Board of Directors

This governing body consists of appointed members who jointly oversee the strategic direction and program activities of Zen Hospice Project.  In addition to making policy decisions and holding fiduciary responsibility for the organization, they generously contribute their experience, knowledge, and resources to ensure that we fulfill our mission of bringing wisdom and compassion to the end of life. 

Joan Amonette
Zen Hospice Project Volunteer Caregiver
Joan has worked for 25 years in retail and sales and is the former Regional Sales Manager of Clarins USA, Inc. With a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in Social Welfare, she has been a volunteer for various organizations including Suicide Prevention, Project Open Hand, and Zen Hospice Project. She has studied Tibetan Buddhism for 15 years and has been a Volunteer Caregiver at Zen Hospice Project for 12 years.

Fabrice Berretta
Director - Planning, Evaluation, and Tracking; Clinical and Translational Science Institute at UCSF
Fabrice Berretta has over 13 years of experience in the biotech industry including work at Rhodia Inc, Danisco Inc., and Genentech where he was involved in a broad range of projects in bioprocess development and bioprocess engineering. Fabrice has an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Technology of Compiegne, and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Brad Byrum
Business Development Manger, Schiff Hardin, LLP
Brad Byrum has over 20 years of experience in non-profit management as an executive, board member, volunteer, and pro bono consultant. He has served as the executive director of community-based non-profits serving the mentally ill, the homeless, and the dying.  In addition to his service on the ZHP Board, he currently serves as a pro bono marketing and brand consultant to non-profits through the Taproot Foundation where he has recently provided consulting services to SFCASA, Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco, The Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, and the Mission SF Federal Credit Union.

Seido Lee de Barros
Zen Dharma Teacher
Seido Lee de Barros is a Zen Priest and Dharma Teacher in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. His home temple is Green Gulch Farm in Marin County. For several years, he has been involved in interfaith activities, homelessness, and jail services, and leads a Buddhist sangha at San Quentin State Prison. He has served on numerous non-profit boards and was an Executive Director for eight years.

Catherine Dodd, RN, PhD
Director, San Francisco Health Services System
Catherine is responsible for administering health benefits for over 105,000 employees and retirees and their dependents of the City and County of San Francisco, the SF Unified School District, City College of San Francisco and the Superior Court of San Francisco. Prior to that she was Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Gavin Newsom focusing on Health and Human Service. Catherine has worked in the area of health policy for over 20 years. She holds a bachelors and masters degree from UCSF School of Nursing and completed a PhD in Sociology 2008 focused on Quality Cost and Access to Hospice Care in California. Prior to joining the Mayor's staff, she was District Chief of Staff to Representative Nancy Pelosi and Region IX Director of Health and Human Services as an appointee of President Clinton. Catherine serves many non-profit organizations as a devoted board member. Her mother died at the Guest House in 2003, and it changed her life. 

Jean Driscoll, Secretary
Independent Financial Consultant
Jean Driscoll’s work focuses on the financing of land conservation initiatives.  Over the last decade, she helped establish and operate conservation lending programs for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Open Space Institute, and the Resources Legacy Fund. Jean’s recent projects include structuring plans of finance for more than $1 billion in habitat mitigation funds in California, as well as managing the Wildlife Endowment Fund, an investment fund for habitat mitigation endowment funds for projects across the state. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Northern California Community Loan Fund, Zen Hospice Project, and St. Vincent’s Day Home.

Dawn Gross, MD, PhD
Team physician, Vitas Innovative Hospice Care
Dawn chose this path looking for a way to make a difference after her father passed away in 2006.  Prior to joining Vitas, Dawn was a hematologist and bone marrow transplant physician/scientist as a Stanford fellow.  She earned her MD and PhD in Immunology at Tufts Medical School and her BA from the University of Southern California.  She authored numerous papers including one in Science that later was highlighted as one of the top ten breakthroughs of the year.  As a result, she was invited to lecture nationally and internationally.  In her spare time, Dawn is a physician volunteer for Rotacare Free Clinic in San Rafael. 

