Board of Trustees

Jennifer Harter is Vice President and Branch Manager for City National Bank in La Jolla.  She earned her B.A. in Business Administration from Hanover College. A banking professional since 1999, Jennifer is focused on helping individuals, businesses, and nonprofits consistently and materially improve year after year. She and her City National team volunteer frequently at our Ronald McDonald House, serving meals to our families and working on various projects throughout the House. Jennifer is passionate about keeping families close during times of crisis and providing them vital services and comfort.  Her business acumen and leadership help the House find ways to improve these essential services and serve increasingly more families.

Greg Rogers is a San Diego native with over 30 years of experience in commercial construction. Beginning as an apprentice with the District Council Carpenters, he eventually founded his own company in 1984. The company grew to become Pacific Building Group in 2001, for which Greg serves as CEO. His thorough knowledge of the construction industry is a vital addition to our Board, given the close attention and care required to keep our House in top shape for the thousands of families who use it each year.

A practicing attorney with over 40 years of experience, K.C. Thompson brings to our Board expertise in estate planning, business planning and formation, trust administration and real estate planning. He is a member of the State Bar of California’s Estate Planning Trust and Probate Law Section and its California Real Property Law Section. K.C. also served as pro bono legal counsel for the San Diego Junior Chamber of Commerce and for St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Del Mar. Now his specialized skills allow us to better support the increasing number of families who depend on our services.

Lisa came to Lindsay & Brownell, LLP, in 1993, joining as its third partner. Having worked several years for the international accounting firm, Deloitte, Lisa now provides accounting and tax expertise to individuals, nonprofits, closely held businesses and estates and trusts. Lisa is a champion of children’s causes, volunteering her time to support the boards of several family-focused organizations. Her community work helped make possible a grant to our House for major kitchen equipment that greatly improved our families’ meal experience. Now her refined accounting and financial skills can help improve the quality of many services they enjoy.

Travis Alegria is Branch Sales Manager for Sharp Business Systems, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation. He first was introduced to the Ronald McDonald House when his previous firm installed a phone system donated by the local McDonald’s corporate office.  Now serving his second tenure on our Board, and with our House Operations Committee, Travis previously chaired the committee and oversaw years of tremendous strategic operating plan achievements benefiting our families. His skillful guidance in implementing key programs has proven essential to serving families in need.

Ami S. Aranha, CFP^® is a manager in wealth management for Aspiriant. Her extensive background in financial planning includes advising partners of Goldman Sachs on financial, tax and estate planning matters, and providing advice and consultation for clients of U.S. Trust Company and Ernst & Young LLP. Ami’s considerable volunteer experience working with children in New York City and abroad, as well as her appreciation for her own family, connected her to our goal of keeping families close. She now brings her legal background and financial planning skills to our Board, helping us further expand our services.

A 17-year veteran of Wells Fargo, Steve Bernstein oversees three commercial banking offices. Prior to that, he served as the bank’s Division Manager for the Southern California-Nevada region. Active in the community, Steve serves on several boards, including at Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, San Diego State University’s Fowler College of Business, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. Steve’s solid banking skills and commitment will help strengthen the House as it strives to serve the growing needs of its community.

Brandy Bullen is the founder and CEO of Sequoia Consulting Group, which serves life sciences and biotech industries in California.  Their Sequoia Gives Back division also raises funds and awareness for San Diego charities, which is how she first engaged with the House. Brandy manages the company’s business and client development while maintaining a sharp eye on trends in the life sciences field. Her experience managing rapid development will be crucial in responding to the increasing number of families passing through our doors.

A retired senior executive at financial institutions, including Union Bank and Bank of America, Doug Dawson is an established leader in San Diego’s philanthropic community. He has served as executive director of the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation since 1972 and became executive director of The Conrad Prebys Foundation in 2017. Doug also supported numerous nonprofit boards across San Diego County. On our Board, Doug is a Past Chair, chairs the Philanthropy Committee, and serves on several other board committees supporting our work at the Ronald McDonald House. Doug’s breadth of financial and nonprofit experience provides essential tools to meet the needs of the thousands of families we host each year.

Donna Evans has volunteered for Ronald McDonald Houses and Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities for over 30 years. She currently owns the award winning The UPS Store of Encinitas Ranch Towne Center. Donna served as the founding chair of our 2010 Red Shoe Day and previously led our Marketing Communications Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and chaired our Board of Trustees. A graduate of Cornell University, she now is serving her second tenure on our Board, where her leadership and strategic planning skills help the House grow to meet the increasing needs of our community.

A successful businessmen in San Diego for more than 13 years, Gabe Filkey owns Filkey & Associates, a real estate sales and management company. He also launched several local home services companies in San Diego, including You Move Me and Good Neighbor Home Services. His donations made possible the coffee bar in our family dining room and the restorative spa showers for our day-use families. Gabe shares with the House his business acumen and real estate knowledge to help us find new welcoming spaces for our growing number of family visitors.

