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Rino started with PHA in 1999 as the association’s first part-time staff person, and today, serves as President and CEO. Besides overall management of the association and its 35+ staff members, his responsibilities include planning, program development and fundraising. Rino works closely with PHA's Board of Trustees, its Scientific Leadership Council, Corporate Committee and is involved in many of PHA's planning committees and work groups. Read Rino’s Blog | Read more about Rino
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Carl Hicks, Executive Vice President, Field Operations x772
Carl Hicks, originally from Mansfield, Ohio assumed his new role as PHA's first VP of Field Operations in October 2012. Tasked to build from the ground up, PHA's first-ever local chapters and have them operational yesterday, he comes uniquely suited for the task. He is a retired U.S. Army Combat Arms Officer, and a former successful EVP, COO, or CEO of companies in the civilian sector ranging from tech startups to nationwide SaaS firms. Previously, Carl served on the PHA Board of Trustees since 2002 and served as the chairman of the board during the period 2008 - 2010. He holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees, (business) from The Ohio State University.
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Serena Weisman, Vice President, Finance & Human Resources x751
As PHA's Director, Finance & Human Resources, Serena is responsible for the oversight of the Finance, Human Resources, Database, and Administration teams. Working closely with the President, she produces monthly financials, forecasting, and cash management reports. Serena also leads the annual budget and audit processes. As part of the management team, she is charged with organizing and developing office, staff, and system policies and procedures.
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Mollie Katz, Vice President, Community Engagement x774
Mollie's role is to more closely tie together three departments which all address aspects of PHA's grassroots and public communication – Web Services, Advocacy & Awareness and Publications – to enhance the way PHA engages patients and caregivers, as well as medical professionals, in the volunteer spirit upon which the organization was born and built. Mollie will also help these departments strengthen PHA's impact in reaching key audiences with effective messages about PH and the needs of the PH community.
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Debbie Castro, Senior Director, Support Services x755
Debbie started at PHA in 2004 working directly with Support Line Volunteers, Support Group Leaders and Special Event planners. Today, she serves as PHA's Senior Director of Support Services, directly overseeing Support Group Services and Patient & Caregiver services – two departments that provide direct support to the entire PH community. She is charged with the sustenance and expansion of the grassroots and volunteer spirit within PHA and working to provide support for special populations in the PH community specifically focuses on working with support group leaders and volunteers.
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Advocacy & Awareness
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Katherine Kroner, Director, Advocacy & Awareness x749
As PHA’s Director, Advocacy & Awareness, Katie coordinates PH Awareness Month in November, the Congressional Luncheon and the PH Professional Network Lobby Day. She is also the first point of contact for reporters seeking to cover PH or PHA in the news media.
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As Grassroots Campaigns Manager, Elisabeth works to build volunteer membership in the 435 Campaign (legislative advocacy) PHAware Campaign (media outreach) and support current Campaign members in their communications with their Members of Congress and the media. Elisabeth is available to provide resources, advice and support to anyone interested in PH advocacy or media awareness. Elisabeth also coordinates the collection of PH community stories through Our Journeys.
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As PHA’s Insurance Program Associate, Daniela serves as the first point of contact for questions and comments about the insurance portion of PHA's website. In addition, she gathers patients' stories about their insurance challenges in order to help shape PHA's insurance policy agenda. Finally, Daniela works closely with PHA's medical and corporate partners in efforts to raise awareness about PH among insurance payers.
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Development
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As PHA’s Director, Special Events, Jessica works closely with volunteers as well as friends and family of PH patients to plan fundraisers across the country. By offering advice, guidance, and materials, Jessica provides volunteer coordinators with support they need to make their event a success. She also creates new special event campaigns, programs and resources, making a variety of special event opportunities available to the PH community.
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Haley Elmers, Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager x801
As Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager, Haley is responsible for developing and fostering a relationship management process for corporate and foundation activity. Haley develops and oversees relationship tracking, grant applications and reporting, recognition processes, and bundling packages inclusive of annual and event-based sponsorship and philanthropic opportunities. Haley also directs PHA's social enterprise initiatives, including advertisement sales in both its medical journal and patient newsletter as well as exhibit sales at all conferences and symposia.
