BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Collectively, the OG Foundation Board Of Directors proudly represents nearly 115 years of varied and distinguished service within the Corrections profession in California.

JIM BROWN: Vice CEO

32 years of service — Two years out of the military, U.S. Army Sergeant Jim Brown began his Corrections career in 1970 as an officer at Folsom State Prison. He retired from the same facility as a Lieutenant 32 years later.

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In those years, Jim became a well-respected authority on his century-old home institution, which lead him to write two books on Corrections — Arcadia Images of America: Folsom Prison, and 130 Years of the Folsom Prison Legend.

He has been closely involved with the San Quentin Museum Association, and is credited with helping to open the Attica Prison Museum in New York. Jim has been the operations manager of the Retired Correctional Peace Officers Museum at Folsom State Prison since 2001, and is active in several regional, national, and international law enforcement associations.

ROBERT EBBITT: Treasurer

27 years of service — Robert began his career in Corrections at Folsom State Prison in 1982. Five years later, he was a Correctional Sergeant just down the road at California State Prison, Sacramento, also known as New Folsom.  There, he wrote statewide policies and procedures for the court-mandated Mental Health Services Delivery System.

In 1996, Robert promoted to Correctional Lieutenant and began a two-year stint at CDC Headquarters, where he co-authored the Structured Punish Work Detail pilot program to reduce recidivism.

In 1998, Robert returned to Folsom State Prison, where he worked until his retirement in 2009.

KARON LARSON: Secretary

32 years of service — In 1962 Karon began her career with the California Department of Corrections as a clerk typist; in 1971, she became a Correctional Supervisor at the California Institution for Women in Frontera.

In 1972, at the California Training Facility in Soledad, Karon and three coworkers became the first female officers assigned to a California men’s prison.

 She then became a Correctional Counselor I, later promoting to Correctional Counselor II.

In 1981 Karon transferred to San Quentin, where she worked the Security Housing Units and Condemned Row. In 1984 she transferred to Folsom State Prison, working in the Security Housing Unit (SHU), Appeals, and General Population.

She retired in 1996, with more than 32 years in Corrections. Karon’s late husband, Carl Larson, was a widely-recognized Corrections expert with more than 50 years in the Corrections community, as an officer, a warden, and a director in CDCR’s Planning and Design Division.

He was a member of the Old Guard Foundation and a principal member of the Big House Prison Museum planning committee until his passing in Sept. 2013.

PINO RAMACHER: First Voting Member

23 years of service — Pino served his country for four years in the U.S. Navy prior to joining the Department of Corrections in 1985 at San Quentin State Prison.

Throughout his Corrections career, Pino worked as a correctional officer at San Quentin, the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, CSP-Sacramento, and finally at Folsom State Prison, where he promoted to correctional sergeant in 2000.

Upon his retirement in 2008, he was the facility’s visiting sergeant. They sometimes say that Corrections will get into your blood — and Pino is a perfect example. When he joined the Corrections family, he did so following in his father’s footsteps, who served the profession for 32 years. And, continuing the legacy, Pino’s daughter is currently working as an officer at Folsom State Prison.