Six New Directors Join Direct Relief Board
The new directors bring a wealth of experience from the philanthropic, corporate, entertainment, and medical fields.
Sharon Bradford is a landscape designer and co-owner of San Marcos Growers Nursery in Santa Barbara. The Los Angeles native is a University of California Santa Barbara graduate in art history and currently serves on a number of boards in Santa Barbara including the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden; Elings Park; Casa del Herrero; and the Santa Barbara Zoo. She has chaired the Music Academy Cabaret fundraiser for the past two years and serves as president of the WWW Foundation in Los Angeles.
Linda Gluck has an extensive business background and was vice president of administration at Bethlehem Corporation after serving as vice president at Ryan-McGinn, a public relations firm. She has been president, CEO and board member of several financial institutions including BANKSTAR NA and Fairfax Savings Bank. Gluck was listed as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Private Washington D.C., Who’s Who in Finance and Industry and Who’s Who in America. Since moving to Santa Barbara, she has served on the boards of Lotusland and Visiting Nurses Hospice Care.
Dante di Loreto is the executive producer of GLEE, the award-winning hit television. He oversees the music production on the series, which has netted two Platinum and two Gold albums, two Grammy Award nominations and more than 16 million song downloads –all while breaking the record for the most single entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, claiming the title previously held by Elvis Presley. Over the years, di Loreto has produced original scripted series for cable and broadcast television. The Los Angeles resident grew up in Santa Barbara and is the second in his family to serve on Direct Relief’s board, his father Silvio was an active member in the 1980’s. Dante has been a member of the Direct Relief LA Task Force for the past year.
Rick Roney has a long-term interest in international issues. The 1971 Stanford MBA graduate took a leave from his Silicon Valley telecommunications career in 1979, volunteering for 10 years with the Beyond War Foundation. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, he returned to work for 12 more years before retiring in 2001 as Vice President of Cisco Systems. Since moving to Santa Barbara, he has become active in changing the California prison system, founding the successful Santa Barbara County Reentry Project. He also serves as chairman of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Jail Overcrowding.
Barbara Rubin has been active for 40 years in Presbyterian Women, holding leadership positions on local, regional and national levels and served on its national Board of Directors. She has been extensively involved with efforts to combat human trafficking and child prostitution, working with the Mary Magdalene Project as well as ECPAT-USA. Rubin has lived in Santa Barbara for 17 years and worked as a docent at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors.
Mark Schwartz was formerly chairman and CEO of Specialty Merchandise Corporation, SMC, an import distribution company. Prior to SMC, Schwartz was a vice president at the New York and Los Angeles branches of Goldman Sachs. A Stanford MBA graduate, he received his undergraduate degree from UCSB. Schwartz currently resides in Santa Barbara and serves as a trustee of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation. He also has served as chairman of the Beverly Hills chapter of the Young President’s Organization, vice chairman of the Sierra Canyon High School, and as a member of the management board of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
About Direct Relief International
Direct Relief International is a leading humanitarian health and relief organization, active in all 50 states and in 70 countries. It supports more than 1,000 nonprofit health clinics across the U.S. to assist in emergencies and an ongoing basis, providing free medications and medical supplies for uninsured, low-income patients in need. The organization has been among the world’s largest medical suppliers in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, has top charity ratings, including four-star and “top-notch” rating from Charity Navigator, and a 100% fundraising efficiency rating from Forbes magazine. For more information visit their website.