Bill Felstiner (President), one-time Distinguished Research Professor of Law at Cardiff University, has been Associate Dean of the Yale Law School, Assistant Director of the USAID Mission to India, and Director of the American Bar Foundation and the International Institute for the Sociology of Law. He taught law and sociology at UCLA and UCSB.

Catherine Swysen (Vice President), a trial and appellate lawyer specializing in criminal defense work, has been recognized by the state legislature of California and civil liberties groups for her efforts in defense of civil rights. She is President of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association.  

Rich Appelbaum (Secretary), holds the MacArthur Chair in Sociology and Global & International Studies at UCSB, where he directs the graduate program in Global Studies. He has also been Chair of the Sociology Department,  Director of the Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Sara-Christine Dallain is a graduate student in the UCLA School of Public Health.  Her professional experience includes a stint at Direct Relief International in Santa Barbara, working in an orphanage in Ghana and on a HIV/AIDS program in Kenya and participating in CRF's seventh mission to Chad.   

Jane Eagleton, a psychotherapist by training, serves on the board of many non-profit organizations in Santa Barbara.

Erika Felix, an Assistant Researcher at the Graduate School of Education, UCSB, received a PhD in psychology from De Paul University. She is a specialist in disaster mental health and worked in that field in Sri Lanka after the tsunami.

Christine Garvey, one-time Group Executive Vice-President of the Bank of America, Global Head of Real Estate for Deutsche Bank and Global Head of Real Estate for Cisco Systems, is a Director of the Union Bank of California, Hilton Hotels and Prologis.

Bill Murdoch, Charles A. Storke II Professor of Ecology at UCSB, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the Founding Director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (National Science Foundation).  He was on the Board of Directors of the Nature Conservancy from 2000-09 and is the author of The Poverty of Nations: The Political Economy of Hunger and Population, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980.

Mary-Louise Scully, M.D. is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. An Associate Editor of Travel Medicine Advisor Update, she is Director of the Sansum Clinic's Travel and Tropical Medicine Center in Santa Barbara, CA. Dr. Scully is Global Medical Advisor to AmeriCares and on the Board of Direct Relief International. 

Special Advisers.  The Board owes a debt of gratitude to its special advisers, Randall Ehren (information technology), Karen Shapiro (graphics) and Shannon Duggan (social media), who have worked tirelessly for CRF without compensation.  The Board also acknowledges the assistance provided by the UCSB chapter of Engineers Without Borders (Ingrid Koslow, Erik Norberg, John Parker).

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Bob Bason was Assistant Chancellor of UCSB, Vice-President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and President of Charitable Funding Services. He is now Chair of the Board of the Global Justice Center in New York, NY.

Alissa Sears, who has extensive experience in humanitarian work in Sri Lanka, is Global Betterment Director at Christie Communications, a public relations, marketing, and advertising agency dedicated to helping ethical businesses, entrepreneurs and socially-conscious organizations broaden their impact.  At Christie she directs relief projects in the Sudan and Rwanda focused on community-based entreprenurial initiatives.