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Leslie Mahaney, Special Events Manager x742
As Special Events Manager, Leslie provides PHA’s veteran volunteer event planners with the necessary tools and resources to host successful fundraisers. Leslie also works on event planner recognition, administration of PHA’s sponsorship program for special events organizers, and development of the special events quarterly e-newsletter, Event-ful Times.
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Ellen Leoni, Development Associate x756
As Development Associate, Ellen works to implement programs that foster support for PHA, its programs, services and research agenda. Ellen coordinates Our Workplace Has a Heart, which features PHA’s myriad of workplace giving programs, and In Honor of Our Lives, PHA’s program to include PH awareness and fundraising in celebration of personal milestones. Ellen is also the contact for the Sustainers Circle, PHA’s monthly giving program. In conjunction with the other members of the development team, Ellen answers donor and membership inquires.
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Erin Wiegert, Corporate & Foundation Relations Associate x762
As PHA's Corporate & Foundation Relations Associate, Erin is part of the team that supports PHA's corporate and foundation fundraising efforts. Erin researches and develops written proposals, tracks and monitors grants, conducts prospect research, coordinates and supports the gifts acknowledgement and record-keeping systems and coordinates stewardship reports.
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Bob Gray, Major Gifts Officer x767
As PHA's Major Gifts Officer, Bob works closely with volunteers and staff to increase donations through cause marketing, special events and foundation proposals. He also works closely with the Development Committee and PHA's President to solicit major gifts.
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Field Operations
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Lisa Beth Gansberg, Executive Director, Midwest Chapter
Lisa Beth, a Chicago native, comes to PHA with over 20 years of fundraising experience, specifically focusing on the quality of life for those living with life-threatening illnesses. She is well versed in non-profit management and recognized for her ability to form relationships within both the corporate and private sectors to increase awareness of health related issues and raise funding for advanced research.
An avid sports fan, runner and exercise enthusiast, Lisa Beth is dedicated to a healthy lifestyle and understands the implications of illness upon an active life. She graduated from Syracuse University with a self-designed major focusing on all aspects of communication design and fundraising business development. However, the majority of her expertise comes from her commitment to "paying it forward" and creating avenues to fulfill this goal on a continual basis.
Together with her team, Lisa Beth promotes the PHA mission to empower individuals with the knowledge to make educated decisions about their health issues. She welcomes partnership opportunities, encourages community involvement and individual participation to further the work of PHA.
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Geoff Gephart, Development Director, Midwest Chapter
Geoff Gephart comes to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association with over 15 years of nonprofit experience. Geoff has had the pleasure of supporting a variety of social and medical missions including the USO, homelessness, brain tumors, the developmentally disabled and the Boy Scouts of America. Geoff has an undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and a Masters of Public Administration – Non Profit Management from Roosevelt University. He is from the Chicago land area and currently lives in the northwest suburbs with his wife and two children.
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Gina Parziale, Executive Director, NY Tri-State Area Chapter
Gina comes to PHA with extensive experience in fundraising for health related charities. After graduating from Iona College with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, she spent a year traveling throughout the US and Europe with the organization "Up With People." She worked 6 years as a fundraising event coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association followed by 6 years as Executive Director for the American Liver Foundation. Gina's passion is empowering patients and loved ones of those affected by an illness to fight back by raising funds to find a cure and improve their lives.
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Im Senephimmachack, Development Director, NY Tri-State Area Chapter
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NY Tri-State Area Chapter
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Bette Perez, Executive Director, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Bette, a San Francisco native brings over 35 years in non-profit management directing fund raising and strategic initiatives for multi-million dollar organizations.
Examples of Bette's experience:
- Creating and directing strategic fund raising efforts to include; major events, capital campaigns, endowment campaigns, and annual giving programs.
- Planning and facilitating Board/Staff retreats and troubleshooting organizational issues.
- Directing comprehensive research and feasibility studies to acquire and interpret information related to stakeholder perceptions and opinions.
- Maintaining focus on organization's mission and business objective while aligning with the PHA community.
Bette is a strong leader with a keen sense of humor and has an innate ability to listen and care for PHA patients, caregivers and families. In Bette's free time she enjoys music, dancing and spending time with her family.
Give Bette a call to set up a meeting to learn more about how you can become involved in this new Chapter.
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Michael Ehret, Development Director, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Michael brings an extensive background in grass-roots development fundraising to his role as Development Director for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. He has worked for a variety of highly-regarded nonprofits in the field of human services and is an experienced event-planning professional. Michael's wife, Karen, is not only a longtime member of PHA, she is a PH survivor and 2009 double-lung transplant recipient out of Stanford.
