Board of Directors


JODY BUCKLEY
President
Community Activist (bio)

TISH BUSSELLE
Vice President
Educator, Vallejo Unified School District (bio)

KARIFA DIAWARA
Treasurer
Certified Public Accountant, Diawara & Assoc. (bio)

RENEE BERENSON
Secretary
Attorney (bio)

LISA HENDRICKSON
Past President
President/CEO, Avenidas (bio)



JOHN C. BOYLE
Consultant and Menlo Park City Council Member (bio)

LUCRETIA-DEL J. BROUSSARD
Retired Educator (bio)

JOAN CASSMAN
Attorney (bio)

SUVENDU (BEN) CHAUDHURI
Certified Tax Consultant (bio)

RICHARD L. (DICK) DAVIS, MD
Professor Emeritus, UC San Francisco (bio)

MARÍA FERNÁNDEZ
Educator/Researcher/Consultant (bio)

JENNIFER FISHER
Former Marketing Director (bio)

ROBERT GRASSILLI
Mayor of San Carlos (bio)

SHARON HOFSTEDT
Retired Nurse (bio)

PATRICIA (PATTY) HSIU
Owner of Consulting Organization (bio)

J. FRANK MCCABE
Attorney (bio)

JULIA MEE
Brand Marketer and Communications Professional (bio)

JOSEPH D. MILLER
Attorney, Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C. (bio)

ALLY NUSCHY-LENAT
Adjunct professor of business, Skyline College (bio)

TIMOTHY K. (TIM) ROAKE
Attorney (bio)

DON SHOECRAFT
Communications consultant, MTK Communications (bio)

BETTY TILL
Leadership Development Coach (bio)

JAMES (JIM) WHITEHEAD, PH.D
President of Vector Laboratories (bio)

SHEILA WOLFSON
Former Special Education Teacher; Committee Worker, Interplast (bio)

Board Member Biographies

JODY BUCKLEY, PRESIDENT
Member since July 2006
Jody Buckley is active in the field of venture philanthropy and currently serves as co-chair of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s first Donor Advisory Council. She is a co-founder of Stone Soup, a non-profit consulting firm that assists women through individual, organizational and community capacity-building projects in the Pacific Northwest, with a specific focus on rural areas. She also directs the charitable giving of the Buckley/Horowitz Fund. An active volunteer, Jody has served on several boards and board committees, including Death Penalty Focus, Oak Knoll P.T.O., Community Association for Rehabilitation, Parents' Club of Palo Alto and Menlo Park, National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council and Women's Recovery Association, where she served as Board chair. She also serves as a Foundation trustee for her alma mater, Washington State University, from which she graduated with honors in 1987; she did post-graduate work in England, and subsequently earned a Master of Education in Counseling and Guidance from Tennessee's Lincoln Memorial University. A past national president of Young Democrats of America and a presidential elector for the state of Washington in 1996, she remains politically active in Washington State, California, and the federal arena.
Return to top of page.


TISH BUSSELLE, VICE PRESIDENT
Member since July 2005
Tish Busselle served full time from 2004-2008 as a special consultant to the State Administrator / State Trustee for the Vallejo City Unified School District. She continues in that role part time as well as doing consulting work for other school districts, including the San Mateo-Foster city School District, where she had bee assistant superintendent for many years. Prior to coming to San Mateo, she was chief of the Office of Governmental Affairs at the California Department of Education in Sacramento and held legislative positions in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas. Tish holds a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Tish chaired the Samaritan House Main Event in 2004 and 2005, and was volunteer coordinator of the agency's 2004 and 2005 Family Sharing Program. Her other current community affiliations include being Board member and Immediate Past President of the Board of the San Mateo Public Library Foundation and Vice President of the Board and co-chair of the Curriculum Committee for the San Mateo / Foster City / Burlingame / Hillsborough Leadership Program. She also serves on the advisory board of for kids!, the San Mateo - Foster City Community Education Foundation, and is an active member on several commissions at St. Paul’s Church in Burlingame. Return to top of page.


RENEE BERENSON, SECRETARY
Member since July 2005
Renee Berenson is an attorney in private practice in Redwood City. After graduating from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1981, Renee became a staff attorney for the California Supreme Court, where she served as the senior attorney in charge of evaluating petitions for writ of habeas corpus. Since leaving the Supreme Court in 1987, Renee has specialized in the analysis of legal issues and the preparation of related briefing in complex civil and criminal litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. A significant portion of her trial work is done on behalf of indigents charged with capital and other serious offenses, by appointment through through the San Mateo County Private Defender’s Program.
Return to top of page.


