April 26, 2012
HSUS National Council: Member Biographies
The Humane Society of the United States
Susan Atherton, Chair San Francisco, California, 2008-Current
Susan has over 25 years of enterprise and on-demand software experience, serving in sales management and executive operational positions at GE Information Systems, Oracle Corporation, DoubleClick, and Ventaso. She serves as chair of the American Red Cross Bay Area Board of Directors, as chair of the American Red Cross National Leadership Council, as vice chair of Humane Society Legislative Fund, and on the board of directors of Nexus Payments, LLC.
James Costa, Vice Chair Los Angeles, California, 2008-Current
James serves on the Executive Committee for The Hunts Point Alliance for Children (The Bronx, New York) and on the Advisory Committee for Sabre Foundation, a nonprofit book donation program based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has just completed his documentary "Lunch Hour" about The National School Lunch Program and childhood obesity in America. James is on the Farm Sanctuary Advisory Committee and is serving as Gala Chair of their 25th Anniversary Galas in New York City and Los Angeles. He also serves on the Animal Welfare, Humane and Animal Rights Advisory Board of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Roberta E. Ashkin, Esq. New York, New York, 2009-Current
Roberta has been in the forefront of tort litigation since the early 1980's. In her 30 year career, she has successfully litigated untold numbers of cases in the medical malpractice, consumer product and pharmaceutical liability fields. She is the principal in the Ashkin Law Firm in New York City and has served “of counsel” to a number of well-known and prestigious national firms. Roberta is active on many political fronts, starting in 2003 when she was named Senior Advisor of Women’s Issues, by then-Representative Richard Gephardt’s presidential campaign. Roberta serves on numerous legal committees, including the New York Manhattan Borough President’ Scott Stringer’s Working Committee on Animal Rights. Roberta has also served on the boards of numerous professional societies and organizations, including the Executive Board of Cancer Schmancer, actress and founder Fran Drescher’s national organization devoted to ensuring that all women's cancers be diagnosed in Stage 1.
Arthur E. Benjamin, Sandy, Utah, and Delray Beach, Florida
Arthur has been dedicating himself to education and animal rights activism for the past decade, combining his commitment to helping others with his experience in marketing, operations, and corporate management. As an activist, he has underwritten countless rescue missions and sponsored fundraisers that have raised millions to promote both animal and human welfare. He is the founder and president of American Dog Rescue (ADR), an all-volunteer organization for which Arthur underwrites administrative costs so that 100 percent of ADR proceeds can go to animal welfare and projects to save and protect animals. He also is founder and trustee at the Gail L. & Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation, which fosters the formation and growth of new nonprofits in education, breast cancer survivor support, and animal rescue and welfare.
Howard Berk, Scarsdale, New York, 2008-Current
Partner since 2002 in MSD Capital, L.P., an investment firm formed exclusively to manage the capital of Michael Dell and his family; former Managing Director of TG Capital Corp. (1998-2002); The Stenbeck Group (1995-1998); Goldman, Sachs & Co.(1987-1995). Howard received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1991 and graduated magna cum laude from The University of Texas in 1987 with a B.B.A. in Finance.
James D. Berwind, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
James is director and trustee of the Berwind Group, and a member of the International Council of The Preservation Society of Newport County. But it is his service on the board of Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, that demonstrates his commitment to helping animals—and doing whatever he can to end puppy mills. Like The HSUS, Main Line Animal Rescue campaigns tirelessly against puppy mills, while celebrating the special bond between companion animals and people.
Tim Drees, Seattle, Washington
Tim currently splits his time between investing, philanthropy work, and travel. He was previously the founder and CEO of Webmetrics Inc., a leader in advanced website monitoring and testing solutions, and remains active as an investor in emerging technologies related to mobile and social networking. He is currently advising the Red Cross in the design and implementation of a cloud-based disaster response management application. However, Tim’s passion is animal welfare. He recently launched Animap.org as his first animal welfare project to help visualize and quantify animal welfare issues worldwide.
Jennifer Faga, Montauk, New York, 2008-Current
A commercial real estate investment consultant with Robbert Gaarlandt Inc. since 2001, Jennifer is an equestrian and founder of Beshraka Egyptian Stud, a breeding program dedicated to the preservation of rare straight Egyptian Arabian horses. Although Jennifer is a veterinary school graduate, she does not practice. Jennifer actively lobbies for animal protective legislation in Florida and New York.
