My father taught me that it is not about how much you have; it's about how much you give. I have always been active with non-profits and I consider active participation to be an important part of my life and an important role model for my children. I've been rewarded with many close friendships stemming from my non-profit activities.

I have 25 years experience with various fundraising activities in the non-profit world and consider my personal attributes to include being a creative, outgoing motivator encouraging people to take on involvement and donate to the worthy causes that I support. I enjoy conceiving of public events where supporters of the organizations I support can gather to enjoy themselves and raise funds for the cause. I was CEO of the first restaurant group west of the Mississippi, Lehr's Greenhouse Restaurants, to join the non-profit "Give Swordfish a Break" campaign for the Seafood Choices Alliance. I was on the Board of the Captain Pete Lappicolla Memorial Tournament which raised more than $1,000,000 over the years for cancer research at the UCSD Cancer Center and the orphanage of San Jose del Cabo, Mexico through a Marlin Fishing Tournament. We advocated and converted the tournament to a catch-and-release event. I served on the Hubbs Marine Research Institute Helmsman's Board at SeaWorld San Diego.