KARIFA DIAWARA, TREASURER
Member since July 2007
Born in Guinea, West Africa, Karifa Diawara was educated in France, receiving both his BS and MS in Economics and Management (with emphasis in Accounting and Finance) from the University of Reims, France. He received his Masters in Taxation from Golden Gate University. Karifa is the founder of Diawara & Associates, CPAs, a Palo Alto-based CPA firm. Prior to launching his firm, Karifa was a director at Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen, & Co. Karifa, who speaks seven languages, has a unique career that includes working for the United Nations in Ethiopia, providing management and accounting training for local business owners. He is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Return to top of page.


LISA HENDRICKSON, IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Member since July 2005
As president and CEO of Avenidas since 1999, Lisa Hendrickson manages all of the operations of this mid-peninsula senior services agency, which has a $4.5 million annual budget and a staff of 43. Prior to joining Avenidas, Lisa had a 22-year career at Wells Fargo Bank, where she worked in various commercial banking capacities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Smith College. She currently serves on the board of The Private Bank of Palo Alto. Her previous community service affiliations have included serving on the boards of the San Jose Museum of Art and the Women’s Recovery Association, where she was Board Chair from 2002 to 2004. She has also served in various volunteer capacities with civic and educational organizations in the Menlo Park area where she lives.
Return to top of page.


JOHN C. BOYLE, Member since July 2005
John Boyle has a strong background in both business and nonprofits/public service. . He currently serves as a City Councilman for the City of Menlo Park and is an active board member of the Menlo-Atherton High School Foundation for the Future and of the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust (HEART) for San Mateo County. His business experience includes over 15 years of experience in high-tech management and operational roles (including 3Com, Verifone, HP) and 10 years of venture capital investing (including general partner roles at Worldview Technology Partners and Matrix Partners). John holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA degree from Stanford University. John and his wife, Amy, live in Menlo Park and are active in their church, local schools, and other several other non-profit organizations. Return to top of page.


LUCRETIA-DEL J. BROUSSARD, Member since July 2008 Lucretia-del Broussard has been an elementary-school teacher and principal, a college instructor, a resource teacher for grades K-5, an educational writer, a program reviewer for the California State Department of Education, and an educational consultant. She was the principal of San Mateo Park School, where she created a student-centered, academically focused, diversity-sensitive, caring and safe environment; implemented a system of home-school-community partnerships; established a three-tier / two-way communication system; guided institution of the school's first homework center, website, and principal's newsletter; led the staff in the creation and management of a math-science magnet school; and fostered a variety of curriculum expansion and leadership development programs. A resident of San Mateo for 40 years, Lucretia is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the NAACP, and the First Baptist Church of San Mateo. Her others civic involvements have included the American Cancer Society, the Whitney Education Foundation, the "Children as Peacemakers" international movement, the Martin Luther King essay contest, and Congressman Tom Lantos's homeless theater project. Lucretia earned education degrees from Southern University and the University of Chicago.
Return to top of page.


JOAN CASSMAN, Member since July 2009
Joan Cassman has practiced law at Hanson Bridgett LLP in San Francisco for 32 years. Her expertise is in the firm’s three primary areas of public sector engagement – general municipal law, and the transportation and water industries. As chair of Hanson Bridgett's 25-member Government Group, Joan provides legal services to public agency clients, including cities, counties, special districts and agencies that deliver essential government services. Since 1989, she has been City Attorney for the City of Millbrae; she also currently serves as General Counsel to the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Management Authority, the transportation-management Joint Powers Authority, and the Mid-Peninsula Water District. A graduate of Williams College and Wellesley College and Hastings College of the Law, Joan was a passionate advocate for public education while her children were attending San Mateo public schools in the 1980s and '90s. She helped form the San Mateo Foster City Education Foundation and served on its Board of Directors for over a decade. Joan's accolades include being named a "Northern California SuperLawyer" by San Francisco magazine in 2007 and 2006; the Ann Benner Award of the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo; and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Honorary Service and Lifetime Service Awards.
Return to top of page.


