Board of Directors

Stephen H. Oleskey
Chair
WilmerHale

Stephen Oleskey is a partner in the Litigation Department at WilmerHale, and a member of the firm’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee.  Mr. Oleskey originally joined Hale and Dorr, WilmerHale’s predecessor, in 1968.  In 1987-88 he served as Massachusetts Deputy Attorney General and Chief of the Public Protection Bureau.  Mr. Oleskey has been consistently committed to pro bono service throughout his legal career and received numerous awards for his service to indigent clients in his local community and abroad, most recently anAmerican Bar Association 2007 Pro Bono Publico Award for his lifetime dedication to pro bono legal services.  He served for eight years on the Board of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (now Legal Momentum).  Mr. Oleskey received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1964, magna cum laude, (Phi Beta Kappa) and was later named a Distinguished Alumnus, as well as serving as a Trustee.  He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law (1968).

Dr. Lyndon Haviland is a nationally recognized expert in strategic philanthropy, public health communications, brand marketing, and applied research. She holds a doctorate degree in public health and has more than 20 years domestic and international public health management and leadership. From 2002-2004, Dr. Haviland was chief operating officer of the American Legacy Foundation with responsibility for managing a $181 million annual budget and 80 full-time staff. During this time she helped to frame tobacco as a social justice issue, and to build public-private partnerships to support a national grassroots movement against tobacco use. A passionate advocate for women’s health and reducing health disparities, Dr. Haviland holds a teaching position at the University of New Mexico, is editing a book on the lessons learned from tobacco control, and is consulting with not for profits on strategic communications and partnership development.  Dr. Haviland’s international experience includes consulting work in Cambodia and  work as an instructional supervisor in the US Refugee Service in the Philippines. She also has held several managerial jobs overseeing programs, project design, training and curriculum development for the Institute of International Education in New York.  Dr. Haviland has a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Georgetown University and a master’s and doctorate degree in public health from the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. She holds numerous professional appointments, including serving as a member of the board of directors for High Hopes and the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association.. She is a member of the Harvard Business School Women's Association the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, the Asia Society and the North American Riding for Handicapped Association. Dr. Haviland is a recipient of the John and Kathleen Gorman Public Health Humanitarian Award.

James Nowicki
Treasurer
JPMorgan Chase

Jim Nowicki has spent over 20 years working in global financial and telecommunication services. He is currently an executive director at JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services focusing on client and risk management. He previously held a variety of relationship, management and operations roles with Morgan Stanley & Co., Bankers Trust Company, and Bell Atlantic Corp. Mr. Nowicki holds an M.A. degree in American Civilization from Brown University and a B.A. degree in English from Hobart College.

Janean Mann
Secretary
U.S. Foreign Service (retired)

Janean Mann retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 1997.  Following her retirement she was recalled to the Department where she served as a consultant in the Office of Counterterrorism from 1999-2003.  While in the Foreign Service, she served in Washington as chief of analysis for North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and for West, Central and East Africa, and overseas as political counselor in Tunisia and Liberia and political section chief in Cameroon. Ms. Mann previously worked as a senior aide to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and on the staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she specialized in State Department and African affairs. Ms. Mann was a member of U.S. delegations to the 28th United Nations General Assembly and Sixth Special Session, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and the U.N. Mid-Decade Conference on Women. She began her career as a newspaper reporter for the Birmingham Post Herald in Alabama. She has a B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina and is fluent in French and Arabic.

Kevin Bonderud
Communications/Public Affairs Consultant

Kevin Bonderud is an independent communications, media relations, and public affairs consultant.  From 1990-2005, he was the senior communications and legislative strategist, media consultant, and writer for Widmeyer Communications, a Washington, DC-based public relations firm.  At Widmeyer, where he was Executive Vice President and partner in the firm, he developed and led major communications, public education, media operations, and advocacy campaigns, especially those addressing legislative, regulatory, and public policy issues, for clients ranging from Fortune 100 corporations and large trade and professional association to leading nonprofits, think tanks and government agencies.  His writing on behalf of clients has been published in most major newspapers, as well as many specialty publications.  Throughout the 1980s, Bonderud served as press secretary for Minnesota Congressman Martin Sabo, and worked on presidential and congressional campaigns.  He is a graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

Nancy Bush Ellis
Nancy Bush Ellis’s dedication to her community has spanned decades of volunteer work on behalf of the NAACP as co-chair of the New England section of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Boston United South End Settlement House, which was founded by her uncle. She devotes a day every week as a volunteer with the New England Medical Center and is an active supporter of the Boston Symphony. She has been a board member of the Massachusetts Audubon Society and was instrumental in procuring funds to create a conservation program in Belize. Ms. Bush Ellis is a graduate of Vassar College in New York and has been a lifelong student at the Radcliffe Seminars of Harvard University. She is the mother of four children and nine grandchildren and has campaigned for the presidential elections of her brother and her nephew.

