Board of Directors

Sandra M. Baer

Ms. Baer leads the State and Local Government Sector for Bloomberg Government—a new division at Bloomberg that provides financial data, news and analytics, and created a revolutionary information service that quantifies the impact of legislative action, executive decisions and policy making on companies, industries, states and markets.

Prior to joining Bloomberg, Ms. Baer worked for Governor Tom Ridge as the Principal for Business Development at Ridge Global. She was responsible for securing new clients, directing engagements and advancing the business, political and security interests of the firm’s clients.  She was the principal lead for major clients in the wireless infrastructure, telecommunications, cybersecurity and biosecurity arenas.

Before joining Ridge Global, Ms. Baer directed external affairs at Nextel Communications. She was also a corporate fellow of the National Governors’ Associations, the Association of Attorneys General and served on the Steering Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

As chair of two Communications Working Groups for regional Homeland Security in Washington, DC and in Chicago, Ms. Baer authored the communications protocols in support of critical infrastructure protection.  She directed the Sprint Nextel “Prepared Conferences” in fifty-five cities across the United States, serving as master of ceremonies and enhancing business development. She has spoken on the topics of preparedness, resilience and public sector leadership at domestic and international conferences.

Ms. Baer has held senior positions at The Discovery Channel, Cable & Wireless, BellSouth, Verizon, SBC, Speechworks and Cox Communications. Additionally, she has served as a board member of civic and community organizations: Homeward, Inc., The Bridge Family Center, Transition House, YWCA, Habitat for Humanity, The Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center, the Center for International Education, the Washington Bach Consort and The iKeepSafe Coalition. She also served on the Steering Committee of the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative and is Chair of the St. Elizabeths/Security Working Group.

Ms. Baer holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Missouri at Columbia and an MBA in Marketing from Georgia State University and American University in Washington, D.C. She lives in Georgetown and is the mother of two children, Laura and Paul.

Jan Smith Donaldson

Jan Smith Donaldson, a broadcast journalist, has done reports for National Geographic Television, for CNN’s Newsstand, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations’s Journal and covered The White House and Capitol Hill in her work as a national correspondent for WTTG-TV in Washington and Independent Network News.  She received National Headliner recognition for her reportage on military pay for CNN’s Newsstand.  For CNN, she also profiled General Colin Powell’s work with America’s Promise- an organization devoted to empowering America’s children. She recently moderated a nationally televised discussion of health care reform. She began her reporting career in Kansas City as the City Hall reporter for WDAF-TV, then an NBC affiliate

Mrs. Donaldson and her husband, Sam Donaldson of ABC News, are also active in national efforts to improve public awareness of cancer prevention.  They were named as Washingtonians of the Year in 2003 by Washingtonian Magazine for their work in cancer and with Capital Hospice. They were honorary co-chairs of the Magnolia Ball in Florida to benefit the Moffitt Cancer Center and were honored by the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the Fox-Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.  Both also serve on the board of Carson Scholars, the national scholarship campaign established by renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson and his wife, Candy. Mrs. Donaldson is also on the board of the National  Museum of Women in the Arts. She is a member of the philanthropic education organization known as PEO. Mrs. Donaldson has also been involved in efforts to support the troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq with messages of hope.  She has co-chaired the USO gala in 2008 and 2009.

Mrs. Donaldson is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism where she was a Kappa Alpha Theta. She spent college summers working for a Department of Army Public Affairs Office (at DARCOM HQ), and was raised in a Navy family.

Jacalyn S. Leavitt

Founder

Mrs. Leavitt is the founder of the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, having gathered a partnership of 50 first spouses and governors, attorneys general, law enforcement agencies, and associations to protect children from the growing threat of Internet predators.  With over 14 years of public service, Mrs. Leavitt served as Utah’s 14th First Lady for almost 11 years, from 1993 to 2003.  Improving the health and literacy rates of children and strengthening families are the trademarks of her public service.  She is the author of six children’s books, including Faux Paw the Techno Cat: Adventures in the Internet, and Faux Paw Meets the First Lady and she directs the development of the iKeepSafe Internet Safety Program.

Previously, Mrs. Leavitt developed the Read to Me Campaign for Utah, promoting the importance of having parents read to their children early and often.  She also developed the “Worth Remembering, Olympic Legacy Character Education Program” for students to reinforce core values demonstrated in the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City.