Paul Fitzgerald is responsible for Global Real Estate & Facilities procurement at Qualcomm Incorporated. Serving Qualcomm since 2003, he’s also supported Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions (QWBS) and Qualcomm Technologies & Ventures (QT&V). Paul currently serves on the board for the International Facility Managers Association (IFMA). Since 2011, he’s chaired the IFMA Golf Invitational & Fundraiser in San Diego, which directly supports our House. Now serving on our Board and Philanthropy Committee, Paul’s skills enhance the House’s fundraising efforts and long-term growth capabilities.

With President Jessie Green at its helm, the San Diego Padres Family Association has been creating new ways of bringing comfort to families at San Diego’s Ronald McDonald House. Along with San Diego Padres owners Alexis and Ron Fowler, the Association made possible the popular San Diego Padres and Fowler Family Playroom.  An articulate and passionate spokesperson for the families we serve, Jessie’s unique strengths will be invaluable to helping them stay near their hospitalized child.

Daniel Grimmer is a restaurant consultant who draws on his experience in his family’s McDonald’s business. Previously, Daniel was a government affairs manager for MGM Mirage in Nevada. He served on the House Operations Committee for three years before joining our board of trustees. Daniel presently chairs the Finance Committee and has led our Ronald McDonald House through important financial decisions; ones that have allowed us to serve increasing numbers of families each year.

Irvin “Buzz” Kaufman, M.D., has been a pioneer in the field of pediatric medicine in San Diego. After completing his medical education at the University of Chicago, he has served at Rady Children’s Hospital in many capacities, including Director of Pediatric Education, Director of the Critical Care Transport Team, and currently as Chief of Health Affairs. With Buzz’s assistance, Rady Children’s Hospital has blossomed into a facility that serves 92% of all hospitalized children in San Diego County. Buzz has worked closely with our Ronald McDonald House to establish programs that benefit families who are served by the Hospital.

John Lamberti, M.D., has long been directly involved with the Ronald McDonald House through his professional focus on the development of a world class pediatric heart institute at Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego. He developed the Cardiac Surgery Program at what is now Rady Children’s Hospital in 1978, and over 20 years ago created the Kapi’olani Cardiac Surgery Program at its Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu. Since then, well over 1,000 of the Hawaii Program’s patients have visited Rady Children’s, with their families staying at our Ronald McDonald House.

Leslie Mannes is on the Board of the San Diego County McDonald’s Owner/Operator’s Association. As a third-generation Owner/Operator with several McDonald’s restaurants, she brings a wealth of business and management knowledge to our Ronald McDonald House. Leslie has actively participated in many key House events in support of our mission. Through community involvement and her support of our House activities, she demonstrates an ongoing commitment to the enrichment of children and families.

Chris Marsh is responsible for the Wealth Management businesses at UBS across San Diego County. Chris has 18 years of experience within UBS, in roles ranging from family governance, financial planning and investment allocation, to the technology and business management involved in serving clients around the world. Chris has learned from and helped develop teams across Switzerland, Germany, France, Monaco, UK, the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Chris and his colleagues teamed to be the founding sponsors of the San Diego Ronald McDonald House’s annual Giving Circle Celebration since 2013.

A Partner at JGD & Associates LLP, Ronny Mitchell is the leader of the firm’s Assurance practice. Ronny’s experience includes working with not-for-profits, life science, technology and M&D companies in both the private and public sectors. He previously served on boards for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad and Sure Genomics, Inc., and most recently was a senior manager for Cohn Reznick. In addition to other Board responsibilities, Ronny serves as the chair of our Audit Committee.

Paul Petersen founded Trident Technologies, Inc. and spent his business career building Trident into the leading water management technology company in Southern California, with international operations in Latin America.  He served in a variety of organizational leadership positions during his professional career. Paul served as President of the Tierrasanta Community Council and on La Jolla Country Club Board of Directors.  His long history of leadership and business development benefits our Ronald McDonald House, as we strive to serve the growing number of families visiting each year.

Paul Schmid sits on the Board of the San Diego County McDonald’s Owner/Operator Association. He brings tremendous business experience to our Ronald McDonald House through his longtime ownership and innovative management of several McDonald’s restaurants. An active resident of San Diego for over 35 years, he once flew missions as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy. Paul served a previous tenure on our Board, and now his creative ideas and business acumen can once again help us to better support our families.

Highly engaged with the Ronald McDonald House since 2010, Adrienne and the Hoehn family have long been strong advocates for keeping our family guests close. She earned her master’s degree in public health from Columbia University, and worked with children and families in health crises while in New York City and abroad.  Adrienne brings to the Board a benevolent commitment to community service and philanthropy. From her meal service for our families, the annual ROMP gala, and Hoehn Motors car raffles, her work helps ensure new families continue to find relief and comfort at our House.