Our People
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Staff
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Board of Directors
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Surgical Outreach Partners
Claire Lachance
President and CEO
Claire Lachance is a transformative leader dedicated to designing, building, and managing high-performing organizations for social impact. Prior to joining ReSurge, Claire served as CEO for the Institute of Noetic Sciences, leading the internationally recognized research institute through an era of strategic transformation, financial and operational turnaround, cultural renewal, and expanded impact. Before that, as president and principal consultant at Inspiration Quest, she counseled charitable foundations, nonprofit organizations, and public sector entities, advising them on strategic planning, capacity-building, impact measurement, financial sustainability, and governance. Earlier in her career, Ms. Lachance served in executive positions at Pacific Bell and MetLife.
Claire earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and French from Tufts University.
Jim Chang
MD, FACS, Consulting Medical Officer
Dr. James Chang is currently the Johnson & Johnson Distinguished Professor and Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University.
Dr. Chang graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with joint degrees in Biology and Economics. He spent a year with Volunteers in Asia as a lecturer in English at the Beijing University of Science and Technology in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Following this, he graduated from Yale Medical School with Alpha Omega Alpha and Cum Laude honors. From 1991 to 1993, he was a Sarnoff Laboratory Research Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. He then completed a residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center and a Hand & Microsurgery Fellowship at U.C.L.A. Medical Center.
He has spent the majority of his career at Stanford where he is currently Professor of Plastic Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also an Attending Surgeon at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, where he serves as Director of the Plastic and Hand Surgery Laboratory. His laboratory work involves translating tissue engineering concepts to reconstruction of tendon and bone in mutilated extremities. His clinical work focuses on complex microsurgical reconstruction of the hand.
Dr. Chang is the Hand Surgery volume editor for Converse’s Plastic Surgery, the authoritative six-volume textbook. He was the Royal College of Surgeons Foundation traveling fellow and was awarded the 2006 Sterling Bunnell Traveling Fellowship by the ASSH. Dr. Chang was the Vice-Chair of the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee of the ACGME and a Secretary/Treasurer of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. In these positions, Dr. Chang has been very involved in the training and certification of plastic surgeons and hand surgeons on the national level. He was elected to the American Surgical Association in 2010. In 2018, Dr. Chang was President of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.
Dr. Chang teaches at Stanford on many levels. His popular sophomore seminar, Surgical Anatomy of the Hand: From Rodin to Reconstruction, is the focal point of an exhibit at the Cantor Art Center in 2014. He has directly mentored over 50 Stanford medical students and is very involved in the training of plastic surgery residents and hand fellows. As C.M.O. of ReSurge International (formerly Interplast), Dr. Chang manages the service and educational programs of this charitable organization that delivers reconstructive surgery to the underserved throughout the world.
He is married to Dr. Harriet Walker Roeder, a psychiatrist. They live on Stanford campus with their three daughters, Julia, Kathleen, and Cecilia. In his spare time, Jim enjoys traveling, flyfishing, cycling, watching baseball, and drinking his friends’ expensive wines.
Shankar Man Rai
MD, Country Director in Nepal
Dr. Shankar Man Rai is the Country Director of ReSurge International in Nepal. The free reconstructive surgery program that Dr. Rai has organized in Nepal through the support from ReSurge International provides its multidisciplinary service at its five outreach centers scattered from East to West and is headquartered in Kathmandu at The Nepal Cleft and Burn Center, Kirtipur Hospital. Dr. Rai’s team has also been providing comprehensive care to poor people with post burn contracture deformities and disabilities, post-cancer reconstruction, pressure sores, hand surgery, and complex wound care especially needing microsurgery both in Kathmandu and in several outreach centers. Outreach centers not only provide free operative surgical care but also speech therapy, basic dental care, physiotherapy, and splinting on regular basis. The team has also been running Nepal Cleft and Burn Center at Kirtipur Hospital which is the largest and most modern acute burn center in the country where the number of admissions for acute burn care has been increasing every year. The team also has established the only Skin Bank in the country with the support from America Nepal Medical Foundation and ReSurge International and has been working towards the prevention of burn injuries in collaboration with several social organizations. So far, this program has been able to provide free reconstructive surgeries to more than 20,000 people.