SUVENDU (BEN) CHAUDHURI, Member since July 2008
Suvendu Chaudhuri's business background includes having founded and managed numerous Bay Area high technology companies, including Synergia, Castalink, Cimplex, SuperCads, and IsoGraphics. His expertise is in program and project management; critical customer support; and product design and development, from quality assurance through product release and training. Currently he works part time and seasonally as a Certified Tax Consultant for H&R Block in San Mateo. Suvendu holds two degrees in mechanical engineering – a bachelor of science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), in Kharagpur, India; and a master of science from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Return to top of page.


RICHARD L. (DICK) DAVIS, MD, Member since July 2009
A Phi Beta Kappa honors graduate of the University of Minnesota, Dick Davis subsequently earned his MD from that university's medical school before serving on active duty as a pathologist in the United States Navy Medical Corps for eight years. After leaving the US Navy, Dick served for more than a decade at the USC Medical Center in Los Angeles as Head Physician in the Neuropathology Laboratory, and Associate Professor and Professor of Pathology. Subsequently, he was Professor of Pathology, Neurology, and Neurological Surgery and Director of the Neuropathology Unit at UC San Francisco for nearly two decades before becoming Professor Emeritus in 1998. His honors and awards include having been cited as one of eight neuropathologists in "The Best Doctors in America" (1992-93 and 1994-95), and a Meritorious Achievement Award (1998) from the American Association of Neuropathologists (1998). His activities have included membership in various professional organizations and serving as editor or editorial board member of numerous professional publications. He is the author of 164 scientific articles on neuropathology in peer-reviewed journals, and author/editor of 37 professional chapters and books. A longtime member of the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, Dick served on that organization's Board of Trustees many times, including having been Treasurer, Vice President, and President. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Pacific Central District of the Unitarian Universalist Association, including two terms as President.
Return to top of page.


MARÍA FERNÁNDEZ, Member since July 2005
María Fernández is an educator, research practitioner, and consultant. As a Senior Manager of Policy and Programs for Stanford’s John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, María currently provides technical assistance, coaching, and capacity-building support to community organizations and public institutions in the area of community youth development, and produces briefs, articles and presentations on the subject. Previously she served as a Community Developer with the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center and Program Assistant with Harvard University’s Office of School Partnerships. María holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University and a master of education degree from Harvard. In addition to being on the Samaritan House Board, María is also a community facilitator, translator, and interpreter for a number of Bay Area nonprofit organizations.
Return to top of page.


JENNIFER FISHER, Member since July 2009
Since 2002, Jennifer Fisher has been a volunteer for various political campaigns and community-based organizations in Menlo Park, developing campaign messages and marketing materials and managing various community-based activities. Before becoming a volunteer, Jennifer served as Field Marketing Director for Cisco Systems for five years, developing and implementing marketing programs in finance, healthcare, energy and government for use in the company's corporate and field sales organizations. Previously, she was a Business Development Manager for 3Com Corporation, and a Program Director specializing in alternative energy (wind and solar) and advanced semiconductor markets for Strategies Unlimited. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in economics awarded by the University of California at San Diego and Davis, respectively.
Return to top of page.


ROBERT GRASSILLI, Member since January 2005
Bob Grassilli recently retired as Chief Financial Officer of Sunstream Homes. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, and is a Certified Public Accountant. In addition to Samaritan House, Bob serves as a board member of the San Carlos Youth Center Foundation, and the Carl and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation. In November of 2005, Bob was elected to the San Carlos City Council and currently serves as Mayor of the City of San Carlos.
Return to top of page.


SHARON HOFSTEDT, Member since January 2005
Sharon Bryce Hofstedt began her career as a registered nurse, and spent 25 years working in various medical specialties and positions ranging from staff nurse to Director of Nursing. Today she is a community volunteer in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. She serves on the Shadhika Foundation Board and she has served on the boards of numerous other local nonprofit agencies, including Stanford University Hospital, Women’s Recovery Association, Avenidas, Peninsula Stroke Association, Palo Alto Community Child Care, and the American Heart Association. Sharon has devoted substantial time to non-Board activities that have improved the quality of life for numerous community groups and individuals. She was one of the first Patient Relations Volunteers to work in the Stanford Hospital Emergency Room and spent 2,000 hours to build this program; she assisted in the development of a similar program at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital, and also served as a member of Stanford Hospital's Chaplaincy Advisory Committee and the Biomedical Ethics Committee. She has received numerous awards for her volunteer activities and contributions to society, including being inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame of San Mateo County, being named Outstanding Volunteer Advocate by the Junior League of Palo Alto, and receiving the Peninsula Community Foundation’s Koshland Award and the Avenidas Lifeime of Achievement Award. Return to top of page.


