JAY SCOTT President

Jay Scott has lived in the Venable Neighborhood off and on since 1960 and highly recommends it to anyone considering a move to the area.  In prior lives, he has worked as an entrepreneur and in senior management at the University of Virginia. Jay currently works as an executive recruiter in the field of higher education.  Jay and his wife, Sarah Bedford, have three kids, who have all learned to ride their bikes and climb trees in the neighborhood.

erica goldfarb past president

Erica Goldfarb has lived on Wayside Place since 1998, having moved here from Cleveland, Ohio.   She recently retired from the International Studies Office at UVA.  Husband Adam  works at the UVA Medical School.  She has served regularly in various volunteer positions around the area and also enjoys travel, cooking, the outdoors and being with friends. "I believe in the power of the community neighborhoods to work towards a better place for all." She and Adam raised two daughters who attended Charlottesville public schools. You will probably see her walking her Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Georgia and Gus.

diane hillman  board member

Diane Hillman has resided, with her two dogs, in the Venable Neighborhood, since 2002. She is retired from a career as health care planner and policy researcher, at UVA Health System and VCU as well as other major medical centers across the U.S. Diane spends her time volunteering for various local not-for-profit organizations including Congregation Beth Israel and Building Goodness Foundation. She also spends her time hiking, gardening, dancing, playing piano and bridge and just enjoying life in Charlottesville.

robert king board member

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Mr. King was born and raised in Charlottesville Virginia and was baptized at First Baptist Church on Main Street at the age of seven years old.
He attended Jefferson Elementary School, Venable Elementary School, Walker Middle School, and Lane High School.  He also attended Saint Paul’s Episcopal College in Lawrenceville, Virginia.
Mr. King helped integrate Venable school in 1960 to help conquer the Commonwealth of Virginia’s massive resistance program that was put in place throughout the state to prevent African-Americans from fully participating in American society. He was on the battlefield at the age of 10 years old. From there he was among the first students to open Walker Middle School in its first year of operation. He would then go on to Lane High School where he was part of a football team that had a winning streak that lasted 53 games over five years. That team became the winningest team in the nation at that time.
After high school, he left Charlottesville for Saint Paul’s Episcopal college to study business administration.  
Subsequently, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he worked for several grocery chains (A&P, Kroger and Big Star Foods) ultimately becoming a store manager.   After 35 years in the grocery business, he moved on to a satellite business, the wine industry. He worked as a Sales Rep calling on accounts and placing orders. His accounts were some of the best to be had in Atlanta which included businesses in the Buckhead, Peachtree Road, Peachtree Street, and Piedmont Avenue areas of the city. As a result, he became very successful in the wine industry.
After retiring in 2015, he returned home to Charlottesville to spend some of his best years in this great city.   


 

MARTIN KILIAN board member

Born in Germany, came as a grad student to the US in 1975. Studied political science, US history and African-American literature in Europe and at the University of Georgia. PhD in US history. Wrote for Der Spiegel and other publications in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Always bounced between Washington DC and Charlottesville. Lives on University Circle since 1992. Married to Silvia Sanides, two daughters, one in DC and one in Vienna, Austria.

Meredith collier student board member

Meredith serves as the Inter-Sorority Council representative to the Venable Neighborhood Association Board. She is a Third Year Youth & Social Innovation and Spanish double major, as well as an incoming Accelerated Master of Public Policy Candidate. Meredith is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and serves as the President of the ISC. In her free time, Meredith enjoys practicing yoga and attending live concerts with friends. ​

zach palazzotto student board member

​Zach serves as the Inter-Fraternity Council Public Relations and Outreach Chair. Zach is a second-year student majoring in Biomedical Engineering while simultaneously getting his Master’s in Public Health in the School of Medicine. Originally from Long Island, New York, Zach is an Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity member. At UVA, Zach serves on the board of the Engineering Student Council, gives weekly tours of the engineering school, volunteers in Albemarle County Schools, and builds low-cost microscopes in his research laboratory.

fritz knabe board member

Fritz Knabe has been part of the Venable neighborhood since 2021. In the late 90's he was a homeowner in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood and participated in the City's neighborhood leadership training at the time. In the intervening years he lived in Boston and was active in organizing block parties and other neighborhood activities, while continuing to rent out his former Charlottesville home and pay regular return visits.. Professionally he has been an engineering leader in various startups, and he currently assists faculty and grad students start new companies through UVA's Licensing and Ventures Group. He lives with his wife and high-school-age daughter on Edgewood Lane.