Board of Directors

Kim Cranston, Chairman of the Board

Kim Cranston is C.E.O. and Chair of the Board of Transparent Democracy, Chair of the Board of the Global Security Institute, a member of the Board of the Los Altos Community Foundation, and a member of the Human Rights Watch California Committee North. Born in San Francisco, Kim graduated from U.C. Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and from Hastings College of the Law.

Kim has worked previously as director of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Transparent Commerce Initiative for One Cosmos Network, a new media company; as President of the Social Venture Network, a network of socially conscious business and social entrepreneurs and investors; as a consultant to the State of the World Forum; as Chief of Staff to California Lieutenant Governor Leo T. McCarthy; as Vice President of Business Affairs for Platypus Productions, Inc., a cable television production company; as a lawyer with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; as a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter; and in several political campaigns, including as Chair, Cranston for Senate, 1986. Kim edited the book The Sovereignty Revolution by Alan Cranston, with contributions from Mikhail Gorbachev, Jonathan Schell, Dr. Jane Goodall, and Jonathan Granoff (Stanford University Press 2004) and blogs for the Huffington Post.

C.E. Pat Patterson, President of the Board

Pat Patterson is President of MacKenzie Patterson, Inc., a financial services company specializing in real estate securities. Through his corporations, Mr. Patterson is involved with investment advisory, real estate property management, partnership administration, and management of skilled nursing homes. Mr. Patterson serves as President of the Board of the Global Security Institute.

Zachary Allen, Secretary  / Treasurer of the Board

Zack Allen is an attorney in the San Francisco office of Arnold & Porter, LLP where he is developing a general litigation practice. Prior to attending law school at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Mr. Allen served as the Executive Director of the Global Security Institute. Mr. Allen began his career at GSI, helping Senator Alan Cranston to found the organization in 1999, and thereafter, helping to guide it through its first six years of programmatic and institutional development. In addition to his JD, Mr. Allen holds an MA from Stanford University’s program in Latin American Studies. He also earned his AB in International Relations at Stanford, where he graduated with University Distinction and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Christie Brinkley, President CB Inc., Model/Humanitarian

Christie Brinkley as been an internationally-celebrated and respected model, author, spokesperson, businesswoman, activist, and philanthropist for over thirty years. Linking children’s health and the importance of a clean, safe, environment has become her overriding campaign. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of GSI, she is also a founding board member of STAR (Standing for Truth about Radiation) and was instrumental in closing two nuclear reactors at Brookhaven National Laboratory. She has spoken before the National Press Club, the Nuclear Regulatory Committee and the Senate Sub Committees on nuclear issues and, most recently, spoke at a panel hosted by the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament at the United Nations.

Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr., Cypress Fund for Peace and Security

Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. is Chairman of the Board of the Cypress Fund for Peace and Security, a charitable foundation established to provide long-term, reliable support to selected arms control, nonproliferation and conflict resolution NGOs, support PhD programs and carry out other activities in these fields. Internationally known as one of the leading authorities in the field of international arms control and nonproliferation agreements designed to limit and to combat the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Ambassador Graham has served as a senior U.S. diplomat involved in the negotiation of every major international arms control and non-proliferation agreement for the past 35 years. Ambassador Graham is a widely published author in both scholarly journals and major newspapers and has taught at many prestigious universities.

Robert Klein, President, Klein Financial Corporation

Robert Klein is President of Klein Financial Corporation, a real estate investment banking consulting company, and Klein Financial Resources, a real estate development company. His work focuses on New Community Development, Affordable Housing Finance and Development and Urban Renewal Projects. Mr. Klein serves on the California Housing Finance Agency Board and the Global Security Institute Board. His accomplishments include writing the California Housing Finance Agency Act; establishing the West Coast Public Investment Banking Office for Paine Webber and developing California’s first tax credit National Historic Site Restoration Project.

