JoAnna Rottke, President

Former Assistant Director (1997-2016) JoAnna Rottke is the new President of the Friends of the Dickens Project. She first became involved in 1995 and has continued to play a key role as a Friend and ex-officio board member. “The Project continues to amaze me with its relevance and value to so many communities. I love that it reinvents itself and moves forward. It has been such a huge part of my life for the past 20+ years and I’ve made many close friendships,” JoAnna writes. She has researched Dickens extensively, contributing to a quiz show that requested Dickens Project’s expertise, and her favorite Dickens novels are Dombey and Son (“because Edith Dombey is so wonderful”) and Our Mutual Friend. When she’s not reading Dickens novels, JoAnna spends her time with her own dogs and fostering for Santa Cruz SPCA, as well as researching her family history.