WiRED's Board of Directors

WiRED International's Governing Board is a distinguished group of communications and business professionals who give generously of their time and money to make this work a success.

Board

Charlotte Ferretti, Ed.D., R.N., WiRED Board Chair
Dr. Ferretti has worked extensively in community health with underserved populations and serves as a resource for WiRED health education programs. After working as a nurse in a variety of healthcare settings, Dr. Ferretti taught at San Francisco State University as a Professor of Nursing for 15 years and directed a school-based state-certified health center. In 2000, as Director of the Marian Wright Edelman Institute at SF State, Dr. Ferretti administered multiple grants related to health care, education and child development, and provided oversight for the Head Start Program in the City and County of San Francisco for 14 years. Dr. Ferretti received her nursing degree from St Vincent’s Medical Center in New York, a master’s degree in nursing from University of California San Francisco and a doctorate from University of San Francisco. Dr. Ferretti continues to be active on the Head Start Board, the local CASA program and the American Academy of Nursing.

 

Emily Bardo, D.V.M.
Dr. Bardo is an equine veterinarian practicing on the Central Coast of California, who has a professional interest in preventative health care, student mentorship and community outreach. In 2015 she earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University, where the One Health Initiative is a core curriculum concept. The idea of “One Health” explores the intersection between animal health, human health, and our environment. As a veterinarian Dr. Bardo brings a unique perspective on zoonotic disease and biosecurity as it relates to human health. She has had the opportunity to volunteer with WiRED since childhood, often stuffing newsletter envelopes and licking stamps. Dr. Bardo considers it a privilege to step forward and serve WiRED in this new role.

 

Stephen Browning
Mr. Browning served as the director of programs, South Pacific Region, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As one of three civilians to enter Baghdad after U.S. troops arrived in April 2003, Mr. Browning spent 10 months in Iraq, while acting as the Senior Advisor/Acting Minister for Ministries of Health, of Transportation and Communications, of Electricity, of the Environment, and of Religious Affairs and as the Director of Infrastructure for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Prior to Mr. Browning's service in Iraq, he was deployed to New York City where he served as the Senior Defense Official on scene overseeing emergency response in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mr. Browning currently serves as Senior Vice President with Michael Baker International, a global engineering firm, responsible for delivery of facilities and infrastructure for U.S. and foreign governments. A registered professional engineer, Mr. Browning holds a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Engineering and is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University.

 

Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS
Dr. Carmona served as the 17th Surgeon General of the United States and is currently the Chief of Health Innovation at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. His extensive leadership background in many disciplines includes medicine, law enforcement, the military, public health, higher education, emergency preparedness and healthcare management. He attended UCSF Medical School where he received the prestigious Gold Headed Cane as the top graduate. He served as President of the Canyon Ranch Institute Board of Directors, which has now joined together with Health Literacy Media. Dr. Carmona is a Distinguished Professor of Public Health, Professor of Surgery and Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Arizona. He also serves on numerous government and private boards involving business, health and national security issues.

 

Santiago Castellón, M.A.
Through a program administered by Georgetown University and funded by USAID, Mr. Castellón came to the United States in 1992 where he received a high school diploma and associates degree from Coffeeville Community College in Kansas. When he returned to Nicaragua he enrolled at the Universidad Internacional para Integracional de América Latina (UNIVAL) where he studied General Psychology for four years, followed by a one-year postgraduate specialty in Clinical Psychology. Mr. Castellón received two degrees: a Certificate equivalent to a B.A., and a Specialist, equivalent to an M.A. In 2020 he obtained a certification as a Criminal Lawyer Specialist. Currently Mr. Castellón serves as the Executive Director for Fundación Para La Rehabilitación Walking Unidos (FURWUS) and the appointed Central and South American representative for WiRED. For FURWUS he oversees its operation and manages its mission to support people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups throughout the world. Mr. Castellón oversees the development of WiRED’s Community Health Worker Program that has been developed in Los Lechecuagos in León, Nicaragua.

 

Suellen Crano, Ph.D.
Dr. Crano currently serves as Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness at Western University, a graduate university of medical sciences in Pomona, California. After earning her Ph.D. in higher education administration/student personnel in 1984 from Michigan State University, Dr. Crano served in administrative roles at Texas A&M University, The George Washington University, The University of Arizona, State of Michigan Department of Higher Management Systems and Wyeth Laboratories, Inc. Her role as a WiRED board member enables her to continue a lifelong passion of helping people rebuild devastated lives.

 

Elizabeth Fine, Ph.D.
Dr. Fine is Professor Emerita of Humanities at Virginia Tech. She received her Ph.D. in communication from the University of Texas at Austin (1978), her M.A. in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley (1973) and her B.S. in speech communication from the University of Texas at Austin (1971) and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1971). She is the author of numerous articles, as well as the books Soulstepping: African American Step Shows (2003), The Folklore Text: From Performance to Print (1984, 1994), and is co-editor of the book Performance, Culture, and Identity (1992).

