About Hermosa Hermanos

Get to Know Us

Liz Tyndorf 

Liz Tyndorf has been married since 2006 and is the mother of twin sons Owen and Griffin. She spent 20+ years in corporate sales and marketing specifically working in the medical device industry. She currently works as a marketing consultant on a part-time basis. Her lifelong passion has been volunteering through philanthropic organizations starting with Girl Scouts in 1975 and she has consistently been involved with numerous national and local philanthropic organizations throughout her life. 

​

As a mother of teenage sons, Liz hoped to find a mothers and sons volunteer group specific to Hermosa Beach or the South Bay area of Los Angeles, California. Her goal was to spread her love of volunteerism to her sons throughout their high school years. She was surprised that there were so few groups in existence with the type of commitment to service that her family was looking for, and most of those had to turn families away every year. She collaborated with her dear friend Katherine O’Connor and sought advice and counsel from another local boys' volunteer group who graciously shared their information. Hermosa Hermanos was born in March 2022 and is growing annually to boys in Hermosa Beach or who are graduates of Hermosa Schools. Their hope is to include as many boys who qualify and to collaborate with their team of Moms to provide interesting and rewarding volunteer opportunities for high school boys representing multiple high schools.

​

Katherine O'Connor

My name is Katherine O’Connor and I am honored to co-chair Hermosa Hermanos with my dear friend Liz Tyndorf. My parents taught me early on the importance of giving back and volunteer work has played an important role in my life ever since. Sharing Hermosa Hermanos with my son is so important to me and is the next stage of my lifelong passion and commitment to volunteerism and child development. My education is in child psychology and early childhood education. I am currently being certified as an Education Therapist for early learners. 

I have dedicated my adult life to the welfare of children from working as a court-appointed child advocate for the Children’s Courts of Los Angeles, to working at UCLA in the psychology department to support children prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol and their adoptive families. I also worked at Redondo Union High School in the Special Education department where I helped integrate special needs students into typical classroom settings. It was also my honor to have been the founder and director of Smarty Pants Academy in Hermosa Beach where children in our community came before and/or after school for tutoring and enrichment classes. One of my passions is promoting literacy and I currently volunteer my time as a tutor for Reading Partners of Los Angeles. Some of the other non-profits I have volunteered for are Meals on Wheels, The Ronald McDonald House, Special Olympics of Canada, Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach Friends of the Library, Los Angeles County Superior Court Child Advocates Office and Proliteracy America. Volunteering has enhanced my life in so many ways and I am so happy and honored to be sharing this part of your son’s journey. Thank you so much for your interest in our organization and we are so very happy to have you join us.