Leadership

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.

Executive Staff, Direct Relief

  • Thomas Tighe, President and Chief Executive Officer
  • Heather Bennett, Chief of Staff
  • Dawn Long, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
  • Jonathan Steiner, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Board of Directors (2022-2023), Direct Relief

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.

Directors are volunteers who serve without pay.

  • Mark Linehan, Chair – President, Wynmark Company
  • Byron Scott, MD, Vice Chair – Adjunct Faculty, UMass Amherst School of Management & Jefferson College of Population Health
  • Siri Marshall, Secretary – Former SVP, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer, General Mills
  • Thomas Sturgess, Treasurer – Executive Chairman, Tiri Group Limited and Blue Star Print Holdings
  • Annalisa Pizzarello, Assistant Secretary – Senior Vice President of Results Delivery, Amgen
  • Harry McMahon, Assistant Treasurer – Senior Advisor, G100 Network; Former Executive Vice-Chair, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  • Pamela Gann, Chair Emeritus – Professor of Legal Studies, Claremont McKenna; Former President, Claremont McKenna
  • Emma Carrasco – SVP Corporate Affairs, NBC Universal News Group
  • Mary M. Dwyer, Ph.D. – President and CEO, IES Abroad
  • Stayce D. Harris – Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force, Retired
  • Evan Marwell – CEO, Education Superhighway
  • Jay McGonigle – Former Chair and CEO, Corporate Executive Board
  • Jamie Ruffing, Ph.D. – Public Health Office, Epidemiologist, and Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air National Guard
  • Jim Selbert – Co-Founder, Warren & Selbert
  • Dr. Marla Salmon – Professor of Nursing, Public Health, Global Health & Public Affairs at the University of Washington
  • Laurie Siegel, Former Chief Human Resources Officer, Tyco
  • Elizabeth A. Toro – MD, MPH, FACOG, Student Health Services Gynecologist, University of California Santa Barbara; Clinical Advisor, UCSB Covid19 Response Team Clinical Advisor; Director of Health, Africa Schools of Kenya
  • Mark Schwartz – Co-Founder/Co-Manager, KSHFO, LLC

Honorary Board, Direct Relief

  • Dorothy Adams, Director Emeritus
  • Thomas J. Cusack, Chair Emeritus
  • Richard Godfrey, Chair Emeritus
  • Stanley C. Hatch, Chair Emeritus
  • Angel Iscovich, M.D., Chair Emeritus
  • Dorothy F. Largay, Ph.D, Chair Emeritus
  • Nancy Lessner, Chair Emeritus
  • Rita Moya, Chair Emeritus
  • John Romo, Chair Emeritus
  • Denis Sanan, Chair Emeritus
  • Nancy Schlosser, Chair Emeritus
  • Mark Schwartz, Chair Emeritus

Medical Advisory Council, Direct Relief

  • Byron Scott, MD, MBA, Chair
  • Juan Carlos Alvarenga, MD
  • Federico Antillon, MD, PhD
  • Steve Arrowsmith, MD
  • Hon. Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA
  • Leigh Boehmer, PharmD, BCOP
  • Elizabeth Duarte, MD
  • Adrian Ebner, MD
  • Charles Fenzi, MD
  • Charles Filipi, MD
  • Lynn Fitzgibbons, MD
  • Grace Floutsis, MD
  • Henri Ford, MD, MHA, FACS, FAAP
  • Hon. Jaime Galvez Tan, MD, MPH
  • Paul Giboney, MD
  • William C. Gong, Pharm D, FASHP, FCSHP
  • Bert Green, MD
  • Elizabeth Green, RN
  • Dan Greenfield, MD
  • Douglas S. Gross, MD, PhD
  • Cother Hajat, MBBS, MPH, PhD, FRCP, FFPH
  • Angel L. Iscovich, MD, FACEP
  • Rosie Jadidian, PharmD
  • Karen Lamp, MD
  • Michael Maguire, MD
  • Laurinda Marshall, RN
  • Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD
  • Carol Millage, PharmD
  • Charles Nicholson, MD
  • Raj Panjabi, MD, MPH
  • Sonak Pastakia, PharmD, MPH, PhD
  • Jamie Ruffing, PhD
  • Bakht Sarwar, MD, MS
  • Ayesha Shaikh, MD, OB/GYN
  • Hambardzum Simonyan, MD
  • Larry Stock, MD, FACEP
  • Elizabeth A. Toro, MD, MPH, FACOG
  • Thomas Weisenburger, MD
  • Beatrice Wiafe Addai, MD, PhD

Fund for Health Equity Advisory Council, Direct Relief

  • Hon. Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, Co-Chair
  • Byron Scott, MD, MBA, Co-Chair
  • Martha Dawson, DNP, MSN, RN, FACHE
  • Jane Delgado, Ph.D., MS
  • Gail Small, JD

Board of Directors, Direct Relief Mexico, A.C.

  • Mark Linehan, President
  • Byron Scott, MD, Vice-President
  • Siri Marshall, Secretary
  • Harry McMahon
  • Thomas Tighe
  • James Selbert
  • Felipe Ize
  • Cristobal Thompson