Directors

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Michael Washburn - President

Stephan Hiroshi Gilchrist - Vice President

Travis Vail Betz - Secretary

Park L. Gerdine

Judi Holley

Michael Washburn – president

Michael Washburn is Director of Sustainability at Nestlé Waters North America.  His work includes helping the firm to increase its recycling in the US, innovate in energy use and building design across its manufacturing facilities, engage in constructive water policy initiatives, and educate and engage with stakeholders about the environmental efforts of NWNA.

Prior to joining Nestlé, Michael spent 15 years working in conservation non-profits and universities on issues of sustainable forestry, land conservation, green building, and conservation leadership.  During this period he held senior positions at The Wilderness Society and the Forest Stewardship Council- US, where his work advanced the adoption of independent forest-certification and product labeling programs. 

Michael received his BS in Environmental Studies and MS in Forest Resources Management from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, and a PH.D. from Penn State in Forest Policy. While serving on the faculty at Penn State and later the Yale School of Forestry, he was an advisor to the USDA Forest Service.

Dr. Washburn serves on the boards of two other national CFC federations. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Natanya and their two children.

Stephan Hiroshi Gilchrist – vice president

Stephan Gilchrist is the Chief Diversity Officer for the University of Wisconsin Colleges and University of Wisconsin Extension. The University of Wisconsin Colleges is composed of 13 two-year liberal arts campuses around the state. The University of Wisconsin Extension operates several statewide programs including: cooperative extension, economic development, continuing education, and public radio and TV.

From 2006 to 2009, Gilchrist was the Director of Institutional Diversity at Wells College in Aurora, NY.

Gilchrist received his doctorate in educational leadership and master’s degree in conflict resolution from Portland State University. He taught courses at Portland State University in the areas of multicultural education and interethnic conflict resolution, and researched community-based interethnic dialogue models. Gilchrist also has an M.S. in environmental education and B.A. in international business and Japanese. He spent several years living and working in Japan.

Gilchrist is deeply committed to the practice of tai chi to promote mental and physical health for all people, and has taught tai chi classes for several years.

Travis Vail Betz – Secretary

Travis Betz is a member of the USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance. In the wake of international disaster, he is part of the USAID team that ensures US government emergency relief reaches the affected people. Based in Washington DC, he is often deployed to a disaster site as Logistics Officer on USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART.)
Travis joined the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance in 2009.  He is one of three fulltime OFDA logistics officers based in Washington, DC.  OFDA logistics maintains 3 global warehouses and a small vehicle fleet. 

Since 2009 he has deployed on 5 DARTs including the most recent Urban Search and Rescue missions in New Zealand and Japan.  Prior to working for USAID-OFDA, Travis was the Field Operations Officer for the American Red Cross, International Disaster Response Unit.   

Travis served as a Fleet Marine Force Medic for 4 years with the US Navy, received a B.S. in Biology and Psychology from Excelsior College, and has a Certificate in Managing Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies from Boston University School of Public Health. He has completed graduate work through the Cambridge Overseas Medical Training Program and studied infectious diseases at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine and continues to lecture on disaster relief and preparedness.

Park L. Gerdine

Park L. Gerdine, M.D., has been active in elder communities since his retirement in 1982 from three decades of medical practice. For several years in the 1980s and '90s, he served on the board of directors of the Shepherd's Centers of America, a network of interfaith, community-based organizations dedicated to empowering older adults to use their wisdom and skills for the good of their communities. He also served SCA as its Florida state representative, and his initiatives more than doubled the number of centers in the state.

In 1999 Dr. Gerdine moved to a not-for-profit continuing care community in Asheville, NC, where he currently resides. He was instrumental in founding a local Continuing Care Community Residents group, which is now one of the larger memberships in CCCR of North Carolina. He also has taught computer skills to his fellow residents and created a web site for the community. In addition, he has served as a court-appointed volunteer in North Carolina's Guardian ad Litem program, where he advocated for children brought into the criminal justice system as a result of neglect, abuse or abandonment.

In earlier years he was twice elected to the school board in the Central Texas town where he lived and volunteered as the high school football team physician. Mr. Gerdine was born in Korea to missionary parents. His memoir of returning to Korea after World War II was published in the 2005 Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society – Korea Branch.

Judi Holley

Judi Holley is president of Village by Village, a CFC federation for U.S. organizations providing humanitarian, educational, economic, and other forms of support in developing nations in Latin America and elsewhere. For several years in the 1990s and early 2000s, she was a board member and the president of Do Unto Others (DUO) – another federation representing international emergency relief, development and humanitarian charities.

A retired federal employee, Ms. Holley has been involved in the Combined Federal Campaign for nearly 30 years. In addition to her extensive work with CFC federations, she has been a CFC donor and a local CFC volunteer. During her tenure as DUO's president, she participated in the National CFC Committee as the designated representative of her federation 

Ms. Holley is a long-time participant in nonprofit organizations in her home state of Washington. These activities include: The Governor's Advisory Council for Vocational Rehabilitation, the Criminal Justice Training Commission, South Puget Sound Cultural Diversity Coalition, several local charities focusing on immigrant education, employment and housing, and the Pierce County Sheriffs Advisory Board. She is currently leading a Pierce County pilot program for community involvement originally sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.