Board Members

Don Fertman, Board Chair

Don Fertman is the current board chair for The Phoenix, having served on the board since 2013. As Chief Development Officer for Franchise World Headquarters, franchisor of Subway, Don has seen the company grow from 166 restaurants at the time he began his career in 1981 to over 40,000 global locations today. Currently semi-retired, Don continues to work with the company as a Development Consultant and devotes the remainder of his time to recovery work.

Don took his last drink on June 6, 1983.  He speaks openly about his journey to recovery and was featured in two episodes of the CBS TV show “Undercover Boss” where he publicly discussed his alcoholism.  He also participated in a documentary about the Recovery Movement, “The Anonymous People”, which has been screened around the country and was a producer for “The Concert To Face Addiction” which aired on PBS television.  As a result of the outreach that occurred following the Undercover Boss appearance, Don founded Recovery Branches (www.recoverybranches.org) to help those in recovery to find avenues to enrich their lives and assist post-treatment organizations in their expansion efforts.

Prior to his employment at Subway, Don was affiliated with the company through his previous career as a freelance writer and musician, writing and performing jingles promoting Subway sandwiches nationwide.  That career also included his participation in a studio project, “How Pop Can You Get” by The Bats, that yielded an album and video which received national attention, including a “recommended” rating in Billboard Magazine and airplay on HBO.  Don received a B.S Degree Cum Laude in Communications from the University of New Haven..

Gregory Sheindlin

Gregory Sheindlin is an attorney who began his career as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. For over twenty years, he has been in private law practice representing clients with claims involving criminal accusations, civil rights violations and personal injuries. In 2008, he volunteered for Lawyers Without Borders to be an independent legal observer for the “Caprivi trial” in the African country of Namibia. The Caprivi trial involved approximately 200 defendants being prosecuted for high treason and murder based on their alleged attempt to create an independent country in the Caprivi region. It is the longest criminal trial in history, spanning over fifteen (15) years. Currently, Gregory Sheindlin serves on the Board of Directors for The Phoenix, New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) and Kids in Namibia Deserve Love and Encouragement (KINDLE). He is also a 2nd degree blackbelt in the Seido Karate system who, for more than 5 years, was a volunteer martial arts instructor for Young Adult Institute (YAI), teaching martial arts to to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.

Scott Strode

Scott Strode, the Founder & National Executive Director of The Phoenix, was born and raised in Pennsylvania, spending 11 years in Boston before settling in Colorado. He found sobriety on April 8, 1997 and credits getting involved with boxing and climbing as the most influential factors in his sobriety. He has since developed a passion for mountain biking, CrossFit, triathlons, running, cycling, motorcycle touring and almost anything that gets him outside. He launched The Phoenix in Colorado in 2006, based on his personal experience that a healthy lifestyle has a transformative effect on long-term sobriety. Scott strongly believes that a sober active community helps individuals rise, recover and live through the power of fitness and community. In addition to pursuing his own fitness goals and leading the team at The Phoenix, Scott is certified or held certifications as a Certified Personal Trainer NASM, USA Triathlon level II Certified Coach, AMGA Certified Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, CPR and has been working, instructing, coaching and guiding in the outdoors for the past two decades. To recognize his substance use disorder recovery work, Scott was named a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2012, and received the “Advocates for Action Award” from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2014. Watch Scott’s TEDxMileHigh talk or visit www.thephoenix.org for more information.

Dave Gann

With a degree in Fisheries biology and a background in biochemistry, Dave Gann has applied science and technology to all aspects of his professional career.  David owned and operated one of Colorado’s largest private trout farms for sixteen years.  As owner of the Silver Springs Trout Farm in Montrose Colorado, Dave served his industry as President of the Colorado Aquaculture Association, Chairman of the State Fish Health Board, Secretary of the United States Trout Farmers Association and Co-Author of the Colorado Aquaculture Act of 1991.

