Jim has been active in many non-profit organizations including Sonoma County.
Jim Famini has spent most of his life getting to know Sonoma County. Currently living in Sonoma, he grew up south of Sebastopol, graduating from Analy High School. While attending Santa Rosa Junior College, he met his wife, Karen, a Santa Rosa native. He graduated from Sacramento State University as a California History major before volunteering in the Peace Corps in Guatemala. Returning to Santa Rosa, Jim started a retail career with Longs Drug Stores where he began as a management trainee and ended twenty-nine years later as Senior Vice-President of Operations, with responsibilities that included negotiations, customer and employee relations, real estate selections, and operational responsibility for over 200 stores. Thirteen years ago, Jim began using all this experience and expertise as a real estate agent.
Jim has been active in many non-profit organizations including the Sonoma County 4-H Foundation Board in many capacities, City of Sonoma Chamber of Commerce as Treasurer, the Campfire Boys and Girls Board of Directors, Sonoma High School Advisory Board, Santa Rosa Junior College Alumni, and Mission Oaks Homeowners' Association. He conceived, developed and directed the "Spin-to-Win" non-profit venue at local fairs, sponsored by Longs and TV50, which generated over $100,000 in donations for twenty organizations in a seven-year period.
His free time is most often spent with family, especially his four grandchildren, and with his involvement in antiques and collectibles - finding, fixing, and selling. For over 25 years, he's had spaces at the Antique Society on Gravenstein Highway, and has been known to frequent a variety of estate sales, flea markets and peddlers' fairs. Jim's favorite places are in Northern California, and he feels very fortunate that he's had so much opportunity to not only live here, but also to help others enjoy their lives here as much as he does.
