American Indian studies. She founded RGroup Public Relations and coaches writers and organizations in professional outreach. She loves the arts in all their forms and sees a link between natural beauty and creativity. Hiking and cooking are her hobbies, and she is happiest when sharing both with friends and family.

Tad Kitada lives part time in Alpine County having bought a summer cabin in 2017. Tad is a graduate of U.C. Santa Cruz and completed his MSW from UC Berkeley specializing in school social work.  Tad retired from a 34 year year career in public education as a school social worker/counselor and a Director of Student Services for the Placer County Office of Education where he served students expelled from local school districts, on probation and in foster care.  Tad also taught for 5 years at UC Berkeley and for 30 years at Sacramento State in Social Work and Education.  Tad also served on the Placer County Arts Council helping to launch arts enrichment programs for students. Tad is a musician who plays mandolin, guitar and woodwinds and is active with the Alpine County Library Players, as well as leading his band Fire in the Kitchen.

Marilyn came to Alpine County in 2014 after retiring from the corporate world in Washington, DC.  She wanted to live closer to her four sons and six grandchildren who live in towns from the Bay Area  south to San Diego.  She received a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from the University of Maryland, and pursued a Masters degree in the field.  Over the years in Arlington, VA, she studied photography and loved being in the darkroom.  Digital photography however won her over.

Marilyn’s first adventure in the area was with the Community Theatre in Minden, trying out for a play that never got produced, and eventually agreeing to work on publicity for the theater.  Her experience with photography helped there, and now she  plans to continue to pursue the arts shifting from theatrical photography to landscape photography.  She is looking forward to working with ACAC to help promote the arts in Alpine County.

Ken J. Burkhart has lived in Alpine County since he started the position as County and District Superintendent of Schools in July 2022.  He has served in education since 1998, and school leadership since 2004.

Mr. Burkhart is an artist. He mostly works in painting, ceramics, and creative writing.  He also has experience with masonry and woodworking.  His current focus is in painting, specifically "canalware", traditional painting for English canal metal works.  His works are private and only gifted occasionally.

Mr. Burkhart was raised in Southern California but has lived in Northern California since 2004.  He has taken classes in ceramics, painting, woodworking, writing, and graphic design.