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Andrea Gia Bevilacqua, Development Manager, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Andrea (Gia), a Berkeley native, comes to PHA with a long career working for non-profits as both a fundraiser and event planner. She has travelled around the country managing boards of directors, coordinating and running fundraising conferences, as well as, actively recruiting and training volunteers. In her free time, Gia lends a hand to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's local charity events. Beyond fundraising, Gia has had an extensive career in education, including obtaining a master's degree in literacy education from NYU. She is both a trained literacy specialist in New York State and holds a valid California teaching credential. Gia taught middle and high school English for eight years, and was the assistant coach of a nationally ranked debate team. Aside from work, Gia is a vegan who loves living a healthy lifestyle. She can be found running all over the city for exercise or in the studio dancing ballet.
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Finance & Administration
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As Manager, Finance & HR, Jennifer is responsible for handling accounts payable, managing benefits and human resources administration.
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Jessica Ritter, Associate Director, IT and Office Operations x766
As PHA’s Associate Director, IT and Office Operations, Jessica manages all of the information technology needs at PHA. In addition to helping out staff with technology and equipment needs, Jessica is responsible for managing the IT vendor, overseeing the office space, maintenance and purchase of office equipment and administers a variety of internal office procedures.
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Randall McLeod, Associate Director, Database x748
As Associate Director, Database Services, Randall oversees PHA’s donor database, The Raiser’s Edge. Randall serves PHA by ensuring all data is entered in a timely and accurate manner, and maintaining accurate records for all constituents. Randall assists the staff with any issues related to the database, and trains staff on how to use the database to serve their needs most effectively.
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Nick Jamison, Database Associate x757
As PHA’s Database Associate, Nick assists the Associate Director in the managing and operating of PHA’s donor database, Raiser’s Edge. Nick handles many of the daily transactions and works as a data liaison between PHAssociation.org, PHA Online University, and the Raiser’s Edge. Nick is also spearheading special projects to make the database more efficient and improve departmental interaction with the Raiser’s Edge.
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Roni Rivera, Administrative Assistant x802
Roni serves as an Administrative Assistant to the Finance and Administration Department. She is responsible for managing daily bank deposits, credit card processing, and procuring office supplies. Roni also processes memberships for PH Clinicians and Researchers and PH Professional Network and supports the Office of the President.
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As a part-time Office Assistant, Tracey helps to process shipments and general mailings, puts materials together for various meetings, acts as back-up receptionist and provides general administrative support to the staff.
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Dorothy Bradley, Office Assistant x752
Dorothy is a part-time Office Assistant at PHA. She jumps in to help with many mailings and other tasks. Dorothy has seen PHA through many of its changes.
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International Services
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Julia Friederich, International Program Associate x760
PHA is pleased to work in connection with associations around the world to serve PH patients, their families, doctors and medical researchers. As the International Services Associate, Julia facilitates the exchange of reliable information between international PH associations and promotes global awareness of the disease. Her work includes administering and promoting PHA's international seed grant program, coordinating the translation efforts of PHA's materials, establishing relationships with PH organizations abroad and engaging the international medical community.
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Medical Services
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As Director, Medical Services, Michael oversees the department's involvement with PHA's professional medical membership groups, PH Professional Network (PHPN) and PH Clinicians & Researchers (PHCR), helping to facilitate networking and other activities within these groups and promoting membership. Additionally, he works closely with the Scientific Leadership Council, which provides leadership and guidance for the mission of PHA and leads the development of the wide array of all PHA's medical programming.
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As PHA’s Online Education Associate, Caitlin develops the PHA Online University as an educational resource for physicians and allied health professionals looking to expand their knowledge about diagnosing PH and caring for their PH patients. She manages both the course creation process and the website homepage. Together with some of the foremost experts in PH around the world, Caitlin strives to make the PHA Online University an engaging and active community for providers that will increase awareness of PH.
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Amanda Nguyen, Patient Education Associate, x744
As Patient Education Associate, Amanda is responsible for developing educational resources that provide patients and caregivers with information about pulmonary hypertension and its management. Amanda works to create patient-oriented brochures, website content, webinars for the PHA Classroom and chats with patients. She continues to assess educational needs within the PH community and assists in the planning of PHA events such as the PHA on the Road program.
