STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meet the Team
KERRI KLINE
President & CEO
Kerri Kline is the President & CEO of Veterans Moving Forward. Before coming to VMF, Kerri was the Vice President of Operations for the Army Historical Foundation, which was responsible for administering the Capital Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army.
Kerri Kline is the President & CEO of Veterans Moving Forward. Before coming to VMF, Kerri was the Vice President of Operations for the Army Historical Foundation, which was responsible for administering the Capital Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army.
Kline worked for the Foundation in a variety of roles for over fifteen years including managing the donor marketing program and membership programs. Kerri has a Masters in Arts in Museum Studies from The Johns Hopkins University, a Nonprofit Management Certificate from George Mason University, and is working on her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from George Mason University.
KATHLEEN POULSON
Director of Programs
Mrs. Poulson is a certified trainer with over 10 years of varied dog training experience. She established and managed a business in which she trained service dogs, medical alert dogs, waterfowl hunting dogs, and provided individualized specialty dog training.
Mrs. Poulson is a certified trainer with over 10 years of varied dog training experience. She established and managed a business in which she trained service dogs, medical alert dogs, waterfowl hunting dogs, and provided individualized specialty dog training.
Mrs. Poulson’s love for animals began as a child. Throughout her school years, she volunteered at the Columbus Zoo every summer, working on programs for children. As an adult, Mrs. Poulson spent over 20 years in the medical field then she decided to turn her skills to helping medical conditions from a different angle by training dogs for disabled veterans.
Mrs. Poulson graduated from the National Canine Master Trainer Program as a Certified Professional Trainer (CPT). In addition to formal training, Mrs. Poulson has been mentored by a number of world class trainers. Mentoring includes completion of Super Sniffer and Sweet Snoopers programs by Debby Kay of Chilbrook Kennels and the E-Academy with Robin MacFarlane, Ms. Poulson trained her first hunting dog under the guidance of Pat Nolan. Currently Ms. Poulson continues to advance her training, she is studying with Mark McCabe learning the Training Between the Ear’s (TBTE) techniques.
Mrs. Poulson volunteers with West Virginia’s Tyler County Search and Rescue Team (SAR). She works and trains her Search and Rescue dog, K9 Piper, who is a certified level 2 mantrailer on West Virginia’s Tyler County SAR team.
LORI SITTNER
Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Ms. Sittner comes to VMF with over 20 years of management experience in the healthcare and hospitality industries. Her experience includes in-depth knowledge of a wide variety of business practices, including human resources and financial management. Animals have always had a place in Ms Sittner’s life, personally as a lifetime pet owner and professionally as a part time dog walker.
Mrs. Poulson is a certified trainer with over 10 years of varied dog training experience. She established and managed a business in which she trained service dogs, medical alert dogs, waterfowl hunting dogs, and provided individualized specialty dog training.
Mrs. Poulson’s love for animals began as a child. Throughout her school years, she volunteered at the Columbus Zoo every summer, working on programs for children. As an adult, Mrs. Poulson spent over 20 years in the medical field then she decided to turn her skills to helping medical conditions from a different angle by training dogs for disabled veterans.
Mrs. Poulson graduated from the National Canine Master Trainer Program as a Certified Professional Trainer (CPT). In addition to formal training, Mrs. Poulson has been mentored by a number of world class trainers. Mentoring includes completion of Super Sniffer and Sweet Snoopers programs by Debby Kay of Chilbrook Kennels and the E-Academy with Robin MacFarlane, Ms. Poulson trained her first hunting dog under the guidance of Pat Nolan. Currently Ms. Poulson continues to advance her training, she is studying with Mark McCabe learning the Training Between the Ear’s (TBTE) techniques.
Mrs. Poulson volunteers with West Virginia’s Tyler County Search and Rescue Team (SAR). She works and trains her Search and Rescue dog, K9 Piper, who is a certified level 2 mantrailer on West Virginia’s Tyler County SAR team.
Board of Directors
GARY M PROFIT
Chairman of Board
Mrs. Poulson is a certified trainer with over 10 years of varied dog training experience. She established and managed a business in which she trained service dogs, medical alert dogs, waterfowl hunting dogs, and provided individualized specialty dog training.
