Board of Directors

Southern California Gator Club®

Julee Levine President In 1976, Julee Levine's family moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Her father was told that if he could just remember to say "Hey Y'all" and "Go Gators" the rest would take care of itself. They were right.  Julee received her Bachelors and her Masters in Special Education from the PROTEACH program in 1994 and 1995. She taught in the Duval County Public Schools and then made a career change that took her first to Birmingham, AL and finally to the Los Angeles area in 2002.  Julee is the Director of Youth Education and Programs at Adat Ari El in Valley Village and she and her husband Jason live in Northridge.  Julee's involvement in the SoCal Gator Club began as Secretary in 2008-09. After 3 terms as secretary and also serving in 2010-2011 as President-Elect, she is beyond excited to represent the SoCal Gator Club as President. Julee attended Leader's Weekend and the Region 8 Training Seminar this past year and made everyone aware that the Gator Nation is alive and well in Southern California.  On game days, you can find Julee at Hooters in Burbank where will likely be running trivia or trying to make people drink hot sauce.

Name: Kimberly Roth Hometown: Manalapan, NJ / Boca Raton, FL Current city: Malibu, CA Grad Year(s) from US: 1995 Position: VP of Athletics As a proud Gator, I'm thrilled to have joined this year's Board as the VP of Athletics. Our unsurpassed athletic program and traditions are the basis for much of what brings us together as alumni. I look forward to continuing to build our SoCal Swamp network in the upcoming year - GO GATORS!

Name: Eric Delgado Hometown: Bangkok, Thailand Current City: North Hollywood, California Grad Year from UF: Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2010 Position: Young Alumni Coordinator Eric Delgado has been passionate about the performing arts for most of his life. Born and raised in Southeast Asia, he found his way to Gainesville after graduating from high school in Ijamsville, Maryland. He studied Musical Theatre at UF, appearing in 14 theatrical productions during his four years there. After receiving his BFA in 2010, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Eric is a proud Gator alum who has made it a point to attend as many SoCal Gator Club events as possible. He is extremely excited to be the new Young Alumni Coordinator for the SoCal Gators and hopes that he can help fellow Gators become more involved in alumni activities here in Southern California!

Laurie Dinnerstein Past President Laurie Dinnerstein graduated with a BA in Theatre in 2001. After two miserably frigid winters in Boston, where she received her MFA in Screenwriting, she realized she hated cold, rainy weather and moved to sunny Los Angeles. Laurie spent most of her time at UF working on productions with both the Department of Theatre and Dance and Florida Players, as well as serving with the Inter-Residence Hall Association. She continues to pursue her ambition to be a writer, but since she enjoys eating regularly and hates avoiding bill collectors, she decided to get her elementary school teaching credential through Cal State Teach. Laurie previously served as Events Coordinator for the Southern California Gator Club in 2006, and has served as President for the last few years. In her spare time, Laurie enjoys film, theatre, karaoke and reading.

Name: Gary Holcombe Hometown: Miami Lakes Current City: Costa Mesa Grad Year from UF: ‘92 Position: Treasurer I grew up in Miami Lakes and graduated from Hialeah Miami Lakes High School before moving on to UF. After majoring in Finance and graduating, I moved to Orlando and took all of the accounting courses necessary to sit for the CPA exam at UCF while working full time. I took and passed the CPA exam on my first attempt in 1999. I moved to California in 2003 and currently work as the Operations Controller for Dulcinea Farms, LLC, a fully owned subsidiary of the Swiss company Syngenta AG. When not working, I like to travel, kayak, go to LA Angels games, and spend some quality time at the Costa Mesa Hooters watching the Gators!!!!! I have a 16 year old daughter, Ariel, who is fantastic. My next two trips outside of sunny SoCal are to Las Vegas for my birthday in August, always fun! And to Costa Rica for a week beginning Labor Day weekend!!!!

Name: Chad Keller Hometown: Valencia, CA Current city: Glendale, CA Grad Year(s) from US: BA 2000, MA 2009 Position: President Elect Chad Keller grew up in Valencia, CA and went to Wm. S. Hart High School before graduating with a BSBA in Marketing in 2000. In addition to his UF studies, Chad was involved with residence life associations and worked seasonally at Six Flags Magic Mountain each summer. After UF, Chad came back to his native Southern California and worked at Warner Bros. before making a move to Disney in 2005. In 2008, Chad began a MBA program through UF while working fulltime for Disney (completed in 2009). Currently, Chad works as a Sr. Financial Analyst with the Disney Interactive Media Group Controllership organization. Outside of work, Chad enjoys traveling to theme parks across the country and cruising. He can also be caught at the Burbank Hooters cheering on his fellow Gators!

