Debbi Gibbs has been actively involved with Compassion &
Choices since  2000. Her grandmother spent the last few
months of her life distributing copies of Elisabeth Kubler Ross’ book On Death and Dying and preparing for a good death from the effects of cancer. Her mother was active in reproductive rights. Debbi Gibbs is the Director of Just Managing, a music agency, and has worked as an executive director in the broadcasting and entertainment industry for many years. She holds an Architecture degree and lives in New York with her son.

Matthew Nelson, Vice-Chair
Matthew has supported end-of-life choice and our organization for many years. His passion comes from being close to many people who experienced painful deaths and wanting a “more graceful transition out of this world” for his mother, his loved ones and himself. Mr. Nelson is an ordained United Church of Christ minister and the assistant vice president of member services for the Council on Foundations in Washington, DC. As a board member, he lends his many years of fund-raising experience and nonprofit management to build a solid organization.

Peter D. Ehrenhaft, MIA, LLB

Peter D. Ehrenhaft is Senior Counsel at the Washington office of Harkins Cunningham. He specializes in technology transfers, joint ventures and import and export matters. Ehrenhaft has represented foreign governments to negotiate trade agreements, and has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Special Counsel (Tariff Affairs) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Fluent in German, Ehrenhaft received his LL.B. and M.I.A. from Columbia University Schools of Law and International Affairs in 1957, and his A.B. from Columbia University in 1954, all with honors.

Charles Hamlin, M.D.
Charles served on the Compassion & Choices Colorado Chapter board of directors for three years before joining the national board this April. A retired surgeon, he was a founding member of Hand Surgery Associates and practiced there for over three decades. He holds degrees from Yale College, Dartmouth Medical School and Columbia University. Dr. Hamlin is a fellow in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and received their Humanitarian Award in 2001. He also received the Navajo Indian Health Service Directors Award for his work with the Navajo Indians in Chinle, Arizona, where he still volunteers.

Paul R. Q. Wolfson, J.D.

Paul is partner in the international law firm of Wilmer Hale. His practice focuses on Supreme Court and appellate litigation, and advising clients on federal law, especially constitutional law. Before joining Wilmer Hale he worked in the US Solicitor General’s Office for eight years. He also served as one of the leading lawyers involved in public international law and immigration law issues. Paul participated in the preparation of the United States’ case in the International Court of Justice in The Hague involving the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Germany v. United  States).

Robert Brody, M.D.
Robert is a general internist with an interest in hospice and palliative care and medical ethics. For 17 years he was Chair of the Ethics Committee at San Francisco General Hospital, where he attends on the Medicine, Medicine Consultation, Pain, Palliative Care, and Ethics Services and is Chief of the Pain Consultation Clinic. He is also Medical Director of Health at Home for the San Francisco department of Public Health and is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Family & Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. He joined the national board of Compassion in Dying in 1996 and the national board of End of Life Choices before the unification into Compassion & Choices, of which he was the first board chairman. He continues as an active member of the Compassion & Choices Advocacy and EOLC committees and the Compassion & Choices Northern California Chapter.

David Muller, M.D.

David is the Associate Professor and Chair of Medical
Education and an Associate Professor of Medicine/General
Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is also
Attending Physician at the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute.
Dr. Muller is a graduate of New York University School of
Medicine. He arrived at Mount Sinai as a resident in Internal
Medicine and served as Chief Resident. He is now on the full-
time faculty in the Division of General Medicine, and the majority of his clinical
teaching responsibilities involve home visits with the Visiting Doctors Program.

Sue D. Porter, MSB

Sue D. Porter has been a client case manager for Compassion & Choices of Oregon since 2001. Sue helps steward terminally ill patients through the process outlined under Oregon's unique Death With Dignity Act. She has a business background  including an MBA from St. Mary’s College. She has focused professionally on corporate software sales and market research. Sue lives in Portland, Oregon and is a Master of Science in Bioethics.

Karen Pye, M.P.H

Karen is a public health consultant with over 20 years experience providing program planning, management, and evaluation in community-based health care and health education settings. Ms. Pye is active in her community, providing pro bono evaluation mentoring to a homeless shelter and serving on the board of a residential crisis center for women and their children that provides empowerment training and resources. She also served on the board of Compassion in Dying from 2000 to 2004, when CID transitioned to Compassion & Choices.  Ms. Pye and her family have long been active supporters of C&C. She holds a Masters in Public Health and lives in Georgia with her husband.

Robert Schwartz, J.D.

Rob Schwartz has been Professor of Law and Professor of
Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico for over thirty years.
During that period he has also taught law, medicine and bioethics in Australia, India, and several other law schools across the United States. He was Chair of the Task Force that resulted in New Mexico becoming the first state to adopt the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act, and he is the coauthor of one of the nation's leading health law and bioethics texts.