Fred Master, Founder, The Fred Foundation

Fred Matser is a leading humanitarian and businessman and the founder and co-founder of a wide range of charitable foundations that span the fields of healthcare, environment, conservation, peace and global transformation. Previously the director of one of the most successful real estate and project development companies in the Netherlands, he now concentrates on philanthropic projects aimed at inspiring individuals and groups towards the creation of a more functional society.  He has been honored with several international awards for these projects.

Berniece Patterson, President, Pioneer Health Care Services

Berniece Patterson serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Health Care Services, Inc., a nursing home management company. She is also Chairman of the Board of MacKenzie Patterson, Inc., overseeing partnership administration and transfer operations for limited partnerships investing in secondary market limited partnership units.

Kim Polese, Chairman and Co-founder, Marimba, Inc.

Kim Polese is co-founder and former Chair of Marimba, Inc., a leading provider of systems management solutions based in Mountain View, California. Prior to co-founding Marimba, Ms. Polese spent more than seven years at Sun Microsystems and was the original product manager for Java. During her tenure at Sun, she played a key role in the strategic definition and launch of Java. She is a member of the executive board of TechNet, a bipartisan coalition of digital-economy executives focused on strengthening America’s leadership in the technology economy, is on the advisory board member for W.I.T.I. (Women in Technology International) and is a CEO mentor for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs. Ms Polese also serves on the board of Do Something, a national organization that inspires, trains, funds and mobilizes young people to become leaders in their communities.

Christina Sidoti, Owner/Operator, Paolina’s Way

Christina Sidoti is an active philanthropist and entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in the worlds of fashion, hospitality, entertainment, business and not for profit development. She is also committed to multiple social and public policy issues. Her latest venture is Paolina’s Way, a slow food concept restaurant serving traditional Italian fare, and located in Camden, Maine. Ms. Sidoti also serves on the advisory board of Aspen Youth Experience, a not-for-profit group dedicated to empowering at-risk teens from across the United States. As an active east coast member of the GSI Board of Directors, Ms. Sidoti has helped organize numerous GSI events at the United Nations and on Capitol Hill.

Tyler Wigg Stevenson, Founder and Director, Two Futures Project

Rev. Stevenson is Founder and Director of the Two Futures Project, a movement of Christians for nuclear threat reduction and the global abolition of nuclear weapons. He also serves as chairman of the Global Task Force on Nuclear Weapons for the World Evangelical Alliance and as policy director for Faithful Security, a multi-faith coalition working for nuclear security. Senator Cranston recruited Tyler as the first staff of the Global Security Institute. He is the author of Brand Jesus: Christianity in a Consumerist Age, a contributing editor at Sojourners magazine, politics columnist at Relevant magazine, and a regular writer and speaker on matters of faith and public life. His work has been profiled by a variety of secular and Christian media, including the Washington Post, Christianity Today, CQ, WORLD, ABC World News, and PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. Tyler is an ordained Baptist minister with degrees from Swarthmore College and Yale Divinity School.

Lynne Twist (Emeritus Board Member), President, Soul of Money Institute

Lynne Twist is the president of the Soul of Money Institute. Global activist, fundraiser, speaker, author, teacher, mentor and counselor, Lynne has devoted her life to service in support of global sustainability and security, human rights, economic integrity and spiritual authenticity. Lynne has raised millions of dollars, and trained other fundraisers to be more effective in their work, for organizations that serve the best instincts of all of us – to end world hunger, empower women, nurture children and youth, and preserve the natural heritage of our planet.

Dolf Zantinge

Dolf Zantinge is an international businessman and humanitarian. He is the founder of many organizations in the field of Information/Communication Technologies and has served as CEO or as Chairman of the Board for many companies in the field. He is widely published in the field of technical innovation and the influence of technology on the society. He is the founder of a charitable foundation and concentrates on education and innovation to support a more social society. He is also an adviser to many organizations and governments on issues relating to innovation and creating a new social balance. He lives with his wife and son in the Netherlands.