Breast Cancer Fund 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.

Ioana Petrou, Vice Chair of the Board, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1998 and provided pro-bono legal services to the Breast Cancer Fund from 1997 through 1999. Ioana is an Assistant United States Attorney responsible for investigating and prosecuting criminal health care fraud in the Northern District of California, including the Greater Bay Area. She was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where she prosecuted violent criminal enterprises, organized crime, economic crimes, and firearms crimes. Ioana has also been associated with the San Francisco offices of O'Melveny & Myers and Foley & Lardner, where she practiced white collar defense and complex civil litigation. Ioana received her J.D. in 1993 and her B.A. degrees in psychology and Italian in 1988 from the University of California, Berkeley.

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.

Stephanie Coutu is an Associate 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 successfully climbed Mt. Rainier and became inspired by the work of the Breast Cancer Fund. Recently she helped launch YourOnRamp.com, a Web site designed to help women restart their careers. Ms. Dayton graduated from Williams College and was an Amos Tuck Scholar at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Catherine Dodd, R.N., has devoted the last two decades to public policy and health work, most recently as district director for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). She was also a member of the Clinton-Gore National Health Campaign, director for the California Network for Women's and Children's Health, executive director of ANA/California and an appointee of President Clinton working as Regional Director for the United States Department of Health and Human Services for Secretary Donna Shalala. Active with the American Nurses Association, Catherine has also been biomonitored for synthetic chemicals in her body.

Janet Gray, Ph.D., 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. As part of her work in this arena, she has led a multidisciplinary group of students and professionals in the development of a widely distributed interactive CD that explores the scientific literature on breast cancer and environmental risks. An updated Web version of the CD was released in the spring of 2008. Dr. Gray is the editor of the fifth edition (2008) of the Breast Cancer Fund's State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.

Joanne Hagopian is a Managing Director at Offit Hall Capital Management LLC. Prior to joining Offit Hall Capital Management, Joanne was a Senior Manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she specialized in the not-for-profit and investment company industry groups. Joanne received her MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, having completed the program while working full-time, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics/Business from UCLA. Currently Joanne is on the boards of directors of the Atlantis Foundation and Toolworks.

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. Dr. Kutner has been a member of several organizations including 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.

Rachel Swain has more than a decade of experience mounting public education initiatives and campaigns. As communications director for the ACLU of Northern California from 2001 to 2004, Rachel played a lead role in crafting a regional strategy to defend civil liberties after September 11. She also served on the steering committee of the Coalition for an Informed California, which defeated the divisive Proposition 54 in 2004. At the political public relations firm Communication Works, Rachel created campaigns on issues ranging from women’s rights to juvenile justice. Rachel served as a consultant to the Breast Cancer Fund before joining the board in 2001. She now divides her time between the board and consulting.

Donna Westmoreland is the Chief Operating Officer of I.M.P., Inc., a Washington, D.C. concert promotion and production company. An avid music fan and born event planner, Donna previously 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. Donna lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and son, enjoying the primary local pastime, politics, as well as gardening, cooking and triathlon training.

Wanna Wright is a 21-year breast cancer survivor, women's health advocate poet and playwright. Her works include her book of story poems, "Alive/To Testify" and her poem "No Neva Mind/It's Mine/I Mind," which is included in the exhibit and book Art.Rage.Us. The Art and Outrage of Breast Cancer. She speaks before audiences nationally and has taken her two act play, "Breast Cancer: A Family Affair" and "Sexuality & Breast-less-ness" to venues throughout California, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Oxford, England.