Council Officers

Bryan Kocen 

Council President

 

Bryan was raised in Rochester, New York where he was involved in two Explorer Posts, one based in a computer company and the other for engineering based at Xerox Corporation.  Bryan returned to scouting when he founded Troop 707 in Rancho Mirage, CA.  Bryan served as Assistant Scoutmaster for 8 years and has been the troop Scoutmaster for the last 3 years.  He is a Brotherhood Member of the Order of the Arrow.  Bryan has served as the Sunrise District Finance Committee Chair and Friends of Scouting Chairman.  Bryan has served on the Council Board for 2 years and is currently Vice President of Finance. He also serves on The National Jewish Committee on Scouting where he is Chairman of the Development Committee.

Bryan is Woodbadge Trained and has staffed the course.  He has also been Assistant Course Director at our Council’s National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT).  Nationally, Bryan has staffed and course directed NAYLE (National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience) at Philmont Scout Ranch.  NAYLE is BSA’s highest level of leadership training for youth.  Bryan has also participated in and staffed Philmont Leadership Challenge.  This course is the highest level of national training for adults who have completed Woodbadge.  He is the recipient of the Scouter’s Award of Merit, District Award of Merit, and the Silver Beaver Award.

Bryan staffed two National Jamborees, as a volunteer in 2013 and Scoutmaster for the CIEC Jamboree Troop in 2017.  He was the Assistant Scoutmaster for the Western Region Scout Troop at the 2011 World Jamboree in Rinkaby, Sweden and will be Scoutmaster for the CIEC troop to the World Jamboree in West Virginia in 2019.

Bryan has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics from Union College and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  Bryan is President of The Kocen Financial Group, Inc., a registered investment advisor, that he founded with his late wife, Gail Kocen.  Bryan has two sons, Sam and David, who are both Eagle Scouts.  

 

John Vineyard      

Council Commissioner

Executive V.P.

John Vineyard currently serves as Council Commissioner and Executive Vice President of the Council Board of Directors.  He is also the Crew Committee Chair for Venturing Crew 5330.  He has previously served as a Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor, District Chair for Mt. Rubidoux District and the Council Venturing Chair.  He is an Eagle Scout, a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, and a recipient of the District Award of Merit, Silver Beaver Award, Council and Area Venturing Leadership Awards and the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award.

John’s Scouting journey began with Pack 31 in San Bernardino, California.  As a youth he was a member of Troop 47 in Bloomington, California and Troops 2 and 76 in Monroe, Louisiana (Ouachita Valley Council).   John became an Ordeal member of the Order of the Arrow in 1974 in Cahuilla Lodge and attended Buckskin training and served on summer camp staff at Camp Helendade.  He received his Eagle Scout as a member of Troop 2, Monroe, Louisiana in 1977.   He also served on Summer Camp staff at Camp Yatasi (Norwela Council, Louisiana) and Camp Terrell (Ouachita Valley Council, Louisiana).

John attended the 1973 and 1977 National Scout Jamborees as a youth, and served on staff for the 2013 and 2017 National and 2019 World Jamborees.  He also served on staff at the 2018 National Order of the Arrow Conference.  He has completed Wood Badge (Antelope), NLS, and DYLC training courses.  He will again be serving as a staff member at the 2023 National Scout Jamboree.

John graduated from Northeast Louisiana University (1985) and the University of California, Davis, School of Law (1989).   He is now a Judge with the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside.  Prior to becoming a judicial officer, John practiced law in Riverside from 1989 to 2008.  He has served in criminal, family and civil law assignments.

 

Cynthia Blessum 

V.P. Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion  

 

Cynthia currently serves as Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Associate Lodge Adviser. She is a long-time CIEC volunteer and Scouter having served in a number leadership positions. She is a founding member of Crew 129 of the Mt. Rubidoux District and continues to serve as Crew Advisor and as Advancement Chair for Troop 129.

Cynthia has served Mt. Rubidoux District as Camping Chair, Program Chair, Scouting for Food Chair and as District Chair for Temescal District. She has served as Council Venturing Chair, Advisor for Venturing Officer’s Association and as a member of the Area Venturing and Camping Committees. She is Woodbadge trained and served on staff. She completed Powder Horn Course Director and Kodiak/Kodiak X Course Director training at Philmont and served as Course Director for both courses for the Area and organized a number of Kodiak Treks for Venturing. She served on staff for multiple Buckskin courses. All wonderful opportunities thanks to her sons, Eagle Scout Roger and Andrew who is an Eagle Scout, Venturing Ranger and Silver Award recipient.