Dr. Rai has been recognized for his humanitarian work nationally and internationally by many awards and decorations e.g. The ReSurge Humanitarian Award, USA (2003), American Medical Association’s Nathan Davis Professor of Plastic Surgery at National Academy of Medical Sciences Plastic Surgeon, Nepal Cleft and Burn Center, Kirtipur Hospital, ReSurgeInternational Humanitarian Award (2004), Royal Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (RONAST) TalentAward (2005), World of Children Honoree, USA (2006), The Smile Train Hero Award (2007), Don Laub Humanitarian Award, USA (2008), Unsung Hero of Compassion Dalai Lama Award (2009), Best Doctor Award, Nepal (2011), Prabal Janasewa Shree (By the President of Nepal 2012), Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist, UK (2013).
Dr. Rai has volunteered as a reconstructive surgeon with ReSurge in Peru, Ecuador, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and India. Dr. Rai completed his undergraduate medicine (MBBS) as the second batch graduate of the first medical school of Nepal under Tribhuwan University in 1985. After two years of training in General Surgery at the Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandu, he completed his three-year Master of Surgery in General Surgery from Dhaka University, Bangladesh in 1992. To pursue plastic surgery training in the USA, he completed his USMLE in 1994, underwent a year-long clinical fellowship in Plastic Surgery at South Western Medical Center, Dallas, Texas in 1995, and an 18 months clinical fellowship in Plastic Surgery at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio in 1997-98.
Anna Santos
Chief Marketing Officer
Anna Santos is passionate about helping social change organizations build cohesive brands, raise awareness, and engage communities through ethical and inclusive storytelling. She is responsible for all of ReSurge’s marketing, branding, communications, and content strategy.
Anna has a Master of Public Administration from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey with a specialization in Digital Storytelling for International Development. She has a certificate in Documentary Film production from Berekely Advanced Media Institute.
Prior to joining ReSurge, Anna worked at Rocketship Public Schools where she helped the organization through a rebrand and built out their social media and digital marketing strategy. She was also a founding member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council and National Leadership Team. While in New York, she worked on the marketing and content production of Marta Gomez’s 2014 Latin Grammy Winning album, “Coloreando – Traditional Songs in Spanish for Children”, benefiting the non-profit, Global Language Project.
Anna is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico and has lived and worked throughout Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe. She is fluent in Spanish, proficient in Portuñol, and embarasingly basic in Bahasa Indoniesian.
Brieanne Auten
Associate Director of Medical Education and Outreach
Brieanne, a California native, received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University.
Prior to ReSurge, Brieanne worked for a non-profit counseling center and decided that she wanted to broaden her work experience to include international development. In her spare time, Brieanne is working towards her black belt in martial arts, enjoys exotic cuisine, and performs with a local dance troupe.
Brieanne’s responsibilities include all the logistics for getting our volunteers into the field, from flight planning to on-site accommodations. She enjoys international travel and witnessing first-hand the work that ReSurge is accomplishing.
Christa Peterson
Development Operations
Christa, a native of Seattle, Washington, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing. In 2018, she obtained a continuing education certificate in Project Management, also from the University of Washington.
She has extensive client services experience, is results-oriented, and works well in team environments to drive success. She has a heart for the nonprofit world with volunteer experience ranging from fundraising to mentorship. She also planned and executed personal and professional development workshops for women in the greater Seattle area from 2012-2015.
Her ReSurge responsibilities include donor database maintenance and research, executing various fundraising activities, and recently she became a part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.
Dora Rusin-Gomez
MD, Director, Volunteer Services & Medical Supplies
Dora, originally from Bogotá, Colombia, earned her medical degree from Universidad El Bosque in 1998. She then worked in the university’s pharmacology department before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. Her experience prepared her well for her role as Director of Medical Supplies, where she is deeply committed to ensuring safe surgical care at our international partner sites. She works closely with volunteers and partners to ensure the highest standards of care for ReSurge patients while also supporting the training and development of medical partners.
Passionate about building strong relationships, Dora is dedicated to volunteer recruiting, credentialing, and staffing for surgical trips. With over two decades of experience in the nonprofit medical sector, she thrives in dynamic environments, leveraging her strong interpersonal skills to build meaningful connections and drive lasting impact in the field.