Dave was elected to the office of Montrose County Commissioner in the early 1990’s and also served as Chairman of the Tri-County Public Lands Partnership. In 1996 Dave went to work for The Nature Conservancy and worked in several capacities as Western Colorado Program Director and Program Manager for the chapters Energy by Design project.  Dave also worked as chapter lead on an altitudinal corridor protection project for large predator migration in Panama and finally, as Director of the Arizona Rivers Program based in Tucson Arizona studying the impact of water scarcity in the west, and the long term health of the Colorado River system.  Currently, Dave is the Chief Science Officer at South River Aquaponics, an organically certified aquaponics greenhouse, culinary and medicinal mushroom farm.

Dave dedicates his time monitoring and managing, water chemistry, plant health, and nutritional needs within the greenhouse.  Most recently, working closely staff and leadership, Dave has led the effort to commercially grow gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. A Colorado native and talented musician, Dave has appeared in dozens of musical theater productions, entertained audiences throughout Colorado,  produced a record of original songs and  also represented the state of Colorado as a musical ambassador to Colorado’s sister city Yamagata Japan. Dave lives in Montrose with his wife Linda where they enjoy grandchildren, outdoor activities, guitar, Native American studies, conservation, natural resource and wildlife management.

Lorna Donatone

Lorna Donatone joined The Phoenix board in 2020 and was most recently Sodexo’s CEO for Geographic Regions and the Region Chair for North America, prior to her retirement in January 2020. In the last 15 years of her career, she established a diversity and inclusion strategy within Sodexo.

Lorna began her career in public accounting and has worked in the airline, banking and high-tech industries in a variety of CFO positions. Subsequently, she has served on multiple boards including the National Restaurant Association (2005) and its Educational Foundation (2011), Entertainment Cruises, LLC (2007), The Culinary Institute of America (2008), and Jamba Juice, Inc. (2018). Lorna also is past chair of the Texas Christian University Neeley School of Business International Board of Visitors (2018) and is a current member of the Tulane University Business School Council.

As a person in long-term recovery and a CrossFit athlete, Lorna is focused on giving back and helping others. She currently lives in Virginia Beach where her family, including 3 grandchildren, also reside.

Alan Vorwald

Alan Vorwald joined the The Phoenix board in 2020 and is a 20-year wealth management veteran with Morgan Stanley. He and his team work with entrepreneurs and their families, managing their liquid assets currently exceeding $1 billion and maintaining plans for following generations. In recognition of his expertise, Alan was named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best-in-State Wealth Advisors in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Alan holds a BA from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He spent eight years living in cities across Europe, including Belfast, Prague, Frankfurt, and London. Alan speaks fluent German and played in European basketball leagues. Since 2014, he and his family have been members of Stand Together, a philanthropic community focused on improving the key institutions of society (Education, Business, Community and Government). He resides in Pacific Palisades, CA with his wife and five children.

Lauren McCann

Lauren McCann is the Founder & CEO of Calliope Advisors, a mission-driven consulting firm and innovation partner for philanthropists and nonprofits who are piloting new concepts to solve pressing and urgent societal problems.

Prior to founding Calliope Advisors, Lauren served as Executive Vice President of Stand Together Foundation, a venture philanthropy organization that helps grow and scale innovative models focused on breaking the cycle of poverty. Lauren developed the vision, model, and approach for the organization’s operating model and also launched The Catalyst Program, a six-month training program for high impact nonprofit leaders to help establish strong foundations for growth.

Previously, Lauren was Vice President of Strategic Development for The National Association of Manufacturers where she led business development efforts driving membership growth and sponsorship revenue for Fortune 1000 companies. She also held additional roles in external relations at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

Lauren currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Phoenix and the National Black Bank Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing black banks and closing the racial wealth gap. Lauren is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Civil Society Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Sunil Sudhakar

Sunil Sudhakar is the Vice President & Head of Operations for the Americas with The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a SoCal origin global café chain with over 1000 locations worldwide. Sunil leads operations across both their company as well as franchise locations, as well as their overall business for Canada.
Prior to that, Sunil led international operations at Subway, a ubiquitous global sandwich chain, for their businesses across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. In addition, he was the global head of Learning & Development for the brand, responsible for the development and implementation of the brand’s L&D ecosystem.
Sunil started his career in the restaurant industry with Yum Brands where he spent over 20 years in various operations leadership roles with their category leading brands – Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, which gave him the opportunity to live in diverse cities such as Brisbane, Dubai, Louisville and Calgary, apart from New Delhi, India, where he originally is from.
Being in the foodservice retail industry, Sunil remains passionate about any dynamic shift occurring that impact customers and employees alike. To that effect, he is an advisor to Nextbite – a leader in the virtual restaurant space and a pioneer in online order management.
Sunil currently resides with his wife and daughter in Vancouver, Canada. A personal experience with a family member is what inspires Sunil to support the causes at The Phoenix and leverage the global experiences he has gained, towards its growth.

