As part of National Volunteer Week, we are profiling some of our volunteers each day this week. Our story today focuses on an honored member of Direct Relief’s Board of Directors and local OB/Gyn.

Twenty-eight executive directors, corporate presidents, doctors, private investors, and community leaders serve on Direct Relief’s Board of Directors as unpaid volunteers. Their extraordinary commitment includes more than 90 official board and board-committee meetings throughout the year—5,000 total hours—aimed at managing operations and planning for the future of the organization.

Director involvement moves well beyond financial giving and strategic guidance—from ambassadorship and networking, to finding and accessing new resources that Direct Relief can transform into life-saving medical assistance for people across the U.S. and around the world.

Dr. Ayesha Shaikh, a Santa Barbara based OB/Gyn, has been on the Board of Directors since 2006. Over the past twenty years, Dr. Shaikh’s service in the local medical world included a two year appointment as Chief of Staff and long-time Chairman of the OB-GYN Department at Santa Barbara’s Cottage Hospital. Direct Relief has benefited from Dr. Shaikh’s experience and skills as she has been a key advisor to Direct Relief’s humanitarian programs, specifically those focused on keeping mothers and children safe and healthy. Dr. Shaikh has also bolstered Direct Relief’s efforts from the field, having spent time in Uganda working with local maternal and child healthcare providers supported by Direct Relief.

The entire Direct Relief network deeply appreciates and admires the tireless efforts of the Board of Directors and today, we particularly thank Dr. Shaikh for her commitment to this organization and the thousands of people served by Direct Relief.