Oakland, CA—December 18, 2015— Playworks, the leading national nonprofit leveraging the power of play to bring out the best in every kid, is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to the national Board of Directors. At the organization’s quarterly meeting, the chair of the Board of Directors Joy Weiss welcomed the newest directors, Jeff Bonforte, Richard “Dick” Daniels, Pat Morrin, and Paul Schmitz.
Jeff Bonforte is senior vice president of communication products at Yahoo. He leads the team responsible for Yahoo’s core communications products, including Mail, Messaging, Flickr, Groups, Calendar and Contacts. Bonforte has 20 years of experience in internet and technology product development. A long-time entrepreneur, he has founded or led pioneering start-ups including i-drive, Gizmo5 (acquired by Google) and Xobni, which Yahoo acquired in 2013. Bonforte also previously worked at Yahoo as vice president of social search and vice president of messaging.
Richard “Dick” Daniels is executive vice president and chief information officer for Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan, Inc. Daniels is responsible for Kaiser Permanente’s Information Technology vision, strategy, and execution. Daniels reports to Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and chief executive officer, and is a member of the national executive team. Dick has more than 30 years of information technology leadership experience. Before joining Kaiser Permanente in 2008, he served as senior vice president and divisional CIO for Capital One and as senior vice president at JP Morgan Chase. In 2007, Computerworld honored him as a Premier 100 IT Leader.
Pat Morrin is the former co-founder, CFO, and vice president for Basis Communications Corporation, a communications semiconductor company based in Fremont, California, which was acquired by Intel Corporation. Pat was previously director of marketing and business development at Intel, and held various finance positions at Cirrus Logic, Inc. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland; a member on the Board of Advisors for Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles; and chairman of the Board of Advisors for the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Diego. Morrin received a B.A. in English and a BBA in business management from the University of San Diego and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
Paul Schmitz is CEO of Leading Inside Out, a nonprofit and philanthropic advisory firm; senior advisor to The Collective Impact Forum; and the first innovator in residence at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Innovation and Impact. Schmitz is the author of Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up. Paul previously served as CEO of the national leadership development organization Public Allies, was a social innovation advisor to the White House, and has been named three separate years to The Nonprofit Times list of the 50 most influential nonprofit leaders in America.
“As Playworks launches an ambitious growth strategy to ensure that every child experiences safe and healthy play at school every day, I’m thrilled to have the passion and expertise of these new board members to help us chart the course,” said Elizabeth Cushing, president and chief operating officer at Playworks.
Comprised of 11 members, the national board paid special thanks to the outgoing directors, Randy Drake, Marlon Evans, and Sherrie Deans, for their past service with the organization.
Playworks is the leading national nonprofit leveraging the power of play to transform children’s social and emotional health. Playworks currently serves more than 900 schools in 23 U.S. cities, and reaches 600,000 students directly and through professional training services. Playworks changes school culture by leveraging the power of safe, fun, and healthy play at school every day by creating a place for every kid on the playground to feel included, be active, and build valuable social and emotional skills.
For more information, please visit playworks.org.
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Media Contact:
Mindy Maschmeyer, Director of Marketing and Communications
mindy.maschmeyer@playworks.org
