Catherine Less has been Co-Chair of Bread and Roses Board of Directors for the past 16 months. Prior to that, as Board Treasurer, she enhanced our annual budgeting process and fiscal reporting. She has served on the Board for over six years. "Cathy has been an incredible contributor to Bread & Roses in a myriad of different capacities. On a personal note, she is a true manifestation of what it means to take our mission to heart," said Executive Director Dave Perron.
She first became involved with Bread & Roses when she volunteered with the Lighthouse Singers in the 70s. She has been a benefit sponsor and helped generate support for many Bread & Roses fund-raising events. She also participated in several years of our “Oh Say, Can You Sing?” contests, and as a contest-winner sang our national anthem for the SF Giants in 2017 and the Oakland A's on behalf of Bread & Roses in 2019.
Catherine is a native of San Francisco and has lived in the Terra Linda area of San Rafael since she was three-years-old. A high-achieving student, she graduated from Terra Linda High School at the end of her junior year. She was accepted to UC Berkeley, where she majored in Music with an emphasis on Vocal Performance. She still sings today with the U.C. Alumni Chorus and originally intended to become a music teacher in schools. However, when she graduated from college there was an abundance of teachers, so she went in another career direction.
As a youth she had worked in her family’s drug store in Terra Linda where her father taught her bookkeeping. She made use of her unique background and found work in a similar vein at a pharmacy in San Francisco. After a year she moved on to a job with Victoria Station, first in Accounts Payable and then the Tax Department. She then went to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where she worked in the Personal Financial Planning group for 15 years. She followed her PwC partner to her current firm Baker Street Advisors, LLC where she has worked as a team member for 16 years..
She is proud to lend her expertise and help generate support for Bread & Roses and hopes to be a volunteer performer when she retires.
By Diane Pickell-Gore, Administrative Coordinator
Photo of Cathy Less singing at the SF Giants game as the winner of our 2017 Oh Say, Can You Sing? contest. Photo by Bill Nichols.