Our Board
Global Ambassador
Chaeli Mycroft
Chaeli Mycroft is a South African ability activist with cerebral palsy who won the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011. In 2004 Chaeli (aged 9) co-founded The Chaeli Campaign in Cape Town to raise funds for her motorized wheelchair. The organization now runs several programs that impact the lives of more than 7,000 beneficiaries annually. In 2012, at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Chicago, she was awarded the Peace Summit Medal for Social Activism on behalf of all Nobel Peace Laureates. She was also awarded the 2013 World of Children Award (Youth category) and 2018 Obama Foundation African Leader. She is the first female quadriplegic to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
President
Louis Venturelli
A champion of youth advocacy in international peace and humanitarian efforts, Mr. Venturelli serves as a Program Officer for the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. In this role, he supports special initiatives of the organization’s leadership, including the preparation of the Nobel Peace Summit’s Final Declaration. In addition to this, he also serves as a fundraising and development consultant in New York City for some of the world’s most established non-profit organizations, including museums, theaters, emergency relief organizations, and research institutes. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Quinnipiac University, and a master’s degree in Higher Education from Columbia University. He was a finalist in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for promoting peace education.
Secretary
Jean Altomari
Jean is an American disability and human rights activist who lost the use of her legs from a car accident in 2010. A Pennsylvania State Trooper, Jean admits that her training in law enforcement was easy compared with the rigors of rehabilitation. “When you have an injury like this, you have to grieve it. But then you need to do something good because of it,” she says. She has resumed driving and, just seven months after the accident, returned to her position as a State Trooper on limited duty status. She has her sights set on the Paralympics and has completed Comrades Marathon with Chaeli in South Africa.
Board Member
Kristin Wright
Kristin is the Executive Director of Equity, Prevention, and Intervention at the Sacramento County Office of Education, a role she was appointed to in 2020. Prior to that, Wright served as California’s State Director of Special Education at the California Department of Education (CDE). She has held numerous leadership and policy roles in all branches of state local levels of education and government including Education Policy Advisor to the California State Board of Education, Education Consultant at the California Department of Education, and Senate Appointee to the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, where she served as chair. Kristin found her passion for education as a second career after the birth of her daughter Shelby, who was born with intellectual and physical disabilities.
Board Member
David Ives
David Ives is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Quinnipiac University Connecticut. The Albert Schweitzer Institute promotes the ideas and values of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer on a worldwide basis. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Business, Political Science, Philosophy, and Latin American Studies at Quinnipiac University. He is an Emmy Award Winning Executive Producer of a documentary on the life of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Albert Schweitzer. David serves as a Member of the Board of the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, Centers of Compassion for Children and Pax Natura.
Board Member
Victoria Graf
Victoria Graf, Ph.D. is Professor of Education at Loyola Marymount University. She is also the Interim Chair of the LMU Department of Teaching and Learning and the Interim Director of the LMU Special Education Program. Her passion is the inclusion of children with disabilities in schools and in greater society. Victoria is involved in numerous international projects in South Sudan, South Africa, and in Northern Ireland — all involving the inclusion of individuals on the margins, especially girls and children with disabilities.
Board Member
Grant Schreiber
Grant Schreiber is the Founding Editor of Real Leaders, the world’s first sustainable business & leadership magazine – a mainstream title found on newsstands across the US and globally. Thirty years of publishing, media and design has seen him launch new companies and magazine titles for clients in South Africa, UK and the US. He has developed communication and media strategies for top brands, including Laureus and the Parliament of South Africa. He is also a best-selling author, known for writing light-hearted books around dark topics in an effort to heal social divisions through humor.
Board Member
Lauren Forstbauer
Lauren Forstbauer is an award-winning educator based in Kingston, New York and a friend of the Chaeli Foundation since its founding. As an educator, she encourages her students to challenge the status quo, see beyond their own circumstance and recognize that every person has the capacity and responsibility to advocate for a more just society. Lauren has led delegations of students to participate in the ‘Leading by Example’ program at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates since 2015. Her commitment to building awareness for stronger, more compassionate communities will be invaluable in driving the work done through the Chaeli Foundation.
Board Member
Robert Smith
Robert Smith is the founder of Conscious Capital®, which is expeditiously funding solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. His various board, trustee or advisor positions include The Children’s Village, The Harmon Foundation, Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, Religions for Peace, Thomas Jefferson University, and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).