Your Red Cross Update

By Chloe Li

At the heart of the Red Cross’s vast network lies an essential role: that of the Board of Director’s Chair for a local chapter. These individuals play a pivotal part in guiding community leaders and leading their respective chapters to fulfill the organization’s mission to alleviate human suffering.

Our region’s five Chapter Board Chairs share their inspiration for joining the Red Cross below, and the critical responsibilities and significant contributions they hope to make in the community. We thank all our Board Members for their dedication, commitment and impact to ensure the Red Cross remains a beacon of hope and support when it is needed most.

To learn more about our chapters within the Northern California Coastal Region and our Board Members, visit: redcross.org/norcalcoastal

John Graetz
Bay Area Chapter Board Chair

John has always admired the reputation and selflessness of Red Cross volunteers supporting communities in need. He decided to join the organization as a volunteer and Board Member with the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter in the spring of 2016.

John deployed to the wildfire disaster response in October 2017 that devasted his own community of Santa Rosa. He assisted in the orderly return of residents to neighborhoods, including Fountain Grove and Coffey Park, largely reduced to ashes. Despite their losses, it meant so much to the residents to see Red Cross vests representing the volunteers (and neighbors) who cared for one another.

“I was honored to have been approached by a colleague and former [Red Cross Bay Area] director who promised the experience would ‘change my life.’ It certainly has. My goal is to continue to regenerate and inspire the Board and, with my fellow directors, become the next [group of] Board leaders to carry the important message about the Red Cross mission and its ongoing needs for financial support so that we can always be there.”

John is a former bank regulator turned regulatory advisor who provides assistance to banks and financial technology companies. He has been a Principal with Deloitte & Touche LLP’s regulatory advisory practice in San Francisco for 15 years.

Eve Dreyfuss
Silicon Valley Chapter Board Chair

Since 2018, Eve has been an active advocate and a champion for the Red Cross. She has visited shelters filled with local residents displaced by the 2023 California floods, installed lifesaving alarms in mobile homes as a part of the Sound the Alarm program and joined a Disaster Action Team (DAT) call with fellow Red Crosser Jim Mollerus, that assisted a family of seven whose home was tragically burnt down. Furthermore, she has also lobbied on behalf of the Red Cross and its mission in the California State Legislature.

Eve organizes board meetings so that community leaders and volunteers have the space to share their heart wrenching and heartwarming Red Cross stories. “I have always admired the Red Cross since I was a child, seeing the volunteers responding to disasters. When the Camp Fire struck the town of Paradise, I saw the selfless acts of the volunteers who put their own lives in danger to help strangers. As a Board Chair, I hope to keep people in touch with why they joined the Red Cross: we are here doing our part to save people’s lives and help when they are in their greatest needs.”

Eve Dreyfuss is a retired partner from Moss Adams, a national Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm. She was also the head of construction for NorCal Regional Construction. Her clients included contractors responsible for major projects such as the Bay Bridge, Apple Park, and Salesforce Tower.

Jim Horning
Heart of the Valley Chapter Board Chair

Jim began his Red Cross journey when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Reflecting on how California, his home state, faces potential earthquakes and subsequent flooding disasters, he wanted to be a part of the solution and immediately called his local Red Cross Chapter Executive Director to get involved. 

Since then, Jim has served on the local Red Cross advisory committee, joined the Gold Country regional board of directors, and continued to volunteer on the ground during disaster responses. During the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, he deployed to assist with food and supply distribution. He was moved by how a simple meal can turn a person’s outlook from despair to hope.

Jim is inspired by working with an amazing group of professional staff, as well as highly-trained and motivated volunteers to address new challenges. As a financial advisor for 35 years, Jim shares that, “As Board Chair, I am helping to build a diverse group of highly motivated, successful, and generous people who can influence, recruit and retain volunteers in our Heart of the Valley chapter to be ready at the time of need… and also build a financial legacy.”

Miriam Tcheng
North Bay Chapter Board Chair

Miriam’s introduction to the Red Cross took place in 2016 when she was living in Hawaii and a hurricane was forecast to hit. She was amazed by the coordinated preparation of the islands. The streets fell quiet and people hunkered down. Reporting to work as an essential hospital employee, she observed how local organizations prioritized the hospital’s needs. In the end, the hurricane avoided Hawaii but it made a lasting impression on Miriam about how being prepared for disaster can make people’s lives so much smoother and calmer. 

Since then, Miriam has volunteered with the Red Cross for seven years. She recently participated in a Sound the Alarm event in Sonoma. Many homes lack functioning smoke alarms, and the residents were incredibly grateful for the installation. One elderly woman, whose late husband had been a firefighter, immediately wrote a check to the Red Cross in appreciation of the lifesaving program.

“As a Board Chair, building meaningful relationships between the board and our volunteers is very important to me. In our capacity on the Board, we contribute not only as board members but as active volunteers. It gives me great pride to be a part of the Red Cross, an organization that works to ensure that communities are prepared and are there to support in the event of a disaster.”

Miriam is the Resident District Manager for Aramark operating Food Services, Private Branch Exchange (PBX), and Support Services for Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). She is also a registered dietitian. 

Anita Clerisse
Central Coast Chapter Board Chair

Anita believes that the Red Cross is a vital organization that makes a positive difference in local communities and the world. She is honored to have served as a volunteer and board member with the  Central Coast Chapter since 2018.

Anita is dedicated to working with fellow volunteers to fulfill the Red Cross’s mission-focused efforts. She is committed to providing lifesaving and recovery services to our communities and has actively participated in blood drives and providing support through generous Board contributions.

“I have a personal connection to the Red Cross, as I was inspired by a former Red Cross Central Coast Chapter director and mentor of mine, who asked me to be her successor. I accepted the offer with gratitude because I wanted to be a part of the continuity and excellence of the Red Cross’s work in the community. I am proud of the Central Coast board and its ability to be a leader in the region by consistently exceeding goals in all service lines. My objective  is to continue to support and inspire volunteers and fellow board members in their passion toward fulfilling the Red Cross humanitarian mission.” 

Anita is a detail-oriented and results-driven Certified Public Accountant with over 20 years of experience. She is passionate about collaborating with others to achieve organizational goals.