Leadership: Board of Directors

Amy Squires

Amy Squires, Alexandria, Virginia
Chairman
Amy Squires consults with federal agencies on business strategy and performance management. Her interest in CFS stems from her concern for her sister and close friends who have been debilitated to varying degrees by the illness. Before joining the Association’s Board in 2007, Squires participated in two Lobby Day events and provided pro bono support to the Association’s long-range planning efforts. Her background is in public administration and public policy; she has worked at the federal Office of Management and Budget and as a consultant to numerous federal and state agencies.

May 2011 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

October 2008 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

Vicki Boies, PsyD

Vicki Boies, PsyD, Chicago, Illinois
Vice Chairman
Vicki Boies and her husband Bill have been active supporters of the Association since 1995, out of concern for their daughter, who has been ill for more than 20 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Brown University, her Master of Arts from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, where she was on the faculty for several years. Boies spent most of her career as a clinical psychologist in private practice in Chicago before retiring in 2010. Prior to joining the board, she served on numerous local boards and commissions, including most recently as president of a community mental health board with taxing and grant-giving authority.

Diane Bean

Diane Bean, Bethesda, Maryland
Secretary
Diane Reimer Bean is a retired career Foreign Service officer and attorney who is serving on the Association’s board for a second time. She is married to fellow retired Foreign Service officer James W. (Jim) Bean; they have two adult children, daughter Lauren and son Galen. Lauren became seriously ill with CFS as a teenager following a bout of mono and Lyme disease and continues to live at home. Galen is healthy and independent.

During her 23 years as a diplomat, Bean developed significant expertise in the areas of U.S. citizen services overseas, visa/immigration policy, counterterrorism, international economic policy and congressional affairs. She and Jim were posted overseas to Mexico City, Mexico; Bonn, Germany; and Tel Aviv, Israel, during their careers. She also had numerous domestic assignments, especially after 1998, when Lauren's illness prevented the family from serving overseas. Bean received several U.S. Department of State awards during her career, and she and Jim continue to work part-time in retired status for the State Department.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she worked as an attorney for the (former) U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the State Department's Passport Services, an assistant attorney general and a clerk for the Colorado Supreme Court in her native state of Colorado. She is a graduate of Stanford University (B.A.) and the University of Denver College of Law (J.D.). In addition to her service on the board and part-time work, she, Jim and Lauren split their time between Washington, D.C., and Denver, Colo.

Kevin Frick

Kevin Frick, San Carlos, California
Treasurer
Kevin Frick is a co-founder and general partner of Serent Capital, a private equity fund that invests in high-growth businesses and brings business-building capabilities to help accelerate the success of those businesses. Prior to founding Serent Capital, he was a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Palo Alto office, working with technology companies on corporate strategy, sales and marketing and portfolio management. Frick graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar (top 10 percent) of Stanford University's Master of Business Administration program and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He and his wife, Michelle Thies, have been actively pursuing a solution to her CFS symptoms for more than 10 years.

Beth Garfield

Beth Garfield, Los Angeles, Calif.
Beth Garfield was a mother with a one-year-old child and a full-time job when CFS hit in 1985. She took time off to try to recover and eventually went back to work part-time. In 1987, Garfield started her own law firm, specializing in the representation of unions and employment law, which gave her the flexibility to take the time she needed to manage her illness and eventually return to full-time work.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with distinction from Stanford University, where she served as student body president. Garfield earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She is a past member of the Los Angeles District Community College Board of Directors. At Stanford, Garfield co-chairs the Special Gifts Committee for the Class of 1974 and serves on the Advisory Panel of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research.

In 1989, she went to see a doctor who was treating CFS with a medicine normally used to treat depression. She says it was a miracle drug for her. Garfield was symptom-free for 22 years before relapsing in February 2011. She joined the Association and the board later that year, spurred, in part, by the focus on research.