Ana Rita Gonzalez
Fleishman-Hillard

Ana Rita González leads the healthcare and public health practice in the Miami/Latin America office of Fleishman-Hillard (FH) and for FH Hispania. She has a strong background in public health, health policy, strategic planning, third-party coalition building, and public education. At Fleishman-Hillard Ana Rita works with a broad variety of clients on issues that include partnership formation, hospital management, national immunization policies, and policy support for various public and private health organizations. Her international public health experience began in Puerto Rico, where she managed government as well as private hospitals, specializing in taking hospitals out of bankruptcy. She was responsible for opening the first HIV/AIDS service in Puerto Rico and also was professor at the University of Puerto Rico Public Health School and the University of Costa Rica Public Health School. In 1991 Ana Rita joined the World Health Organization-Pan American Health Organization (WHO-PAHO) as hospital and health systems advisor. During her nine years with WHO-PAHO she served in Barbados—covering the English Speaking Caribbean, Costa Rica and Perú—with a focus on heath care reform design, health policy planning, crisis management, and disaster preparedness. Among her many accomplishments she designed and developed numerous social marketing and health education programs for special populations and carried out the successful management of a country-wide crisis in Costa Rica after a radiation therapy accident. Ana Rita holds a doctorate in science in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s in hospital administration from the University of Puerto Rico, and did graduate studies in health planning at Cornell University. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Puerto Rico. She sits on the board of directors of The Health Council of South Florida, the principal body responsible for health services planning in South Florida, and holds a courtesy faculty appointment at the Florida International University, Stempel School of Public Health.

Nancy Hafkin
Knowledge Working

Nancy Hafkin has been a pioneer and innovator in the area of networking, development information, and electronic communications in Africa, working primarily with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa. Dr. Hafkin's work on African networking helped build Africa's ICT framework through partnerships with governmental, nongovernmental and development institutions. At UNECA she served as coordinator for UNECA's African Information Society Initiative and team leader for promoting information and communication technologies for development. Dr. Hafkin also served as chief of the Pan African Development Information System and chief of research and publications at the African Training and Research Center for Women. She played a central role in facilitating the Association for Progressive Communications’ (APC) work to enable email connectivity in more than ten countries during the early 1990s before full Internet connectivity became a reality in most of Africa. In 2000 the APC established the Nancy J. Hafkin Information Society Prize to encourage and recognize African initiatives in information and communication technologies. She has a Ph.D. in history and African studies from Boston University and a B.A. from Brandeis University. She is fluent in French and Amharic and has good knowledge of Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili. She is Director of Knowledge Working, a consultancy on information technology and international development. Dr. Hafkin has written widely on gender and information technology globally, most recently as co-author of Cinderella or Cyberella: Empowering Women in the Knowledge Society (Kumarian Press, 2007).

Stephen Kroll
International Executive Service Corps

Steve Kroll currently serves as Chief Financial Officer for International Executive Service Corps.    Mr. Kroll has 22 years experience in all aspects of auditing, assessing, managing, and supervising federal contracts and awards, and in consulting recipients of federal awards. His broad base of knowledge includes accounting systems, regulatory compliance, pricing strategies, cost proposal preparation, and internal operations reviews. He previously served as Vice President International Operations for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Global Director Internal Audit for Abt Associates, and he provided consulting services for RSM McGladrey.   He also served as chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Contract Audit Management Branch and was a supervisory auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency.  He is a CPA, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Association of PVO Financial Managers.  He also serves on the Board of Directors of
Children’s Resources International, Inc.  Mr. Kroll received a B.A. in accounting from Loyola College.

