Operation Homefront Elects New Board Members and Leaders

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Operation Homefront, the national military support nonprofit, has elected four new members to its national Board of Directors, elevated incumbent members to new leadership positions on the Board, and retired four Board members.

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Operation Homefront provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors.  Assistance is in the form of grants to meet the most basic of needs like rent, utilities, food and housing.

The newly-promoted or continuing Board leaders are:

Chair: Mark Foster, President, Martin Aviation and Lyon Air Museum. Mark Foster most recently served as Vice Chairman of Operation Homefront's Board of Directors.  Foster has a career in aviation spanning over 25 years, with an extensive background in restoring and flying vintage military aircraft.  Currently, he serves as President of Martin Aviation, a notable award winning corporate aircraft maintenance facility with lineage dating back to 1923.  He is also President of Lyon Air Museum, a tribute to the Greatest Generation in Aviation.  In addition, Foster is the creator of Memorial Flights, which provides public access to a network of historic aircraft for flybys, rides and film work; and coordinates aircraft operations for events such as Pasadena Tournament of Roses, and auto races including NASCAR, Indy Racing League and National Hot Rod Association.

Vice Chair: Catherine Blades, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Aflac Incorporated. Aflac is the number one provider of voluntary insurance at the worksite in the United States and the number one life insurance company in terms of individual policies in force in Japan. Catherine Blades has served on Operation Homefront's Board of Directors since 2009. She has more than two decades of communications-related leadership experience to draw upon. In her current role as Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications at Aflac Incorporated, Blades is focused on defining, leading and integrating Aflac's communications strategy to proactively and effectively promote internal and external communications. Her extensive communications background also includes leadership positions with Flextronics, Raytheon Company's Space and Airborne Systems business, and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Secretary:  Laura Fredricks, President, Laura Fredricks, LLC.  Laura Fredricks is President of Laura Fredricks, LLC, a boutique consulting company that provides hands-on expert fundraising and best practices to a select number of non-profit organizations.  Formerly Laura was Vice President for Philanthropy at Pace University in New York, NY, where she raised over $92 million in six years.  She is the author of The ASK: How to Ask for Your Nonprofit Cause, Creative Project, or Business Venture and The ASK: How to Ask Anyone for Any Amount for Any Purpose.

Rick Moore, Business Banking Manager for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., will continue to serve as Board Treasurer.

Newly elected Board members are:

Michael C. Carnuccio, President & CEO of The Liberty Foundation of America.  Michael Carnuccio is the President and CEO of the Liberty Foundation and serves as President of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of Opportunity Ohio and Roosevelt Leadership Academy. Previously, Michael served as senior advisor for Oklahomans for Responsible Government, director of public affairs for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and director of public affairs for Saxum Strategic Communications (now Saxum PR). He also was an Adjunct Faculty lecturing in courses on American Government with the Department of Political Science at Oklahoma State University.

E. Martin Hauser, Director of Government Communications, United Technologies Corporation.  Marty Hauser is the Director of Government Communications for United Technologies Corporation, a company that provides a broad range of high-technology products and services to the global aerospace and building systems industries.  Hauser's extensive background in communications for the military includes leadership positions with the Office of the Assistance Secretary of Defense for Economic Security, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

Kendall McCarthy, Director of Programs, The Home Depot Foundation.  A member of The Home Depot Foundation since January 2008, Kendall McCarthy oversees the Foundation's field team as well as vendor fundraising events, vendor volunteer opportunities, and partnerships for the organization.  She has more than 15 years of experience in the events and hospitality industry working for both corporations and agencies specializing in the retail, technology, and venture capital sectors.

Laurene Gallo, Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton.  Laurie Gallo leads the functional agenda for Booz Allen with a focus on developing engineering, technical, scientific, mission, and consulting expertise in the firm to support civil, defense, intelligence, commercial, and international clients. Previously, she led elements of the national security community specifically in the areas of intelligence analysis, mission operations, and counter-terrorism initiatives. Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton in 1984, Ms. Gallo worked as an intelligence analyst at the National Security Agency.  She is a member of the Advisory Board for Operation Homefront¹s DC Metro Field Office, and serves on the national Board in one of two rotational positions held by field office Advisory Board members.

"We are thrilled to add these directors to our Board," said Foster, the incoming Board Chairman.  "They all have a great deal of leadership and business experience, but more importantly, they share a passion for supporting our military families.  As an organization, Operation Homefront is committed to assisting these families well into the future, beyond the current deployments to Afghanistan, and we are so glad we'll have the counsel of these new board members as we prepare for that future."

Concluding their service on the Board are outgoing Chairman Glen Latona, Scott Celley, Desmond Edwards, and field-office rotational member Kim Ringeisen.

"I want to thank our departing Board members for their dedicated service to our men and women in uniform while providing stewardship and guidance to Operation Homefront," continued Foster.  "I join with the entire Board in especially saluting Glen Latona's leadership as our Chairman.  The most recent Board term has been marked by many changes for our military, and Operation Homefront has grown and changed during that time to meet those evolving needs."

About Operation Homefront:  A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers with nationwide presence who provide emergency and other financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors. Operation Homefront has met more than 750,000 needs of military families since its inception in 2002.  Accredited by the Better Business Bureau and holding an "A" rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, nationally, 95 percent of total donations to Operation Homefront go directly to programs that provide support to our military families.  For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net.

SOURCE Operation Homefront