PATRICIA (PATTY) HSIU, Member since July 2009
Patty Hsiu has over 24 years of management and leadership development experience. She is currently the owner of FlyingLeap, a consulting organization specializing in coaching, leadership development, facilitation and communications. Patty's interests lie in giving individuals the information and ability to do their best work, and in helping organizations develop ways to benefit themselves and their employees by doing so. Prior to starting her own consulting business in 2005, Patty served as Senior Director of Talent Acquisition and Development for Apple Computer for over four years. Before that, her professional experience was in the retail home furnishings business with Pottery Barn and in the clothing business for The Gap and Macy's San Francisco. Patty holds a bachelor's degree in environmental sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. She served on the Hillsborough Schools Foundation Board for three years, and has been a member of the San Mateo High School Foundation since 2004, where she is Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
Return to top of page.


J. FRANK MCCABE, Member since July 2008
Frank McCabe has been an attorney in private practice in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He graduated from Williams College in 1965, and received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1968. After clerking for a federal judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Frank went into private practice in 1973, and has continued to practice civil and criminal law with an emphasis on federal court work. In addition to Samaritan House, Frank serves on the board of directors of the United States District Court Historical Society, and is a former board member and treasurer of the Burlingame Community for Education. Return to top of page.


JULIA MEE, Member since July 2007
Julia Mee is a brand marketing and communications professional with over 20 years of experience. Most recently she was Director of Global Brand Advertising and Sponsorships at Hewlett-Packard, managing a $300 million budget with programs running in 140 countries. Prior to that, she was responsible for managing the HP brand programs in Europe, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. She also has held brand and advertising management positions at Electronic Arts and Foote, Cone and Belding advertising agency. Since leaving HP in 2006, Julia has been focused on community service. In addition to the Samaritan House Board, she serves on the board of directors for the University of Oregon Alumni Association, runs a career program at Aragon High School in San Mateo, and volunteers as a mentor for a college-aged foster child through Orphan Foundation of America.
Return to top of page.


JOSEPH D. MILLER, Member since August 2007
Joe Miller is a graduate of Boston University cum laude in history and the University of San Francisco School of Law. Licensed to practice law in California since 1983, Joe is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and the State Bar of California. He specializes in handling complex commercial litigation and the defense of companies and management in employment matters. His commercial litigation experience includes contract, fraud, unfair competition, trade secret, RICO, and many other common law and statutory claims. An experienced trial attorney in state and federal court, Joe has arbitrated many labor, employment, and complex commercial matters on behalf of companies. He has also contributed to a number of articles on employment law and general civil litigation issues for the University of California's Continuing Education of the Bar Civil Litigation Reporter.
Return to top of page.


ALLY NUSCHY-LENAT, Member since July 2009
Ally Nuschy-Lenat has 25 years of retail department store management experience, having served in various capacities for Macy's, the Emporium and I. Magnin – all in San Francisco; and Mervyn's in Hayward. She also taught merchandising on the faculties of the Fashion Institute of Design in San Francisco and San Francisco State University, and is currently an adjunct professor of business at Skyline College. Her volunteer activities are extensive, including having been PTA President for San Mateo elementary and middle schools and on the Boards of Trustees of the Peninsula Jewish Community Center, Peninsula Temple Beth El, and the San Mateo Foster City Education Foundation, for which she subsequently served on staff as Development Director. She has chaired several large dinner/dance fundraising events for Drew Preparatory High School, served as co-chair of the Auction Committee for Samaritan House's Main Event for a number of years, and is an active weekly volunteer at Safe Harbor. Ally is a graduate of the University of Oregon, with a degree in history and political science.
Return to top of page.