Irene Wurtzel

Irene Wurtzel is a playwright, filmmaker and community activist. Her award winning plays have appeared on and off-Broadway. Ms. Wurtzel chaired the Board of Directors of Enterprise Works/Vita (newly merged in Relief International) for six years until 2008. She is currently Board  chair for Theater J and sits on the executive committee of the Board of Trustees of Shenandoah University. Other boards include the Phoenix Project, a non-profit dedicated to the training of college students for the not -for -profit world, and the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. She was appointed by President Clinton to the Commission on the role of Women in American History.

Van Zandt Williams, Jr.

Van is Vice President for Development
Emeritus from Princeton University. Williams retired from this
position after 22 years of leading the University’s fund raising
operations. He and his wife Myra divide their time between
Princeton, New Jersey and Naples, Florida. He serves on the
Boards of the McCarter Theatre of Princeton, Compassion &
Choices, the National Advisory Council for DeVry University and is a former Board member of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.

Barbara Coombs Lee, PA, FNP, JD, President, ex officio
Barbara practiced as a nurse and physician assistant for 25 years before beginning a career in law and health policy. Since then she has devoted her professional life to individual choice and empowerment in health care. Barbara’s professional experience includes work as a private attorney, counsel to the Oregon State Senate, a managed care executive, and President of Compassion In Dying from 1996-2004. Barbara was Chief Petitioner for the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. She is a champion for enabling individuals with the freedom to consider a complete range of choices and be full participants in their health care decisions. As President of Compassion and Choices, Barbara oversees advocacy, development, legislative and client support.

Marcia A. Campbell, CPA, CFO/COO, ex officio

Marcia A. Campbell, CPA, is chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Compassion & Choices. She has worked since 1978 as an accountant to a wide range of clients, ranging from manufacturers to mortgage brokers. She has earned a reputation as a successful CFO, controller, and human resources director for closely held private companies and nonprofit organizations. The Kansas City, Missouri, native is mother of two adult sons and enjoys painting when she puts down her calculator.

Mickey MacIntyre, Chief Program Officer, ex officio
Mickey has built nonprofit civil rights organizations and served as an architect of social change movements for years. In the past decade alone, he provided fundraising and development consultation to over 1,000 organizations including Human Rights Campaign, Disability Funders Network, Black AIDS Institute and the American Red Cross. As chief program officer, Mickey integrates core Compassion & Choices services of advocacy, consultation, education and outreach while setting and guiding the strategic direction of the organization.

 

Compassion & Choices Staff

Executive
Barbara Coombs Lee, PA, FNP, JD, President, contact
Marcia Campbell, CPA, CFO/COO, contact
Mickey MacIntyre, Chief Program Officer, contact

Legal Advocacy
Kathryn Tucker, Director of Legal Affairs, contact
Theresa Connor, Director of Government Affairs, contact

Communications & Community Advocacy
Beven Byrnes, Director of Communications & Community Advocacy, contact
Carla Axtman, Online Community Coordinator, contact
Blaine Palmer, Communications Coordinator, contact
Sonja Aliesch, Communications Specialist, contact
Roland Halpern, Community Groups Representative, contact 
Jen McLellan, Volunteer Programs Manager, contact
Jessica Grennan, Montana Campaign Manager, contact
Brandi Alexander, Community Advocacy Coordinator, contact
Stephen Jamison, California State Coordinator, contact
Jacque Powell, Community Advocacy Administrator, contact
Jay Franklin, Web Administrator, contact

Development
Ken Williams, Director of Development, contact
Jane Sanders, Director of Membership & Planned Gifts, contact
D. Christian Abeyta, Research Associate, contact
Georgia Morrison, Major Gifts Officer, contact
Essence Brown, Data Entry, contact
Meike Weyrauch, Circles Program Manager, contact
Jared Hughes, Major Gifts Officer, contact
Mark Waters, Grants Manager, contact
Susan Prior, Development Coordinator, contact

End-of-Life Consultation Program
Judy Neall Epstein, ND, Director of Consultation, contact
Judith Schwarz, PhD, RN, New York Clinical Coordinator, contact
Carole Van Aelstyn, California Clinical Coordinator, contact
Jennifer R. Levin, Southern California Clinical Coordinator, contact
J Johnson, Staff Counselor, contact
M. Ferguson, Staff Counselor, contact

Financial/Accounting
Peggy Coolehan, Senior Accountant, contact
Moe Marquez, Accounting Assistant, contact

Operations
Joe Stone, IT Systems Manager, contact
Susie Klee, IT Systems Administrator, contact
Mo Bush, IT Database Administrator, contact
Victoria Nolten, Executive Assistant, contact
Kellie Jacobson, Office Assistant, contact
Stephanie Sanders, Receptionist, contact