San Geronimo center director reflects on transition year

Alexa Davidson, whose roots in the valley go to childhood, is making a mark after taking over the post Dave Cort held for 32 years.

The first time Alexa Davidson had her photo taken in front of an old tree at Lagunitas School, she was in kindergarten.

Now 31, the Lagunitas School graduate and sixth-generation Marin native has returned to overlook the same tree — this time as executive director of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center.

“I went here from kindergarten through eighth grade,” Davidson said, surveying the lush two-tiered campus that the community center shares with the Lagunitas School District.

“It’s very interesting being back and having a leadership role in the community center,” said Davidson, a Woodacre resident. “I walk around, and I’m constantly hit with nostalgia.”

Davidson took over for former executive director Dave Cort on July 1. Cort, who remains as a paid half-time community ambassador for the center, had held the position for 32 years.

“Alexa’s leadership as the new executive director has been a dream come true for me, our entire organization and the community residents who we serve,” Cort said Friday. “I loved the 32 years that I held this position, and it was critical to me that the right person transitioned into the role.”

In the past 10 months since Davidson’s appointment to the job, the community center has strengthened its partnership with Lagunitas School District, which owns the campus property and which has a joint-use partnership with the community center.

The partnership is now called the Lagunitas Community School. The official title came last fall, when the school district’s board of trustees voted to merge two elementary school programs into one. The former Montessori and the Open Classroom programs became one unified elementary school.

“When they merged the two programs, they officially adopted the community school model and formalized their partnership with the community center,” Davidson said. “We’ve been doing this forever, but now it’s part of the name, the Lagunitas Community School — and we’ll continue that forever.”

Davidson, a graduate of Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo, attended University of California at Davis and graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

After two years of working with youths in the juvenile justice and foster care systems, she realized she wanted something more community-oriented. She went back to college and studied for a master’s degree in nonprofit administration.

During graduate school, she had to do a fundraising project. She contacted Cort about working with fundraising for the community center.

“That turned into an incredible job when I finished my program in 2018,” Davidson said. She started working with the young adult program, and then, “during the pandemic, it evolved into more things.”

When Cort decided he would leave the full-time post, he and Davidson worked together for a year on a transition plan in which she would become the new executive director.

“Alexa from day one was the perfect choice,” Cort said. “In addition to her local roots, she has the direct services experience and leadership training to be successful, is super smart and strategic.”

Cort, who is focusing his part-time work on fundraising for the center, says he is happy to report to Davidson.

“I can proudly share that Alexa is the best boss I have ever had,” he said.

One of Davidson’s major projects is the renovation of an outdoor courtyard, performance area and stage behind the community center.

“This courtyard used to be just this rundown space, it had a gopher-ridden lawn area,” she said. “Last fall, we did initial work to put in these pavers to make it a much more usable space.”

The courtyard, which will have a full stage completed in a few weeks, will be the go-to place for concerts, plays, graduations and get-togethers. An annual gala and summer music series will be held there, too.

“It will just be a great community space,” Davidson said.

Workers are also building a set of doors so the indoor art galleries in the main community center building will open up to the courtyard.

Davidson is also working to create new indoor performance class and maker’s space lab to be located in a vacant former county library building.

The San Geronimo Valley Community Center’s programs are most notable in that they fill in all the gaps for a family where a school district itself is not enough.

In addition to after-school programs for children, the center also offers a menu of services for the surrounding community, including senior lunches, walking groups, mah jongg and peer support groups.

The center also has a twice-weekly food pantry that serves 720 people a week.

For school students, they can choose a wide range of after-school activities. Those can include free one-on-one tutoring, a dance or a woodworking class or a bilingual play group. The center also runs camps for students ages 5 to 10 during school breaks and in the summer.

The school’s gym, built in 2009 as a joint partnership with the community center, is used for physical education classes during the day. After school and on the weekends, the gym and the skatepark behind it opens up to the community and are managed by the SGVCC staff.

The center also manages Bobcat Sports, which includes teams in basketball, volleyball and ultimate frisbee. There is also a Catholic Youth Organization basketball team for third- through eighth-graders.

“It’s a whole recreation area now,” Davidson said, pointing to the now-expansive skatepark and gym setup.

Danielle Fogel, communications director for the San Geronimo Valley Community Center, said Davidson’s job seems to be a perfect fit.

“She grew up here,” Fogel said. “She’s such an ingrained part of the community.”

Fogel said she attended the community’s Hoop Fest about a week ago and Davidson was at ease, as if she’s always been in her role.

“Everybody recognized her — there were no introductions needed,” Fogel said. “She knew who everyone was. That’s what you most want with a leader of a community center.”