Board of Directors
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Shari Freedman, Chairperson
Chief Financial Officer, Worldwise, Inc.
Shari Freedman is the Chief Financial officer at Worldwise, an environmental consumer products company. Before joining Worldwise, Shari served as the chief financial officer at Niman Ranch, Inc. She has over 20 years of experience heading finance and strategy initiatives in leading retail and consumer brand companies. She dedicates her time to a number of causes and has been a member of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation Caring Commission and Northern California Holocaust Center Board of Directors. She is also the former President of the Board of Jewish Vocational Services and a former board member of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation.
Shari earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations/economics from American University and a master’s in business administration from Georgetown University. She lives in San Francisco with her daughter. -
Tim Geraghty, 1st Vice-Chairperson
Regional President, The Northern Trust Company
Tim Geraghty oversees Northern Trust's Northern California region. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of the Bay Area, where he is a member of the Executive Committee and is Chairperson of the Tocqueville Society. While living in Atlanta, Tim served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Tim was also active on the Boards of Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Bobby Dodd Center for Disabled Adults in Atlanta.
Tim received a bachelor's degree from Emory University and a master's degree in business administration from Loyola University in Chicago. He lives in Tiburon with his wife and three children.
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Jack R. Bertges, 2nd Vice-Chairperson
Senior Vice President, New Resource Bank
Jack Bertges is a Senior Vice President specializing in commercial lending at New Resource Bank. With a long-term interest in the environment, Jack joined New Resource Bank in 2007 after having originally transferred to San Francisco in the mid 1980’s in his role with Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh. Since 1993 he has organized a golf tournament for the San Francisco business community that has raised over $298,000 for the San Francisco Food Bank. He has served on the Board of the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma for 14 years. He continues to support the Second Harvest Food Bank in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania.Jack received his B.S. in Business Administration at John Carroll University in Cleveland and his MBA from Pennsylvania State University. Jack and his wife JoAnn live in San Francisco. -
Bernice Welles, Treasurer
MD, Head of Development, Enject, Inc. and CEO of Alquest Therapeutics, Inc.
Bernice Welles, MD is Chief Executive Officer of Alquest Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology start-up focused on developing drugs for neurodegenerative disorders. Her previous positions include Vice President of DiObex, Inc., a biotechnology start-up, and Venture Partner at MPM Capital where she focused on evaluating potential investments in the health care industry. After a brief academic career at the University of California San Francisco, Bernice spent 8 years at Genentech, Inc. involved in all aspects of biotechnology drug development. She ultimately served as Vice President of Product Development with responsibility for all development projects and portfolio planning.
Bernice received her master’s in business administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, her medical degree from the Albany School of Medicine, and her bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University. -
David M. Steinberg, Secretary
Managing Director, Deutsche Bank
David Steinberg is a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank. His area of expertise is in Specialty Pharmaceuticals. During his 20 year career he has consistently been ranked as a top analyst by the Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" survey and Institutional Investor's "All American Research Team." His research on various topics within the global drug industry has regularly been referenced in national publications including The New York Times, Barrons and Fortune.
David earned a bachelor’s from Colby College and a master’s in business administration from the Harvard Business School. David is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Northfield Mount Hermon School and has served on the Board of Overseers of Colby College. -
Aaron Bortel, Esq.
President, Bortel Law
Aaron Bortel has been practicing law throughout the Bay Area for over 19 years. He is a member of the National College of DUI Defense, the California DUI lawyers Association, the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Bar Association of San Francisco. Prior to joining the S.F. Food Bank Board of Directors, Aaron served on the Board of the Marin Food Bank.
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Kim Coates
Office Administrator, Munger, Tolles & Olson
Kim Coates came to the legal profession and Munger, Tolles & Olson (MTO) 19 years ago, after having worked many years as a restaurant manager in the hospitality industry. At MTO, Coates manages the day-to-day operations of a growing office, including human resources, administration, facilities and organizes the firm's special events of the San Francisco office. Coates joined the Association of Legal Administrators in February 1998. She is currently the Director at Large and has served on the Golden Gate Chapter Board for more than 13 years. She has been a coordinator and volunteer with Food from the Bar, the legal community’s fundraiser for the Food Bank, for many years.