Mrs. Poulson’s love for animals began as a child. Throughout her school years, she volunteered at the Columbus Zoo every summer, working on programs for children. As an adult, Mrs. Poulson spent over 20 years in the medical field then she decided to turn her skills to helping medical conditions from a different angle by training dogs for disabled veterans.
Mrs. Poulson graduated from the National Canine Master Trainer Program as a Certified Professional Trainer (CPT). In addition to formal training, Mrs. Poulson has been mentored by a number of world class trainers. Mentoring includes completion of Super Sniffer and Sweet Snoopers programs by Debby Kay of Chilbrook Kennels and the E-Academy with Robin MacFarlane, Ms. Poulson trained her first hunting dog under the guidance of Pat Nolan. Currently Ms. Poulson continues to advance her training, she is studying with Mark McCabe learning the Training Between the Ear’s (TBTE) techniques.
Mrs. Poulson volunteers with West Virginia’s Tyler County Search and Rescue Team (SAR). She works and trains her Search and Rescue dog, K9 Piper, who is a certified level 2 mantrailer on West Virginia’s Tyler County SAR team.
JOHN PRUFETA
Vice Chairman
John Prufeta is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Medical Excellence International, a company he founded in 2010. Medical Excellence provides discriminating health care consumers comprehensive professional management of their healthcare services with access to the best physicians and hospitals globally.
An experienced entrepreneur and innovator in the healthcare industry, Mr. Prufeta also was founder and chairman of Agilence Health Advisors, a management consulting firm focused on performance acceleration in the health care sector. He founded OnPoint Partners, a health care services firm. Also, he is the past president and CEO of Medix Resources, a publicly-traded health care technology company. Mr. Prufeta earned a bachelor’s degree in management from St. John’s University. He is a graduate of the Harvard Executive Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Prufeta is a founding member of the VMF Board of Directors, serving on the board since 2010.
“Our brave service men and women deserve the highest quality care possible when in need. It is a sacred obligation of government and the private sector to ensure that every distressed Veteran receives it. Veterans Moving Forward was founded on the principle of fundamentally changing the paradigm of providing service dogs to comfort, to serve, to cure. I am proud to be a founding Board member of Veterans Moving Forward.”
DIANE NAKASHIMA BARSTEIN
Treasurer
Co-Founder of The Retirement Advisor University, Inc.
Diane Nakashima Barstein is Secretary and Director at The Retirement Advisor University, Inc. (TRAU), a source of retirement information for financial advisors and financial services industry professionals. She co-founded the company as a collaboration with the UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Education.
In her role at TRAU, Ms. Barstein works with the company’s retirement planning certification program, the first of its kind to be associated with a nationally recognized institution of higher learning, and draws upon UCLA faculty to offer innovative executive education programs. Ms. Barstein formerly held positions at The First Boston Corporation, and also at Liz Claiborne, Inc. Also, she was a co-founder and investor at 401k Exchange, Inc. Ms. Barstein studied at The Academy of Arts College in San Francisco and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Ms. Barstein joined the VMF Board of Directors in 2014.
“Supporting Veterans in memory of my father Takeo Nakashima, U.S. Army Veteran WWII, 442nd 100th Battalion, Maui, Hawaii.”
KEVIN CALLEN
Secretary
Founder & President, TESSA Marketing + Technology, digital marketing agency and software developer.
Founder & Chief Technology Officer, C2Logix, developer of disaster response logistics software for the Strategic National Stockpile, public health agencies nationwide, and thousands of government and corporate clients.
Mr. Callen joined the board in 2020
BOB BUNKER
Member
Bob served in the United States Air Force Medical Service Corps for twenty years and retired in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Following his military retirement, he was hired by Humana Inc., and co-founded Humana Military Healthcare Services (HMHS) which subsequently won a multibillion-dollar TRICARE contract in 1995. Due to its continuous superior performance, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has repeatedly renewed HMHS’ TRICARE contract for the last twenty-seven years. Following his employment with Humana/HMHS, Bob has gone on to be the Chairman & CEO of nine healthcare companies, each of which has prospered through his thoughtful guidance and leadership. He was recently asked to join the Board of Directors for Veterans Moving Forward Inc., a non-for-profit company, and he enthusiastically accepted the opportunity due to the company’s worthy mission of helping his fellow veterans.