Rebecca Lynn-Crockford
Sun Trust Bank

Rebecca Lynn-Crockford is Senior Vice President and Director of Compensation for SunTrust Banks, Inc., one of the nation’s largest banking firms headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Rebecca has complete responsibility for all issues related to compensation for the 34,000 employees of SunTrust with a special emphasis on executive compensation. SunTrust Banks has assets of $183.1 billion and net income of over $2.0 million with operations in primarily the southeast United States.  Prior to joining SunTrust, Rebecca held leadership positions in Compensation and Benefits at The Coca-Cola Company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Scientific-Atlanta, Tenneco and Georgia-Pacific Corporation. She had a long career at Georgia-Pacific where she was not only Vice President-Compensation and Benefits, but also the Director of Internal Audit and Controller of the Headquarters Division.  Rebecca has a Bachelors Degree in Accounting, a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management, and attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. She also holds the licenses of Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and Senior Professional in Human Resources.  Rebecca’s true joy is her children. Her son, Jordan, a graduate of the University of Georgia, is attending the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, where he is studying to become a naturopathic doctor. He is married to Elise, a graduate of Louisiana State University and a Masters graduate of University of Georgia, who is studying to be a Physicians Assistant at Oregon Health Sciences. Her daughter, Megan graduated from University of Mississippi and is a fourth grade teacher in Atlanta.

Kevin Mitchell
Director, Internal Audit, BreitBurn Energy

Kevin Mitchell is an executive with BreitBurn Energy, a domestic energy company.  His specialization is in the areas of internal audit and risk management. Prior to working with Breitburn, Kevin worked for seven years for the Unocal Corporation, and also worked for Lockheed and Hughes and Deloitte and Touche.  

Nancy Murphy
Senior Vice President, The Case Foundation

Nancy Murphy most recently served as senior vice president of The Case Foundation, managing international investments as well as advising on civic engagement initiatives. While at the Case Foundation, Ms. Murphy was on part-time executive loan to one of the foundation’s major grantees, PlayPumps International. PlayPumps International plans to expand across sub Saharan Africa to deliver clean drinking water to 10 million people by 2010. Prior to joining The Case Foundation Ms. Murphy led the corporate responsibility practice for APCO Worldwide’s Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Murphy worked with corporate clients in strategy development, management, and communication of corporate responsibility policies and practices.  She also assisted private foundations and nonprofit organizations with strategic planning, program development and communication.  Ms. Murphy’s previous experience includes serving as a program officer with federal agency Corporation for National Service, and as director of policy for the Minnesota-based National Youth Leadership Council and manager of Youth Volunteerism Development for a local volunteer center in Columbus, Ohio. Ms. Murphy currently serves as a board member for the National Youth Leadership Council and as Chair of the Board for the Taproot Foundation.  Ms. Murphy graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dayton. She also received a master of arts in public affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute. She came to Washington, D.C., in 1994 as part of the Presidential Management Intern Program.

Donald R. Sherk
Professional Lecturer, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Sherk is a veteran international development economist specializing in multilateral development banks. Dr. Sherk has broad, senior-level experience as a development bank executive director and international civil servant, as well as a distinguished record as a diplomat and negotiator with experience in nearly 50 developing countries.  He most recently served as a senior advisor to the African Development Bank, where he was previously U.S. executive director. He also served as U.S. alternate director at the Asian Development Bank, vice president of multilateral and corporate client services at Development Alternatives, Inc., and principal advisor on multilateral assistance policies at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  He has been a member of various advisory and evaluative bodies, including the Eminent Persons Panel on World Bank-African Development Bank Synergy, the Knox Commission (which evaluates the African Development Bank’s portfolio quality), the Bretton Woods Committee private sector advisory group, and the International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission (“Meltzer Commission”) of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Dr. Sherk is a seasoned public speaker, panel participant, and expert witness before U.S. Congress, and a well-published author on international development. He holds a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Iowa.  He also studied at the Australian National University as a Fulbright Fellow and taught economics at Boston College, Simmons College, American University and West Point.

Frank Sims
Retired, Cargill

Frank Sims recently retired as vice president of transportation for Cargill Incorporated, providing corporate leadership for all transportation areas, including development and implementation of transportation policy and oversight of personnel. Sims joined Cargill in 1972 as a CMD [merchant in Chicago and moved up through the ranks from branch manager, to merchandising manager for the producer marketing region in Minneapolis, to vice president of CMD. In January 1998 he was named president of Cargill’s North American grain division, with responsibility for all grain operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Sims is a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and past member of the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for trade in grain and oilseed of USDA. He also served as vice-chair of the U.S. Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council and past chair of the board of the North American Export Grain Association. He currently serves as director on the Boards of Tennant Company and Piper Jaffray and is chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Sims received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Paul at Quinn College, Waco, Texas in 1972. 