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Lori Oppenheimer, Allied Health Program Associate x761
As Allied Health Program Associate, Lori is responsible for promoting membership in the PH Professional Network (PHPN) and helping to develop the group’s knowledge and resources to benefit the entire PH community. She provides support to each of PHPN’s five leadership committees as they work to meet their goals. Lori also assists in organizing PHA’s biennial PH Professional Network Symposium, the largest educational event in the field for PH allied health professionals.
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Briana Rivas-Morello, Medical Outreach Program Associate x776
As Medical Outreach Program Associate, Briana is responsible for promoting global membership in PHA's PH Clinicians and Researchers (PHCR) medical membership network. She also works with PH medical professionals to develop and expand resources that will advance the PH community and their surrounding networks. This includes assisting in the development of PHA's medical journal, Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension. In addition, Briana helps organize the Scientific Sessions at PHA's biennial International PH Conference, develops the monthly PH Roundup e-newsletter, supports the Building Medical Education in PH (BME) program, and manages PHA's Research Program.
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Meetings & Conference Planning
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Doreen Lucadamo, Director, Meetings & Conference Planning x779
As Director, Doreen oversees the department responsible for the marketing and logistical planning of PHA’s education events and the organization’s leadership meetings. She is also responsible for the planning of the biennial International PH Conference.
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Rebecca Gifford, Meeting Planning Associate x764
As Meeting Planning Associate, Patient Programs Rebecca’s responsibilities include providing logistical support for several of PHA’s events, including PHA’s 10th International Conference and Scientific Sessions, PHA on the Road, and our Corporate Committee meetings. During Conference years she maintains the role of the Scholarship Committee staff liaison and helps coordinate all the needs of the Scholarship Award recipients in order to ensure a safe and successful time at Conference!
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Office of the President
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Sarah Braun, Executive Program Associate x803
As PHA's Executive Program Associate, Sarah supports the work of PHA's President. Sarah serves as the primary liaison to PHA's Board of Trustees, maintains PHA's historical archives, assists with PHA's field offices and assists with other projects that are of priority for the President and the organization.
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Patient & Caregiver Services
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Kim Lamon-Loperfido, Manager, Patient and Caregiver Services x777
As Patient and Caregiver Services Manager, Kim creates and manages a variety of education and support programs for pulmonary hypertension patients and caregivers. She works directly with newly diagnosed patients, young adults and patients with associated illnesses and oversees programs for caregivers and parents. She aims to provide new points of entry, education and support to patients.
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Michal Rachlin, Kerry Bardorf Family Support Program Coordinator x800
As the Kerry Bardorf Family Support Program Coordinator, Michal works with the families of adult and pediatric PH patients and with pediatric PH patients. She develops new resources, expands support and educational opportunities for adults, and creates new opportunities for young PH patients to connect with one another. Michal also manages PHA’s bereavement program and PH Email Mentor program.
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Publications
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Megan Mallory, Director, Publications x754
As Director, Publications, Megan serves as PHA's primary writer, editor, and graphic designer for PHA promotional materials and print publications. She also coordinates the production and publication of PHA's newsletters and other print materials.
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Suzanne Flood, Marketing & Communications Manager x768
As Marketing & Communications Manager, Suzanne oversees the marketing and promotional efforts for a number of PHA events including PHA on the Road, PH Professional Network Symposium and PHA’s biennial International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions.
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Ellie Ganelin, Design & Publications Manager x812
As Design & Publications Manager, Ellie assists in designing, editing and writing PHA’s many print and online publications. She is also the primary contact for Pulmonary Hypertension: A Patient’s Survival Guide, PHA’s resource book for patients and caregivers. Ellie works with volunteer contributors to update and publish the Survival Guide on a yearly basis.
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Support Group Services
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Joshua Griffis, National Support Group Coordinator x758
As National Support Group Coordinator, Joshua coordinates the Support Group Central Fund, the promotion of support groups and support group meeting materials.
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Web Services
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As Director, Web Services, Diane manages the PHA website and web services. She directs PHA's efforts to make PHAssociation.org an even more effective tool for PH patients, families, and medical professionals to connect and share resources. Diane spearheaded PHA's website redesign.
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Kathy works to maintain PHA's website and other e-channels and assists staff and the community at-large with online technical issues.
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