Cynthia served as Council Camping Chair, Vice President Program and as Cahuilla Lodge Adviser.  She continues to support the Order of the Arrow lodge and as Associate Section Adviser for Section W-4S. She attended National Order of the Arrow Conferences as Contingent Leader and Lodge Adviser. She completed National Lodge Adviser Training, Lodge Adviser Training the pilot Developing Youth Leaders Conference at Philmont.

Outside of Scouting she is active with Chabad of Riverside and Chabad of Yorba Linda community projects. She served on the Board of Placentia-Yorba Linda School District as a member of the Steering Committee to bring inquiry-based science to the classrooms. She served as a mentor for math, science and engineering bringing after school workshops to middle and high schools.

Her professional work of 33 years involved development of specific antibody and special chemistry assays for the detection and monitoring of disease. As Senior R&D Manager she was responsible for reagent development from concept through design transfer to manufacturing and product launch. She also taught microbiology and diagnostic microbiology courses at Cerritos and Crafton Hills Colleges.

 

 
Matt Barth

V.P. Program

 

Matt’s scouting journey began in Boulder, Colorado when he joined Troop 275, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout in 1973. In Riverside, California, he served as Cubmaster of Pack 176, held a variety of leadership positions with Boy Scout Troop 2, then initiated and became Advisor for Venture Crew 2. While active with the Mt. Rubidoux District, Matt worked through a number of positions including District Chair. Matt now serves at the Council level, working as part of the CIEC Executive Board and as the Council Advancement Chair from 2016 – 2019; his current position is Vice President of Program. He is a James E. West Fellow, a Brotherhood member in the Order of the Arrow, WoodBadge trained (Beaver), recipient of the District Award of Merit, the Silver Beaver award, and the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award. He has attended the National Jamboree twice, both as a youth and as an adult scouter.

Matt has B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. (UCSB 1990) degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is the Yeager Families Endowed Professor at the Bourns College of Engineering, University of California-Riverside, where he has been teaching and conducting research at UCR’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) for 28 years. He also serves as UCR’s Faculty Director of Sustainability. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and is involved in a number of efforts promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Matt is a member of Riverside East Rotary Club and is also serving as the District Coordinator for the International Federation of Scouting Rotarians. Matt and his wife Kathy are very proud of their Eagle Scout son (Trevor) and Girl Scout Gold Award daughter (Talia).

Matt LeVesque                   

V.P. Properties

 

Matt Flanagan          

V.P. Board Relations

Matt was born and raised in Pomona, California.  He was in a Scouting family, which led to his earning the Eagle Scout award in 1978.  Matt remained active in Scouting, becoming a Scoutmaster at age 21 for a local unit in need of leadership.  After a short hiatus to begin a family, he rejoined Scouting as an assistant Cubmaster with his son Scott, serving in nearly all unit leadership positions, ultimately taking on the role of Scoutmaster for his son’s troop.  Matt has served at the district level as FOS Chair and Finance Chair, at the council level as the 100th Anniversary, Vice-President of Program, Council Treasurer, Council Commissioner and Council President, at the Area Level as the Asst. Area Commissioner, and currently in the National Service Territory 3 as the Council Performance Champion Lead. 

Matt was a Wood Badge Course Director and is an active district trainer.  Among Matt’s most memorable Scouting experiences are attending three National Jamboree’s (1977, 2005, 2010) and backpacking with his son Scott and his troop in the Eastern Sierras.

Matt has been active in other areas of the community, serving as President of the Rancho Cucamonga Sunrize Rotary Club from 2009-2011 and a member of the Congressional Youth Volunteer Awards board for Congressman David Dreier.

Matt attended Cal Poly Pomona for Computer Information Systems, and works with his siblings in the family business, Shelton’s Poultry, Inc. as the Vice President of Operations.

Matt has 3 adult children.  Alyssa, Mary and Scott (His Eagle Scout son). 