Dora has accompanied our volunteer surgical teams on over 25 trips to Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania.
Beyond her work at ReSurge, Dora enjoys horseback riding on local trails.
Eric Philbert Mugoya
Program Coordinator
Eric Philbert Mugoya was born in Sironko district, Eastern Uganda. He is 27 years old and passionate about producing positive results with every piece of work he delivers. He graduated in January 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts In Economics at Makerere University- Kampala, Uganda. He plans to pursue a master’s in the same field, and a Ph.D. thereafter.
Philbert joined ReSurge International in December 2022 part-time and became full-time in June 2023. In his free time, he enjoys baking and horology. He is also a proud member and administrator of the Lions Club of Seeta.
George Gregory
MD, Anesthesia Chief
A world leader in pediatric anesthesiology, George joined ReSurge as anesthesia director in 2004. Working part-time, George focuses on education and training for international medical partners, as well as recruitment of volunteer anesthesiologists. He is also an ex-officio member of ReSurge’s anesthesia, medical services and quality assurance committees. George has volunteered with ReSurge since the 1980s, leading volunteer surgical teams to a variety of sites.
George founded the pediatric anesthesiology program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the 1960s and he remains at UCSF as a professor of anesthesia and pediatrics. He is the author and editor of hundreds of medical articles and books, including Pediatric Anesthesia, the leading textbook on the subject. George has received numerous awards from the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP), including the Distinguished Career Award for Critical Care in 1998.
“I have spent my life teaching. I teach anesthesia residents and medical students and nurses in the United States…but it’s not the same thing. The students in the United States can get this information from lots of people,” said George. “By teaching medical professionals in developing countries, I know I’m actually doing something for somebody that couldn’t be done otherwise; something that makes a difference in their lives and the lives of their patients.”
Hong Han Thu
Operations Manager, Hanoi, Vietnam
Hong joined ReSurge International in 2016 as Operations Manager in Hanoi, Vietnam. She received her bachelor’s degree from Hanoi National University. Prior to ReSurge, Hong worked for CARE International for 13 years and PATH US for 2 years as an Office Manager. She is a goal-oriented office manager with 20 years of administrative management experience in assisting organizations to maximize efficiency and achieve sustainable growth in Vietnam.
She has a demonstrated ability to deliver on productivity goals, increase efficiencies and maintain output quality. In addition, she is a liaison with Government agencies such as MOFA, PACCOM, and Immigration Department. She manages logistical arrangements for all international and domestic Travels for ReSurge teams to Vietnam.
JoAnn Waldman
Chief Finance and Administrative Officer
JoAnn Waldman, a Bay Area native, is an entrepreneurial executive manager with experience directing all core business functions. She comes to Resurge with over 10 years’ experience in the non-profit independent school sector. Her responsibilities included finance, and school wide operations for multi-campuses. She brings extensive experience in strategic and tactical planning to secure a sustainable and vibrant ReSurge International.
Josh Korn
Chief Development Officer
Originally from the United States, Joshua grew up in West Africa (Togo and the Côte D’Ivoire) and Israel. He attended Gordon College where he graduated with degrees in History and French, and then returned to Israel and received a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva. He then began working as Grants Manager for Musalaha, a Jerusalem-based nonprofit organization that seeks to facilitate reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2011 Joshua began working with CURE International, and served in a number of roles, including the Executive Director of the CURE hospital in Niamey, Niger. After seven years in Niger, Joshua relocated CURE’s US office in Grand Rapids, MI. and served as the Head of Partnerships and Impact. Joshua also has an MBA from Baylor University.
Nancy Walton
Senior Staff Accountant
Nancy received her BA in Accounting from Ursinus college in Collegeville, PA and passed the
CPA exam the same year. Most of her accounting experience is in the nonprofit sector,
including numerous years working at private nonprofit schools. She is detail oriented with
experience in financial analysis and reporting. One of her most rewarding jobs was working at a
school for children with learning disabilities and autism in Virginia. Nancy started out as a
volunteer, then became a board member and finally an employee at the school. Upon moving to
California, Nancy worked as an accountant at a nonprofit Art League and then joined the
Waldorf School of the Peninsula. She is excited to now be part of the team at Resurge
International.