Linda Godard, Essex, Connecticut, 2011-Current
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Linda completed a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from New South Wales University. She came to the United States In 1992 to work at Special Olympics International in Washington, D.C., obtained an M.B.A. at Yale University, and joined Pratt and Whitney's management program. During her ten-year career with Pratt and Whitney, Linda was based in the United Arab Emirates, France, Singapore, Australia and the U.S. working in both the military and commercial divisions. She is currently President of the Board at Pine Point School in Stonington, Conn. Linda is a life-long lover of animals and has supported animal-protection groups in both Australia and the United States.
Frances Hayward, East Hampton, New York, 2008-Current
Frances divides her time between the Bahamas, Palm Beach, New York and East Hampton, where she is very involved in animal welfare projects and issues. She is an active member of the board of the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons as well as Honorary Chairman of The Humane Society of Grand Bahama, where she lived for over thirty years. Frances is known as one of the leading proponents of animal welfare throughout the Bahamas.
Peggy Kokernot Kaplan, Columbus, Ohio, 2011-Current
After a career in television—hosting "PM Magazine," reporting and producing—Peggy turned her efforts to volunteering full-time for animal welfare. Currently, she features adoptable pets on a local ABC affiliate. In the mid-1990s, the Kaplan family donated a mobile spay and neuter vehicle to the Spay Neuter Assistance Program (S.N.A.P.) in San Antonio, Texas. For seven years, Peggy lobbied the Ohio state legislature to get two bills allowing for a pet-friendly and a horse protection specialty license plate passed, with funds going directly to help animals in need. She serves as a director on both boards that oversee the grant requests. In 2010, Peggy worked to gather required signatures for the farm ballot initiative in Ohio, along with other Ohioan's for Humane Farms volunteers. She and her husband Rick share their home with six rescued dogs and five rescued (former feral) cats.
Nikki Lafferty, Pacific Palisades, California
Nikki worked for many years as a legal assistant in entertainment law before deciding that life was too short—so she put her skills to use for animal advocacy. She is involved with the California Wildlife Center (CWC), a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of a wide range of native species in the Los Angeles area. She makes time to help out in the Baby Care Unit in addition to co-chairing the center’s annual fundraiser and helping to support The HSUS.
Jessica Moment, San Francisco, California, 2009-Current
Jessica is the owner of Philanthropist, a high-end women’s clothing and accessories boutique in San Francisco that donates 100% of its profits to Bay Area charities. Prior to launching Philanthropist in September 2008, Jessica graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and became a member of the California Bar Association. During law school, Jessica worked for several legal nonprofits including the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, East Bay Community Law Center, and Legal Community Against Violence. She began her career in the retail industry with four years of experience as a buyer for Gap Inc., after graduating from Northwestern University in June 2000. Jessica is very actively involved with Raphael House, a San Francisco homeless shelter.
Ardath B. Rosengarden, Boca Raton, Florida, 2009-Current
Ardath has been a philanthropic leader and volunteer with Florida’s animal care and rescue for many years. A resident of Boca Raton, Ardath has been an integral member of the Board of the SPCA Wildlife Care Center (now an affiliate of The HSUS) and has assisted in numerous projects at the Center. She is especially known in southeast Florida as an active proponent of feral cat and feline issues.
Cheri Shankar, Beverly Hills, California, 2008-Current
Full-time activist and fundraiser for animal protection and other progressive causes; former film and television executive and producer, and recent producer of a spay/neuter PSA starring Tony LaRussa being shown on the CBS network. Co-chair of fundraising for the Petsmart Charities Spay L.A. initiative. Director, Humane Society Legislative Fund. Volunteer, board member, activist, and fundraiser for numerous other organizations including Greenpeace, the Hollywood Woman's Political Committee, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Courage Campaign (Calif.). Cheri has served as a Los Angeles Court Appointed Special Advocate, working with children who become wards of the state, and with City Hearts, an arts education program for at-risk children. Naren Shankar, Cheri's husband, is executive producer and co-showrunner of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Joyce C. Doria, Potomac, Maryland
Retired as senior vice president and partner at Booz Allen Hamilton, Joyce now uses her strategic planning, change management, and business development skills to help nonprofits make a difference in the world. Joyce serves as treasurer on the Board of Trustees of the National Parks Conservation Association, which is committed to protecting and preserving America’s national parks. As president of the Potomac (Maryland) Citizen Association, she has led efforts to save old growth upland forest as legacy open space for Montgomery County. Her interest in conservation isn’t new—she wrote her high school term paper on global warming.