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
- Jonathan Steiner, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer
- Byron Scott, MD, Chief Operating Officer
- Heather Bennett, Chief of Staff
Board of Directors (2024-2025), 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
- Harry McMahon, Vice Chair – Senior Advisor, G100 Network; Former Executive Vice-Chair, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Annalisa Pizzarello, Secretary – Senior Vice President of Results Delivery, Amgen
- Thomas Sturgess, Treasurer – Executive Chairman, Tiri Group Limited and Blue Star Print Holdings
- Laurie Siegel, Assistant Secretary – Former Chief Human Resources Officer, Tyco
- Mark Schwartz, Assistant Treasurer – Co-Founder/Co-Manager, KSHFO, LLC
- Emma Carrasco – SVP Corporate Affairs, NBC Universal News Group
- Adam Cooper – Former Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Citadel LLC
- Mary M. Dwyer, Ph.D. – President and CEO, IES Abroad
- Heitham Hassoun, MD – Chief Executive of International, Cedars-Sinai
- Henrietta Holsman Fore – CEO, Holsman International
- Jay McGonigle – Former Chair and CEO, Corporate Executive Board
- Marla Salmon – ScD, RN, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, Public Health, Global Health & Public Affairs at the University of Washington
- Perry Siatis – Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, AbbVie
- Tom Strickland – Partner, Wilmer Hale
- Elizabeth A. Toro, MD, MPH, FACOG, Gynecology Consultant, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics; Director of Health, Board of Africa Schools of Kenya
Honorary Board, Direct Relief
- Dorothy Adams, Director Emerita
- Thomas J. Cusack, Chair Emeritus
- Pamela Gann, Chair Emerita
- Richard Godfrey, Chair Emeritus
- Stanley C. Hatch, Chair Emeritus
- Angel Iscovich, MD, Chair Emeritus
- Dorothy F. Largay, Ph.D, Chair Emerita
- Nancy Lessner, Chair Emerita
- Rita Moya, Chair Emerita
- John Romo, Chair Emeritus
- Denis Sanan, Chair Emeritus
- Nancy Schlosser, Chair Emerita
- Mark Schwartz, Chair Emeritus
Medical Advisory Council, Direct Relief
- Elizabeth A. Toro, MD, MPH, OB-GYN, Chair
- Juan Carlos Alvarenga, MD
- Federico Antillon, MD, Ph.D
- 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
- Hon. Jaime Galvez Tan, MD, MPH
- Paul Giboney, MD
- William C. Gong, Pharm D, FASHP, FCSHP
- Bert Green, MD
- Dan Greenfield, MD
- Douglas S. Gross, MD, PhD
- Cother Hajat, MBBS, MPH, PhD, FRCP, FFPH
- Angel L. Iscovich, MD, FACEP
- Rosie Jadidian, PharmD
- 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
- Byron Scott, MD, MBA
- Hambardzum Simonyan, MD
- Larry Stock, MD, FACEP
- 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, Chair
- Harry McMahon, Vice Chair
- Annalisa Pizzarello, Secretary
- Tom Sturgess, Treasurer
- Thomas Tighe
- Dr. Byron Scott
- Felipe Ize
- Cristobal Thompson