 

Violet Grgich
Ms. Grgich is the President and Co-Proprietor of the Grgich Hills Estate, a Napa Valley winery. Violet’s passion for wine began at an early age, as she literally grew up accompanying her father, Vintners Hall of Fame inductee Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, in the vineyards and cellar. Ms. Grgich spent her summers at the winery, doing everything from bottling line work to laboratory analysis and working in the tasting room. She earned a B.A. in music at the University of California, Davis, and also took courses in biology, chemistry and enology. After graduation Ms. Grgich returned home to learn all aspects of the wine business, working at every position from the bottom up. Additionally, during this time, she graduated with a master’s degree in music at Indiana University, before joining the winery full time. Ms. Grgich is an accomplished harpsichordist and performs at music festivals and other venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Tatjana Grgich, Violet’s mother, director of the Tatjana Grgich Family Foundation, served as WiRED’s first board member and continued to guide and support WiRED throughout her lifetime.

 

Mark Kelleher
Mr. Kelleher both volunteers and professionally consults with large and small non-profit organizations to help expand resources, advocacy and community engagement, operational capacity and management effectiveness. He is currently a senior associate with the international resource and organizational development firm BroderickHaight Consulting. Prior to this, he was associate vice president in charge of development for San Francisco (SF) State for over 12 years, assisting faculty, university leadership and board members to increase fundraising. Mr. Kelleher holds a B.A. from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire and a M.S. from Boston University in public relations. He is a member of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and on the community advisory board for Strut San Francisco, a distinctively combined community center and health and wellness clinic.

 

Allison Kozicharow
Ms. Kozicharow serves as WiRED’s chief writer and managing editor of content and materials for WiRED’s website. She is an on-call editor for ICF Next, a global communications company, where she works in English and Spanish editing materials in the fields of health, education and drug and alcohol use prevention and treatment. She received bachelor’s degrees from Duke University in history and in art history. Ms. Kozicharow is pleased to continue the work of her late father, Dr. Richard R. Gilbert, one of WiRED’s founders and original board members.

 

Gray Maganga, M.S.
Gray Maganga is a public health and community healthcare specialist with over 12 years’ experience in hospital and community healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. Mr. Maganga first joined WiRED International in 2002 as Special Projects Coordinator. He was pivotal in WiRED’s implementation of 22 Community Health Information Centers serving dynamic populations in rural communities, hospitals, prisons and universities in 14 Districts in Kenya. Currently Mr. Maganga is working as Projects Director at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, overseeing research studies aimed to culturally adapt healthcare interventions in improving sexuality, HIV and STI services to vulnerable populations in Massachusetts and New York. Mr. Maganga, who speaks six languages, has co-authored a number of healthcare studies articles, including the ongoing WiRED’s Vaccinator Training Program for COVID-19 vaccinations. He holds an M.S. in International Health from Heidelberg University in Germany, ancillary education in healthcare management and decision making from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Linguistics from Moi University in Kenya.

 

Miriam Othman, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Othman is WiRED’s Director of Medical Education, bringing a wealth of medical and international public health experience. She manages all content for WiRED’s Community Health Training Program and develops the texts for the tutorials and study materials. Currently, Dr. Othman is Director of the Global & Community Health Division and Assistant Professor at Western University of Health Science College of Osteopathic Medicine. She received her M.D. from the University of Baghdad, Iraq, and her M.P.H. in global health management from The George Washington University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She was the Senior National Medical Officer of the International Organization for Migration Baghdad, Iraq, from July 2003 to January 2006.

 

Retired Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson, M.D., M.B.A., FACS
Dr. Robinson was the 36th Surgeon General of the United States Navy (2007-2011). Currently, he acts as Director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs VA Maryland Health Care System. In his prior appointment as Surgeon General, Dr. Robinson served as the principle Tricare Health Plan representative for active duty sailors and marines, their families, and Navy and Marine Corps retirees and their families, numbering over 2.5 million people. Dr. Robinson led a team of 63,000 Navy Medicine personnel in over 220 healthcare facilities located worldwide with an annual budget of $3.5 billion. He received his M.D. from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed his residency in general surgery at the National Naval Medical Center and fellowship in colon-rectal surgery at the Carle Foundation Hospital and the University of Illinois School of Medicine.