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Bill Hansell
Principal at FUSE Architecture
Bill opened the office of Hansell Design in 1996 and has over 20 years of architectural and design experience. The firm has completed projects throughout the Bay Area and internationally, including Ireland where Bill is also a citizen. Bill is active in Bay Area architecture schools and has taught at UC Berkeley and the Academy of Art University. He has been a guest critic at CCAC, SF City College, and the University of Virginia.
Bill holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and studied Architecture and English Literature there as an undergraduate. He is an elected official on the Marinwood Community Services District board. Prior to serving on the San Francisco Food Bank Board, he served on the Board of the Marin Food Bank and the Dixie Elementary Arts Council. In order to build community and support the arts, he runs a volunteer production company called Appleberry Jam which hosts small concerts in both San Francisco and Marin. He plays music at Farmers Markets and donates all his tips to the Food Bank. Bill lives in San Rafael. -
Hilary Kessler Seligman
Assistant Professor in Residence, University of California San Francisco
Hilary Kessler Seligman is Assistant Professor in Residence in the Departments of Medicine and of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at University of California San Francisco. She is core faculty for the Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital, where her research focuses on community-based, clinic-based, and epidemiologic studies addressing the tight connections between food insecurity and ill health. Her academic work has been published in New England Journal of Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Journal of Nutrition, Diabetes Care, and Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, among others. She regularly speaks about the public health implications of food insecurity to local, regional, and national audiences. Hilary also practices Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, which provides health care to uninsured and vulnerable patients.
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Gary Maxworthy
Consultant
Gary Maxworthy has worked with a wide variety of companies in the food industry as a salesman, regional and national sales manager and food broker. He has worked as a manager at a regional level for both Lever Brothers and Phillip Morris U.S.A.( non-tobacco products), two of the largest grocery manufacturers nationwide. From 1986 to 1994 Gary served as president of Bromar Northern California, the largest food brokerage company in the West at that time. He has strong relationships with West Coast food industry top and middle management, retailers, distributors, wholesalers and brokers.
Gary’s work with the San Francisco Food Bank spans from 1994 to present. His efforts in food solicitation and donor development have helped to increase the Food Bank's food distribution from 3.5 million pounds a year to more than 45 million pounds. Gary founded the statewide "Farm to Family" program that distributes fresh produce to families in need. Because of this work, Gary was one of 15 people out of over 1,000 national nominees to be awarded "The Purpose Prize" in 2007. Recently his work with Farm to Family earned Gary the National Jefferson Award which is also known as the "Nobel Prize of public service." In addition to his membership on the San Francisco Food Bank's board, Gary has also served on the board of the Food Industry Crusade against Hunger. -
Susan Meyer
Partner, Ernst & Young LLP, Transaction Advisory Services
Susan Meyer is a Partner in the Transaction Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young. In addition to serving on the San Francisco Food Bank’s Board of Directors, Sue serves on the Alumni Board of Governors at the Ross School of Business (University of Michigan), including as chairperson of the scholarship committee and as an endowment trustee for another charitable organization.
Sue received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Sue is a Certified Public Accountant in the States of California and Illinois. Sue lives in San Francisco. -
Hyun Park
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, PG&E Corporation
Hyun Park oversees all regulatory and securities law compliance, litigation strategy, all legal matters related to significant corporate transactions, as well as corporate governance and the corporate secretary functions at PG&E. Prior to joining PG&E Corporation in 2006, he was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Allegheny Energy, Inc., in Pennsylvania. He also previously served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Sithe Energies, Inc. in New York, and was a partner with the law firm of Latham & Watkins, where he specialized in corporate transactions and finance. He is a member of the State Bar of California.
