Katie Quintas
Founder and CEO
Board Chair
Prior to founding Here to Serve in 2011, Kathleen Quintas designed and managed the local, national and international fundraising programs of over 100 nonprofits through her work with two of the largest marketing/communications and fundraising agencies in North America, the Russ Reid Company and Grizzard Communications, now merged and called One & All. She also was responsible for the philanthropic and volunteer initiatives of a California nonprofit serving children and families in crisis with social and mental health services. She has served in the field of nonprofit fundraising, marketing and communications for nonprofits and corporate philanthropy programs since 2000. Prior to this, she had her own marketing and communications agency after being Vice President at a direct marketing agency. Rounding out her background is her experience in telecommunications at TeleTech and journalism at McGraw-Hill. Learn more: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kquintas
Kathleen is also a mother and wife who has been through life-threatening medical events while holding down a full-time job. Both her son and husband were diagnosed with cancer six months apart; her son with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and her husband with leukemia. They were treated in two different hospitals across town from each other; her son at City of Hope in Duarte, CA and her husband at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, CA. The magnitude of her personal crisis allowed Kathleen to experience the physical, spiritual, intellectual and emotional toll it takes. She knows the challenges such an event can bring about and she also has met dozens and dozens of other people who have gone through crises and gained knowledge from their struggles and needs. Kathleen Quintas is a graduate of Ohio University where she majored in Communications and holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. She has been a contributor to industry organizations and trade journals on the topics of fundraising, marketing and communications. She has also spoken at trade conferences and seminars on these subjects.
Adeel Khan
Board Treasurer
Adeel Khan is an experienced public company executive and accomplished CFO whose experience spans 25 years in commercial real estate and other industries. He is recognized for his expertise in commercial real estate, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, financial & operational strategies, acquisitions and development, capital and debt markets, enterprise risk management, and leadership development. He brings board governance experience and is qualified to serve as a financial expert on audit committees.
Adeel learned about the end-to-end program/mission offered by Here to Serve after a discussion with CEO and Founder Katie Quintas. Furthermore, Adeel’s spouse previously worked for USC/Norris Cancer Hospital and learned about the cancer journey for the patients and families through years of secondary discussions and experiences. Adeel’s goal is to extend the mission by further developing the organization’s structure and to help elevate every facet of the organization ultimately leading to support for additional families. Hopefully this will allow the organization to go from a best-kept secret to a household name.
Matthew Faraone
Board Secretary
Matthew Faraone is an accomplished financial services executive with 20 years of experience driving business and operational strategy, growth and execution for leading Fortune 500 companies. He is recognized for his expertise in mergers and acquisitions, post-merger integration, digital transformation and product and platform development. Matthew also brings extensive commercial experience, serving as a trusted advisor to C-level executives and delivering multi-million-dollar sales and revenue as a former management consultant and currently serving as interim Chief Revenue Officer of an early-stage technology startup.
When I first came across Here to Serve and spoke with Katie, there was an immediate attraction to an organization that has such a profound and direct impact on families in need. Care that extends beyond the lab and in the hospital. Where there is a real need but such a shortcoming of adequate resources to help families navigate through such a devastating journey. Here to Serve fills that void. As a father of four young children, my darkest fear is that one of my children will develop cancer. I would not wish that experience on anyone. My goal is to drive national awareness of this tremendous organization, grow revenue exponentially so that we can expand our care offering and increase the number of families that Here to Serve is able to support. I am truly excited to join this highly impressive and qualified board and work with Katie who has devoted her life to this mission.
Dr. Ned Swanson
Board Member
Program Committee Chair
Dr. Ned Swanson has a unique background combining scientific, clinical, and industry knowledge. He is passionately dedicated to improving outcomes for patients across the entire patient journey, from therapeutic innovation to comprehensive social support. He obtained his M.D. with honors from Harvard Medical School and trained as a resident in plastic and reconstructive surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During his time at Harvard and Hopkins, he witnessed the importance of focusing on quality of life and the outcomes that are most impactful to patients.
After Hopkins, Dr. Swanson co-founded PolarityTE, Inc, (Nasdaq: PTE), a biotech company developing a range of regenerative tissue products and biomaterials, led by its flagship product SkinTE® that has helped save patients’ lives and limbs with >1,200 patients treated. As a co-founder of PolarityTE, he gained extensive experience building and operating a public company – serving numerous roles as a former Board Member, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Swanson has over 18 years of experience in biomedical research spanning oncology, transplant immunology, cell therapy, regenerative medicine, and neuroscience leading to more than 45 peer-reviewed papers, four book chapters, and 30 conference presentations. Prior to medical school, Dr. Swanson completed his undergraduate training in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Science, with his senior thesis focused on red blood cell drug delivery for traumatic brain injury.
