Shari Brasher
Chief Executive Officer
Shari@FreshStart.org
760.448.2016
Joined Fresh Start in 2004
Volunteer & BOD Member 1992-2004
Margaret Phelan
Chief Financial Officer
Margaret@FreshStart.org
760.448.2010
Joined Fresh Start in 2009
Michelle Pius
Chief Development Officer & Global Partnerships
Michelle@FreshStart.org
760.448.2018
Joined Fresh Start in 2010
Traci Balandran, BSN, RN, NE-BC, CLEC, LNC
Chief Medical Program Officer
Traci@FreshStart.org
760.484.6069
Joined Fresh Start in 2025
Jill Granquist, RN, BSN
Director of Specialty Clinics
Jill@FreshStart.org
760.448.2014
Joined Fresh Start in 2023
Volunteer since 2003
Lupita Morales
National Director of Patient & Volunteer Services
Lupita@FreshStart.org
760.519.6706
Joined Fresh Start in 2007
Hablo Español
Jen Thrush
Associate Director of Development Operations
Jen@FreshStart.org
760.448.2013
Joined Fresh Start in 2023
Angela Paduch, RN, BSN
Medical Program Manager
Angela@FreshStart.org
726.234.0382
Joined Fresh Start in 2023
Miriam Hernandez
Clinical and Case Manager
Medical Assistant
Miriam@FreshStart.org
760.579.9108
Joined Fresh Start in 2007
Hablo Español
Maribel Contreras
Medical Services Manager
Medical Assistant
Maribel@FreshStart.org
760.579.9107
Joined Fresh Start in 2012
Hablo Español
Virginia Wheat
Executive Assistant
Virginia@FreshStart.org
760.454.3366
Joined Fresh Start in 2025
Marunong ako mag-Tagalog
Lesy Hernandez
Medical Assistant, Patient Services and Volunteer Coordinator
Lesy@FreshStart.org
760.835.7265
Joined Fresh Start in 2024
Hablo Español
Kendall Johnston
Development Associate
Kendall@FreshStart.org
703.969.1647
Joined Fresh Start in 2024
Ángel Portillo
Medical Assistant for Expansion and Growth
Angel@FreshStart.org
760.994.9253
Joined Fresh Start in 2024
Hablo Español
Cassandra Trinh
Medical Assistant
Cassandra@FreshStart.org
760.533.5077
Joined Fresh Start in 2024
Hablo Español
Board of Directors
Maggie Shoecraft – President
Retired
Jeremy Hirshberg, PhD – Immediate Past President
JAZ Capital Partners, LLC
Anthony Arnold – Vice President
Barnes & Thornburg, LLP – Partner
Alex Shahabe – Secretary
OWL – President
Traci Holley – Treasurer
Axos Bank – Senior Vice President Lending Compliance Officer & LQC
Russell R. Reid, MD, PhD – Medical Director
Fresh Start – Chicago
The University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences
Christine Willis
Director
CCL Hospitality Group, President
Frank Fazio
Director
Amplifica Holdings Group – President & CEO
Michael Brucker, MD
Director
Brucker Plastic Surgery
Temple Zander, PhD
Director
Joe Johnson
Director
Tyson Simon
Director
Kforce, Inc. – Vice President Technology & Transformation Solutions
Tom Cavallo
Director
EVP of Business Development
GoodLeap, LLC
Executive Leadership
Melissa Kanack
Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery, University of California, San Diego
FRESH START CLINIC MEDICAL DIRECTOR
Shari Brasher
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Michelle Pius
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
Margaret Phelan
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Traci Balandran, BSN, RN, NE-BC, CLEC, LNC
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts
CHIEF MEDICAL PROGRAM OFFICER