About Us

Board of Directors

San Francisco SPCA Board Members are elected volunteers who govern the organizational policies of the SF SPCA and oversee its fiduciary stability. We're deeply grateful for their contribution of time and expertise.

OFFICERS

Daniel Levitt, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair of the Board
Dan Levitt has over 25 years of experience leading research and development programs at both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He is the Chief Medical Officer for CytRx Corporation, an oncology drug development company. Previously, Dr. Levitt was Executive Vice President, Research and Development, and Chief Medical Officer of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., President of Protein Design Labs, Inc., and Head of Worldwide Oncology Drug Development for Sandoz Pharma.

Dr. Levitt graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University. He earned both his medical degree and his post-doctorate degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

He is married to Bonnie Levitt, a San Francisco attorney, and has two children plus a rescue dog named Annie. He was elected to the SF SPCA Board of Directors in 2007 and serves as Treasurer.

Jennifer Chung
Vice Chair
After starting her career on the editorial staff of InStyle Magazine in New York, Jennifer Chung moved to San Francisco, where she worked in business development at CNET Networks, securing strategic partnerships and leading marketing efforts to drive traffic across the network. Next, she joined Genentech to focus on sales and marketing efforts for Rituxan, a drug used to treat lymphoma.

Growing up in rural Ohio and seeing so many animals in need, Ms. Chung has always been passionate about animals and their welfare.

Ms. Chung holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University. She lives with her husband Young Chung, a venture capitalist in Palo Alto, and their dog Woody.

Russ Nelson
Treasurer
Russ Nelson is Vice President of Products at VolunteerMatch.org, the web's largest marketplace for connecting volunteers with nonprofits. His focus is on amplifying VolunteerMatch's impact via social, mobile, and connected technologies. His background is in enterprise software, information technology, and cloud computing, and previously, Mr. Nelson worked for salesforce.com and PeopleSoft in Product and Program Management roles.

Mr. Nelson joined the Board in 2009 and his involvement as a board member is the culmination of a lifelong passion for caring about the animals that share our communities and our lives. He grew up in rural California with cats, dogs, birds, and a variety of other rescued animals. The inspirational work of the SF SPCA has amplified his conviction to promote and improve the treatment and welfare of animals in need.

Mr. Nelson is a woodworker, an ultra-marathon runner, and guardian to an Australian Shepherd named Boomer. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from U.C. Davis and an MBA from CSU.

DIRECTORS

Brian Corey

Brian Corey is a group program manager for Facebook, where he is responsible for business development, project management, and partner management for Facebook's mobile products. Previously, Mr. Corey spent five years at Brightstar Corp, the world's largest mobile phone distribution and services company, where he played various executive roles, including his last role as co-founder and CEO of ActivateIT, a joint venture with Tech Data Corp. He has also held various positions with Katzenbach Partners/Booz & Co, Amazon.com, and Accenture.

Brian earned a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and a master's degree from Harvard Business School. Mr. Corey grew up in California and counts as some of his closest friendships the ones he’s had with various pets over his lifetime: Josh Basedow, Bozo, McAdoo, Rome, Damphousse, Otter, and Huckabee. Mr. Corey lives in San Francisco with his wife, two children, and Huckabee, a magnificent hurricane rescue dog.

Derek L. Dean
Derek Dean is a Principal with The Exetor Group, and a former Director and Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company’s San Francisco office where he worked for 20 years.

Mr. Dean has been a lifelong animal lover. He brought home his first puppy at age 4, took his first obedience class at age 10 and has raised a variety of cats and dogs over the years. He became a volunteer dog walker at the SF SPCA in 2005.

Mr. Dean holds a BA, Summa Cum Laude, from Carleton College and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He joined the Board of Directors in 2008. He is also a member of the San Francisco Symphony's Board of Governors.

Leslie Doyle
Leslie Doyle is an independent graphic artist and photographer. She has worked for a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations throughout the Bay Area. She has provided pro-bono work to St. Raymond School, the Portola Valley School Foundation and the African Library Project, among others, and is a past volunteer at a local humane society.