Joshua Murphy

Denny Post

Denny Marie Post is a former public company CEO with a 35+ year track record of strategic innovation and team building for iconic brands including Starbucks, T-Mobile, Yum Brands, Burger King and, most recently, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. She is currently engaged as Senior Advisor for US Foodservice to the LiveKindly Collective, a global plant-based food company.
Denny’s focus on delivering innovative products and services to consumers while inspiring both customer and employee loyalty have been central to her track record of breakthrough results in generating profits, incremental revenue, and enhanced brand recognition.
Denny’s career began as an advisor in marketing strategy to Fortune 500 clients at leading firms including Whittle Communications and Tracy-Locke/BBDO Advertising. This client-based perspective informed her general management, marketing, and innovation leadership with Yum Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut), Burger King, T-Mobile, Starbucks, and Red Robin.
Innovation has been a major theme in Denny’s career. She conceived, developed, and marketed best-selling products for KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, and T-Mobile, including Pike Place Roast at Starbucks, Red’s Tavern Double and Finest lines at Red Robin, Popcorn Chicken at KFC, and Chicken Fries at Burger King. Innovation has also characterized the way Denny has organized partnerships and business units to improve business operations and customer service, including creating a co-branded opportunity to support self-delivery and to drive sales at Red Robin. Marketing has been yet another source of innovation, with her successes including the launch of the first Android phone in partnership with Google and engaging Eric Clapton to benefit his charitable cause promoting the Fender MyTouch phone at T-Mobile.
Denny’s ability to turn around under-performing brands and organizations has benefited from her ability to inspire employee and customer loyalty. At Red Robin she oversaw the most successful loyalty program in Casual Dining industry with 8 million+ members and opened communication with employees to produce best-in-class engagement and “intent to stay” metrics. Her commitment to gender parity in board and leadership ranks was recognized by the industry winning coveted SOAR and Golden Chain awards.
Board and industry service have also been hallmarks of Denny’s career. She currently serves on the board of Travel + Leisure (TNL) and is a member of the Governance and Compensation committees. She also serves on the board of Vital Farms (VITL), a rapid growth B Corp based in Austin where she is Lead Director. She recently joined the board of Libbey Glass, a 200-year-old American manufacturing company which recently emerged from bankruptcy and is turning toward the future. She is a member of the Audit committee for Libbey. Denny also joined the board of Bluestone Lane Holdings, LLC in 2020, an Australian-inspired chain of cafes and coffeehouses backed by RSE Ventures. She is past chair of the Women’s Foodservice Forum and previously served as a board member of Red Robin (RRGB), the Denver branch of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, Blue Dog Bakery Natural Dog Treats and Prosperity Organic Foods.

Mary Lester

Mary Lester was born in Houston and grew up in Bay City, Texas. She received her B.A. from Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio.

She serves on the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors in Houston, Texas; Eisenhower Medical Center Board of Trustees in Rancho Mirage, California; ALSAC / St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Professional Advisory Board in Memphis, Tennessee; The Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Board of Directors in Fort Worth, Texas; The McCallum Theatre Board of Trustees in Palm Desert, California; The Phoenix Board of Directors in Denver, Colorado.
While living in San Francisco, she is involved with Larkin Street Youth Center for runaway and homeless youth, The American Heart Association, UCSF Cancer Council, School of Volunteers, and the Museum of Modern Art.

She operates the Lester Family Foundation. She currently enjoys golf, yoga and horses; and resides in Indian Wells and San Francisco, California.

Gary Philips