Diana Swain
Retired, USAID

Diana Swain recently retired from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is now working as an independent consultant on strategy formulation, project design, and corporate social investment. Her last assignment at USAID was as mission director to Angola, where she and her staff built a number of strong partnerships with American, Brazilian and Portuguese corporations and gained a reputation for effective and innovative programming.  Prior to her assignment to Angola, Diana served as USAID’s mission director to Namibia, deputy mission director for USAID’s programs in the Caucasus and in Jordan, and as head of the governance team in USAID’s Center for Democracy and Governance. She also served as a project development officer with USAID in India and in Pakistan, where she worked on a cross-border program for Afghanistan. Diana is one of the founding board members of the still nascent Abundance Fund. She has a bachelor’s of science degree from Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and a master’s of science degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University. 

Eva T. Thorne
Brandeis University

A native New Yorker, Eva T. Thorne holds an undergraduate degree in history from Harvard University and a doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Eva is the Meyer and Walter Jaffe Assistant Professor of Politics at Brandeis University.  She does research on international development, Latin American politics, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).  She is a partner at Deutch Consulting, where she advises clients on political risk.  And she is a founder and principal of Corporate Governance Solutions, a boutique firm that advises clients on political and financial risk management.  She has lived and worked all over Latin America and the Caribbean and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.  Eva has lectured widely on issues of CSR, and political risk in the United States and Europe.  She writes and publishes on political risk for business journals.  Eva is completing a book on the politics of reform at the World Bank and is working on another book project on land rights, natural resources, and indigenous in Latin America.

Jennifer C. Ward
Georgetown University

Jennifer Ward is associate dean for programs and studies and director of the Georgetown Leadership Seminar at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Prior to joining Georgetown in 1999, Ambassador Ward served 20 years as a US Foreign Service officer in Zaire, Senegal, and Jamaica, and as Ambassador to the Republic of Niger. She also served as senior advisor for Africa on the National Security Council, principal deputy assistant secretary of State for personnel at the State Department, and consultant to the vice presidents of the Africa Region at the World Bank. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Ward served as a consultant to the Department of Defense in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs, and as staff director of the Subcommittee on Africa, Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives. Her academic positions include director of graduate admissions, assistant director of the graduate program and lecturer in public and international affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and assistant to the vice president for academic affairs and lecturer in social sciences at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.  Ambassador Ward holds a B.A. degree summa cum laude from Vassar College as well as an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, all in history. She was a Woodrow Wilson National Scholar at UCLA and elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Vassar.  Ambassador Ward has written numerous articles in the field of international education and coauthored a book on the international dimension of U.S. higher education. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, served on the board of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, and as a consultant to the World Bank, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, and the Fund for Peace. She holds four Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State.

John Whalen
President and CEO, CoreWeb

John Whalen is currently President and CEO of CoreWeb, Inc., a business solutions and technology consulting firm based in the Boston area that he founded in 2000.  CoreWeb focuses on solving business challenges and on helping organizations reach their potential through the appropriate utilization of web technologies (with both Fortune 500 and large non-profit clients).   Prior to joining CoreWeb, John was a foreign service officer at the U.S. Department of State from 1994 to 2000 serving as a refugee officer in Guinea; a consular  officer in Ecuador; an economics and political officer in New Zealand; a volunteer peacekeeper in Kosovo; and as an operations officer for Secretary Albright in Washington, D.C.  From 1992-1994, John was a Vice President at International Strategies, a Boston-based management consulting firm where he designed and managed an information product and database with in-depth coverage of trade issues for 78 countries that served AT&T and Business Week and UPS customers (pre-Internet days).  John is a recipient of the New York City Urban Fellowship where he worked for Mayor Ed Koch’s administration in 1986 at the Mayor’s Office of Operations where he helped set and monitor key performance indicators across all city programs, and later worked for the Speaker of the City Council covering environmental issues.  John attended New York University earning a B.A. in Computer Science and Mathematics in 1985 and also completed his MSFS degree (masters in Foreign Service) at Georgetown University’s Walsh Graduate School of Foreign Service in 1992 with a concentration in International Trade.  John has had extended travel to over forty countries (and all seven continents); he has lived in Guinea, Ecuador, Japan, New Zealand, and Germany during periods of his career.  He currently resides in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He has been married for 15 years to an artist with whom he has two children—Emma age 10 and Finnian age 5.