TIMOTHY K. (TIM) ROAKE, Member since July 2009
Attorney Tim Roake has practiced securities litigation for 28 years. Since January 2003, he has been a partner with Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher's Palo Alto office, where he focuses on securities, corporate governance, and intellectual property litigation. He represents companies and their officers and directors in securities class action, corporate governance and derivative matters; he also has extensive experience conducting internal investigations and representing companies and individuals in SEC investigations and civil proceedings involving stock option practices, accounting, and insider trading issues. He previously was a partner and chair of the litigation group of a Silicon Valley law firm, served as in-house general counsel for two medical-device subsidiaries of a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company, and specialized in securities and other complex business litigation in Gibson Dunn’s Colorado office.
Return to top of page.


DON SHOECRAFT, Member since July 2009
Don Shoecraft is founder and principal of MTK Communications, a Belmont, CA firm that has provided communications and consulting services to private, nonprofit and governmental agencies on the San Francisco Peninsula since 1988. His firm’s services include writing, editing, design, printing, mailing, and marketing communications distribution; image and branding consulting; and media contact and public relations. Don is a former newspaper journalist and bureau chief with 18 years of experience in newspaper writing and 18 years as sole proprietor of MTK Communications. A former director of the Peninsula Press Club, Don has also served as a member of the Boards of Directors of the Brisbane, San Bruno and San Mateo Area chambers of commerce; Community Gatepath; the Child Care Coordinating Council; the San Mateo Police Activities League; and Leadership San Mateo / Foster City / Burlingame / Hillsborough. He is past president of the Rotary Club of San Mateo, and the author of four histories, including The History of San Francisco International Airport.
Return to top of page.


BETTY TILL, Member since July 2008
Betty Till has over 20 years experience in leadership positions in business and healthcare. As a Leadership Development Coach through her own company, LifeWork Solutions, she currently provides executive coaching for physicians and healthcare executives who are preparing for new leadership roles or transitioning into new companies and roles, as well as those who want to increase their probability for success in their current roles. Formerly, Betty served as a corporate executive at a variety of companies, coaching senior managers in crisis communications, developing corporate business and marketing strategies, and communicating merger and acquisition goals and information to employees. She carries numerous professional coaching and counseling certifications, and is qualified to administer and interpret a variety of assessment tools and surveys. With a B.S. in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin, Betty began her career as a Registered Nurse, providing care for critically ill patients at a major trauma center; that experience led to teaching at Austin Community College, where she pioneered an Associate Degree program for paramedics. In addition to Samaritan House, her current community involvement includes sitting on Sequoia Hospital's Community Advisory Council and volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank and Rebuilding Together.
Return to top of page.


JAMES (JIM) WHITEHEAD, PH.D., Member since July 2009
Jim is the founder and President of Vector Laboratories, Inc., a bioscience company established in 1976 that develops and manufactures a wide range of labeling and detection products for medical research. With over 500 products sold worldwide, Vector Labs is the largest producer of certain kinds of medical-detection and -test products, and has pioneered many novel and innovative products for immunopathology and molecular and cell biology. Previously, Jim was Assistant Director of the Gastrointestinal Research Lab at the VA Hospital in San Francisco and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; he also served as a consultant for projects at Stanford University. He has authored over 30 scientific publications and book chapters and has been involved in a variety of diverse research projects. He currently serves on the board of Celerus Diagnostics and chairs the boards of Vector Laboratories, the Bay Area Science Fair, and the Northern California Science and Humanities Symposium. Prior to a postdoctoral position in Dr. Jonas Salk’s lab at the Salk Institute, Jim received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Loyola University and attended graduate schools at the University of California in Los Angeles and Riverside, where he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He has also been involved as a Special Olympics coach for many years.
Return to top of page.


SHEILA WOLFSON, Member since July 2007
Native Chicagoan Sheila Wolfson attended the University of Illinois and the University of Texas, where she earned a B.A. in Special Education. After moving to California when her husband secured a faculty position at Stanford, Sheila concurrently taught Special Education at the Children's Health Council and obtained her master's degree from Santa Clara University. Later, while raising two children, she tutored, volunteered in the schools, and eventually worked part time in marketing for Klutz, a children's publishing company. From 1999 to 2005, Sheila served on the Board of Directors of Interplast, a medical nonprofit organization that performs free reconstructive surgery on children in developing nations and trains the local medical staff. She continues to do committee work for Interplast, and participates in an international mission for two weeks each year. She is currently a volunteer at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, where has been enjoying the experience of working with the patients, their parents and siblings for almost 25 years. Return to top of page.

KITTY LOPEZ
Executive Director