Ms. Leavitt served as the Spouses’ Chair of the National Governors’ Association, successfully launching in the National Great Start Campaign to encourage smoking cessation among pregnant women, which was supported by first ladies across the country.  She also served for 11 years as Chair of Utah’s “Every Child by Two” Immunization Task Force, which earned the National Award for Most Improved State during her tenure, and continues to serve as Honorary Chair.  Mrs. Leavitt also previously served as Spokesperson for the Baby Watch, early intervention program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for which she raised awareness among parents about available health insurance coverage for uninsured children, helping to enroll more than 17,000 children.  With her husband, she also formed the Governor’s Commission on Marriage, the first state marriage commission in the nation.

A former school teacher, Mrs. Leavitt graduated Magna Cum Laude from Utah State University in Speech Education and received her elementary teaching endorsement from Southern Utah University.  Mrs. Leavitt is the mother of five children.

Bruce Mehlman

Bruce Mehlman is a leader in Washington DC, helping Fortune 500 companies and innovative start-ups understand, anticipate and navigate the public policy environment and trends likely to impact the global marketplace.  Founding partner of the bipartisan public policy firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Mehlman concurrently serves as Executive Director of the Technology CEO Council and one of the founding co-Chairmen of the Internet Innovation Alliance.  Mehlman previously served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy, where he worked closely with leaders from industry, academia and governments on issues including innovation policy, trade, infrastructure, and workforce policy.  Mehlman worked as telecommunications policy counsel for Cisco Systems, policy director and general counsel to the House Republican Conference under Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK).  He serves on the Boards of One Economy Corporation, iKeepSafe and the State Science & Technology Institute.

Joanne Snow Neumann

Joanne Snow Neumann served as the Director in the State of Utah Washington D. C. Office from January 1993 to December 2004. During this time, she served as liaison for Governor Leavitt to the Utah delegation, Congressional committees, the Administration and other state offices.

Also during this time, Mrs. Neumann built coalitions to streamline Medicaid and helped to bring about welfare reform and children’s health insurance (SCHIP).  She served as the staff lead for Gov. Leavitt during his tenure as Chairman of the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association and Republican Governors Association.

Prior to serving as the director in the State of Utah Washington D. C. Office, from January 1975 to December 1992, she was the Legislative Director to Senator Jake Garn. In this position, she was responsible for all legislative initiatives which included work on appropriations, education, health, commerce and defense.

William Nixon

William Holladay Nixon is chairman and chief executive of Policy Impact Communications, Inc., a full-service public- and government relations company.

Prior to joining Policy Impact, Mr. Nixon served as president and chief executive of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association from 1999 to 2001, where he was credited with merging three separate industry associations into a single and more politically powerful organization.

Mr. Nixon began his professional career as a journalist, founding and editing American Times Magazine, a regional conservative publication that focused on politics and culture, and working as associate editor of The Las Vegan City Magazine. He served as editor of Quicksilver, a literary journal. Mr. Nixon’s articles, essays, and short stories have appeared in magazines and journals throughout the world. His work is translated regularly, particularly into Mandarin, Chinese, as he is a monthly contributor to the popular CUP Magazine, often referred to as China’s Vanity Fair.

After working as a speechwriter in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, Mr. Nixon served for more than 15 years as a senior staff member on Capitol Hill, the majority of the time with Republican Senator William Roth of Delaware. Additionally, he worked for Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, and on the professional staffs of the United States Senate Committee on Finance and Government Affairs Committee. Mr. Nixon is also the author of several published books: Strategic Compromise (1990), The Power to Destroy (1998), and Over the Top (2008).

Today Mr. Nixon remains active in community service. He is a Fellow at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics and serves as a member of the National Presidential Advisory Board at Utah Valley University. He serves on the boards of RFinity, a high-tech firm, and The AmericWheelchair Mission, and frequently lectures and writes on the topics of communications and politics.

Nixon graduated with honors from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and later studied political communications at the University of Maryland. He is married to Tamera McDonald. The couple has three children and a son-in-law, and reside in Alexandria, Virginia.

Lydia Parnes

Lydia Parnes is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where her practice focuses on privacy, data security, Internet advertising, and general advertising and marketing practices.