Paul Haller, Chairman
Co-Abbot, San Francisco Zen Center
Paul Haller has been engaged in Buddhist practice for 30 years, initially as a Theravada monk in Thailand and was then ordained as a priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1980 where he recently became the new Co-Abbot. He leads the outreach program at the Zen Center and has extensive experience integrating Buddhist practice with hospice, jail, and peace work.

Jane Hawgood
Social Worker, UCSF Palliative Care Program
Jane Hawgood is currently the Social Worker in the Palliative Care Program at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). She graduated from the University of Queensland in Australia in 1972. Jane’s career interests naturally migrated to an interest in end of life issues following more than 20 years of experience in social work in acute care settings at UCSF, including radiation oncology, AIDS -before meaningful therapies were available-and general surgery. Working in a large academic medical center with medical students and residents on the team, Jane also has the opportunity to influence and teach the next generation of health care providers to balance the enormous amount of technical information they must learn with an ability to recognize and respectfully respond to patient’s and families needs at the end of life. She has also been a leader in developing consultative and educational programs for the many smaller community hospitals and programs that refer to and rely on USCF. Jane’s years of service and accomplishments at UCSF have been acknowledged with numerous awards and recognitions.

Gary Heidenreich, President
CEO, GHKH, Inc.
Gary Heidenreich leads GHKH, Inc., a residential and commercial real estate development company doing business in California and Nevada. Since 1972, Gary has held various positions in high-tech manufacturing companies in both California and Texas. Prior to his current post, he was Vice President of Operations with Juniper Networks, a successful start-up company competing with Cisco Systems.  From 1984 to 1997, he was Vice President, Systems Manufacturing with 3Com Corporation, a leading supplier of networking products.

Jeff Kennedy, JD, SPHR-CA
HR Consultant/Attorney, HR By Your Side
Jeff Kennedy is an independent human resources consultant and California employment attorney with over 17 years of experience providing strategic guidance and tactical support to mature and start-up businesses, non-profits, and government agencies.  Prior to launching his consulting practice HR By Your Side in 2008, Jeff provided HR services on staff with Microsoft, Gap, Wal-Mart, and the University of California, San Francisco.  Mr. Kennedy has practiced at the San Francisco Zen Center since 2000, studied with Jisan Tova Green since 2007, and received the Bodhisattva Precepts from Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts in 2009.  He has been a Volunteer Caregiver with Zen Hospice Project since 2007.

Richard Landry
CEO, richmedium
Richard Landry is the founder and CEO of richmedium, a strategic consulting firm serving emerging organizations in media, information services, business and consumer services, and for-profit and nonprofit social enterprise. A senior executive with more than twenty years of experience leading emerging organizations through periods of transformative change, Richard works with senior executives, investors, and funders who recognize the central role of social values in reshaping global markets, and seek to transform the enterprises they lead and support into engines of social innovation. He holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Stanford University. He has served on a variety of for-profit and nonprofit boards, including the board of directors of the Social Venture Network.

Chris Panos
Founder and Managing Director, Fundamental Investment Advisors
Chris Panos has studied Tibetan Buddhism, Korean Zen, and American Japanese Zen since 1975. Chris received a BA from Indiana University and a MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a Social Action Dharma Holder in the Zen Peacemakers Sangha and Co-Chair of the Zen Peacemakers Board.

Anne Vrolyk, Treasurer
Managing Director, Viant Group
Viant Group is a private investment banking firm based in San Francisco.  Anne became a partner at Viant following its merger with Vrolyk & Company, the firm she founded and ran for over 20 years. Prior to Vrolyk & Company, she was with the merger department of Alex. Brown & Sons in San Francisco and the merger department of Goldman Sachs in New York.  Anne received her MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business and her BA in Bacteriology from the University of California, Los Angeles.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of TransCarbon International, an environmental consulting firm focused on sustainable and carbon neutral development.

Norman Fischer, Chair Emeritus
Spiritual Director, Everyday Zen Foundation
Norman Fischer is the Spiritual Director at the Everyday Zen Foundation, an organization that fosters traditional Zen practice. Mr. Fischer has worked to foster collaborations with Jewish and Christian meditation groups and to integrate Zen practices into his work with the dying and mentoring of young people and businesses.