Adam Lesser

Adam Lesser, San Francisco, California
Adam Lesser is a research analyst who covers renewable energy and clean technology. Prior to this, he worked as an assignment editor for NBC News and as a National Science Foundation-funded Frontiers in Biological Research (FIBR) researcher at UCLA's Weiss Lab, which studies protein folding and single molecule spectroscopy. Adam has confronted CFS himself and is passionate about better understanding the physiological basis of CFS and identifying potential treatments. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and splits his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Kim McCleary

K. Kimberly McCleary, Charlotte, NC
McCleary is the Association’s president & chief executive officer. Since 1991, she has directed the Association’s education, public policy and research programs. McCleary also serves on the Association’s board and all of its standing committees. While she participates in virtually every aspect of the organization’s operations, McCleary is most actively involved in efforts to secure a dedicated and effective response from the federal government to this disease. She was one of Redbook magazine’s 2001 “Mothers and Shakers,” honored for her contributions to health care. She met her husband, Kofi, through former board member Wilhelmina Jenkins (he is her son), so she also has family ties to CFS.

“From the Desk of Kim McCleary” monthly feature from CFIDSLink

November 2011 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

May 2011 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

October 2010 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

May 2010 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

Video: Testimony from Congressional Briefing on CFS

October 2008 Public Testimony at CFSAC Meeting

Nov. 3, 2006 press conference moderated by Kim

Bob Raidt

Bob Raidt, River Forest, Illinois
Raidt is an executive vice president at Leo Burnett Company, an international consumer brands creative communications agency. He has extensive marketing experience as worldwide account head for McDonald's and has overseen other well-known brands including Whirlpool, Maytag, Raytheon and Proctor & Gamble’s Swiffer brand. Raidt began his career at Leo Burnett in 1996 after receiving his master’s degree in management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He also earned his Bachelor of Science in communications studies at Northwestern, where he was a member of the men’s tennis team.

Raidt serves on the board of directors of The World Wildlife Fund/Earth Hour Initiative and manages it as one of Leo Burnett’s pro bono accounts. His other pro bono work includes managing the Ad Council/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s ready.gov emergency preparedness campaign. Raidt is a mentor to numerous junior and mid-level account professionals at Leo Burnett USA.

In addition to serving on the Association’s board, he is a member of the board of the Advertising Educational Foundation and a past chair of the publicity committee for the Chicago Chapter of March of Dimes WalkAmerica.

Raidt has several connections to CFS that motivate his interest in serving.

Patrick Venetucci

Patrick Venetucci, Chicago, Illinois
Venetucci is a senior executive at an advertising agency, Leo Burnett Worldwide, where he has held a number of management roles based in Chicago and Tokyo. He is currently executive vice president, president of Global Operations and a board member of Leo Burnett Worldwide’s Global Leadership Committee. Venetucci holds his Master of Business Administration in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago and is a strategic advisor to several entrepreneurial ventures.

His family has been affected by CFS since 1999 and they are committed to the discovery of a biomarker for CFS and ultimately a cure.

Christine Williams

Christine Williams, M.Ed., Arlington, Va.
Christine Williams recently retired from the federal government after a 30-year career in health policy and health services research. She was diagnosed with CFS in February 2009. With support from colleagues, friends and family, she was able to work full time until June 2011.

Williams currently serves on the boards of a number of health care organizations and provides support to the Mitchell Scholarship in Maine. She is a special advisor on CFS to the Office on Women’s Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

From 1995 to 2011, Williams was a member of the senior leadership team at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at HHS. She served as the Agency’s director for strategic partnerships (2007 – 2011) and director of the Office of Communications and Knowledge Transfer (1995 – 2006). During her tenure at AHRQ, Williams also represented the Agency on a number of HHS committees including the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) and the Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health – Cessation Subcommittee (co-chair). She served as HHS campaign manager for the 2001 and 2010 Combined Federal Campaigns.

From l982 – 1994, Williams served as the senior health policy advisor to former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-ME.). She represented Mitchell during the development of and negotiations for comprehensive health care reform legislation in 1993 and 1994, and initiated legislation in Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care, public health and outcomes research.

Williams has extensive experience working with a broad range of health care stakeholders including clinicians, health systems, purchasers, consumer and patient advocacy organizations and public policymakers to translate research into practice and to inform public policy.

Chris holds her Bachelor of Science and Master of Education from Boston University.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee meeting testimony November 9, 2011

Page updated January 17, 2012