Board, Staff, and Advisors

Prior to Mozilla, he primarily worked in the LGBT equality movement, helping advance the wellbeing, cultural acceptance, and legal respect for millions of LGBT Americans and their families. His past roles include Executive Director of the Pacific Center for Human Growth, Chief Development Officer for Freedom for All Americans, Deputy Director of Development with GLAAD, and Director of the Outlet Program for LGBT youth. Most notably, he led fundraising for Freedom to Marry, the campaign that won marriage for same-sex couples nationwide. He also served on the Boards of several nonprofits including the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, Center Link, and Stanford Pride.

He graduated from Stanford University and lives in San Francisco with his husband, Prakash Ramsinghani.

Previously, as COO at Executive Networks (EN), he led strategic growth initiatives and managed operational expansion. Before joining EN, Derek ran Global Operations at Openwave and successfully oversaw key corporate initiatives through the sale of its core businesses. He has also held the previous roles: VP of Technical Services and Operations at PlanetOut/Here! Media; Sr. Director of Operations at Homestore/Move.com, Director of Customer Operations and IT at Medchannel, Director of Operations and Integration at Vialog where he grew the flagship operation and oversaw merger activity, leading to an IPO.

Derek also serves on the boards of Homebridge and Sunflower Wellness. He has been an active event committee member for the Bay Area Toys for Tots since 2006; Board Chair at Under One Roof; on the National Board of Directors of Victory Fund; and on the Board of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center during its capital campaign and construction. He attended Marymount University with a B.A.

Prior to his work as a psychotherapist, Adam spent over 25 years leading the development efforts of Bay Area non-­‐profit organizations. He worked for eleven years at Mills College where he completed a $130 million capital campaign and served as Associate Vice President for Advancement. He was also the Director of Development at The Urban School of San Francisco (4 years); The Bay School of San Francisco (4 years); and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (5 years).

Adam did his undergraduate work in psychology at Vassar College and at Harvard University. He has a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University.

Adam is currently on the Board of Directors of the Marina Counseling Center, a low-­fee therapy clinic in San Francisco. He is a former volunteer with Shanti Project, the S.F. AIDS Foundation, and the Pacific Center for Human Growth.

He lives in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood with his husband Gary Lang.  They met while volunteering for the Shanti Project and have been a couple for 27 years.  

She has held leadership positions in more than thirty non-profit and civic organizations at the local, state, and national level, and is currently the vice-president of the Northern District of the California La Raza Lawyers Association and a member of both the San Francisco and East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association. She also served as the co-chair of the Board of Directors for Brava! Theater and as the Chair of Communications of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s LGBT Division.

Currently, Kathryn is the Head of Change and Transformation at BTS, a global professional services firm. She started her career at Accenture before serving as CEO of The Ajax Group of Companies, President and CEO of Ivivi Health Sciences, and Chief Innovator of WHWest, Inc. She is a graduate, and now a trustee, of St. Catherine University.

In 2000 she was the recipient of Trikone’s Pink Peacock Award for Leadership in the South Asian LGBTQ community. In 2007 she received the Phoenix Award by APIQWTC (Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women Transgender Community) for her dedication and outstanding contributions. In her spare time, if she is not at the movies, she is probably looking for a mountain to ascend on her bicycle or a mountain to descend on her skis.

He was the founder and President of Climb Real Estate — and under his leadership, Climb became the fastest-growing boutique brokerage in San Francisco, garnering over $1.2 billion in annual sales and growing to more than 300 agents in 7 locations. In 2016, Climb was sold to Realogy, the largest residential brokerage conglomerate (with 190,000 independent sales agents in the United States and more than 112,000 independent sales agents in 113 other countries and territories). Prior to real estate, he worked in advertising and finance in New York City. 

Chris is an avid philanthropist who also serves on the Board of Directors for Horizons Foundation. He is honored to participate in the storied tradition of the San Francisco Art Institute as a member of their Board of Trustees. Additionally, he is a regular patron of True Colors United, Nevada Humane Society, The Trevor Project, Nevada Museum of Art, and Surfrider Foundation. A native of Northern New Jersey, he graduated with honors from the University of Richmond. Chris currently resides in Reno, Nevada. 

Jae is a recipient of the 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Equity and has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Seton Hall University. As a passionate health advocate, Jae supports health access of indigent communities as Board Member and Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of Lyon-Martin Health Services.

Melisa also serves on the San Francisco Community Health Center board of directors, which provides comprehensive medical care for all marginalized communities in the San Francisco Tenderloin area. In her spare time, she’s also a fitness enthusiast and avid dancer.

