EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Joi Pentin is the President of The Big C Society® where she also serves as its team Liaison Director to women’s golf. She is also the Chair of the Marketing Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee. Professionally, Joi is the Revenue Operations Practice Lead at WestCap. Joi was a standout golfer at Cal, who was chosen for the Leta Nelson Award, which is given in Nelson's memory to the golfer who best demonstrates the spirit of Cal. Joi graduated from Cal in 2013 as an American Studies major.
Josef Ruef served as President of The Big C Society® from 2019 to 2022 and led its modernization while concurrently serving as President and Executive Director during 2019 and 2020. Mr. Ruef is an entrepreneur and executive with 20 years of experience developing and growing businesses. Currently, Mr. Ruef is Founding Partner of September Capital, an investment and consulting firm that assists early stage technology companies. Previously Mr, Ruef was Co-Founder and CEO of Verical Inc., an online marketplace for electronic components that was acquired by Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW). Mr. Ruef is also a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, 1993, where he earned a B.A. in English and played football for the Golden Bears.
Min Ta is Treasurer of The Big C Society® and sits on its Executive Committee and is its Liaison to the Field Hockey Team. Ms. Ta graduated from Cal in 1994 with a B.S. in Business Administration from the Walter A. Haas School of Business and was honored with the Anna Espenschade Award for Athletic and Academic Achievement as a graduating senior. Ms. Ta was a four-year letter winner in Field Hockey and earned All-Nor Pac Conference and Regional All-American honors her senior year. Ms. Ta has over 20 years of experience in financial management and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and a Master of Corporate Real Estate. Ms. Ta now works at Visa overseeing Real Estate Analytics, Corporate Events, and Global Travel.
Sarah Schwartz is a Director and the corporate Secretary of The Big C Society® and serves on its Executive Committee. Sarah is also co-Liaison to Women’s Rowing. Ms. Schwartz lettered four years in rowing from 2012 to 2016, and was a member of the 2016 NCAA National Champion 2V8+ and Team. She graduated from Cal in 2016 with a B.A. in Political Economy. After graduating from Cal, Sarah began working for ABD Financial Services, Inc. in addition to co-founding Oakland Athletic Rowing Society (OARS), a youth rowing club in Oakland on a mission to create the next generation of leaders.
Bill Ausfahl is a Director of The Big C Society® and a member of its Executive Committee. Ausfahl is also a trustee with the UC Berkeley Foundation. In all he does, Ausfahl is “passionate about public education and sustaining the excellence and access that Berkeley represents.” Ausfahl is the retired group vice president and CFO of the Clorox Company in Oakland. He received his B.A. in economics from Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford.
Clif Mayne, Jr. was Treasurer for The Big C Society® through the end of 2018, and serves on its Board of Directors and Executive Committee . Mayne played Tennis for the Golden Bears.
Rachelle is a director of The Big C Society® and is the team Liaison to Women's Basketball. Rachelle graduated from Cal in 2011 with a B.A. in Media Studies and was an Honorable Mention for the Pac-10 All-Academic Team from 2009-2011. She also served as team captain her senior year and was a part of the school's first-ever Women's Basketball Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2009 as well as the school's first WNIT Championship in 2010. Since then, Rachelle has spent seven years in the Financial Tech clean energy space as a Software Product Manager and is now working at Pixar Animation Studios.
Amanda is a Director at The Big C Society® and its Team Liaison to women’s tennis, where she serves as Head Coach. One of the most successful players in Cal women's tennis history, Amanda Augustus has led the Golden Bears to several iconic moments in her 12 years as head coach. Entering her 13th season in Berkeley in 2019-20, Augustus has compiled a 228-72 coaching record (producing a .760 winning percentage) and produced numerous All-Americans (including Manasse, Maya Jansen and Karla Popovic in 2017) at her alma mater.
Kyson Bunthuwong is a Director of the Big C Society® and liaison to the Men's Gymnastics. Kyson is also the chairman of the Revenue Committee. Mr. Bunthuwong graduated from Cal in 2009 with a B.A. in International Political Economy. Representing Cal's student-athletes, he was chosen as a delegate for the 2009 NCAA National Student-Athlete Leadership Conference. He earned multiple All-American and All-MPSF Academic honors throughout his tenure and served as co-captain. Mr. Bunthuwong was honored as a Nissen-Emery Award Finalist and with the Pac-10 "Living the Dream Leadership Award". Since then, he's worked in the nonprofit sector across various national and international causes, including co-founding a nonprofit social venture in Malawi. Currently, Mr. Bunthuwong is the board of various local Bay Area organizations and is an Executive Director at CCS Fundraising, a strategic consulting firm that partners with non-profit organizations on transformative fundraising campaigns.
Vanessa Gerber is a Director of The Big C Society® where she serves as its team co-Liaison to women’s rowing. She is also the Chair of the Student-Athlete and Young Alumni Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee. Professionally, Vanessa serves as a Strategic Operations Analyst at East Bay Community Energy. Vanessa rowed on Cal's freshman eight that won a Pac-12 Championship and beat Stanford and Washington. Notably, while Vanessa was a student-athlete at Cal she also co-founded the student-athletes group, the Golden Bear Advisory Committee (GBAC), where she served as Vice President. Vanessa graduated with Honors (3.8 GPA), with a B.S. in Conservation and Resources Studies.