Natalie Meyers
Executive Vice President of Programs and Partnerships
Prior to ReSurge, Natalie was the innovation strategist for the mayor’s office of San Francisco, managing the city’s public-private partnership program, Civic Bridge, which recruits private sector professionals to volunteer their time to work alongside government employees on critical city issues. Previously, she worked in London for Spring Impact where she managed teams to provide consultancy support for social impact projects.
Since 2008, Natalie’s career has focused on public programs and policies, both domestic and international. While working for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), she managed the allocation of over $55 million to nine African countries for Ebola preparedness, as well as preparing the Ebola Task Force. As a founding employee and consultant of San Francisco-based Global Impact Advisors (GIA), Natalie coordinated with the Gates Foundation on an initiative enabling access to contraceptives to over 40 million women in six years, and spearheading a program to raise money for a mobile health clinic in Ecuador.
Natalie earned a master’s degree in global health and population from Harvard’s School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in community health from Brown University. She serves as councilor and committee member on the Harvard School of Public Health Council and the leader of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Stefanie Sedell
Associate Director of Donor Engagement
Stefanie, a San Francisco native, received her BA and MA from San Francisco State University in History, emphasizing Classics, Middle Eastern, and Women’s history.
Prior to joining ReSurge, she worked in education. She earned a California Teaching Credential and a second MA in Urban Education and Social Justice from the University of San Francisco, all while teaching middle and high school students. She taught History and English for seven years. Before that, she worked with low-income youth in various San Francisco after-school programs and served four years on the Board of Directors for MPower Alliance (formerly known as On Your Feet Foundation, Northern California), a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of birthmothers through supportive services, community-building, and advocacy.
Sujata Mehta
Consultant, India
Sujata Mehta is a ReSurge consultant in India.
Suman Niroula
Operations Manager, Nepal
Suman is a native of Eastern Nepal. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and English Literature. He started his career as a teacher, later joining the nonprofit organization phect-NEPAL in 2005. In 2016, he joined ReSurge International as an administrative and account officer. Suman’s main responsibilities are to maintain the account, coordinate with government bodies and line agencies, communicate program activities with headquarters and day to day administrative work.
Zoe Mara Talamantes
Communications and Marketing Manager
Zoe is passionate about leveraging social media, digital strategy, and editorial channels to foster globally diverse and inclusive communities, storytelling, and brand love. She manages ReSurge’s social media and editorial strategy and channels while assisting with general marketing, communications, brand, and content.
Before joining ReSurge, she spent most of her early career at Meta, administering social media platforms and blogs across different Meta brands, including Meta AI, Meta Engineering, Tech at Meta, and (the most recent) WhatsApp. Following Meta, she worked at a global mapping startup, growing their social channels and brand while piloting an influencer program.
Originally from Kampala, Uganda, Zoe moved to the United States in 2013 to continue her education. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Global Development Studies at UC Berkeley (Go Bears 🐻).
Claire Lachance
President and CEO
Claire Lachance is a transformative leader dedicated to designing, building, and managing high-performing organizations for social impact. Prior to joining ReSurge, Claire served as CEO for the Institute of Noetic Sciences, leading the internationally recognized research institute through an era of strategic transformation, financial and operational turnaround, cultural renewal, and expanded impact. Before that, as president and principal consultant at Inspiration Quest, she counseled charitable foundations, nonprofit organizations, and public sector entities, advising them on strategic planning, capacity-building, impact measurement, financial sustainability, and governance. Earlier in her career, Ms. Lachance served in executive positions at Pacific Bell and MetLife.
Claire earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and French from Tufts University.
Manisha Shetty Gulati
Chair
Manisha Shetty Gulati is the Chief Growth Officer at Commure. Manisha is driven by a deeply rooted passion to empower the growth and performance of healthcare organizations through the adoption and acceleration of innovative technologies. As Chief Growth Officer at Commure, Gulati spearheads the company’s growth and partnerships strategy, driving go-to-market, revenue growth, and the partner ecosystem through alignment of the marketing, sales, and business development organizations.