JAMES M. "JIM" BYRNE
Member
The Honorable James M. Byrne has nearly 35 years of experience in the military, government and industry. This experience allowed him to serve in several senior executive roles focused on policy, strategy, operations and legal support.
Mr. Byrne currently serves as an independent consultant, senior advisor and independent corporate board member. He was appointed and later confirmed as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs on August 28, 2018. He retired from federal service on February 3, 2020. As the Deputy Secretary, he led modernization initiatives and served as the designated chief operating officer for the federal government’s second-largest Cabinet department. He also previously served as VA’s General Counsel.
Before arriving at VA, Mr. Byrne worked as an executive at Lockheed Martin in legal, compliance and ethics roles. He served for several years on the board of directors for Pacific Architects and Engineers. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Byrne served in the career Federal Senior Executive Service as Deputy Special Counsel with the Office of Special Counsel, and as both the General Counsel and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations with the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
Soon after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Mr. Byrne was recalled to active duty for 18 months with the U.S. Marine Corps in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Lieutenant Colonel Byrne was assigned as the Officer-in-charge of the Marine Liaison Office at the then-National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, supporting injured and deceased Marines, Sailors, and their families. Mr. Byrne’s experience in the public sector also includes service as a forward deployed Marine Corps Infantry Officer and a U.S. Department of Justice international narcotics prosecutor.
Mr. Byrne has extensive experience on several non-profit and advisory boards. His most recent professional engagements include past service on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Board and the International Association of Privacy Professionals Board of Directors. For ten years, Mr. Byrne volunteered on the Executive Board of Give an Hour and chaired the Arlington Diocese Bishop’s Advisory Board. He currently also volunteers with the Veterans Education Project.
Mr. Byrne is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received an engineering degree and, ultimately, held the top leadership position of Brigade Commander. He later earned his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida, and started his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Malcolm J. Howard, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina.
The Honorable James Byrne joined the Veterans Moving Forward Board of Directors in 2020.
SANDY DANIELS
Member
A Navy veteran, serving 35 years in both the active and reserve component, earning her wings as a Naval Aviator and later qualified to wear the Navy’s Information Warfare pin. Currently an independent consultant, as well as a board member of the Navy Marine Coast Guard Residence Foundation.
Rear Admiral Daniels joined the VMF Board in 2018.
LAURENCE A. "LARRY" GRAYER
Member
With over 20 years of legal experience, Larry currently serves as the Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer at Creative Associates International in Washington, DC, overseeing all legal affairs and the corporate compliance function. Creative is a mission-driven services company working in more than 30 countries.
Larry previously served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for DynCorp International in McLean, Virginia, a multi-billion dollar global services provider in more in 33 countries. Larry also served as a Board Member, General Counsel, and other officer positions with 15 DynCorp subsidiaries and joint ventures.
Larry has also served as the Assistant General Counsel with the Amalgamated Transit Union in Washington, DC, and he previously joined the law firms of Protorae Law in Tysons, Virginia and Hack Piro in Florham Park, New Jersey. In addition, Larry has served as a Law Clerk for Justice John J. Clabby with the New York State Supreme Court.
Recognized for excellence in the legal field, in 2019, Larry was selected by DCA Live as a Top Washington Corporate Counsel, and he was selected by the Association of Corporate Counsel as Outstanding Pro Bono Counsel. Additionally, he has won numerous other awards for his legal skills and leadership.
Larry was a member of the President of the United States’ Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He also founded and actively maintained a non-profit International Disaster Relief Fund, creating an oversight committee to approve and distribute over $1 million in donations to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina.
Larry received his Juris Doctorate from St. John’s School of Law, where he served on two law reviews. An avid legal writer, Larry has authored published articles for several law reviews. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from The George Washington University.
Larry joined the VMF Board of Directors in 2015 and served as our General Counsel from 2015 until March 2020.
