Our Board - Wolf Connection

Our Board

STEVEN J. GOLIGHTLY, Ph.D.

BOARD CHAIR

Dr. Golightly’s entire professional career focused on programs and agencies that provided services to low-income children and families. He retired in February of 2020 as Director of the Los Angeles County Child Support Services Department (CSSD), where he had responsibility for over 1600 employees and 300,000 child support cases worldwide. CSSD is the largest local child support program in the nation. He served as director for 12 years. Prior to directing the child support department, he was interim director of the County’s Department of Public Social Services, the local welfare agency.

Before working in Los Angeles County, Dr. Golightly was the Regional Administrator (SES Career) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, based in Atlanta, Georgia. There he was the senior federal official for all poverty programs in the eight southeastern states. He also spent 12 years as Vice President for Human Service programs at the National Alliance of Business in Washington, DC. Dr. Golightly began his career as director of a federally funded job training program in Chautauqua County, New York.

He has a BS degree in business management, an MPA from California State University Dominguez Hills, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Walden University. He is known nationally and internationally for his work in the area of applying predictive analytics in the social services arena. He is the recipient of the California Child Support Director’s Association Truly B. Knox award for leadership in the California child support community, the Charles Dykstra Excellence in Government award from the American Society for Public Administration, and the Los Angeles County Productivity and Quality Commission’s Excellence in Leadership award.

Dr Golightly has taught in the MPA programs at California State University, Dominguez Hills for 12 years, and at California State University, Northridge for eight years. He and his husband, Douglas Warde, live in Beverly Hills with their two dogs, Sterling and Poppy and their cat-in-charge, Mavro. Steven has three children and five grandchildren. His son, Benjamin, is a Captain in the US Coast Guard, stationed currently in Kodiak, Alaska and is Commanding Officer of the USS Alex Hailey.

DANIEL AMIR

Board Treasurer

Daniel is a Finance executive with over 15 years of experience in leading financial institutions like Lazard, Bear Stearns and JPMorgan. Daniel’s career focus has been around technology and has held leadership positions during his career. Earlier in his career he worked for the Department of Treasury in Israel and was a non-commissioned officer in the Israeli Air Force. Daniel’s education includes a MBA from UCLA and a MA and BA in International Relations and Economics from the Hebrew University in Israel.

Daniel during his life has always been a big supporter of under privileged kids and education and has been involved both in Israel where he grew up and in the US in organizations that support “At-risk” kids. His deep passion to animals and the desire to give back to the community has led him to Wolf Connection®.

In his spare time, Daniel loves to travel the world, teach the next generation of leaders and hang out with his wife and three daughters.

STEPHEN BOCHNER, MD

Dr. Bochner leads the Healthcare Private Capital and For-Profit Healthcare Sector. He is an established industry expert bringing years of experience recruiting senior health care executives and investors.

He is based in the Firm’s Los Angeles office and is focused upon the recruitment of investment professionals and senior operating executives to financial sponsor-backed and for-profit healthcare companies.

Dr. Bochner has served as an investment advisor to private capital firms and as a consultant to several public and privately-financed companies. He is a member of numerous medical associations and serves on the Board of several companies.

Dr. Bochner’s prior business background included operating roles, consulting with privately financed companies, and working as a venture capitalist. He served as Vice President in the Venture Capital Group at Robertson, Stephens & Company where he focused on medical investments. Prior to joining RS & Co. he served as Vice President of Business Development at Fusion Medical Technologies, a Sequoia Capital backed medical device company that went public during his tenure.

As a physician, Dr. Bochner established a private medical practice affiliated with Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA specializing in minimally invasive surgical procedures. During this time he served on the Clinical Faculty at Stanford University Hospital. Previously he was a member of the full-time faculty at Stanford University Hospital in the Department of Gynecology.

Dr. Bochner obtained his medical degree from the University of Ottawa and McGill University and performed his specialty training at Stanford University, serving as Chief Resident in 1987. He holds an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Biology from Colgate University.

