Our board members are talented, experienced, and possess diverse expertise. We thank them for their service.
Help us create Water Safety Awareness in homes, communities, and classrooms all over the world
Mary Ann is the newest member of the JCMF Board of Directors. She is Joshua’s aunt and currently resides in Oklahoma City, OK working for the Dept. of Transportation.
Randy is Joshua’s Uncle and is the Treasurer & Vice President of Finance at Novelis, the world’s largest producer of flat rolled aluminum and the world’s largest aluminum recycler, based out of Atlanta, Georgia.
Mario Vittone retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2013 after 22 years of service as a helicopter rescue swimmer and maritime accident investigator. He is a leading expert on immersion hypothermia, drowning, sea survival, and safety at sea. His writing has appeared in Yachting Magazine, Soundings, SaltWater Sportsman, The Washington Post, Slate.com, and Reader’s Digest. He has developed courses for municipal rescue teams and the military on search and rescue tactics and open ocean survival. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross for Extraordinary Heroism. He is a former Coast Guard Enlisted Person of the Year and winner of the Alex Haley Award for Journalism. He lives and works in Apollo Beach, Florida as the general manager of Lifesaving Systems Corp. Mario has served on the JCMF board since 2012.
Mary Ann Downing is a San Diego mom passionate about drowning prevention and water safety. She’s the “pool safety mom” at many local water safety events. She was a Board Member of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (www.ndpa.org) for 6 years, and is currently the Co-Chair of the Drowning Prevention Task Force of Safe Kids San Diego. She’s a member of the San Diego County Aquatic Council.
Mary graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Health and Physical Education with an emphasis in aquatics. She spent time as an Aquatics Director for the Y (YMCA), and later started a business called Pool Safety Solutions- bringing pool safety equipment and services to over 1300 pool-owning parents-in their own backyards.
Volunteering her time and energy, Mary has presented at national and local events on drowning prevention and water safety. She was named the 2014 Drowning Prevention Advocate of the year by the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation for the “Water Safety Buddy Book Project”. She was instrumental (and had the most fun ever) in developing the award winning “Swim with a Navy SEAL” water safety project.
Mary uses the SafeR3 message- “all water has risk” and encourages you all to “Educate to Eliminate Drowning” with the Safer3: Safer Water, Safer People, and Safer Response. (www.safer3.org)
Contact her at 858-603-2260 or mary@poolsafetymom.com
Lisa J. Nichols BSN, RN, CCRN, CPST is the Trauma Program Manager at Dell Children’s in Austin, Texas. Previously she served as the Trauma Program Manager at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Lisa has worked as the Trauma Program Manager for the past 7 years. In this role, Lisa developed the trauma program at Children’s toward the goal of becoming a verified level 2 pediatric trauma center—a goal which the hospital achieved in 2012. In this role, Lisa has helped to develop the injury prevention program. This program is dedicated to decreasing injuries to children as identified by Children’s trauma registry. Prior to this role, Lisa had worked for over 20 years as a staff nurse and nursing supervisor caring for children in Pediatric Intensive Care Units and Emergency Departments at Children’s as well as other hospitals around the country as a travelling nurse.
Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree from the University of Iowa. She is also certified as a critical care nurse and child passenger safety technician. Lisa is involved in many different local/state/regional/national committees as they relate to pediatric trauma. Lisa has extensive experience in educating health care providers about the care of pediatrics. She helped develop a pediatrics education course for critical access hospitals and EMS providers in Nebraska. Of note, she lectured for the national Society of Trauma Nurses pediatric pre-conference in 2013 and 2014 and also served as the key note speaker for the St. Louis Children’s Trauma Symposium in 2014. Lisa was given the “Hero of Nursing for Community Service” award in 2011. In 2014, Lisa was named Nebraska March of Dimes Nurse of the Year for Mentoring and Leadership.
Alan moved to Cherry Hill from New York in 1977 and started his Rotary career at Garden State Rotary Club of Cherry Hill in 1995 and filled many positions. Alan and his wife Ilean, also a member, transferred to the Voorhees Breakfast Club in 2009. Alan and Ilean were principals of Stein Associates, a Sales and Marketing Company in the Home Fashion industry. Alan has been in his own company for more than 29 years.
In 2010 Alan started a new career as an Independent Insurance Agent licensed in New Jersey & Pennsylvania. In 2013 he became contracted, certified and appointed by many carriers in the Medicare field. He Educates, Counsels and Enrolls eligible beneficiaries in Medicare. He has been very active in the community ie on the Board of Directors of the Cherry Hill Regional Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Board in 1999. He was a Trustee of the Camden County Workforce Investment Board for twelve years. He served on the board of the Camden County Literacy Volunteers of America for six years. The Delaware Valley Stroke Council honored Alan and Ilean as Volunteers of the Year in 2004, where they both served on the Board.
Alan graduated from the Leadership Institute On Workforce Development Class of 1995 sponsored by the National Alliance of Business and the New Jersey State Employment & Training Commission. In 1996-1997 Alan was named the New Jersey Business Person of the Year by the Phi Beta Lambda Chapter of the FBLA – Future Business Leaders of America. May 7, 1999, Alan was named Rotarian of the year by his club and received a proclamation from then Mayor, Susan Bass Levin. Alan has been a board member for most of his years in Rotary and has filled many positions including Vocational Chair and Foundation Chair. He has presented for the past 18 years at Career Night at RYLA.
He is a graduate of the RI Leadership Institute and completed the Post Graduate Course in 2002. He now serves as a Facilitator and Regional Vice-Chair 2014-2017. He served on the District Conference committee in 2007-2008, the District Youth Exchange Committee to the present and the District Finance Committee. He was club president in Governor Joszef’s year 2007-2008. He also served on the 2009-2010 District Conference, Mid-Atlantic PETS and Vocational Assembly Committees. In 2009-2010 he chaired the District’s Foundation Annual Giving and the Hands Across the District project. He was the 2010 Treasurer of the NJ Vocational Assembly. December of 2011, Governor Alan was honored at the Rutgers University/LEAP Academy Scholarship Fundraising Gala, receiving the Rutgers/LEAP Leadership Award. Past District Governor Alan is presently the District International Service Chair, 2013-2016, was District RLI Chair, RLI Site Chair 2012-2014.
Alan & Ilean are also multiple Paul Harris Fellows and Ilean was also an Assistant Governor for three years. They have been married 42 years with 5 children, 8 grandchildren and “Giorgio Armani” their 5 year old Silky Terrier.