CAPTAIN JIM MANGIE
Member
Captain Jim Mangie currently flies the A350 and most recently was the Program Director, Pilot Fatigue, for Delta Air Lines. In this position, he was responsible for all matters concerning pilot fatigue mitigation, flight and duty time regulatory compliance, crew rest, and fatigue risk management. He currently serves as the chairman of the International Air Transport Association Fatigue Risk Management Task Force and was the industry co-chair for the FAA Flight Crewmember Duty and Rest Requirements Aviation Rulemaking Committee in 2009. In his 32 years at Delta, he’s held positions as a chief pilot, base regional director, and line operations general manager. In these positions he’s been responsible for administrative support and operational performance of approximately 4,000 pilots in both the domestic and international system, as well as overall operational oversight of day-to-day line operations. Capt. Mangie was also the Flight Operations Military Liaison at Delta. In this position, he was responsible for maintaining an open and cooperative relationship between Delta and all branches of the U.S. military as well as the oversight and administration of the nearly 1400 Delta pilots that were actively performing duty as Guardsmen/Reservists.
Capt. Mangie graduated cum laude from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ in 1981. He is a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserve. His military positions at the unit and wing level included Instructor/Evaluator Pilot, Chief of Standardization/Evaluation, Chief Pilot and Operations Officer. His final assignment was at Headquarters U.S. Special Operations Command where he served as Legislative Affairs Officer until his retirement in 2003.
Capt. Mangie has over 11000 hours of airline and military flying experience. He has flown the B727, B757, B767, DC9, MD88, A350, T37, T38, and C130 B/E/H/H2.
GENO MIGLIACCIO
Member
Geno Migliaccio is an Associate Dean and Professor at the Milken
Institute School of Public Heath, George Washington University, in
Washington, DC.
He retired from the federal government after serving 35 years in various health care capacities to include being appointed as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES); and as a Commissioned Officer in the
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), and the U.S. Air Force (AF) Medical
Service Corps.
Within the SES, he served as Executive Director for Community Care Delivery Operations with the Veterans Health Administration where he built a nationwide provider network; he also served as the Director of Federal Occupational Health Service
within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) where he provided leadership of occupational health services reaching 1.8 million Federal employees.
As a PHS Commissioned Corps Officer, he managed an integrated health care delivery system as the Director of Immigration Health Services for the U.S. Government. During this time, he also served as the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Surgeon General. His assignments in the AF have included positions in hospital administration, managed care, information technology, and health care research. He also has health care legislative experience at both the federal and state levels.
He holds a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from Tulane University, a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Hawaii, and a Bachelor of Arts from Marquette University. He is Board Certified in Health Care Management, a Fellow in the American College of Health Care
Executives (ACHE), and he was elected as a Fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).
In his spare time, Geno trains and competes with his elite German Shepherds, Vito and Vinny, in the sport of Schutzhund.
ROBERT “BOB” ROSENKRANZ
Member
Maj. Gen., U.S. Army, Retired
Maj. Gen. Robert “Bob” Rosenkranz was the Executive Vice President at TRAX International, where he worked with the CEO in the management and integration of TRAX operations, strategic growth, professional development, and training. Maj. Gen. Rosenkranz joined TRAX in 2011, after having been Executive Vice President at DynCorp International’s International Security Services Division, and having held other senior positions at L-3 Communications and KEI Pearson.
Maj. Gen. Rosenkranz retired from a 34 year army career which included assignments commanding at the company, battalion, and division artillery levels. His last assignment was as Commander, U.S. Army Operational and Evaluation Command. Earlier in his career, he commanded a Field Artillery Battery in Vietnam and served in Korea as an Artillery Battalion Executive Officer and Division Plans Officer. Having attended the U.S. Army War College, Rosenkranz was also its Director of Soviet and East European Studies. He holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his undergraduate degree at the U.S. Military Academy.
Maj. Gen. Rosenkranz served on the VMF Board of Directors since 2010; he is the Chairman since 2014.
ALBERT J. “BUD” SCHIFF
Member
Albert J. “Bud” Schiff is a Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal (A&M). He is also a Founding Partner of Insurex, LLC. Formerly, Mr. Schiff served as Chief Executive Officer of NYLEX Benefits, the executive benefits consulting arm of New York Life Insurance Company.
Prior to that, he served as Senior Executive Vice President, CEO of Life Insurance Operations and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY).
Bud is a retired U.S. Navy Captain and recipient of the U.S. Navy Supply Corps Distinguished Alumni Designation. Bud has been awarded the: Defense Meritorious Services Medal; National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star; Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Bronze Stars; Navy Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Bronze Hourglass; RVN Vietnam Campaign Medal; Combat Action Commemorative Military Medal; Armed Forces Retired Commemorative Medal.
He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds Pension Actuary (MSPA), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP), Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) and Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) professional designations.
