Board of Directors

Rick Stafford

As retired President and Chairman of the Board of Murray Company where he spent over 30 years, Stafford is the Board’s industry expert from outside the company, serves on the Boards of multiple other companies, and provides his knowledgeable counsel on the topic of employee-owned companies.

Laurie Dreyer

Laurie Dreyer is currently on the Board and the Director of Development at Taylor Design, an Architecture, Interiors and Design Strategies firm with offices in California.  Her business experience includes Principal/VP leadership roles at Gensler, Anshen+Allen, Stantec and Harris. She held Human Resources leadership roles at Psomas and The Ratcliff Architects. With her passion for learning, Laurie has taught for the AIA and ACEC conferences, AEBL, Equity by Design, and KA Connect. She maintains an active role in ACEC’s Senior Executive’s Institute. Publications include ENR, Design Intelligence, the AIA Practice Handbook for HR, and Fast Company.  Laurie graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a BA in History.

Peter Celeste

Peter Celeste, president of Lifelong Learner Holdings, is responsible for Talogy, the company’s Human Capital Management business. He is an accomplished senior executive with over 25 years of experience in tech-enabled B2B service companies.Previously, Peter served as president at The Search Agency, leading the company’s overall strategy, management and operations of its global agency P&L. Prior to that, he served as SVP and GM of Oversee.net’s Monetization Services division. Before joining Oversee, Peter was GM of MyCorporation, an online incorporation business in Intuit’s small business division. Earlier, he served as regional general manager for Overture/Yahoo!’s Search and Search Marketing business in the Americas. Peter holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA in Business Administration from the University of San Diego.

Barbara J. Wight

Barbara Wight is the Chief Financial Officer at Taylor Guitars, one of the world's leading manufacturers of premium acoustic guitars. Ms. Wight retains global responsibility for all financial, information technology and legal interests of the company. In 2020, Ms. Wight led Taylor’s transition to an ESOP and 100-percent employee ownership. In 2021, Ms. Wight was named San Diego’s CFO of the Year in the “large private company” category by the San Diego Business Journal. Prior to joining Taylor in 2009, Ms. Wight spent 18 years in the agricultural irrigation industry. She was the Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer of T-Systems International, Inc., a global manufacturing company delivering irrigation solutions to growers. She oversaw all global operations, including manufacturing facilities and laboratories in North America, Europe and Australia. In 2008, she led the sale of T-Systems International, Inc. to John Deere for the John Deere Water Technologies Division (JDWT). Ms. Wight continued with the JDWT Global Executive Leadership Team to help guide the transition process. Currently, Ms. Wight serves on the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (SDREDC) and is a member of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s District Export Council. Prior Board positions include the San Diego County Water Authority, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) and others. Ms. Wight also was the founding Chair of the Regional Global Competitiveness Council promoting U.S. companies seeking to export their goods and services. Ms. Wight holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, magna cum laude, from San Diego State University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.