Name: Melody Roset Home town: Tampa, FL UF grad year: 1991 Current location: Westchester, CA Major: Exercise and Sport Science Position: VP of Academics Born in San Francisco, I moved to Jacksonville then eventually Tampa, FL, which I still refer to as my home town. I completed an internship in Southern California and 20 years later remain. Throughout my career I have been the head athletic trainer for two professional sports teams and a university. Currently living in the Los Angeles area, I own a small business where I provide athletic training services, rehabilitation, and specialized fitness programs to groups and individuals.

Name: Nikia Ford Hometown: Gainesville, Florida Current City: Los Angeles Grad Year from UF: Bachelors of Art 1999 Position: Secretary Nikia Ford considers herself a Gainesville native even though she was born in San Jose, California. She’s had the pleasure of attending Westwood Middle School, Buchholz High School and of course the University of Florida. As a History major Minoring in Business attending the University was one of the best decisions of her life to date that will never be forgotten. Nikia decided to make the transition to Southern California in 2001 for a little adventure and hasn’t turned back since. Joining the Southern Gators club will be a great experience that will let her stay connected to her Gator roots and involved with an institution that she will always support and love. Looking forward to the year’s activities!

Name: Jeff Isaacs Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA Current City: Irvine, CA Grad years: BA 1977, MS 1980 Position: At-Large Director, Orange County I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and decided to go south to college. I chose the University of Florida for its excellent reputation, wide variety of academic majors and of course its weather. In 1982 I moved to California and soon realized that there was little to no University of Florida presence in Orange County. I started to gather UF graduates literally one at a time and soon established a very small gathering of Gators to watch football and basketball games when they were available. Orange County is now home to a sizable group of University of Florida graduates and fans who gather regularly at Hooters in Costa Mesa and help represent the Southern California Gator Club.

J Jessica Mathews At-Large Director Jessica Mathews is a SAG/AFTRA actor, host and producer. Jessica was born in Florida. She graduated from The University of Florida with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, and Dual Minors in Economics. Switching gears, she is now a professional working actor performing throughout the world. She enjoys performing and working on her craft very much. She has been seen in such movies and television shows as Las Vegas, Wild on E!, and Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Jessica Mathews is the Co-Owner of Springfield Films. She has written, produced, and directed commercials, television pilots, trailers, music videos, spec commercials and plays. Her most recent works as a Producer are “Bearing Gifts”, a documentary, “Screaming MeeMees”, a webisode pilot (line producer), “PLAYdate”, a feature film trailer, and “Savor The Insanity”, a short film (semifinalist Feel Good Film Fest). She loves football and is the VP of Athletics for the Southern California Gator Club for the second year in a row.

Ayal Shmilovich VP of Networking and Outreach Ayal is an Investment Advisor Representative at a wealth management firm in Santa Monica. Ayal works with clients to manage wealth, but also helps individuals and young professionals build wealth as well. Ayal is the VP of Networking and Outreach for the Southern California Gator Club. As someone who is constantly networking and meeting new people for his career, Ayal thought it would be a great idea to create a networking and business relations group for the Southern California Gator Club (as well as possibly moving beyond those borders in the future). Ayal has organized this group to help business professionals network with other Gators in order to increase business, help each other find jobs, and find other like-minded professionals to share another common ground other than Gator football (as awesome as it is). Ayal will continue to host other networking groups throughout the year and help make this year's groups even better than the last. Let's help out each other, Gators.

Name: Bob Matthews Hometown; Ft Lauderdale, FL Current City; Fontana, CA Grad year from UF: 1970 Bachelor of Civil Engineering Position: At-Large Director, Ontario As a Professional Engineer, I have worked for CDM for 40 years and have made four geographic moves over my career (Atlanta, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Fontana). When I moved to Southern California 6 years ago, I was concerned about finding GATORS and a GATOR club in my area. I was so pleased to find this great/well organized So Cal GATOR club and their interest in developing a “branch” in the Ontario area. Thanks for all the support.   Laurie Thompson Past-President Hometown: Coral Springs, FL Laurie Thompson graduated with a BA in Theatre in 2001. After two miserably frigid winters in Boston, where she received her MFA in Screenwriting, she realized she hated cold, rainy weather and moved to sunny Los Angeles. Laurie spent most of her time at UF working on productions with both the Department of Theatre and Dance and Florida Players, as well as serving with the Inter-Residence Hall Association. She continues to pursue her ambition to be a writer, but since she enjoys eating regularly and hates avoiding bill collectors, she decided to get her elementary school teaching credential through Cal State Teach. Laurie previously served as Events Coordinator for the Southern California Gator Club in 2006, and has served as President until June 2011. In her spare time, Laurie enjoys film, theatre, karaoke and reading.