As a clinician, I am dedicated to improving the lives of patients and their families, which includes the entire journey from diagnosis through treatment. I couldn’t be more excited to join the team at Here to Serve because I know we can fill a massive unmet need for cancer patients and their families by delivering wrap-around support. By supporting the journey, Here to Serve will undoubtedly elevate the outcomes of the traditional focus on treatment and research – a vision that should permeate every field of medicine.
Jonathan Hwang
Technology Committee Chair
Jonathan Hwang has spent over 25 years in Technology and Engineering. He has led Engineering organizations within both enterprises and startups looking to scale. Within the enterprise space, he spent 10 years at Sony PlayStation spanning the PS3-PS4 generations, and 2 years for the NFL. His breadth of experience spans virtually every technology domain including Full-stack development, Mobile App, Infrastructure/DevOps, CorpIT, CyberSecurity, Data Engineering, and Live/VOD streaming video.
Jon is excited to serve on the board of Here To Serve and hopes to have a positive impact in helping to build, integrate, and stabilize their various technology platforms.
Ryan Mathis, MD
Board Member
Ryan is a physician and executive who left clinical practice to help translate novel technologies to reach patients on a broader scale. Ryan has served leadership roles running clinical operations, medical affairs, commercial and business development in biotechnology resulting in a rare blend of scientific, clinical, regulatory, and commercial experience. He has served as a visiting professor at Georgetown University School of Biotechnology and as a member of the research committee for the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel, the largest pressure injury-focused organization in the world. He was an elected member for the Medstar House Quality Council and has been an invited speaker or interfaced with many of the largest hospital systems in the country. Ryan takes a patient-first mentality into everything he does and was drawn to Here to Serve’s mission recognizing the team’s potential and the clear need of the services Here to Serve offers for these families. He recognizes the huge impact Here to Serve has made to date and the opportunity to amplify that impact nationally. Ryan is dedicated to applying his experience in scaling businesses, interfacing with hospital administrators, and fundraising to help the mission and change patients’ and their families’ lives.
Paul Obsitnik
Board Member
Paul Obsitnik is Chief Marketing & Communications officer at Solidigm, responsible for overall marketing strategy, brand development, campaigns and demand generation, PR & corporate affairs, digital marketing, and field and partner marketing. Throughout his career, Obsitnik has held a number of leadership positions, including leading large-scale teams in sales, marketing, and product management at companies including Maxim Integrated, Juniper Networks, ONI Systems and 3Com. Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Paul joined Here to Serve because he feels he is filling a role that is vitally needed for our children and their families who are battling cancer. She shares, “Having seen firsthand the severe impact cancer can have on families with children, I am honored to be a part of an organization with such a noble mission and also with the ability to have an amazing impact on these families in helping them navigate their journey.”
Brianna Kauffman Matz
Board Member
Brianna is a seasoned marketing leader who has supported both Fortune 100 category-leading brands and high-growth startups to more effectively connect with consumers and drive sustainable business growth. Throughout her career, she’s helped brand new companies, made legacy brands relevant, and helped to turn businesses around through insights-driven strategy, multichannel marketing campaigns including paid, owned, shared, and earned media, and product innovation. Beyond her professional career, Brianna served on the young professionals board of the New York City Ballet prior to moving to Los Angeles, helping to introduce the art form to younger patrons.
When I was younger, I wanted to become a pediatric oncologist, because no child deserves to go through cancer without an ally. While that did not end up being my path, I’ve always wanted to find a way to use my skill set and network to support children and their families going through their cancer journey. After meeting Katie, hearing her story, and learning about the lack of resources dedicated to helping families through this challenging time, it was an easy decision to get involved.
My goal is to bring broader awareness to the needs that families have, encouraging and securing more widespread support. I also look forward to working with the board to further codify Here To Serve’s strategic roadmap that will allow us to take the necessary steps toward achieving our goals.
John Lee
Board Member
John Lee, a native of Los Angeles California, began his career at Wilshire Asset Management and Verus Investments, an institutional investment consulting firm. There he conducted financial asset allocation, Monte Carlo simulation, and manager selection, among other duties using quantitative and qualitative matrices. He served on pension boards, endowments, and foundations and as an advisor for pensions, endowments, and foundations, before moving to Asia to work in investment banking.
He headed equity sales, sales trading, and distribution for investment bank HSBC serving investment ideas for numerous hedge funds, mutual funds, and private equity firms. He managed a team of equity research analysts, and sales and led the morning meetings. He has ranked in serval polls as the top-ranked equity sales for many years before he retired out of banking and returned to Los Angeles. After returning home, he founded Synergy Investment Consultants, LLC, and serves as the CEO. He is also the CEO of a biotech company Abion that’s located in San Diego and is developing EGFR-led C-MET cancer treatment. He often is a speaker at universities to MBA students and at biotech conferences.
In addition to his company’s work on lung cancer treatment, his personal experience with cancer is that his mother passed away at the young age of 54 from pancreatic cancer. He understands the hardship that the patient and their family go through when losing a loved one to cancer. Hence, he joined Here to Serve to help families with children battling cancer.
