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Board Members & Staff

Discover Our Experience

Jenny Early

Jenny Early

Board President

Jenny Early was born in Humboldt County and grew up in the heart of Southern Humboldt.  Her family has been around for generations with the Early ranch nestled quietly in the hills of Salmon Creek.   After graduating from South Fork High School in 1998 she continued her education by attending College of the Redwoods where she received two AA Degrees, soon after diving into the workforce and hasn’t stopped since.  She is a caring mother of one 14 year old son, has a passion for giving back to the community by coaching athletes in a variety of sports at all different age levels and has a serious love for descriptive writing.  Jenny also enjoys playing an active role as Secretary for Soroptimist International of the Redwoods, a local non-profit organization in Southern Humboldt.  She is a go getter, a hands-on type of person and takes pride in her hard work ethic!

Yvonne Hendrix

Yvonne Hendrix

Executive Director

For the last 25 years Ms. Yvonne Hendrix has been working in the music industry promoting some of the best festivals on the West Coast, including Harmony Festival, Earthdance: Global Festival For Peace, Santa Cruz Blues Festival, Santa Cruz American Music Festival, Kate Wolf Music Festival, Enchanted Forest Gathering, Reggae on the River, Reggae Rising, and The Emerald Cup. Her responsibilities included creating custom tailored publicity campaigns, press releases, event marketing (newsletters and other promotional materials), managing social media, and advertising campaigns. She has successfully placed stories in Bloomberg, LA Times, SF Chronicle, Huffington Post, AAA VIA, Sunset Magazine, to name a few. In addition to her extensive marketing expertise she was also the VP of Operations for Mateel Botanicals (home to the brand CBDAlive) a State and County Licensed Cannabis Microbusiness. She expertly navigated both the county and state to secure the microbusiness license for Mateel Botanicals LLC, setup and oversaw METRC, and was the chief compliance officer.

Chrystine Elstad

Chrystine Elstad

Vice President

Chrystine Elstad resides in Southern Humboldt and is the current Vice President of the Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce.  She is the Marketing Manager of the Community Credit Union and has worked there for 8 years. Prior to joining the team at the Community Credit Union, she owned a chain of local children’s toy stores located in Eureka, Fortuna, and Arcata.  Chrystine is married to Justin Elstad and is a proud mother of one daughter. She is proud to be apart of our community and plays an active role in helping Southern Humboldt thrive.

Corinne Stromstad

Corinne Stromstad

Board Treasurer

Corinne Stromstad graduated from Eureka High School and spent two years at College of the Redwoods. She worked for Bank of America and then transferred to Six Rivers where she spent thirty years as the Vice President Manager. In 1974 Corinne and her husband Glen Stromstad moved to Garberville where they took over ownership of Milt’s Saw Shop and celebrating forty five years in business. Corinne is very active in our community sitting on multiple boards such as our Chamber of Commerce, Southern Humboldt Community Health Care District, Civic Club and Soroptimist International of the Redwoods.

Sophia Eckert

Sophia Eckert

Secretary

Sophia Eckert was born in Arkansas and studied Psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle.  She later went back to school to receive her Masters in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver.  Sophia moved to Humboldt County in 2012, and is currently the Executive Director of the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association, a non-profit working with California State Parks.  Sophia Eckert has been serving on the board for the Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce since April of 2018. She enjoys hiking, camping, traveling, gardening and cooking in her free time. 

Tiffany Smith

Tiffany Smith

Board Member

Tiffany Smith is originally from Indiana and moved here with her family in 2010.  She is a single mom of two young children and quickly immersed herself in the community through their involvement with sports.  Tiffany is also passionate about our legal cannabis industry.  She is the Director of Sales and Operations for Redwood Roots Distribution.  Always striving for more, Tiffany recently celebrated the completion of the permitting process for her own farm, Chronic Creek LLC.

Bernie Korbly

Bernie Korbly

Board Member

Bernie Korbly moved to Southern Humboldt in 1972 and fell in love with the area.  He owns a local gift shop named Korbly Wood Products and has been creating a variety of custom gifts such as decorative clocks, coffee tables, unique bowls for your kitchen and an assortment of boxes to put your sentimental keep sakes in.   Bernie has three kids that were raised in our Southern Humboldt community. He served twenty two years as a volunteer fire fighter for the Miranda Fire Department. Along with his dedicated years of service to the Miranda community, Bernie spent many years coaching youth sports such as basketball and soccer while his kids were growing up.  Bernie enjoys working at his business and living along the Avenue of the Giants, one of our biggest destination locations in Southern Humboldt!

Jessika Mulder

Jessika Mulder

Board Member

Jessika Mulder was born and raised in Southern Humboldt.  She graduated from Fortuna High School where she was an active student athlete.  Currently Jessika is the branch manager at Vocality Community Credit Union in Garberville.  Committed to helping our Southern Humboldt community, she is especially dedicated to children’s sports development.  When not working or volunteering, Jessika is busy being a wife and mother to two children.  In her rare free time, she enjoys playing softball, riding bikes, snowboarding and hiking the hills of Southern Humboldt.

Nominations & Election Information

Welcome to the Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center. We are dedicated to the growth of our member businesses and the community at large through active leadership in civic, cultural, legislative, and educational programs. We work closely with city officials, business leaders and civic organizations to build a sound economic base and orderly growth that benefits our entire community.

Nominations & Election Information

The Opportunity
Serving as a Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center director is an exceptional opportunity to help foster the continued growth and development of a highly respected organization. While serving as a director requires both commitment and energy, it is a rewarding and fulfilling opportunity, and a great way to give something back to your community.

Term: 3 years or the remainder of an unexpired term.

The Nomination and Selection Process
The nominating committee is tasked with selecting, vetting, and submitting a slate of Board of Directors candidates for the upcoming board elections each year. They will review all board member applications to determine the best qualified candidates. They must consider the categories of membership and geographical areas that require representation. Additionally, they must consider the value that the potential candidates can bring to the Board of Directors, and to the membership, based on the applicant’s background, involvement, and level of commitment. The nominating committee presents a slate of nominees to the Chamber Board and to the Chamber membership.

If you are interested in serving on the Chamber Board of Directors, please fill out the application for the Board of Directors. The application will then be reviewed by the Chamber’s Nominating Committee. In order for the Nominating Committee to select the best slate of candidates we ask that each applicant please complete the application in full. The submission of an application does not guarantee a nomination. If chosen, the Chamber and the Board of Directors want to offer all nominated candidates a rewarding opportunity to make the most of their special talents and expertise for the benefit of the entire Chamber.

A typical schedule is:
September 15: Notice to Members Seeking Candidates
September 25: Application Deadline
December 1: Slate emailed and/or mailed to members via a secured electronic ballot to the email and/or mailing address on file

Please click here to print PDF version of the application

Southern Humboldt Chamber Of Commerce

782 Redwood Drive / PO Box 445
Garberville, CA 95542

Phone: (707) 923-2613

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