Michael O’Neil, President
Michael grew up on Cape Cod and graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Political Science and then a Masters of Education from Stanford. Michael has always had a passion for wildlife, particularly birds and often thought when he was young that he would become an ornithologist or marine biologist. After teaching history for five years in the Bay Area and in the Dominican Republic, he changed course and became an analyst for a small management consulting firm working on growth strategies for health care companies. For the past seven years he has been self-employed and has his own healthcare consulting company, working with employer groups and providers to improve the quality of healthcare delivery. Prior to joining the board, Michael first worked as a volunteer for Project Wildlife as a member of the Duck Team.

Debbie Forray, Vice President
Debbie graduated from San Diego State University with a BS in Chemical Physics. Throughout her professional career she has gained extensive knowledge of back-end assembly, tests and package design in the semi-conductor industry and has worked for QMI, Dexter, Qualcomm and Henkel/Loctite. Since 2003 Debbie has been employed by AAA as a senior formulator, specializing in die attach adhesives for which she currently holds six patents with additional patent applications under review.

Nandita Murthy, Secretary
Nandita Murthy is Contracts Manager for RORE, Inc., an environmental, engineering and construction firm. In her position she is responsible for observing all laws, regulations and other applicable obligations and company policies whenever business is conducted on behalf of the company. Prior to joining RORE, Nandita practiced law at well-known local firms. Nandita received her bachelor’s in History from the University of California, San Diego and her Juris Doctorate at Santa Clara University School of Law. Nandita also serves on the board for Hostelling International, San Diego Council. On her time off, she enjoys hiking, biking, and travelling.

Patricia Smith, CPA, Treasurer
Patricia M. Smith is a Certified Public Accountant and is a graduate of California State University at Los Angeles with a BS in accounting and the University of Arizona with a BS and M.Ed. in biological science. She has been in private sector public accounting since 1976. Before beginning her own practice, Pat worked as a tax and financial manager for a local San Diego firm. She then opened her own firm in 1984 and her practice has grown from forty to currently over five hundred clients. Pat is a past president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Society of Women Accountants and the Pacific Beach Women’s Club. She currently serves as an officer of the Soroptimist International of Mission Bay and also serves on the board of directors of several nonprofit corporations. She was formerly the treasurer of the National Sleep Foundation of Washington, DC and currently serves on the board of Able-Disabled Advocacy, Inc. In addition she has taught taxation to financial planners at the University of California at San Diego’s evening classes.

S. Ellice Bickel
Ellice was born in Indiana and grew up in Nevada and California. Ellice graduated with a BA in Political Science from California State University, San Bernardino in 1987 and a Juris Doctorate from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 1996. Thereafter, Ellice worked in law firms in Northern and Southern California in the area of civil litigation, both plaintiff and defense, up until 2008 when she changed career paths and became the COO of a branch investment banking firm in Southern California. She also oversees asset management, real estate and investment as well as develops and runs the operations for several small, independent business ventures in California and Idaho.

Jim Fitzgerald
Jim Fitzgerald is a retired senior business executive with extensive experience in the automotive, healthcare, systems/services, and customer relationship management (CRM) industries. Jim has also retired from lecturing in Finance for San Diego State University’s School of Business. Jim holds a BA in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Jim comes to Project Wildlife’s board with a broad range of experience serving in a volunteer capacity for nonprofit organizations. Jim is a former PW Board President and current Hotline Operator, and holds past and present posts with San Diego High School’s Academy of Finance (President and mentor) and the La Jolla Community Planning Association (Elected Trustee).

Karen Garsson
Karen Garsson is Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at SAIC where she has worked since 1988. In her current position, she promotes initiatives involving sustainability, employee engagement and community outreach. Previously, Karen was Vice President of Stock Programs at SAIC and president of the brokerage that traded SAIC stock prior to the company going public in 2006. Karen currently serves on the boards of Athena San Diego and the University of California San Diego Alumni Association. She has previously served on the boards of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Science Alliance. Karen received her Bachelor's Degree in Management Science from UCSD and her MBA from the University of San Diego.

Yolanda Holcomb
Yolanda Holcomb is the Assistant Vice President of the El Cajon Valley branch of Union Bank. Yolanda has been employed with Union Bank since 1987 and specializes in business banking, wealth management and lending. Yolanda completed extensive bank compliance training through Union Bank’s training department and formerly attended both Saddleback and Grossmont community colleges. During the past seven years Yolanda has served the Lakeside River Park Conservancy as an executive board member and is currently a director for the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce board, as well as an active supporter and committee member with Home of Guiding Hands and a weekly volunteer for Riverview Elementary school’s “Everyone’s A Reader” program. Finally, Yolanda is a San Diego native who enjoys reading, yoga and hiking with her Chocolate Lab Bob.

Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson, Senior Sustainability Engineer has been with Sony since 2004. With a background in technology, he began his career at Sony in compliance and security capacities. During his tenure Eric’s interest in Sony’s efforts to reduce its environmental impact inspired him take on a leadership role in the company’s internal Green Taskforce and site green teams. In October 2010, Eric assumed the newly minted role as Sony Electronics' Senior Sustainability Engineer responsible for sustainable strategy, measurement, and communications as well as collaborative project implementation across Sony Electronics and group company operations in North America. In his spare time, Eric also maintains wannaveg.com, an informational website that promotes sustainability by encouraging people to adopt a vegetarian day one day a week.

Brys C. Myers
Brys is a retired Vice President and a founding partner of INOVA in San Diego, a manufacturer of medical testing kits for auto-immune diseases. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and serves as board member for ConservAmerica, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing resources to educate and build a broad based constituency for environmental protection and conservation of natural resources.

Deborah L. Scott
As restaurateur, Executive Chef and Partner in three of the Cohn Restaurant Groups’ definitive San Diego restaurants – Indigo Grill, Kemo Sabe, and Island Prime/C-Level, Deborah is known for mixing up deliciously unexpected flavor and texture combinations served with panache and style. Her cuisine and restaurants have received numerous awards including the coveted Gold Medallion Awards for Best Fine Dining Steakhouse (Island Prime) and Best Ethnic Restaurant (Indigo Grill). Unlike many chefs, Deborah spends time “touching” every table, welcoming guests with a taste of southern hospitality. She has recently expanded her talents beyond the kitchen to include selling her trademark brie cheese at Whole Foods Market and branding signature bottled water at Island Prime to benefit Project Wildlife.

Sarah Shepard, CFRE
Sarah has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. After spending several years seeking a career path in veterinary medicine, business and then teaching she joined the Development Department of the Vermont Foodbank. She quickly recognized she had a passion for helping others and talent for the administration of raising money. Moving back home to San Diego brought her to ElderHelp where Sarah began as the agency’s Administrative and Executive Assistant. Her dedication to resource development, helping seniors, and her administrative talents has led her over the last ten years to the position of Associate Executive Director. In 2007, Sarah received the CFRE designation, an achievement demonstrating her knowledge, skills and commitment to the highest standards of ethical and professional practice in serving the philanthropic sector.