Captain Schiff joined the VMF Board in 2018.
JOHN VANNOY
Member
John M. Vannoy is a retired U.S. Army Colonel with his last posting being
the Project Manager for the Multi-National Aviation Special Project Office
(MASPO) for Program Executive Office Aviation.
After retirement, John joined Strata-G in February 2021 as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and in April 2022 was promoted to President of the company. He graduated from Central Missouri State University in 1991, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
He was commissioned as a
distinguished graduate through the Reserve Officers Training Corps in the
Aviation Branch. His military education includes: resident Command and
General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. John has two
Master of Science degrees for Acquisition Systems Management (Naval Postgraduate School), and Strategy and Policy (U.S. Army War College).
He is a Senior Aviator with aircraft qualifications in the AH-1F Cobra, UH-1H Iroquois, AH-64A Apache, and the AH-64D Longbow Apache.
ED WEINBERG
Member
Ed Weinberg is the President and CEO of OptumServe Health Services, a United Health Group company responsible for providing health services and proven expertise to help federal agencies tackle some of the biggest challenges in health care. Ed’s organization partners with the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and other organizations to modernize the U.S. health system and improve the health and well-being of the people they serve. Prior to assuming this position, Ed served as the CEO for Community Care Services. Before joining Optum in 2017, Ed served 23 years as a Medical Service Corps Officer in the United States Army.
Ed credits his foundation in leadership to his time in the Army. Career highlights include various command and staff positions as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division and various units while in Europe. Other key experiences include educating and training junior officers, serving as a legislative liaison between the Pentagon and Capitol Hill, improving senior leadership team dynamics as an organizational development facilitator, strategic communications leader for the U.S. Army Medical Command, and as the senior advisor to the 43rd Army Surgeon General.
Ed holds an MHA from Baylor University, is a RAND Arroyo Center Fellow, and has been a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) since 2005. Ed is a combat disabled Veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart. He has been married to his wife Melissa for 26 years and has three daughters, the eldest a second lieutenant in the US Army Quartermaster Corps.
Ed joined the VMF board in 2021.
Advisors
BEN HODGES
Member
Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges holds the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis. He joined CEPA in February 2018.
A native of Quincy, Florida, General Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned in the Infantry.
After his first assignment as an Infantry Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including Command of the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” of the 101st Airborne Division in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).
General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions to include Tactics Instructor; Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander, NATO Allied Land Command (İzmir, Turkey). His last military assignment was as Commanding General, United States Army Europe (Wiesbaden, Germany) from 2014 to 2017. He retired from the U.S. Army in January 2018.
DAVID J. SHULKIN MD
Member
The Honorable Dr. David J. Shulkin was the ninth Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs in the Trump Administration and VA’s Under Secretary of Health in the Obama Administration. As such, Secretary Shulkin was the only member of the Cabinet to have served both Presidents and to have been confirmed by the US Senate by a vote of 100-0.
As Secretary, Dr. Shulkin represented the 21 million American veterans and was responsible for the nation’s largest integrated health care system with over 1,200 sites of care, serving over 9 million Veterans. VA is also the nation’s largest provider of graduate medical education and major contributor of medical research and provides veterans with disability payments, education through the GI bill, home loans, and runs a national cemetery system.
Secretary Shulkin is a widely respected healthcare executive having served as chief executive of leading hospitals and health systems including Beth Israel in New York City, Morristown Medical Center in Northern NJ, and currently advises leading health systems. Secretary Shulkin has held numerous physician leadership roles including the Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University Hospital, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital. Secretary Shulkin has held academic positions including the Chairman of Medicine and Vice Dean at Drexel University School of Medicine. As an entrepreneur, he founded and served as the Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality one of the first consumer orientated sources of information for quality and safety in healthcare. Secretary Shulkin has served on boards of managed care companies, technology companies, and health care organizations.
Secretary Shulkin is a board-certified internist. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, his internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and a residency and Fellowship in General Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. He received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over his career Secretary Shulkin has been named “One Hundred Most Influential People in American Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare. He continues to advocate on behalf of the country’s veterans by serving on the board of numerous nonprofits that serve veterans and is the author of the recent book, “It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Serve Your Country: Our Broken Government and the Plight of Veterans”.
Follow @DavidShulkin
