Board of Directors

Under Direct Relief’s bylaws and consistent with legal requirements, all activities and affairs of the organization are managed, and all corporate powers shall be exercised, by or under the direction of the Board of Directors. Among other functions, the Board reviews and approves a strategic plan, annual operating budgets to execute the plan, and all organization policies.

The Board, through written delegations of authority, authorizes the CEO, CFO, or other staff members to manage the day-to-day activities, finances, and operations of the organization, subject to limitations that the Board determines. However, the Board retains direct responsibility for personnel decisions (including compensation) relating to executive staff and may not delegate certain responsibilities, including overall fiduciary responsibility, general oversight, and Board organization and governance.

Direct Relief’s President/CEO and its CFO do not sit on the Board of Directors. Both positions report to and serve at the pleasure of the Board.

Moreover, California law assigns specific responsibilities directly to the CFO regarding the organization’s financial management and reporting, and requires that these responsibilities remain separate from those of the CEO.

Directors are volunteers who serve without pay.

2012-2013 Board of Directors

• Thomas J. Cusack, Chairman of the Board, Former Chairman, President and CEO, TransAmerica Occidental Life Insurance Company and Executive Vice President, Transamerica Corporation
• John Romo, Vice Chair, Former Superintendent/President, Santa Barbara City College
• Patrick Enthoven, Treasurer, Founder and Former Chairman, Hollard Insurance Group
• Rita Moya, Secretary, Chief Strategist, BioIQ
• Angel Iscovich, M.D., Assistant Secretary, Chief Executive Officer, EmCare Pacific West
• Kendall Bishop, Retired Partner, O’Melveny & Myers, LLP
• Sharon Bradford, Designer and Co-Owner San Marcos Growers Nursery, Fundraiser, Community Activist
• Lawrence Dam, Former President and Chief Operating Officer, Televisa International, LLC
• Patty DeDominic, Managing Partner, DeDominic & Associates
• Hon. Paul G. Flynn, Los Angeles Supreme Court Judge, Retired
• Gregg L. Foster, Owner, Elyria Foundry
• Dorothy Gardner, Foundation Executive, retired
• Ernest J. Getto, Retired Partner, Latham and Watkins, LLP
• J. Michael Giles, Former CEO Merrill Lynch International Banks and Merrill Lynch International Private Banking
• Linda Gluck, Former Bank President and Public Official
• Bert Green, M.D. Interventional Cardiologist
• Raye Haskell, Former Deputy Director, Administration and Banking Division, California State Treasurer’s Office
• W. Scott Hedrick, Private Equity Investor
• Nancy Walker Koppelman, Activist and advocate for health, education, and human rights
• Donald J. Lewis, Real Estate Investor and Partner, Westlake Associates
• Dante Di Loreto, President, Ryan Murphy Television
• Mari Mitchel, Fundraising Professional and Volunteer
• Jeanne Newman, Partner Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman, LLP
• Rick Roney, Retired Manufacturing Executive, Silicon Valley
• Barbara Rubin, Former School Teacher, Advocate for Issues of Justice and Peace
• Mark Schwartz, Former CEO, Import Distritribution Industry
• Mary-Louise Scully, M.D., Director of the Travel and Tropical Medicine Center of the Sansum Clinic
• George Short, Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, and Senior Vice President/General Counsel, Somera Capital Management, LLC
• Gary Tobey, Chairman and CEO, Haworth Marketing and Media

Honorary Board

President Emeritus

• Sylvia Karczag

Director Emeritus

• Dorothy Adams

Chair Emeriti

• Richard Godfrey
• Stanley C. Hatch
• Dorothy F. Largay, Ph.D.
• Dennis Sanan
• Nancy Schlosser

Committees

The Board is organized by committees, on which nondirectors may serve. Board committees conduct similar advisory and oversight functions with respect to specific areas, such as programs; information technology; human resources and personnel; strategic planning; and fund development. Direct Relief board members participate on the following committees: