Board of Directors
Sheila Brown, Chair of the Board, has worked for 16 years in the software industry in sales, consulting and training. She also worked as a CPA for many years. Sheila is a founding board member of The College Bound Foundation and mentors children served by the organization. She is also an active volunteer for Foodrunners.
Elizabeth (Suzy) Cain, Chair Emeritus of the Board, is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, Suzy was a Co-Founder and the Chief Financial Officer for iLookout.com, a consumer safety e-commerce and content Web site; the Controller for The Chronicle Publishing Company, a privately held media corporation; and a Manager at Deloitte & Touche, an international CPA firm. While at Deloitte, Ms. Cain served a number of non-profits and coordinated volunteer activities for Junior Achievement. She is an advocate for the homeless and served for five years as a Board Member of Central City Hospitality House. Ms. Cain graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Sloan Fellow at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Peter Rosenthal, Treasurer of the Board, is a senior sales and leasing specialist at Starboard Commercial Real Estate. Peter possesses 15 years of real estate experience, developing, negotiating and leasing offices. He has developed over a million square feet of commercial office space and negotiated and closed hundreds of commercial leasing agreements. Peter's love for the mountains and climbing started at the age of 8 with his first ascent of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. With more than 30 years of experience mountain climbing throughout the United States, Peter was a valuable asset in the Breast Cancer Fund’s Climb Against the Odds expeditions in 2004, 2005 and 2006, during which he helped his team maneuver up Mt. Shasta and Mt. Rainer.
Ellen Kahn, Secretary of the Board, is a partner at Sideman & Bancroft, LLP, a boutique law firm in San Francisco, where she specializes in complex estate planning, wealth transfer strategies and charitable planning for her clients. She has served on the board and is an active member of the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco. Ellen was a member of Breast Cancer Fund’s 2003 and 2006 Climb Against the Odds Mt. Shasta teams, finding the climb and the preparation for the climb one of the most extraordinary experiences of her life.
Suzanne Abele-Ebanks is an independent consultant in the area of philanthropy and nonprofit management. She has 20 years of experience in community and public relations, fundraising and the fiscal management and operations of foundations and non-governmental organizations. She has advised and developed strategic initiatives for corporate, foundation and nonprofit clients including Genentech, Levi Strauss & Co., California Endowment, Russell Family Foundation, Asian Pacific Islanders Legal Defense Fund, Nike, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and others. Suzanne earned her B.S. in Finance/Business Administration from the University of Florida.
Mark Cloutier has a breadth of experience in health policy, health care consulting, public health and executive management. In his current position as Principal at Sellers Dorsey, he focuses on assisting financially challenged states, local governments and health systems to identify expanded revenue opportunities. Prior to his work at Sellers Dorsey, Mark was CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Mark led the Foundation's transformation to being a thought leader on evidence-based strategies to control and end the HIV epidemic. In addition, he was President of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's affiliate, the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation. Mark received a Bachelor's Degree from Lewis and Clark College and has Masters Degrees in Public Policy and Public Health from UC Berkeley.
Carolyn Cooke is CEO and Director of ISIS, which she co-founded in 1998 and has established as the innovative source for women's outdoor apparel. In 2002 she was the recipient of the OIA Leadership Award and received the OIWC Pioneering Woman Award in 2007. She has a B.A. from the University of Maryland. Carolyn's passion for women’s outdoor endeavors is fueled by her interest in adventure travel, backcountry travel and winter sports.
Stephanie Coutu is a Director of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin, focusing on the representation of start-up companies, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property transactions. She has also provided pro bono legal services to victims of domestic violence.
Hendy Dayton is a breast cancer survivor with over two decades of experience in finance and strategic planning, most recently as a Principal at Babcock & Brown, leading large complex capital leasing projects. As an advocate for women and children, Hendy served on the boards of the Little School and the Bay Area Discovery Museum before joining the 2005 Climb Against the Odds team, where she climbed Mt. Rainier and became inspired by the work of the Breast Cancer Fund. She helped launch YourOnRamp.com, a Web site designed to help women restart their careers, and is currently a Principal at New Level Leadership where she is a leadership development consultant and executive coach. Hendy graduated from Williams College and was an Amos Tuck Scholar at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She is a CTI-trained professional coach and certified Myers-Briggs practitioner.
