Six new business leaders are poised to contribute to Arizona’s future success by accepting board positions with the Junior Achievement of Arizona’s Central District Board of Directors. The new directors are Donna Egan of Sprouts Farmers Market, Drena Kusari of Lyft, Anna Lee of Toyota Financial Services, Tom Morgan of Sherman & Howard, Helena Varnavas Gorman of ASML, and Ruth Veloria of the University of Phoenix.
“Junior Achievement’s new board of directors members are a remarkable group of talented and dedicated individuals whose contributions will further Junior Achievement’s mission of ensuring an educated workforce that adds to Arizona’s future economic success,” said Junior Achievement President Katherine Cecala. “We are thrilled to add these six – and their education, experience and caliber – to our Central District Board of Directors.”
Donna Egan, the director of corporate communications for Spouts Farmers Market, has deep retail expertise and a broad client portfolio spanning public, non-profit and government sectors. Her 20 years’ experience includes managing strategic communications for public, high-profile companies and federal agencies. Arizona students will benefit from Donna’s background in communications, public relations, customer relations, consumer marketing, consensus building, media relations and public speaking.
Drena Kusari, general manager of Lyft of Phoenix, is recognized for her strategic thinking and leadership in solving complex business challenges. She led her firm’s multi-million dollar Salesforce implementation. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics and attended Harvard Business School for her MBA. Since Drena is certified to sell a variety of investment products, she will be an excellent mentor to students interested in securities activities.
Anna Lee, national operations manager for Toyota Financial Services, manages over 200 team members who provide services to Toyota and Lexus customers and dealers. She has 20 years of experience in lending and operations in the United States and Australian markets. She has participated in teaching the Junior Achievement curriculum in Nevada and Southern California.
Tom Morgan, a member of the law firm of Sherman & Howard, specializes in securities regulation, corporate, and tax law with an emphasis in public and private securities offerings, private equity fundings, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, commercial and real estate transactions, and general tax planning. Mr. Morgan has over 30 years’ experience in representing clients in the issuance of equity and debt securities, structuring investment funds, structuring joint ventures and private equity investments, and ongoing compliance matters. He also represents buyers and sellers in stock and asset acquisitions, including acquisitions involving security law compliance. He advises companies on a variety of governance, tax, and general commercial issues and advises start-up and operating companies in structuring joint ventures and in offering securities.
Helena Varnavas Gorman is senior counsel with ASML, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chip-making equipment that is headquartered in Veldhoven the Netherlands and has 14,000 employees. Ms. Varnavas Gorman recently received the Arizona Corporate Counsel Awards Up and Comer Counsel of the Year Award. ASML is a big supporter of Junior Achievement internationally.
As the executive dean of the School of Business at the University of Phoenix, Ruth Veloria is the senior-most executive responsible for the profit and loss performance of UOP’s School of Business. Veloria is accountable for the academic quality of programs, student retention, relationships with hiring employers and regional accreditation. Her specialty areas include strategy development, customer programs, data analysis and modeling, market research design and execution, business plan building, program office leadership, metrics design and measurement for ongoing business and pilots. She received her master’s in chemistry from Oxford and her MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of management. Ms. Veloria is recognized for her ability to marry strategy with execution, which clearly differentiates her as a leader.