Before joining Commure, Gulati held leadership positions across the healthcare ecosystem, including serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Clarity Health Solutions, where she brought to life the company’s mission to deliver better healthcare through advanced analytics and software solutions. She also worked as a partner at McKinsey & Company in the health systems, medical products, and life sciences practices in the US and EMEA, focusing on commercial growth and innovation with impact.
Manisha has also worked on global public health issues throughout her career. She has worked extensively with foundations on economic development and with leading global public health organizations in the areas of infectious disease strategies, policy and advocacy strategy, organization and operations, including the operational response to the Ebola outbreak. She led McKinsey’s west coast philanthropy practice as part of her social sector work with non-profits and foundations.
Gulati currently serves as chair of the board of directors at ReSurge International, a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization providing reconstructive surgical care in low-income countries worldwide, and as a member of the board of the directors for Model N, a revenue lifecycle management software company. Manisha received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, a master’s degree of public administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College.
John Cochrane
Vice Chair and Secretary
John Cochrane is currently the President and CEO of HumanGood, the nation’s sixth largest non-for-profit organization providing housing, healthcare and support services for older adults. The organization employs more than 4,500 team members, and serves more than 14,000 residents and clients across 116 campuses, generating revenues in excess of $500M annually.
John is a seasoned executive and experienced corporate director. He has served as a keynote speaker and brand development leader, and is recognized as an expert in the field of well-aging. He has a deep experience in risk management, finance, brand development, and strategy while serving as a member of boards of directors of various for-profit companies. He has subject matter expertise in corporate strategy, operations, hospitality, risk management, and brand development.
Umesh Padval
Treasurer
Umesh is a Venture Partner at Thomvest Ventures focused on investments in the cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure sectors and working closely with founders and CEOs developing disruptive platform solutions. He currently serves as a Board Member at Avalanche Technology, Bolster, ShiftLeft, and Tactus Technology, and as a Board Observer at Clari and ShieldX. He is also an investor in Baffle and ThousandEyes.
Prior to joining Thomvest, Umesh was a successful entrepreneur, investor and CEO of a public company. He most recently worked for over 8 years at Bessemer Venture Partners in their Menlo Park offices. Prior to Bessemer, he was an Executive Vice President at LSI after its acquisition of a public video infrastructure and distribution company in C-Cube Microsystems, where he served as President and CEO. Umesh has served on over 30 public and private company boards, bringing extensive operating experience and skill set valued by CEOs and founders.
Arvin Taneja, MD
Board Member
Dr. Arvin Taneja is a board-certified plastic surgeon from Southern California. He completed his plastic surgery residency from Houston Texas and is now in solo practice in Pasadena and Newport Beach. He became a member of ReSurge in 2017 after working on surgical missions with other nonprofit groups. His first ReSurge trip was an especially poignant one as it was located in Dehradun, India, his father’s ancestral home. His most recent ReSurge trip was to Bangladesh in 2019 just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Becky Ann Hughes
Board Member
Becky Ann Hughes has extensive experience in Marketing. She currently is Vice President, Growth at Electronic Arts, a video game company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. She previously held senior marketing positions at Glu Mobile, Play First Inc., and Black Angus Steakhouse. Becky Ann is a graduate of San Jose State University and received her MBA from The Wharton School. She has served on the ReSurge board since October 2021.
Christina Dickerson
Board Member
Christina Dickerson is an accomplished corporate, finance and operations executive with decades of leadership experience in the life science industry, private and public corporations, banking, and the nonprofit sector. Most recently, Christina was the Vice President, Corporate Development for Corium, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products with responsibility for corporate finance and strategy, operations and strategic partnerships, administration, governance and human resources. Prior, Christina worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan, The Jim Pattison Group, and Salomon Brothers Inc, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, high yield finance, arbitrage, divestitures and general corporate finance.
Current and previous board positions include more than 15 years on the LifeMoves board, the largest provider of interim housing and services for homelessness in Silicon Valley, holding the Chair and Chair Emeritus positions, and current Chair of the Development Committee and member of the Finance Committee. In addition, she continues to serve in a number of appointed leadership roles for Stanford University and is active in several other community service organizations.
Christina earned an A.B. in International Relations and an A.B. in Economics from Stanford University. Christina joined the ReSurge board in 2021.