Ms. Doyle graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.S. in Business Marketing & Advertising and holds a B.A. in Graphic Arts from the Academy of Art College.

Ms. Doyle was elected to the SF SPCA Board of Directors in 2012 and lives in Portola Valley with her husband, two sons and a variety of dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, and a hive of bees.

Paul Farr
Paul is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Anthos, a private equity firm investing in leading growth companies. Prior to co-founding Anthos, Paul was an investor at Summit Partners and an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Paul received a B.Com. in Finance from McGill University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. Paul serves on several corporate boards and the board of the Sierra Club Foundation.

Paul has lived in Montreal, Texas, New York, Los Angeles, and moved to San Francisco in 2000. He grew up on family farms surrounded by animals where he built a lifelong bond with them. He is currently a pet parent to Darth Vader, a rambunctious black lab. Paul enjoys hiking, cycling, skiing, and mountain climbing in his free time.

Ken Fulk
Ken Fulk is owner and chief designer for Ken Fulk Design, Inc., a highly successful private design company established in 1997 and based in San Francisco. Mr. Fulk is co-creator of Doodlezoo, a children’s media company, which was sold to the Discovery Channel. He is also co-author of five children’s books published by Chronicle Books. Mr. Fulk is co-owner of Icon, a decorative textiles company, which are marketed at major retailers including Barney’s, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Mr. Fulk holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English & History from Mary Washington College. He joined the Board of Directors of the SF SPCA in 2009.

Katherine C. Huibonhoa
Katherine C. Huibonhoa is a partner in the Employment Law Department of Paul Hastings LLP. She is named in Best Lawyers in America (2012) and is Associate Editor of Employment Discrimination Law, the official book of the American Bar Association in its field. She serves on the Board of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Volunteer Legal Services Program, which provides pro bono legal and related services to underserved San Francisco residents, communities, and organizations that serve these populations. She is also involved with the United Way of the Bay Area as a founding member of its Women’s Leadership Council and co-chairs the Women’s Committee of the Asian-American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area.

Ms. Huibonhoa received her B.A. degree cum laude from Columbia College in New York City and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She is guardian to her rescue cat, Cinnamon.

Scott E. Miller
Scott E. Miller has more than two decades of experience in leading retained executive search and professional services firms. Currently, he is a Principal with Scott Miller Executive Search, which focuses on recruiting in the areas of non-profit, higher education and diversity. He was most recently a Client Partner in Korn/Ferry International’s San Francisco office. Prior to that, he worked as the Western Regional Staffing Manager for Watson Wyatt Worldwide (now Towers Watson). Previously, he worked for the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, DC in the areas of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity and later at The White House in Presidential Personnel where he recruited individuals for political appointments.

Mr. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Alabama. He also has extensive experience serving on non-profit Boards, including Co-Chairing the Board of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and served at various times as Chairman of the Board, Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Academy Of Friends, which raises money for Bay–Area HIV/AIDS organizations. In 2009, he received the Jay Luque Award for Outstanding Volunteerism for his continued work with the organization.

Mr. Miller lives in San Francisco with his partner, Doug Piper, and Tucker, a Miniature Schnauzer rescue dog.

Jill Nash
Jill Nash is a communications and PR expert. She has served as the Chief Communications Officer and Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Levi Strauss & Co where she directed all aspects of the company’s worldwide communications efforts. Ms. Nash joined Levi Strauss & Co. from Yahoo! where she was Senior Vice President & Chief Communications Officer responsible for leading the company’s global communications. Prior to Yahoo!, she led communications teams at Gap Inc. and Charles Schwab.

Ms. Nash is a graduate of San Diego State University. She joined the SF SPCA Board of Directors in 2009 because of her passion for animals. She has two dogs – a Border Terrier named Tyler and a Schnoodle named Bailey.

