Meet the Board Members of the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation.
Adam Kendall, Executive Director
A San Francisco Bay Area native of Californio descent, Adam earned a master’s degree in history from California State University, Los Angeles. He has worked professionally with fraternal collections for nearly two decades as a curator, collections manager, archivist, and librarian, and served as the 2013–2015 president of the Masonic Library and Museum Association. As a professional speaker and writer, Adam has published and presented his research internationally.
During his spare time, Adam is the editor of the annual journal of the Scottish Rite Research Society, Heredom, and is a proofreader for Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, which is published by the London-based premier research lodge, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2027, wherein he also holds membership. Additionally, he serves as the 2024–2026 president of the Philalethes Society, the oldest independent international Masonic research society.
John McPartland, Chair of the Board
Jonathan Prestage, Secretary
Robert Strohmeyer, Treasurer
Robert Strohmeyer has held senior leadership roles in technology and media companies for twenty-five years. He served as Chief Customer Officer at Leadspace and Swrve and now leads Revenue Enablement at Simpplr, an intranet technology provider. He has advised various startups and non-profits on operations and growth strategies over the past decade and has served on a variety of non-profit boards. He teaches courses on innovation and leadership in the MBA program at Sofia University, and his writing on technology and business has appeared in such publications as Wired, Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, and many others. He has served as Treasurer of the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation since 2021.
V. Thomas Langford
V. Thomas Langford is a native Californian who grew up in Southern California, where he attended Claremont McKenna College. He majored in political science and philosophy, obtaining a BA and BFA degree magna cum laude. At the University of California, Santa Cruz, he attended a French Intensive Language program and completed a post-graduate Watson Fellowship, during which he traveled to France and French Polynesia. He obtained a Juris Doctor degree from King Hall, University of California, Davis. Mr. Langford is a member of the California State Bar and served seven years as a Pro Temp Judge in Solano County. He has been a solo practitioner since 1985, specializing in luxury retail, religious institutions, and information technology.
Noah Maier
Noah Maier is senior advisor to the Blavin family and a prominent figure in philanthropy. He has a rich background in fundraising, having raised over $400 million for various global transformative projects, including work with organizations like the ACLU, Salvation Army, the Open Society Foundations, and several notable family philanthropies.
Before his current position, he was the Head of Partnerships for the Novogratz family’s philanthropic and impact investing initiatives, where he played a founding role in building donor coalitions like One for Justice and One for Democracy. Maier also founded a national political consulting firm and has advised various family offices, venture funds, equity funds, and philanthropies.
Noah serves on the boards of the Oakland Scottish Rite Historical Foundation, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund (Campaign Board), and the advisory board of Alianza. He is a graduate of Mercer University.
Stories about Noah’s work have appeared in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Christian Century, Fortune, the New Yorker, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, Fast Company, Business Insider, Marie Claire, and Inside Philanthropy, among others.