Our Board of Directors

D. Bruce McMahan, Ph.D.
Co-founder and Chairman

Dr. Bruce McMahan is the co-founder and Chairman of the National Cristina Foundation and Chairman and founder of the McMahan Center-Abilities Activists (www.abilitiesactivists.bm). As Abilities Activists, the McMahan Center works to overcome conventional thinking about what people with differing abilities are able to achieve. Dr. McMahan additionally supports a number of philanthropic activities. Long active in the financial industry, he is the Chief Executive Officer of McMahan Securities Co. L.P. and the principal and founder of the Argent Funds Group.

Graduating from the University of Southern California in 1960, Dr. McMahan earned his Ph.D. in Labor Economics in 1992 from The Union Institute. The experience of raising a child with cerebral palsy (Cristina) born in 1970, led him to take his first serious steps into philanthropy in 1984 with the founding of the National Cristina Foundation.  Additional philanthropic activities by Bruce McMahan and his family are described at www.mcmahan-philanthropy.com.

 

Yvette Marrin, Ph.D.
President and Co-founder

Dr. Yvette Marrin is the co-founder and President of the National Cristina Foundation and the President and principal program officer of The McMahan Center-Abilities Activists (www.abilitiesactivists.bm). Prior to becoming President of the National Cristina Foundation in 1984, Dr. Marrin was active over a long career assisting people with special needs and the underprivileged reach their potential through her work as a teacher, educational therapist, consultant, and school administrator.

She earned a Ph.D in Organizational and Administrative Studies and Special Education from New York University in 1985. As president of the McMahan Center-Abilities Activists she oversees programs, largely internationally, that recognize that all people have abilities and as people with differing abilities they can use their unique range of abilities to develop fully in their own way.

David Peterson, Ph.D.
Board of Directors

Dr. David Peterson has served on the Board of Directors since the National Cristina Foundation’s inception in 1984. His areas of employment included both governmental and legal professional experience including The George Washington University - Adjunct Professor of Law, Washington, D.C. (1975-2000), and the U.S. Department of Commerce as Senior Policy Adviser to the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Washington, D.C. (1975-2000), Active in the Mormon Church, he contributed community service by recently serving as mission president for The Hungary Budapest Mission (2000-2003), Stake President, Mount Vernon Virginia Stake, (1990-1999), and as Director of the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors' Center (2006-2007).

Harry (Bud) Rizer, Ed.D.
Board of Directors

Dr. Harry (Bud) Rizer has been involved in the disability and technology field for over twenty-five years. He has worked in clinical settings and has developed and directed assistive technology programs throughout the United States. In addition, Bud has been involved in research, the development of national training programs, and has taught at a number of universities throughout the country. Bud has served as a consultant in the development of disability and technology programs nationally and internationally, has presented at international conferences and published in textbooks and journals. Bud received his doctoral degree from The Johns Hopkins University.

John Venator
Board of Directors

John Venator is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the leading trade association representing the business interests of the global information technology (IT) industry. He is responsible for leading strategy, development and growth efforts for the association. During Mr. Venator’s tenure as president and CEO, CompTIA has grown to more than 22,000 member companies in over 100 countries around the world; and has expanded from its headquarters in suburban Chicago to offices in sixteen countries across the world. Virtually all sectors of the technology industry are represented by CompTIA, including hardware and software product manufacturers, service providers, solution providers, system integrators, consultants, individual IT workers, and end users of technology, including major industry markets such as government, education, retail, and not-for-profits.

Sean Kenny
Board of Directors

Sean Kenny has recently retired from the Republic of Ireland's Department of Enterprise and Employment (FAS) as a senior employment officer. His employment history included that of Vocational Rehabilitation expert for the National Rehabilitation Board based in Dublin, Ireland and as an information technology coordinator where he tested uses of communication technology for people with disabilities, particularly with reference to distance learning and Telework. He has managed a number of European Union projects related to IT and people with disabilities and served for many years as the Irish national representative and expert on the management committee of TIDE (Telematic Initiatives for Elderly and Disabled) in Brussels. Mr. Kenny is an IT consultant to a number of rehabilitation organizations in Ireland, Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States.