DAVID CASSELMAN

David Casselman is a lawyer and Co-Founder of the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as the Founder of Ecoflix, a new worldwide streaming video on demand service (scheduled for launch in mid-2021). Both are devoted exclusively to animal and habitat causes. In addition, David is also a member of the Whale Sanctuary Board, an Executive Producer of “Love and Bananas, an Elephant Story, and a long time legal advocate for animals of all kinds.

David grew up in Michigan with a wolf/husky dog, where he developed a love affair with animals, particularly dogs and horses. As he entered the business world, he simultaneously began to explore his ever evolving appreciation for the balance of nature, which ultimately shaped a large portion of his profession life.

Specifically, as an award winning civil trial attorney, David decided to represent animal causes, pro bono. He vowed to do his best to protect and save animals, the truly voiceless among us, for over 40 years. In one case alone, he spent almost $8 million of his time, fighting the Los Angeles Zoo to protect, and hopefully free, Billy the elephant. After winning at trial, and on two appeals, the case was ultimately reversed by the California Supreme Court on a technicality which had nothing to do with elephants or even animals.

David retired from a decorated career practicing law at the end of 2020, and was selected in 2021 as a California Trial Lawyer of the Year, based on his work on a major case which resolved shortly before his retirement. He is now developing Ecoflix, to provide a worldwide platform for animal causes around the world, including direct financial support. He is also actively involved with the ongoing rescue of elephants, primates and other indigenous animals in Thailand and Cambodia, while supporting myriad important animal causes around the globe.

GINA DEL VECCHIO

Gina Del Vecchio is the CEO of SAGE Veterinary Centers, one of the largest advanced veterinary care concerns in the country. With multiple private equity invested platforms under her leadership Gina has led value creation for investors and founders far exceeding their original goals. As an executive leader, she builds and inspires teams to devote themselves to setting and reaching high-performance goals that create transformative growth and meaningful momentum. Over the course of her career, Gina has honed the unique ability to tap into the mindset and potential of entrepreneurs and visionaries.

A recognized animal advocate, particularly in the area of welfare and protection, Gina facilitated the founding of SAGE Compassion for Animals, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing financial assistance for veterinary care to help companion animals in crisis and end financial euthanasia due to the financial condition of the pet’s human companion. Gina and her daughter also rescue, rehabilitate, and release (when ecologically appropriate and ideal) a range of reptiles and birds who have been injured or displaced outside of their natural habitat.

An accomplished musician and composer, Gina earned her BA at Reed College in Oregon before earning her MBA in Environmentally Sustainable and Social Responsible Business at Green Mountain College in Vermont. She lives in northern California with her wife, daughter, and a number of species of animals in and around her home.

A favorite quote of Gina’s is: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

SCOTT JARUS

Scott Jarus is a successful serial entrepreneur, transformational leader and former chief executive of several private and public companies, and has served on many Boards of Directors. He is currently the Executive Chairman at of EV Connect, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging station solutions and developer of the industry-leading platform for managing the entire EV charging eco-system. In addition to his Board service with Food Forward, he is on the Boards of Directors for Wolf Connection and AYSO Area 1D. He is on the Board of Advisors for OnRamp Fund, an early-stage business incubator; Sutton Capital, an investment banking and advisory firm; and StarNews Media, a short-form media company service Africa.

Previously, he was Chairman and CEO of Ironclad Performance Wear, CEO of Cognition Technologies, CEO of j2 Global Communications (eFax), President and Chief Operating Officer for OnSite Access, and in several executive positions within the telecommunications industry.

He has been a member of the Tech Coast Angels, a partner at Social Venture Partners, a Sr. Fellow in the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University, and frequent guest speaker at various universities’ business schools.

In 2005, Mr. Jarus was named National Entrepreneur of the Year for Media/Entertainment/Communications by Ernst & Young. Mr. Jarus holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Kansas. He is married with two children and lives in Manhattan Beach, CA. In his “free time”, he is an AYSO National (Soccer) Referee, Grade 7 USSF Referee, California College and High School Referee, a National Referee Assessor and an AYSO Area Referee Administrator.