Derrick Booker
Board Member
Derrick Booker is currently the SVP of Global Marketing and Innovation for SkinCeuticals at L’Oreal. Where he is responsible for all aspects of the holistic marketing strategy for the SkinCeuticals brand including campaign development and product innovation across 44+ Countries. Derrick most recently held the position of VP and Head of Marketing for CeraVe US. Derrick led the brand integration into L’Oréal’s Active Cosmetics Division in 2017. During this time he spearheaded the launch of the brand’s first ever direct to consumer advertising campaign, including the launch of television, which not only accelerated the US business but served as the foundation for the brand’s communication supporting the global launch into 38 countries.
Derrick extended this campaign to restage the brand’s Sun and Facial Cleanser franchises while launching into medicated Acne, a new franchise for the brand. Derrick led a multi-year, consumer-centric strategy focused on increasing household penetration and driving cross-purchase. During his time on CeraVe, the brand has grown more than 500% making it the fastest growing mass skincare brand in the US creating a billion dollar skincare brand. In 2020 he was recognized among the top 100 under 50 emerging and executive leaders, by Diversity MBA Chicago.
Derrick joined L’Oreal in 2017 from Pfizer Consumer Health where he held roles of increasing responsibility across the Rx-to-OTC switch, Advil, and Pediatric franchises with full P&L responsibility. Prior to Pfizer, Derrick worked at P&G where he held both Medical and Consumer brand marketing roles for Crest & Oral-B. In addition to being an award-winning marketer and business leader, he is also an accomplished research scientist having led the clinical claims support strategy as a Clinical Trial Manager for P&G’s North American Oral Care R&D organization.
Derrick holds an undergraduate degree in Microbiology from Miami University and an MBA from Xavier University.
Diane Flynn
Board Member
Diane Flynn is co-founder and chief executive officer of ReBoot Accel, which accelerates the careers of women in the workplace. ReBoot Accel helps women become current, connected and confident by teaching essential workplace technology skills and building community. Diane also consults with Fortune 500 companies interested in tapping the pipeline of women returning to the workplace, and in improving cultures supporting women.
Diane has a teenage son who was born with a cleft lip, and is grateful for the many services readily available in her community. She is excited to be part of the effort to bring more aid to those in countries where reconstructive options are limited.
Diane previously served as chief marketing officer of GSVlabs, a marketing executive at Electronic Arts and an associate consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. She also works as an executive coach. Diane earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University. She has been a member of the ReSurge board since 2018.
Dr. Félix Manuel Chinea
Board Member
Finny George, MD
Board Member
Dr. Finny George joined New York Plastic Surgical Group, a Division of Long Island Plastic Surgical Group in 2016 and became a partner in 2022. Dr. George was selected from among the top graduating high school students in New York to attend an accelerated 7-year combined undergraduate and medical school education from CUNY Sophie Davis and SUNY Upstate Medical University. He received his Bachelor of Science degree and Doctor of Medicine in 2004 and 2006, respectively. He went on to complete a residency in general surgery at the New York Medical College in Westchester. During this time, he also completed a research fellowship at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. George completed his plastic surgery residency in 2015 at Montefiore Medical Center. Following this, he obtained specialty training in reconstructive microsurgery with a fellowship at the nation’s top cancer hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering. In 2022, Dr. George was named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Plastic Surgeons recognized for liposuction.
Jeff Friedrich, MD
Board Member
Jenny Yip
Board Member
Jenny is currently a Managing Partner at Adjuvant Capital, a life sciences investment fund dedicated to supporting companies addressing significant global health challenges affecting lower- and middle-income countries. Adjuvant’s portfolio spans across drugs, vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics for high- burden infectious disease, sexual and reproductive health. Jenny currently serves on the boards of Antiva Biosciences (US), 54gene (Nigeria), ChromaCode (US) and Evofem Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVFM – US) and as a board observer on Excision Biotherapeutics (US).
Prior to Adjuvant, Jenny was a Partner at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund where she led numerous transactions across the foundation’s focus areas in global health, agriculture, nutrition, and education. She has always been passionate about improving the health and lives of those living in low-resourced settings and spent time working in Kenya and China. In Kenya, Jenny was as a volunteer consultant for Technoserve, a non-profit business consultancy for small-holder farmers and small to medium businesses.
