Leadership

Board Members

Bud and Sue Ozar

Bud Ozar

Co-founder, Director Emeritus

Bud is the co-founder of Friends of Kenyan Orphans along with his wife, Sue.

Sue Horrigan Ozar with Bus at the Equator

Sue Horrigan Ozar

Co-founder, Director Emeritus

Sue Ozar co-founded Friends of Kenyan Orphans with her husband Bud in 2009.

Andy Wiegand

Andy Wiegand

Board President, Board Member

Andy is a Partner at Peninsula Capital Partners, an investment company that specializes in providing junior capital, either as a minority or control investor, to superior middle-market companies. He currently serves as the FOKO Board President.

Richard Horrigan

Richard Horrigan

Treasurer, Board Member

Rich Horrigan joined the Board of Friends of Kenyan Orphans in 2013 and is the current Board Treasurer.

Betsy Horrigan Rathz

Secretary, Board Member

Betsy Horrigan Rathz joined the Board of Friends of Kenyan Orphans in 2011 and currently serves as Board Secretary.

Meg Starcevic

Meg Starcevic

Assistant Secretary, Board Member

Meg joined the board of Friends of Kenyan Orphans in January 2020 with a passion to enrich the lives of young children and to provide basic life necessities to those that have so little.

John McManus

John McManus

Board Member

John McManus joined the Board of Friends of Kenyan Orphans in 2013. He is a nationally recognized industrial real estate broker who has completed some of California’s most significant transactions, measured by both dollar volume and market significance.

Susan Montgomery

Susan Montgomery

Board Member

Susan has been an active supporter of and volunteer with Friends of Kenyan Orphans since its inception and has been a Board member since 2013.

Kevin Ozar

Kevin Ozar

Board Member

Kevin has been an educator for over twenty-two years, teaching every grade from sixth through senior year in subjects ranging from reading and writing, history, and leadership to drama and Shakespeare.

Michelle Shaker

Michelle Shaker

Board Member

Michelle joined the Friends of Kenyan Orphans Board in 2020. She is a licensed social worker in the neuromuscular division at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. 

Mercy Thuranira

Mercy Thuranira

Board Member

Mercy has witnessed the first-hand impact that FOKO has on so many marginalized young people in Kenya. She believes being on the FOKO board gives her an opportunity to give back.

claudia white

Claudia White

Board Member

Claudia White joined the FoKO board in 2024. After 30+ years in the pharmaceutical industry primarily focused in Pharmacovigilance (drug safety), Claudia retired in 2017. She consulted the following two years, fully retiring in 2019.

julie alvin

Julie Alvin

Board Member

Julie Alvin has been a FoKO donor for over ten years and joined the board in 2024. She is a digital media executive and storyteller with expertise in reaching female audiences at scale.

dan scales

Dan Scales

Board Member

Dan Scales became a FoKO board member in 2024. He is a highly experienced Food Industry Executive, with a career spanning 45 years at Fortune 500, privately held, and private equity-owned consumer products companies. He has extensive knowledge of company/industry boards, acquisitions, and divestitures, corporate turnarounds, and organizational development.

Staff

Heather Wiegand

Heather Wiegand

Operations Manager

Since 2015, Heather has served as Friends of Kenyan Orphans Operations Manager and supports all of the operating activities of the organization.

Erin Walters

Erin Walters

Data Manager

Erin joined Friends of Kenyan Orphans staff in April of 2019 as operations support.

Julie Krupp

Julie Krupp

Content Developer, Donor Relations Coordinator

Julie joined Friends of Kenyan Orphans team in 2021 as an independent contractor working as an operations associate helping to process donations and assisting the operations team as needed.