 

Gary Selnow, Ph.D., WiRED Founder and Executive Director
Dr. Selnow is Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University. He is the author/co-author of seven books and dozens of academic journal articles. Dr. Selnow was twice a Fulbright Scholar and has lectured at universities throughout Europe. He coordinated a national communication program for a White House task force and served as a research methodologist for the U.S. Information Agency. He has consulted with the U.S. Department of State and for NBC Television and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Selnow was a pilot and information officer for the U.S. Air Force. He was a regular commentator on NPR's Marketplace program. Dr. Selnow was awarded the 2004 President’s Medal at San Francisco State University and the UC Berkeley Public Health Award. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University and his master’s and doctoral degrees at Michigan State University.

 

Christopher Spirito
Mr. Spirito is WiRED’s computer program guru, who has created various systems for the organization, including WiRED’s HealthMAP technology. He works as a Nuclear Cyber Security Consultant with Idaho National Laboratory. He is currently part of a small nuclear-cyber team providing support to international nuclear power plants and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) engagements and consultancies. His primary engagements include participating in a multi-year IAEA Coordinated Research Project on Enhancing Computer Security Incident Analysis at Nuclear Facilities and developing attack and defense scenarios. Prior to joining Idaho National Laboratory, Mr. Spirito was the International Cyber Lead at The MITRE Corporation, providing support to U.S. partner nations. Mr. Spirito graduated from Boston College with a degree in mathematics and attended graduate school at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and studied biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health.

 

Anne Marguerite Stevens, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Stevens is a Senior Director, Adaptive Immunity program at Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Stevens has an extraordinary academic and medical background. She cares deeply about health education in developing regions and strongly supports WiRED International's outreach projects around the world. Dr. Stevens earned a B.S. degree in Biochemistry at the University of California, Davis, and earned both her Ph.D. (from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology) and her M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine. She has won numerous scholarships and awards and has lectured around the world. Dr. Stevens has published more than 50 articles in scholarly journals and has written dozens of book chapters, abstracts and reviews.

 

Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Dr. Verma is Professor of Information Systems in the College of Business at San Francisco State University. His research focuses on the diffusion and adoption of innovative technologies, and he also works with companies in the area of content analysis, management and delivery. Dr. Verma is the founder of One Laptop per Child projects and communities in San Francisco, Jamaica, and India. He has served as Manager of Technology Services at Sphere Interactive; Manager of Internet Research and Development for Spec International, LLC; and has provided innovative research and development for organizations such as AT&T and Georgia State University. He earned his Ph.D. in business administration at Georgia State University and earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering at Osmania University, Hyderabad, India His many research interests include innovations in broadband technologies, and push technology.
Jack Condon, Ph.D.
Jack Condon, Ph.D., is a senior information technology professional whose broad expertise includes system architecture, project management, application development, and extensive hands-on programming across all levels of system components. A software developer who refers to himself as "probably among the oldest people on the planet who still spend most days writing computer code," Dr. Condon co-owns a small business that develops enterprise level systems for large clients. He is general manager of Select Group Inc. in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he also served as director of software development, and he has been a consultant for companies such as PG&E, senior research associate for University Associates, assistant professor of psychology and community health science at Michigan State University, and senior research associate for The Napa Project at Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

Regarding WiRED's use of technology to provide medical and health education around the world, Dr. Condon said: "It is such a good marriage of requirement and solution. On the one hand you have a population of ready and capable providers, who lack specific training to meet immediate and developing health needs and are typically not able to take the time and expense to travel to training sites. On the other, you have the ability via modern educational technology to enable those health professionals to go beyond their current skill sets and deliver care responsive to the emergent medical situations. By putting the two together WiRED creates precisely appropriate medical resources on the spot. There is a certain magic to it."

Dr. Condon earned his Ph.D. in personality and social psychology and his Master's in psychology from Michigan State University, and he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's from Herbert H. Lehman College, The City University of New York. He lives in Marin with his wife, Christine, a native of Gothenburg, Sweden, who works as a psychiatric nurse for a nonprofit that provides housing and care to adults with mental illnesses. With their son, Garrison, now living a few miles south of the Oregon border, Jack and Christine tend their newly empty nest with the company and occasional regard of their Scottish Terrier, Angus. They particularly enjoy spending part of the summer with friends on the Swedish West Coast.

 

Robert A. Corrigan, Ph.D.
Known for his emphasis on civic engagement and the application of university expertise to community issues, Robert A. Corrigan, Ph.D. has served as San Francisco State University's 12th president since 1988. Prior to that, he served for nine years as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, has been a provost at the University of Maryland, dean at the University of Missouri, and has held faculty positions at the University of Iowa, Bryn Mawr College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Currently, Dr. Corrigan serves on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Anchor Institutions Task Force, the National Cancer Institute's Comprehensive Minority Biomedical Branch Task Force, and the Commission on Access, Diversity & Excellence of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. He is past chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education Commission for Lifelong Learning, and California Campus Compact. He has also served on the Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and on the national board for Jumpstart, a program that helps prepare at-risk preschool students for success in elementary school.