Steve McAndrew

Steve McAndrew is currently the Deputy Regional Director of the Americas for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). From 2012 until 2019 he was the Head of Emergency operations for the IFRC. For his role in leading the Red Cross response to the 2015 Ebola outbreak in Africa, Steve was awarded an MBE medal (Member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for Services to Humanity. Steve is one of a small group of Americans for which special achievements have been recognized by the British empire.

Besides leading the effort to stop Ebola, in his work with the Red Cross, Steve has managed some of the largest and most challenging crisis facing the planet over the last decade, including the 2016 Syrian refugee crisis, the devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015 and the 2010 Haitian earthquake, in which a quarter of a million of people lost their lives.

In 2017, Steve also served as Chief Executive Officer of GER, a newly formed US based non-profit organization that assists crisis affected persons to rebuild following disasters with smart and efficient recovery projects. GER (Global Emergency Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction) has carried out projects in Nepal, Puerto Rico, Barbuda, Haiti and Houston.

Mr. McAndrew has also worked in the United States Government Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) in Latin America and Africa, and was also a founding partner of the Global Emergency Group consulting firm in 2008.

Between missions he shares his experiences and has lectured at RAND Corporation, the World Affairs Council of Los Angeles, the University of Virginia and various academic institutions.

Mr. McAndrew also serves on the board of Relief Applications, a European based non-profit organization striving to improve humanitarian operations through data management and technology.

ERIN RICE

BIO COMING SOON

Miguel Rivera

Born in Guatemala, moved to the United States at the age of 13. Miguel started playing music professionally as a Percussionist in 1973 and has toured and recorded with several major artists and in a variety of musical styles. Miguel is currently an award-winning Supervising Sound Editor for Films and Television since 1984 to the present. Miguel taught Drumming at the Men’s conferences in Mendocino and Los Angeles from 1991 to 1995 and Minnesota from 1993 to the present. Also collaborating as presenter with Robert Bly, James Hillman, Ed Tick, Daniel Deardorff, Martin Prechtel, Haki Madhubuti, Robert Moore, Jack Kornfield, Luis Rodriguez, Malidoma Somé, John Lee, Francis Weller and Martin Shaw from 1993 to the present.

In 2001 in collaboration with Robert Bly, Miguel translated and published an English collection of the poetry of Humberto Ak’abal “Poems I brought down from the Mountain” in the United States. He also collaborated with these bilingual editions “Tejiendo las Huellas” Uruguay, 2006 and “El Animalero” Guatemala, 2008.

Miguel’s Board affiliations include being a Board Member of “Shade Tree,” a mentoring group in Los Angeles since its inception in 1996, introducing at risk youth to traditional Native American ceremonies and ways of knowledge, Board Member of “Western Gate Roots and Wings Foundation,” an organization dedicated to bring back rites of passage to youth, and Board Member of “Soldier’s Heart,” an organization dedicated to working with Veterans.

ERROL SPIRO

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Errol arrived in LA as an ambitious 17 year old. After graduating from college he began a 30 year long career in real estate. Currently Partner and CEO at Miller& Desatnik Realty Corp., Errol specializes in residential income property with a focus on Westside apartment sales and development.

Growing up in South Africa, Errol witnessed extreme inequality in the era of apartheid which informed his commitment to mentoring young adults coming out of the Los Angeles child welfare system. Errol is a founding member of the Foster Alumni Co-Mentoring Experience, a program founded in conjunction with Southern California Foster Family and Adoption Agency, that offers support to teenage foster youth as well as transition aged youth who have very little or no family support, poor schooling and few life skills . Through his involvement with this program since 2009, Errol has had the opportunity to work with and learn from the many young adults he has encountered.

At Wolf Connection®, Errol is drawn to the similarity between the young adults he mentors and the wolves. He comments that for many of Los Angeles’ foster youth, the opportunity for self-insight and empowerment does not exist. And in many cases they struggle to step out from the stereotype that society places on them. Errol is honored to have this opportunity to expand his work with young adults at Wolf Connection®.