Board of Directors

Judy was a founding member of the Faith in Action National Network. She is co-founder Interfaith Network of Care, Milltown, NJ a 21 year RWJF Faith in Action program. She is the past chair of the Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Council and past chair and current member of the board of Community House at St. Thomas.

Tammy serves as the Executive Director for Caregivers: Volunteers Assisting the Elderly, one of the original pilot programs in the nation, located in Ventura County, CA.  She was also an informal caregiver for 20 years, author of The Carefree Caregiver: A Short Course to Peace of Mind, professional fundraiser, founder of the national website, HomeBoundResources. com, and recognized in Who’s Who in Healthcare by the Pacific Coast Business Times.

Jim retired in 2010 after a 38-year career in Sales and Marketing. Since retiring, he has been an active volunteer, supporting numerous local programs.

Jay is a Certified Public Accountant and works as Expert Sales Operations for Dassault Systemes Delmia Corp. in Auburn Hills, MI.

Oren is a Professor of Health Administration and Founding Director of the Service Learning Initiative (Office of Service Learning Excellence) at Texas State University. He is a former Chair of the Department of Health Administration and the Faculty Senate. Prior to coming to Texas State, Oren served as Executive Director of two managed care organizations.

Carl is a certified Project Managemnet Professional with experience in marketing, management, budgeting and program design. Carl was first introduced to Volunteer Caregiving while in college at TX State where he directed MAP a service learning project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Jill is the Program Director for a unique YMCA Outreach Program for Ahwatukee Seniors in Phoenix, AZ ( Y OPAS). With a degree in Business Administration, her professional background includes training management with The Orvis Company, and Service Quality Management with American Express. After taking time off to start a family and support her husband in pursuit of his career goals – Jill rejoined the workforce using her skills in organization, project planning, communications and creativity to lead successful Family Ministry and Youth Ministry programs before landing at the YMCA. “I am passionate about connecting people of all ages and helping them use their talents and gifts to build up our communities. Every day I see our volunteers committed to the same goal – it is so rewarding.” As mentioned, Y OPAS is unique to the Ahwatukee Foothills Family YMCA. The 16 year old program started in a local church but quickly outgrew the space and has been part of the YMCA for 10 years. The program has almost 200 volunteers who provide transportation, friendly visiting and phone calls, household help, and social events and activities for 400 seniors in the Ahwatukee community. “The core values of the YMCA, Caring, Respect, Honesty and Responsibility align so perfectly with the concept of volunteer organizations helping others – I see it as a natural fit. My dream is to see an outreach program for seniors at every YMCA across the country!”

Amanda holds a PhD in Gerontology, with faculty positions in gerontology and health administration. She is director of the Executive Master of Science in Clinical & Translational Science Program, at University of Arizona Health Sciences.

Inez Russell is the founder and Executive Director of Friends for Life, a charity that provides care for the elderly and people who have disabilities. Friends for Life received national recognition for its work when it was selected as one of 16 ‘outstanding charities’ nationwide to be featured in a report published by the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C. based research firm. The charity has been recognized three times by the Acton Institute of Michigan who named Friends for Life one of the ‘most compassionate and effective human service initiatives’ in the United States. Fordham University in New York in their Grotta Report, named Friends for Life one of the nation’s best practice models for caring for the elderly and the University of California at Berkeley named Friends for Life at best practice model in caregiving.

Prior to founding Friends for Life Inez worked for twenty years in management and consulting where she contracted with over one hundred different businesses, which included IBM, Mattel, MBank, Westinghouse and dozens of manufacturers, banks and law firms to provide business and computer related services. Inez has been a contributing author and editor for several magazines. She has developed training curriculums and published technical manuals and resources books. She has also helped produce national educational conferences. She is working now with Baylor University’s School of Social Work to help develop a training curriculum for a Certificate in Guardianship.

Inez also serves as Executive Director and is Past President of the Texas Guardianship Association. She is President of the Occupational Advisory Committee for McLennan Community College.

Inez received the YWCA Pathfinder’s Award for Civic Leadership, the Woman of Distinction award from the Girl Scout Council, was named Woman of the Year by Altrusa International, Inc. of Waco, Citizen of the year and in 2015 she was named CNN Hero for the work of Friends for Life.