Jenny has worked in finance for 20 years, beginning her career as an investment banker advising corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings at Goldman Sachs’ Hong Kong, New York, and San Francisco offices. She also serves on the Investment Advisory Committee at the Reproductive Health Investors’ Alliance (US), the Advisory Board of the Harvard School of Public Health Magazine and the Board of Directors at ReSurge International (US).
Jenny graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in History of Science. She lives with her husband and two young children in San Francisco, CA.
Jeremy Deer, MD
Board Member
Dr. Jeremy Deer is a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Children’s National Hospital in
Washington, D.C. He is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Cardiac Anesthesia at
George Washington University. Presently, he serves as the Program Director for the Pediatric
Cardiac Anesthesia fellowship program and serves on a number of committees within the
Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, as well as the
American Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Deer was introduced to ReSurge in 2013 when a mentor
suggested that he join a service trip to Phan Rang, Vietnam, and since then, he has participated in
a number of service and educator trips including trips to Vietnam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Zimbabwe,
and Nepal. In addition to his service work with ReSurge, Dr. Deer continues to actively
participate in the virtual lecture series with ReSurge including the CANSECA anesthesia lectures
series in Africa. Dr. Deer joined the ReSurge board in 2023 and is excited to champion the role
of anesthesiology in the support of ReSurge’s surgical and reconstructive efforts.
Kathryn Hanson, PhD
Board Member
Kathryn Hanson is founder and former chief executive officer of ALearn. ALearn’s mission is to get more underserved students of color on the path to college through intensive math, college readiness and growth mindset programs. In March 2018, ALearn merged with Silicon Valley Education Foundation to create the largest education program and advocacy nonprofit in the Bay Area.
Prior to ALearn, Kathryn served as an executive, entrepreneur and consultant to high-tech and internet companies for three decades. She was co-founder of Satmetrix, a customer satisfaction internet company, and co-founder of eMentoring, an e-learning company. She started her technology career working for Hewlett-Packard, after a consulting stint at the Boston Consulting Group. She currently serves on the boards of Trident, an online university serving the military, and Downtown College Preparatory.
She has a bachelor’s degree in english from Stanford University, master’s and doctoral degrees in english from University of Chicago, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. Kathryn joined the ReSurge board in 2019.
Kimberly Kerry, JD
Legal Counsel
Kimberly Kerry is a senior managing associate in the San Francisco office of Dentons’ national health care practice group. Her practice focuses on health care-related corporate transactions, tax-exempt bond financing and the licensing and certification of medical facilities. Kimberly’s experience includes advising multi-hospital health systems, home health agencies, hospices and skilled nursing facilities on a variety of corporate governance issues, tax exemption issues, contracting arrangements and other regulatory and operational matters. She has extensive experience advising clients on Medicare/Medicaid enrollment and licensing and accreditation issues.
Prior to joining Dentons, Kim was a member of the health care group and family wealth transfer planning and trust and estate practice at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, where she focused on drafting complex estate plans. She also advised tax-exempt organizations in choice of entity and formation issues, federal and state tax-exempt status issues and dissolution.
Kim earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Hayward and a law degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. She has published several articles on her work and is a member of the bar association of the state of California. Kim is also a certified public accountant (licensed in the state of California) and a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.
Matthew Naythons, MD
Board Member
Upon completing his medical training, Matthew Naythons specialized in emergency medicine, practicing in California for eighteen years (1974 – 1992). During this period, between emergency room shifts in California hospitals, he built an award-winning career as a photojournalist for Newsweek, TIME and National Geographic. His reportage included such events as the Yom Kippur war, the fall of Saigon, the Nicaraguan revolution and the Jonestown suicides. Working for National Geographic, he spent a year with the Epidemiologic Intelligence Service (EIS) of the Centers for Disease Control, studying and traveling globally with EIS physicians on a story entitled “Medical Sleuths.”
In response to a 1979 refugee crisis on the Thai-Cambodian border, which he witnessed firsthand for TIME, Naythons founded and directed International Medical Teams (IMT). Funded by donations from Californians, IMT’s trucks brought medical care to refugee encampments inside Cambodia, locations where the International Red Cross did not operate.