The former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lydia is a highly regarded expert in the field of consumer protection. As director of the BCP, one of the FTC’s two law-enforcement bureaus and the nation’s only federal consumer-protection agency, Lydia oversaw the enforcement of a wide range of laws designed to prevent fraud and deception in the commercial marketplace, safeguard consumer privacy, and provide consumers with important information about the goods and services they purchase. She also represented the bureau in international settings and on Capitol Hill in connection with such high-profile issues as information security and privacy, Internet advertising, and identity theft. In addition, Lydia has extensive experience with the application of consumer-protection principles to the technology market. In 2006, she served as the deputy executive director of the President’s Task Force on Identity Theft, coordinating the efforts of 17 federal agencies in developing a national strategic plan to combat identity theft in both the private and public sectors.

Lydia joined the FTC in 1981 as attorney advisor to the chairman. During her tenure at the FTC, she held a variety of management positions, including assistant director of the Division of Policy and Evaluation from 1985 to 1987 and associate director of the Division of Marketing Practices from 1987 to 1992. In 1992, Lydia was named deputy director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and was appointed director in 2004, the year in which the President conferred on her the rank of Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service.

Lydia is a member of the American Bar Association and is a Vice Chair of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law’s Consumer Protection Committee. In 2010, she was named among the country’s top privacy and data security attorneys in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

George Vradenburg

Prior to December 2003, George A. Vradenburg III was Strategic Advisor, AOL Time Warner, having served in senior executive positions at AOL, AOL Time Warner and Time Warner. In those positions, Mr. Vradenburg set the Company’s strategy to create a policy framework designed to foster the Internet’s global economic, social and civic value. Before joining America Online, Mr. Vradenburg served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CBS Inc. and Executive Vice President of Fox, Inc. He then launched the Entertainment & Media Practice Group of the law firm of Latham & Watkins.

Mr. Vradenburg currently serves as Chairman of the Board of The Phillips Collection, the Geoffrey Beene Foundation-Alzheimer’s Initiative, and the DC Education Compact. Additionally, Mr. Vradenburg currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative and on the board of The Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Washington Scholarship Fund and DC Children First. Mr. Vradenburg is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of Washington.

Mr. Vradenburg previously chaired The Potomac Conference and the Alliance for Regional Stewardship. Additionally, he served on boards for the INOVA Health System Foundation and the Human Rights First and the Survivors’ Fund. He is a member of the Private Sector Senior Advisory Committee of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. He has founded business and nonprofit Task Forces on Emergency Preparedness for the Greater Washington Region. With his wife Trish, Mr. Vradenburg founded and co-chairs the National Alzheimer’s Gala and the Alzheimer’s Action PAC and publishes Tikkun Magazine (a Jewish and Interfaith Critique of Politics, Culture & Society).

In recognition of his community service, Mr. Vradenburg has received the Outstanding Community Leadership Award, the Golden Links Award from the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Bridge Builders Award from the Partners for Livable Communities.

Mr. Vradenburg received his B.A. from Oberlin College, magna cum laude, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Elizabeth F. Yore

Elizabeth Yore is an attorney at law in Chicago, Illinois, who currently serves as special counsel to Harpo, Inc. Previously, Ms. Yore was general counsel to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DFCS), a $1.4 billion state agency with 21,000 children in state care. In that role, she oversaw a staff of one hundred and had primary responsibility for all federal and state litigation. Before holding that position at DCFS she was chief deputy general counsel, with responsibility for international and immigration legal issues, such as unaccompanied minors, Hague Convention petitions, and missing children. She also served as the legal liaison with the communications department, handling legal issues in high profile media cases, and as legal legislative liaison, providing legal analysis for proposed legislation.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Yore was chief legal officer for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia. She oversaw all legal matters and directed the international and Internet Child Exploitation divisions of the Center. She directed the creation of the first Internet cyber-tip hotline for child pornography and trained hundreds of international and national law enforcement officers on legal issues of Internet safety.

Ms Yore has received numerous appointments and awards for her committed diligence to helping children, including the 1996 Award of Merit by the U.S. Department of State for outstanding work on behalf of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction. She has served as subject matter expert for several media outlets. Ms. Yore holds a juris doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.