Janet Gray, Ph.D., Vassar professor and director of the college's Science, Technology, and Society Program, has a background in behavioral neuroscience, and her laboratory research has focused on the effects of estrogens and mixed antiestrogens, especially tamoxifen, on brain activity and behavior. In recent years, her research and writing focus has turned toward engaging the public in the complex issues surrounding breast cancer and environmental risks. Dr. Gray is the editor of the fifth (2008) and sixth (2010) editions of the Breast Cancer Fund's groundbreaking report, State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment. She also led a multidisciplinary group of students and professionals in the development of a widely distributed interactive tool that explores the scientific literature on breast cancer and environmental risks.
Sheila Hollender is a leading authority on women's issues, environmental health and sustainability. Following a career as a partner in her own New York law firm, she co-founded Seventh Generation with her husband Jeffrey, and helped it grow to become America's leading brand of natural consumer products. She served on the board of Seventh Generation from 1995 to 2011 and served as the company's Women's Environmental Health Advocate. In addition to the Breast Cancer Fund, Sheila sits on the boards of ReSource and Sustainable Health Enterprises, as well as on the advisory boards of Practically Green and the Planned Parenthood Leadership Council.
Susan E. Kutner, M.D., is a general surgeon with a subspecialty practice in breast surgery at Santa Teresa Kaiser Hospital in San Jose, California. From 1996 to 2001, she was Chief of the Department of Surgery at Santa Teresa. Since 1995, Dr. Kutner has served as Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Breast Care Task Force. She is also a member of the Interregional Breast Care Leaders Group of the Permanente Federation. Susan has been a member of the California Department of Health Master Plan Task Force on Breast and Cervical Cancer, the American Cancer Society Subgroup Evaluating Clinical Breast Exam, the National Quality Forum Committee on Consumer Based Measurements of Mammography Centers, and the Quality Care Advisory Board of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She has participated as a climber and team doctor for the Breast Cancer Fund’s Climb Against the Odds events on Mt. Fuji in 2000, Mt. Rainier in 2005 and Mt. Shasta in 2003 and 2006, and participated in Sacred Treks: Bhutan in 2008, a benefit event for the Breast Cancer Fund.
Christina Pehl was a secondary teacher in San Francisco Unified School District for 10 years before leaving to raise her children in Berkeley, California. During her tenure there, she was involved in various reform initiatives, bilingual programs and teacher education. Chris graduated from Santa Clara University and completed her graduate studies at UC Berkeley. She and her Team SML teammates have participated in the Breast Cancer Fund’s Peak Hike since 2006.
Donna Westmoreland is the Chief Operating Officer of I.M.P., Inc., a Washington, D.C. concert promotion and event production company. After working for Wynton Marsalis and managing live music venues, she spearheaded the marketing, nonprofit and sponsorship components of the groundbreaking Lilith Fair festival, which introduced the Breast Cancer Fund to thousands of concertgoers. Donna served on the Breast Cancer Fund Board of Directors from 1999 to 2002, and rejoined the board in 2009. She has stayed active on behalf of the national organization throughout, speaking as part of the Strong Voices program and organizing the Breast Cancer Fund’s annual East Coast fundraising event, Beyond the Pink – A Hike to Prevent Breast Cancer.
Wanna Wright, J.D., is a 30-year breast cancer survivor, a women’s health and environmental justice advocate, poet and playwright. Among her works are “Alive to Testify,” “Breast Cancer: A Family Affair” and “Sexuality & Breast-less-ness." She is co-chair of the African American Breast Cancer Task Group and serves on the board of directors of Friends of Faith and the Overflowing Cup Breast Health and Women’s Empowerment Program of Solano County. She also serves on the UCSF Cancer Committee working to eliminate health disparities in low-income and communities of color, and was one of the original members of the group to be biomonitored. Among Wanna's awards and citations for her community service are the Breast Cancer Fund's Bella Abzug Advocacy award, The National Intercultural Cancer Council’s Hope award, ABC 7’s Profile in Excellence award, KQED’s Local Hero award and the Overflowing Cup’s Karen Holly Advocacy award. She is a frequent speaker on college and university campuses. Now retired from AT&T and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research, Wanna is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Business and Golden Gate University School of Law.