Dr. Corrigan served as board chair of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Mayor's Biotechnology Advisory Council and on the Mayor's Children, Youth, and Families Policy Council. A past member of the San Francisco Economic Development Corporation, the California Historical Society Board of Directors, and the Private Industry Council of San Francisco, he also served on Mayor Jordan's Blue Ribbon Budget Task Force and is a past co-chair of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative/Annenberg Challenge. Dr. Corrigan founded the Afro-American Studies program at the University of Iowa and published the first full-scale bibliography of Afro-American fiction. At President Bill Clinton's request, he chaired the Steering Committee of College and University Presidents for the "America Reads Challenge" and the "America Counts" initiative.

The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Corrigan holds the 2009 San Francisco Business Times "Most Admired CEO" award; the 2009 Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; the Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Community Service Award "in recognition of outstanding commitment to diversity, fairness, and social justice;" the Unsung Hero award from the Jewish Community Relations Council; the "Mensch Award" from the Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame; selection by the John Templeton Foundation as one of 50 Outstanding Leaders of American Colleges; selection by the Association of Urban Universities as a Distinguished Urban Fellow; and a number of honorary doctorates.

Dr. Corrigan earned his A.B. from Brown University and his master's and doctoral degrees in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. He has supported WiRED's work since its inception in 1997 and made the presentation speech at the ceremony where WiRED was awarded the UC Berkeley Public Health Hero Award in 2009.

 

William Crano, Ph.D.
William D. Crano, PhD, is the Oskamp Professor of Psychology at Claremont Graduate University, where he has taught for the past 16 years. Previously, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Arizona, and also served as Professor on the faculties of Michigan State University and Texas A&M University. He also has served as liaison scientist for the U.S. Office of Naval Research (London), as NATO Senior Scientist at the University of Southampton (UK), and as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Universidade Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). His basic research has been focused on research and evaluation of social interventions, and the development of models of attitude development and attitude change, which he has used in his applied research on drug prevention in adolescents. His theories of vested interest and of the influence of minority spokespersons in persuasion (Context-comparison/leniency contract model) have been used in numerous applied settings with considerable success. He has been supported in his research efforts by NIDA for the past 17 years. Recently, he has helped create a set of universal standards for drug prevention for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and has helped this organization disseminate this information to representatives of member states. He also is involved with the US Department of State in drug prevention work in member states of the Colombo Plan. He has published 18 books, and more than 200 papers and book chapters. His recent books include Warring with Words (with Hanne and Mio), and the third edition of Principles and Methods of Social Research (with Brewer and Lac).

 

Robert S. Northrup, M.D.
Dr. Northrup, board certified in internal medicine, earned his bachelor's degree at Yale and his medical degree at Harvard. His experience in global medicine is vast: Dr. Northrup served as Senior Technical Advisor for Project Hope where he provided technical support in Indonesia and Central Asia and later became the interim Director of the Health of the Women and Children Unit. Working with Management Sciences for Health in Boston, Dr. Northrup served on the Equity Project in South Africa, which provided integrated primary healthcare, a comprehensive package of essential services in rural areas. He was the Technical Officer and Director of Working Group with the BASICS Project on programs for child health and survival in Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and other countries. In this capacity, he also collaborated with the World Health Organization on the development of a medical school curriculum on Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Dr. Northrup was the Technical Director for the PRITECH Project. In this role, he also taught staff members of voluntary organizations as well as USAID health officers about life-saving therapies. Dr. Northrup was Chairman and Professor of the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. In addition to Dr. Northrup's expansive educational and humanitarian activities, he finds time to be a choral singer, music director and arranger, actor, and athlete. He is married with two grown children. Dr. Northrup's works have been published in numerous academic journals.

 

Elizabeth A. Touma, M.S.
Ms. Touma is a certified fundraiser who has been working with WiRED since 2000 to create and implement long-term sustainability for the organization.

She is a non-profit management professional with experience in higher education, performing arts, social services and international humanitarian organizations. At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ms. Touma served as Vice President for Advancement and oversaw the planning of the Conservatory's centennial year programs and campaigns to increase scholarship funds and named academic chairs. She also served five years on the Susan G. Komen Foundation grants committee.

As a volunteer, Ms. Touma created and launched long-term development programs for Veterinary Street Outreach Service, which provides free veterinary medical care for the companion animals of homeless San Franciscans.

Since 2014 Ms. Touma has volunteered at the Marine Mammal Center, the world's largest marine mammal hospital and educational center dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill and injured marine mammals.

She received a bachelor of science degree from Michigan State University and a master of science degree from the University of Detroit.

Ms. Touma said, "I feel honored to watch WiRED mature and grow, because behind its expansion is a vast number of people who have benefited from its programs and services."
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