J. Peter Read
Peter Read is a partner of Read Investments, specializing in commercial real estate acquisitions and development. He is the former Co-Owner of Grocery Outlet Inc., a family-owned retail grocery business with 140 stores located throughout the western states.

Mr. Read’s strong affinity with the SF SPCA stems from its progressive and humane commitment to the lives of dogs and cats, and the example it demonstrates to other animal hospitals and shelters. His animal volunteer background follows in the footsteps of his dear departed wife, Carol Ann Read, through her longtime involvement with the Lindsey Wildlife Museum and the Marine Mammal Center. He is now joined by his two daughters in serving these wonderful causes.

Mr. Read has an economics degree from the University of San Francisco. He joined the Board of Directors in 2000.

Jeanette Roach
Jeanette Roach started her career in the field of television and communications at KQED TV in San Francisco and later in Washington, D.C. as a consultant on television programs for HUD and the Ford Foundation. After returning to the Bay Area Ms. Roach spent 25 years as a residential real estate broker.

A lifelong animal lover, she does not remember a time in her life without a beloved pet and currently has two dogs. Ms. Roach is married to Edward Roach, an attorney and real estate developer, and has one daughter and two grandchildren. Ms. Roach joined the Board of Directors in 2007. She is Chair of the Nominating Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.

Eric B. Roberts
Eric Roberts is a panelologist (a studier of comics) and a dealer in comic book original art.

In 2003, Mr. Roberts assumed the SF SPCA board seat of his mother, the late Leanne B. Roberts. As a Board Member, his primary focus is the Leanne B. Roberts Animal Care Center, and he is also involved in the Feral Cat Assistance Program.

Mr. Roberts graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Economics and Philosophy, and has an MBA from Stanford University. Mr. Roberts is guardian to two cats and two French Bulldogs. He also feeds three feral cats that come by his house each night.

Jake Steinman
Jake Steinman is the founder and CEO of North American Journeys. In 1992, Steinman launched Active America, the forerunner to North American Journeys, following an 18-year career as publisher and editor-in-chief of City Sports, a 6-unit chain of regional sports and recreation travel magazines that he sold in 1993. In addition to his duties as president and C.E.O. of www.thetouroperator.com and North American Journeys, Steinman is the Editor-in-Chief of two industry newsletters—as well as Chairman of Active America Travel Summit, E-Tourism Summit, and NAJ Tour Operators Summits West and East.

Mr. Steinman joined the Board in 2009 and says of his experience, “I am a dog fanatic plain and simple; I cannot imagine a more endearing species of animal. One of the board members suggested that my experience in publishing and marketing might be of use to the SF SPCA in their efforts to become better known in the community.”

David Tateosian
David Tateosian is the President of First Republic Securities Company. Previously, Mr. Tateosian was Senior Managing Director of brokerage and trading services for Preferred Trade, Inc. and was a member of the firm’s Executive and Management Committees.

Mr. Tateosian joined the SF SPCA to dedicate time to the animal shelter community as a form of service allowing him to contribute his financial and investment skills toward the causes of the Society.

Mr. Tateosian received his BS in Marketing from the University of Vermont. He joined the Board of Directors of the SF SPCA in 2005 and has served as Treasurer and currently serves as Chair of the Investment Committee. He and his family adopted a dog from the SF SPCA in 2008.

Charlaine Thet
Charlaine Thet is Director of Nonprofit Outreach and a board member of Palindrome Advisors, an elite nonprofit organization specializing in high level executive board placement. With over 10 years of professional experience in event planning, public relations, operations and customer relationship management, Ms. Thet has also led senior management efforts for luxury hotels, travel and concierge companies.

Ms. Thet grew up with horses, rabbits, cats & dogs. 16 years ago, she adopted two abused cocker spaniels. That experience has led her become an avid animal rights activist, supporter and volunteer.

Ms. Thet is a graduate of UCSF and UCLA, with a background in Psychology and Communications. She lives in San Francisco with her husband Zaw Thet. She joined the Board of the SF SPCA in 2011.