Hyun earned his law degree from Harvard Law School. He earned a master's degree in economics from Oxford University and a bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University. -
Curt Sigfstead
Managing Director, JP Morgan
Curt Sigfstead is a Managing Director in JPMorgan's Technology Investment Banking Group. He has worked on a wide variety of strategic assignments including buy sides, sell sides, joint ventures and private placements for a variety of clients. He has also worked on a number of capital raising assignments including convertible debt, bank and bond financings, follow-ons, IPOs, and venture investing.
Curt earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University and has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business. He resides in San Francisco with his wife and two daughters.
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Harold Sogard
Chairman, Riney
Harold recently returned to Riney, the iconic advertising agency that first brought him to San Francisco. In 1991 he jumped ship from Riney to join a small young agency founded by three Riney alumni. Over the next nineteen years, he helped lead that agency – now known as Goodby, Silverstein & Partners -- to become the largest agency in San Francisco and one of the most respected and awarded creative agencies in the world. Along the way he led campaigns for a host of major national clients, including Anheuser Busch, AT&T, E*Trade, Frito Lay, HP, Motorola, Nike, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Porsche, Sega, Sprint, and Starbucks. He also worked on local favorites “got milk” and Foster Farms, and spent his last several years at GS&P as Vice Chairman.
Harold began his advertising career at Ogilvy & Mather in New York after spending many years in another life, managing Broadway, off- Broadway, and off-off Broadway theatre companies. He graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in theater and received his MBA from the University of Chicago. He lives in Tiburon with his wife Susan, daughter Lucy, and dogs Bridget and Rafa. -
Lynda Sullivan
Financial Services
Lynda Sullivan has spent more than 20 years in the financial services industry. Most recently, Sullivan served as investment director at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation where she had responsibility for investing the foundation’s endowment in the public equity and fixed income sectors. Sullivan began her career in the Corporate Finance department at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York and prior to joining the Moore Foundation held senior positions at Gap Inc. and Montgomery Securities in San Francisco. Sullivan earned bachelor’s degrees in both business and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and her master’s in business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Sullivan is a long-time Food Bank volunteer and donor.
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Michael Terris
President, Terris, Barnes and Walters
After founding Terris Communications (which has grown into Terris, Barnes & Walters) in 1988, Michael has guided the firm as it grew in clientele and partners for over two decades. Today, he is actively involved in marketing, creative, message development, earned media and targeting for a wide variety of political clients. He is also a founder of Terris, Barnes & Walters’ sister firm TBWB Strategies which specializes in public finance campaigns.
Michael graduated cum laud from Harvard in 1984. He has served on the board for the Urban School of San Francisco and the Town School of Boys. Michael lives in San Francisco with his wife Maureen and three sons. -
Jonathan Walker
President, Economist Incorporated
Dr. Walker is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Economists Incorporated. His engagement topics have included antitrust, business valuation, class certification, compensatory and punitive damages, employment discrimination, environmental damages, ERISA, financial securities analysis, and intellectual property. His clients have included corporations, government agencies, industry associations, and individuals. Dr. Walker’s case experience spans the energy, entertainment, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, natural resources, professional services, real estate and transportation sectors. Dr. Walker has testified as an expert in federal and state court, at arbitrations and at administrative hearings. He also consults with corporations in a non-testifying capacity.Prior to joining Economists Incorporated, Dr. Walker was a strategy consultant with Monitor Company. Before joining Monitor Company, Dr. Walker was a visiting research fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. There, he participated in antitrust enforcement and conducted research concerning the commercial banking industry. Dr. Walker earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. -
Dave Weber
Executive Vice President, Wells Fargo
David Weber is executive vice president and chief credit officer of Wells Fargo’s Wholesale Banking Group. He is responsible for the credit risk management of Wholesale Banking which serves customers nationwide with services such as middle-market banking, corporate banking, investment banking and capital markets, commercial real estate, international banking, treasury management, asset-based lending, insurance, foreign exchange, trade services, equipment finance, corporate trust, and asset management.
Dave received his B.A. in economics from Loyola University in New Orleans and his M.B.A. in finance and accounting from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is also a Trustee of the World Affairs Council of Northern California. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.
