American Red Cross of Ventura County Names New Board of Directors

The American Red Cross of Ventura County is pleased to announce the newest members to its Board of Directors for 2008-2009.
The board members include M. Cecilia Cuevas of Fillmore, a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch. Cuevas has a long history as an advocate fighting violence against women. She has provided proven leadership statewide as the California Coalition against Sexual Assault (CALCASA), Women of Color Representative for Southern California for several years and currently serves as the Vice President of the CALCASA Board of Directors.
A Ventura resident, Steve Doll, also joins the Board of Directors. Doll is Vice President of NAI Capital in Oxnard, specializing in the leasing and sales of commercial buildings and land.
Doll is actively involved in the community having served many organizations including the Ventura Rotary, Ventura Family YMCA, the Citizen’s Academy for the Ventura Police Department, Save our Libraries (Measure L), and much more.
Jacqui V. Irwin, former Mayor of Thousand Oaks joins the board. Irwin was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2003 and elected to and currently serving on the Thousand Oaks City Council in 2004. She has served on several city council committees including the Crime Prevention Task Force, Lynn/Olsen Road Traffic, Capital Facilities Committee and many more. She currently serves on the CSUCI Dean’s Leadership Advisory Committee and has also been the Chairman of the American Diabetes Tour de Cure Bike Ride for the last four years.
With over 20 years in the hotel & hospitality business, Glenn Hogan has taken on a new path to pursue humanitarian causes. A resident of Thousand Oaks, Hogan served as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Hawaii Hotels & Resorts (HH&R), CEO of HH&R Information Technology and Communications including property management and points of sales systems. Presently, he serves on the Board of Directors for Pleasant Travel Service, which includes HH&R, Pleasant Aircraft Leasing, LLC, Royal Lahaina Development Group, LLC, and Hogan Family Foundation.
Serving as the seventh president of California Lutheran University, Chris Kimball of Thousand Oaks became president in April 2008 after having served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at CLU for nearly two years. With a distinguished career as a teacher, scholar, and academic leader, Kimball is an author and speaker on higher education. His scholarly work is in the field of American history, with a specialization in urban history and the history of sport. He served on the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), Chief Academic Officers Task Force from 2002-2006, and chaired the group from 2005-2006. He also served as a chair of the Academic Council of Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC).
Michele Pettes of Thousand Oaks holds the position as the Ventura County Public Affairs Manager for The Gas Company. Prior to joining the Gas Company, Pettes was President & CEO of the Economic Development Collaborative (Ventura County EDC-VC). Her non-profit expertise stems from over 15 years of experience in the industry. A native of Ventura County, Pettes is the past Executive Director of three U.S. Small Business Administration Women’s Business Centers, and president of the Women’s Construction Network. She is an active member in the community serving on numerous boards.
Vice President and Branch Manager of Rabobank, N.A.’s Esplanade branch in Oxnard, Anthony Romero, of Ventura, is an active member of the community. Before joining Rabobank in 2007, Romero was Assistant Vice President and Business Development Officer for First California Bank and a Banking Specialist for Wells Fargo Bank. He is the current Director of Resource Development for the Boys & Girls Club of Ventura and serves on the West County Action Committee for United Way. In addition, he is a member of the Ventura County Contractors Association and the Oxnard and Gold Coast Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.
The youngest member of the board, Mateen Saffarian, a 17-year-old high school student from Oak Park is involved with the Red Cross Youth Club and helped to start a club at Oak Park High School where he attends school. Saffarian joined the board of directors to help strengthen the youth program.
Since 1917, the American Red Cross of Ventura County has been meeting needs throughout the communities it serves. Each year, more than 1,200 local volunteers respond to more than 50 local disasters, teach tens of thousands of individual’s vital lifesaving skills, and support the men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces. The American Red Cross is not a government agency.