Daron & Ron Barness

Daron & Ron Barness, originally from the Los Angeles area, moved to Arizona in 1994. Both are graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles where Daron received her Masters Degree in Education at U.C.L.A. while Ron earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School. Daron and Ron have two children, Jordana and Zachary.

Ron is the Chairman of the Board of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Phoenix, and serves on that organization's National Board of Directors. He has served as AIPAC’s National Development Chairman and currently serves as its Political Chair. Ron also serves as a member of the executive board for the Jewish Community Foundation and is a Vice President for the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. He sits on the board of directors for the Phoenix Symphony, the United Way Foundation and the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation. Ron is also a Commissioner on Governor Janet Napolitano's Arizona Baseball Commission.

Daron is a Vice President of Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and serves as a Foundation Board member for Jewish Family and Children's Services. She is also the Co-Chair of AIPAC Phoenix’s Women in Politics Division and devotes much of her time to pro-Israel politics and activism.

In recognition of the couple’s philanthropic work, the Barness Family Center for Tzedakah (Charity) and Social Justice was created at Temple Chai, in Phoenix. This center is an umbrella organization for more than a dozen community service projects. Daron and Ron are recipients of the Jewish National Fund's coveted Tree of Life award for community service and service to the State of Israel. Daron and Ron are also owners of The Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Club where Ron serves as a member of the Club’s executive board. Ron is the co-managing member of Barness Papas Investments, a real estate company involved in the shopping center industry. The couple co-founded the Daron and Ron Barness Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization committed to maximizing their charitable giving and effectuating positive change in both Jewish and secular causes.

Frank Jacobson

For nearly two decades (1987-2006) Frank served as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Scottsdale Cultural Council, the nonprofit organization contracted by the City of Scottsdale to program and manage the city's cultural affairs, the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), and the Scottsdale Public Arts Program. With a staff of more than 200, the Center, SMoCA and Public Art was responsible for more than 1,400 programs and events per year including dance, music, theater, film, lectures, exhibitions, workshops, festivals, and education programs that served young and old.

Under Frank's leadership, the Cultural Council received Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce's 1999 Excellence in Business Award, the Greater Phoenix Business Volunteers for the Arts 1999 Arts Organization of the Year Award; the 1998 Arizona Humanities Council Distinguished Organization Award; and the Governor's Arts Award for the Cultural Council's ArtReach Program in 1995.

Prior to moving to Arizona, Frank served as manager of the City and County of Denver's Division of Theatres and Arenas overseeing Denver's arts, sports, entertainment and convention facilities; the Executive Director of the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Colorado; and served in management and programming positions at the Denver-based Western States Arts Federation.

After receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from the Boston University College of Fine Arts and a BA in Speech and Theater from the University of Wisconsin, Frank was an assistant professor of drama at the University of Montana and Managing Director of the Montana Repertory Theater. In 2003 he was awarded a fellowship from The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to attend the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts.

Frank lives in Scottsdale with his wife Stephanie. They have two sons, Aaron and Adam, daughter Ashley and two grandchildren.