In 1991, Matthew founded Epicenter Communications, which created prestigious photojournalism, multimedia and internet projects. Epicenter created some of the first disease-specific health sites on the internet, such as Diabetes.com and Alzheimers.com. In 1999, Matthew became vice president and publisher of the online pharmacy PlanetRx.com, and the following year co-authored “There is Still A Person in There”, a caregivers’ guide to Alzheimer’s. Following PlanetRx, Matthew resumed online and print publishing at Epicenter, where he remains president. He joined the ReSurge board in 2018.
Nishta Giallorenzo
Board Member
Nishta Giallorenzo has 18 years of executive experience in product marketing, brand strategy, product launch, and go-to-market strategy for both emerging and established companies. She has worked across healthcare insurance, life sciences, healthcare providers, and retail, where she has launched brands and developed new market segments.
Most recently, Nishta served as Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the executive leadership team at Clarify Health, a healthcare data and analytics firm. During her four and a half years there, she created and led the branding, product marketing, communications, business development, and demand generation functions, contributing to organizational growth and expansion.
Previously, Nishta was Chief Marketing Officer at CipherHealth, an enterprise SaaS company focused on healthcare providers. Over four years, she accelerated revenue growth, expanded the team and operations, and strategically repositioned the company as a leading provider of patient engagement technology solutions.
Earlier in her career, Nishta spent eight years at Eli Lilly in pharmaceutical sales, brand management, and product launches. In her last role at Eli Lilly, she led the specialty care business unit in the United Kingdom, managing sales and marketing activities for key therapeutic areas.
Nishta holds a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from Imperial College, UK, and a Master of Business Administration degree from INSEAD, France.
Sharon Wu
Board Member
Thomas Davenport, MD
Board Member
Dr. Tom Davenport was honored with the Donald R. Laub Humanitarian Award at the 2018 ReSurge Transformations Gala for volunteering his time and talent to ReSurge for more than 15 years.
Tom is a board-certified plastic surgeon and a partner at Long Island Plastic Surgical Group. He is the director of microsurgery and the director of surgical wound care at New York University (NYU) Winthrop Hospital, where he is also the chief of plastic surgery. He is actively involved in medical volunteerism and has traveled to perform reconstructive surgery and lecture on plastic surgery in numerous developing countries including the Philippines, Peru, India, Nepal, Ecuador, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brazil, Bhutan, Nicaragua and Mali.
Tom holds a medical degree from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree from Iona College. He rejoined the ReSurge board in 2020, after having previously termed off in 2017.
Wendell Alderson
Board Member
Wendell is retired, having most recently held a part-time nursing position at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento. Prior to his part-time role, he had a long career with the University of California, Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) where he worked more than 10 years in outpatient surgery; 13 years as a flight nurse on the Life Flight helicopter; and in the intensive care unit. He also worked three years at King Khalid Military Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Wendell became a registered nurse at a time where there were very few men pursuing a career in nursing, graduating in 1976 from Sacramento City College with an associate’s degree in nursing. He has been an annual volunteer with ReSurge for 10 years and has traveled to Vietnam, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cambodia with the organization. Prior to joining the board in 2019, Wendell served on the ReSurge Nursing Leadership committee.
Dr. Anand Kale
Lake City Hospital Bhopal, India
Dr. Jorge Palacios
Centro de Cirugia Plastica, Luis Vernaza Hospital + Outreach Sites Guayaquil, Ecuador
Dr. Kiran Nakarmi
Kirtipur Hospital + Outreach Sites Kathmandu, Nepal
Dr. Kush Aeron
Helping Hands Dehradun, India
Dr. Nischal Naik
Sadhana Hospital Ahmedabad, India
Dr. Owen Muzinda
University of Zimbabwe Hospital Harare, Zimbabwe
Dr. Puneet Pasricha
Pasricha Hospital Jalandhar, India
Dr. Satya Saraswat
Saraswat Hospital Agra, India
Dr. Shafquat Khundkar
Medi Aid Hospital Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr. Shankar Rai
Kirtipur Hospital + Outreach Sites Kathmandu, Nepal
Dr. Thandiwe Munaiwa
University of Zimbabwe Hospital Harare, Zimbabwe
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