She has been a visiting lecturer at Stanford University, Harvard Business School, and Colorado College and was a founding member of the Silicon Valley Out-of-School-Time Collaborative and Bay Area Environmental Education Funders Collaborative. A frequent speaker, Ash has participated in numerous national forums, advising on philanthropic trends and strategy at the Council on Foundations, Grantmakers for Education, Institute for Private Investors, and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. Her past board experience includes the domestic microfinance institution Opportunity Fund and family foundation Open Square Foundation. She was on the Horizons Foundation Advisory Council from 2005-2017 prior to joining the board. Ash received an M.B.A. in nonprofit management from Golden Gate University and graduated summa cum laude from Vassar College with a B.A. in English and Women’s Studies.

When not enjoying all this wonderful work, Ash can be found outside with family, friends, dogs or horses. She and her wife, Elisa Odabashian, live in Burlingame, CA and have two grown children. Ash and Elisa were the first lesbian couple in San Mateo County to be granted the right to be legal parents of their children after appealing the State’s discriminatory second parent adoption law in 1995.

In his second career, he is a veteran board member of SPUR, a nonprofit planning and advocacy group, and he helped in financing and managing the construction of SPUR’s Urban Center, which opened in 2009. He was a charter member of San Francisco’s Citizens General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee, and also served for 10 years on the County Transportation Authority’s Citizens Advisory Committee, acting as chair for three years. Additional board service currently includes a six-year term as treasurer of San Francisco’s LGBT Community Center, and treasurer for Lambda Alpha Golden Gate Chapter, an honorary land economics society.

A longtime San Francisco resident, Terry is a native of northwestern Pennsylvania and received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He earned a Master of Science in construction management from the University of Illinois, and was commissioned an officer in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, which took him to Honolulu for his final assignment. There he met Rob Evans, whom he married in 2013 after a 38-year courtship.

Rob and Terry live in Noe Valley with their cat Latte. Both are active in the LGBT community through philanthropy and volunteerism when they are not traveling or attending the symphony or Giants baseball games.

Board member since 2014

Tim has served on the boards of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the University of Minnesota Weisman Art Museum. A graduate of Williams College, he is a longtime resident of San Francisco, where he lives with his husband Tom Murphy and son Dash.

He has been actively involved in nonprofit organizations including the American Medical Association (serving as chair of the young physician Section from 2012-2013 and currently as a chair of the LGBTQ advisory Committee), being a board member with Equal Rights Washington where he served as chair from 2009-2011, served on the National LGBTQ Task Force (Co- Chair from 2013-2015), Phi Chi Medical Foundation (Chairman of the Executive Trustees), and served as Co-Chair of the board of Generations Aging with Pride. While on faculty at the University of Washington he served as the faculty advisor to Qmed (queer medical association) and as the director of the LGBTQ Health Care Pathway.

She was the first attorney in the Bay Area to provide no-cost legal seminars for the LGBTQ community, and worked on domestic partnership rights, then marriage equality. She has served on many boards, often as chair, including being chosen as the first LGBTQ representative on the City of Oakland Human Rights Commission. Linda has been honored with the Human Rights Campaign’s Lifetime Achievement Award and by the California State Senate for her work with the LGBTQ community.

Prior to joining Veris in 2015, Jane worked as a Portfolio Manager and Vice President with Northern Trust. During her 15-year career with Northern, Jane worked to build their SRI practice. She served on several committees including the Corporate Social Responsibility Task Force, Women in Leadership, and the LGBT Advisory Team.

Jane graduated from Mills College in Oakland, California with a degree in Economics and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. She lives in Berkeley with her two children.

He has served as President of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chapter of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and is the founding chair of its Pro Bono Committee. In addition, he is a member of the San Francisco Estate Planning Council and the Northern California Planned Giving Council. Most recently he served as a member of the Professional Advisors Council of the San Francisco Foundation. He is a past member of the Planned Giving Committee for Grace Cathedral and was one of the early board members for Project Open Hand.

Barry, who is a Bay Area native, resides in Sausalito with his partner of 33 years, John Inson and their Vizsla, Cody. Barry and John feel fortunate to be in a position to give back to the community and enjoy boating and traveling.

Craig’s experience in commercial real estate is preceded by three years in the practice of law. Craig has led projects within every asset type from sales offices to headquarters, R&D to major distribution centers, including over 8 million square feet of build to suit projects. His expertise spans many industries including professional services, law firms, life sciences, technology, non-profits, consumer products and manufacturing.

Craig has served on the national Board of Directors of Cresa. He has also served on the boards of multiple non profit organizations such as the HRC Board of Governors, The San Francisco LGBT Community Center, GLAAD and ODC. Craig lives in San Francisco with his partner Jay Grant and their two children, Avery and Jesse.