 

Joseph Cleary           

V.P. Exploring
 

 

Joseph Cleary was born in Boston Massachusetts and lived there all of six weeks.  Due to his father’s military career obligations, Joseph’s family moved frequently throughout the American southwest and spent some time in Europe.  During the late 60’s and early 70’s, Joseph was briefly a Cub Scout in Arizona and a Boy Scout in Texas.  While attending Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth Texas, Joseph was a member of the Carswell AFB Police Explorer Post. 

The family finally settled in Riverside California in 1980 and Joseph finished high school at Riverside’s Poly High.  In 1984, Joseph joined the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy sheriff. Joseph retired from the sheriff’s department in 2018 after having risen to the executive levels of the Department.

Joseph holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from California Baptist University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from the California State University, San Bernardino. He is also a 2006 graduate of the FBI National Academy.

In late 2000, Joseph’s oldest son, Brandon, came home with a Cub Scout flyer for Riverside’s Pack 176, chartered by Immanuel Lutheran Church, and announced he wanted to be a Cub Scout.  Joseph served on the Pack committee and in 2004 became Brandon’s Webelos Leader. When Brandon joined Troop 176 in 2006, Joseph became a committee member and assistant scoutmaster until 2011 when he returned to Pack 176 to be his younger son Julian’s Den and Webelos Leader.

In late 2013, Joseph joined the CIEC Executive Board representing Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff.  When Julian joined Troop 176 in 2014, Joseph became the committee chair for the Troop. Joseph has continued to serve as the Troop’s committee chair and has also taken on the role of the CIEC Executive Committee’s Vice President of Exploring.  Joseph trekked at Philmont in 2010, completed Wood Badge W4-45-15-2 in 2017 and staffed Wood Badge in 2018 and 2019.   Joseph is married to his lovely wife Carole, and they have two sons. Brandon, who earned his Eagle Scout rank in 2010, and Julian, who is a Life Scout and close to applying for the Eagle Scout rank

 

V.P. District Operation

Jason Osborn

 

 

V.P. Membership

Adrienne Krock

 

 

Anastasia Leveck

Treasurer

 

Anastasia Leveck currently serves as the Council Treasurer and the ChairPerson of Adventure Weekend.

She is also the Program Director for several camp events. She has previously served as a Cub Scout Day Camp program Director, Roundtable Commissioner, and the District Chair for Mt. Rubidoux District.  Anastasia is an Ordeal Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, and a recipient of the District Award of Merit, and Silver Beaver Award.

Anastasia’s scouting adventure started in 2008 when her son's Tiger Den Leader asked her to attend a committee meeting for her.  Since then and many meetings later, She has served as a Den Leader, Committee Chair, Day Camp Program Director, STEM camp director, and Roundtable Commissioner.

She has completed Wood Badge (Antelope) 2014 and has served on staff at the 2018 Fall Woodbadge

Anastasia and her husband Henry are very proud of their Eagle Scout son Atticus.

 

 

Matt Bear

Scout Executive/CEO

 

 

Executive Board First Name Last Name
  Sheila Armstrong
  Brian Crain
  Samuel Crowe
  Gary DeFraene
  Sam Fisk
  Frank Gruendner
  Alan Kay
  Peter Mandery
  Lou Monville III
  Stan Morrsion
  Joseph Ortiz
  Crystal Pastorian
  Jim Prior
  Patrick Singer
     
2022 Cahuilla Lodge Chair Alex Truax
OA Lodge Advisor Mike Hare
VOA President Nicholas Lopez
VOA Advisor  Georgi Dyer
     
District Chairs First Name Last Name
Mount Rubidoux Jayson Conlon
Temescal Kevin Krock
High Desert Vacant  
Sunrise Vacant  
Tahquitz Kathy Sizemore
Gray Arrow Jim Nolin
Old Baldy Brian Galleano
     
District Commissioners First Name Last Name
Mount Rubidoux Susan Davalos
Temescal Don Bloch
High Desert Ken Simpson
Sunrise Joseph Riordan
Tahquitz Rice  Berkshire
Gray Arrow Ed Lucas
Old Baldy Daniel Ramirez
   
     
    l

 

Independent Board Member Statement

With the exception of the Scout Executive/CEO, all council officers, district chairs and executive board members are independent, voting members of the council board.
 

 Council Whistle Blower Policy

 

 

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