Tom Hersant, President
Tom is a Founding Director and now the current chair of CSCA. His career was as a public administrator with the State of California and at the time of his retirement was the Regional Manager of Child Care Licensing for both San Diego and Imperial Counties.
Since then he has volunteered as a tour director with local Public Radio Station KPBS, as a reader for LibriVox.org, and is, along with his wife, a regular traveler to Carlsbad’s two sister cities and other delightful locations throughout the world. Most recently he has joined Carlsbad’s Hi-Noon Rotary and thoroughly enjoys joining these fine folks in fulfilling the Rotary motto of “Service above self”.
Chris Kristiansen, Vice President Diversity & Inclusion
Chris recently joined the board of Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors. As a Carlsbad resident since 2019, she aims to be a bridge between cultures in the global landscape and contribute to the city of Carlsbad by bringing her wide range of corporate experience over the years. She is passionate about working for Diversity & Inclusion and Sustainability in everyday life for future generations. Her primary responsibilities at CSCA include protocol assessment and strategy integration for sister city relations.
Polly Yu, Director
Polly was born and raised in a multicultural, metropolitan community of Hong Kong where the best of the East-West cultures meet. It had a great impact on her upbringings in the importance of History, Language, Arts, Music and how it plays out in the global business environment.
Polly has over 25 years experience in organizing Education, Government & Business exchange between US and Asia. She led the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Youth Symphony, Timken Museum Asian Arts Study, City of San Antonio Sister Cities exchanges to Asia. Currently, she is on the Board of Directors of Sister Cities International & Carlsbad Sister Cities. She devotes much of her time and effort in developing Global Exchanges for the youth in Carlsbad.
Laurenn Barker, Secretary, Public Relations
Laurenn Barker is a graphic artist and former PR Director for an international consulting firm. She is also a commercial sculptor and an award winning author and illustrator of eight children’s books. She has served as Co-President of the Fallbrook branch of the American Association of University Women and is currently Chair of the Carlsbad Arts Commission. She is also a founding auxiliary member of Miracle Babies dedicated to supporting premature at-risk babies and their families. In addition to her books, Laurenn blogs about children, animals and the environment. Her websites for her children’s books and sculpture are www.laelae.com and www.expressionsstudio.net, respectively.
Scott is a long time resident of Carlsbad spending over 31 years as an investment advisor.
Katherine is a global leader with over 25 years working in the field of human resources and leadership development. Previously she was the Vice President and Global Head of People & Organization for a nuclear medicine company based in Geneva Switzerland. She and her family later returned back to Carlsbad California sharing their passion for cross cultural education and development. In her corporate experience, Katherine has collaborated and led teams across 64 countries embracing a life-long learning of diverse cultures, languages, and traditions. She is committed to the development of our youth, empowering the potential of future generations, and serves as an active volunteer in the local community supporting education, charities and non-profit rescue programs.
Throughout his career, Jeff Segall has been involved in leading trade delegations and business meetings internationally, as well as hosting delegations and individuals from foreign nations. 
Richard graduated from CalState LA with a BA in math and then worked for what is now Avery Dennison in various technology endeavors. Later he transferred to Ricoh Electronics in Tustin, CA working as a process engineer. Relocating to the North County San Diego area he found work as a graphic artist for Harte-Hanks. Through a family connection to the City of Carlsbad, he has availed his graphic skills to CSCA since 2009.