Meet the OWSA Board of Directors

We’re a small team of longtime OWS residents and committed volunteers. Learn a little bit about us and, if you’re interested, contact us about joining the board.

A woman with short gray hair wearing green-rimmed glasses, a black turtleneck, and a blue knitted sweater with a textured pattern. She is smiling and wearing dangling earrings.

Susan Kaufmann

President

Sue has lived in a little bungalow in the Old West Side since 1986 and served on the OWSA board since 2021. She was instrumental for many years in organizing the annual Old West Side Homes Tour. Sue has worked professionally and personally as an advocate for social change. Much of her work has addressed equity for women, with a strong focus on gender-based violence. As OWS president, she is working to promote inclusive policy-making that addresses the needs of neighborhoods and to foster community cohesion.

Close-up of a smiling man with a gray beard, wearing a brown jacket, outdoors near a lake with trees in the background.

Daniel Rubenstein

Vice President

Dan has lived on the OWS intermittently since the early 1980s, settling permanently in 1994. He joined the OWSA board in 2025. Dan specializes in China political and economic risk management for organizations like Ford Motor Company and the University of Michigan, and has served on several local nonprofit boards assisting with strategy, communications, and development. He and his family live in an expanded 1928 craftsman-style “workers’ cottage” in the OWS historic district.

A cheerful woman smiling, wearing glasses and a purple top, with a bright blue scarf, standing indoors next to a houseplant.

Allison Stupka

Secretary

Allison grew up in Traverse City and has lived in the Old West Side since 1992, when she and her husband Harry Reid bought a bungalow built in 1910. They still live there, along with their daughter and dog, Diva. Allison is a Montessori teacher and has owned her own school, the Ann Arbor Children's House, since 2011. Allison and Harry love to walk in their neighborhood and Eberwhite Woods. Allison has served on the Old West Side Association board of directors since 2002.

A smiling woman with long gray hair, wearing glasses, a beige jacket, and a navy blue shirt with a pattern, sitting indoors.

Linda Berauer

Board Member

Linda has lived on the OWS since she moved to Ann Arbor in 1986 for graduate school and fell in love with the neighborhood.  In 1991 she bought her small pre-Civil War "worker's cottage."  Now retired, her working life was spent in higher education, much of it at the intersection of international development, training, and minority recruitment.  She spent eight years living and working overseas and her later work entailed extensive domestic and international travel.  She joined the OWS Board in 2018.

A person wearing a red beret holds a black and white puppy close to their face.

Christine Brummer

Treasurer

Christine lived on Mulholland Avenue after moving to Michigan from Montana.  After law school at UM, she worked for several decades with international consulting firms before becoming an investment advisor for a large family foundation. Her first friends in the Old West Side invited her to join the Board in 1990.  She served on the Homes Tour Committee and edited the Old West Side News. Christine is active in civic and arts programs.   

Woman with short brown hair wearing large straw hat, patterned glasses, earrings, and a necklace, smiling indoors.

Sonia Schmerl

Board Member

Sonia lived on First Street from her junior year in high school until 2021, when her mobility challenges required her to move to a more accessible home. She was recruited to join the board in 1997, and  participated in its activities (annual Homes Tour, semiannual community meetings and the newsletter). She was appointed to Ann Arbor’s Historic District Commission, where she served two terms, one as chair.