about our boards

International Samaritan currently has two boards and one advisory committee.  Interested in joining one of our boards? Check our Team Page for any board openings.

board of trustees for international samaritan

J. Michael Bernard

Detroit, Michigan

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Tsion Firew, M.D.

New York, New York

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Fr. Bobby Karle, SJ

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Christopher Lindsey

New York, New York

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Scott Savage

Toledo, Ohio

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Jeff Styers

Southfield, Michigan

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Mike Tenbusch

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Truman Timmis

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

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Dan Weingartz

Utica, Michigan

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Markeith Weldon

Detroit, Michigan

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board emeritus

Clay Mathile (1941-2023)

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Karen Pulte

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William Pulte (1932-2018)

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Joe Rideout

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board of fundación buen samaritano

Francisco Baltazar

Board Member

Andrew Pawuk

Board Member

Milthon Barrera

Board Member

Mike Tenbusch

Board Member

Edgar Lojotz

Board Member

Miguel Lopez Itzep

Board Member

ethiopian advisory committee

Tsion Firew, M.D.

Advisory Committee Member

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Mahlet Fitsum

Advisory Committee Member

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Suleiman Shifaw

Advisory Committee Member

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Ephrem Tekle Lemango, M.D.

Advisory Committee Member

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Yared Tewolde

Advisory Committee Member

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Birikit Tiruneh

Advisory Committee Member

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Fr. Odomaro, S.J.

Advisory Committee Member

Bio Pending

About J. Michael Bernard, Esq.

Michael Bernard, Esq. is a member of the Dykema law firm, working at their Detroit office. He has extensive experience in venture financing, mergers, and acquisitions. Mr. Bernard continues his long commitment to helping those in need.

About Dr. Tsion Firew

Tsion is an emergency physician and assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University in New York and an advisor to the Ministry of Health for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.  Born and raised in Ethiopia, Tsion received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Georgia, her medical education at New York Medical College, and her master’s in public health from Columba University in population and family.  She has had the opportunity to respond in a humanitarian crisis in Haiti and recently in Mosul Iraq during the war against ISIS. Before joining the ministry, she worked on emergency medicine assessment and capacity building in Ghana, Ethiopia and worked as an intern at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva under the WHO’s emergency, trauma, and acute care program.

Fr. Robert E.Karle, S.J.

Bobby Karle, SJ, was born and raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He met the Jesuits while he was a student at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School (UofD High), where he participated in campus ministry, community service, and the ice hockey program. Bobby has degrees from DePaul University, Fordham University, and a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. He was ordained on June 12, 2021 and will serve for two years as a Pastoral Associate at St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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About Christopher Lindsey

Christopher Lindsey is the Head of U.S. Sales for Jane Street’s Institutional Sales & Trading business. In this role, Chris is responsible for strategic direction and resource management within product sales efforts throughout America.

Prior to joining Jane Street in 2016, Chris spent 16 years with the Royal Bank of Canada. He held a number of positions, but most recently was Managing Director and Global Head of Secured Lending.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the wrestling team. Originally from Ohio, Chris lives in New York City with his wife and two young children.

About Scott Savage

Scott is the current president of International Samaritan’s board of trustees.  Founder and CEO of SJS Investment Consulting, Inc., a Sylvania Ohio based investment advisory firm. He currently serves on the board of several Catholic charities and educational institutions in Northwest Ohio.

Jeff Styers
Southfield, MI

Jeff Styers is the founder and CEO of Arrow Strategies, a staffing solutions company, which has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the Fastest Growing Companies for nine consecutive years and one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For for thirteen consecutive years.  Jeff has extensive experience in Leadership, Talent Acquisition, Sales, and Operations.

Jeff is also the founder of Norwayne Boxing Gym, a youth development program for the community in which he was raised. He recently partnered with Kronk Boxing Detroit to equip more champions in the boxing ring and in life.  When not working, Jeff enjoys his passion for the outdoors, golf, boxing, and spending as much time as he can with his wife Lisa, daughter, Leah, and yellow lab, Howard.  Jeff is also a former United States Marine and undefeated professional boxer.

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Mike Tenbusch
President & CEO

A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Mike co-founded Think Detroit with Dan Varner in 1997, which was named Crain’s Detroit Business Best-Managed Non-Profit in 2004 and merged with Detroit PAL in 2006. After serving on Detroit’s school board, Mike then led an effort at the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to move graduation rates from less than 60% to 80% or higher in the region’s most historically challenged high schools. Most recently, he served as the founding executive director of the SAY Detroit Play Center and interim CEO of the Detroit Parent Network. He is also is the author of The Jonathan Effect: Helping Kids and Schools Win the Battle Against Poverty, called a “moving, inspiring and important book” by best-selling author Dan Heath. Mike and his wife, Maritza, have three children, Grace, Julia, and Jacob.

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About Truman Timmis, J.D.

Founding Partner of Legacy Private Capital, LLC. Extensive business and legal experience gained over a twenty eight year career in estate planning and wealth management, real estate development and consulting and the practice of law. Very active in the community including extended terms on the boards of Boys Hope Girls Hope Detroit, Detroit Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan and the Executive Board of the Wayne State University Law School Alumni Association.

About Dan Weingartz

Dan is a partner in a successful, third-generation family-owned business.  He is passionate about the important role of small business in our economy and in people’s lives and is proud to say that his family has been successful in the difficult task of running a business and still staying very close personally.  Their business focuses on sales, parts and service of outdoor power equipment – from chainsaws to mowers to 100-HP loaders. Their primary customers are homeowners, landscapers, golf courses, rental yards, cemeteries and municipal organizations.  Outside of the family business, Dan is involved in many charitable causes and organizations.

About Markeith Weldon

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Markeith has overcome significant challenges from an early age, which he attributes to the importance of faith, education and perseverance that was instilled in him growing up.  He is the president and CEO of Weldon IT and has extensive experience in executive level positions within the Automotive and Information Technology industries. Markeith has owned and successfully operated two staffing firms, and a thriving business development consulting practice.  He was featured on the MSNBC Morning Joe Show as one of the fastest- growing companies in Detroit and is also a graduate and speaker for the inaugural classes of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program in Detroit and Southeastern Michigan.  A graduate of University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy and Tennessee State University, he is also the proud father of two sons and a daughter and is a member of Detroit World Outreach Church.

Clay Mathile
Board Emeritus

Clay was a visionary leader, impassioned philanthropist, devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend. He profoundly changed the lives of many through his generous heart, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his unwavering belief in others.

Clay and MaryAnn Mathile were adamant about using their success to improve lives; together, the couple established a family legacy of service by founding and financing multiple nonprofit organizations, including International Samaritan.

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Karen Pulte
Board Emeritus

Karen serves on the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation’s Board of Directors and as the Director of the Pulte Scholarship Program, which offers scholarships for public and private schools, trade schools, colleges, and universities.

Karen is a global philanthropist. Karen and her late husband, Willam J. Pulte (1932-2018) helped create International Samaritan, a non-profit specifically formed to combat the ravages of garbage dump towns. Karen served on the board of International Samaritan for twenty-five years.

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William Pulte
Board Emeritus

Bill was a quiet giver who shared his resources and faith in support of organizations and communities that reflected his vision of a more caring and compassionate world. Often religious leaders called upon him to replace the church or school roof or air conditioning units, remodel the living quarters and support their soup kitchens. Others came to him for seed money to build orphanages, houses, and classrooms. Bill helped provide needy families in Detroit with shelter, heat, and electricity. Bill also served as an philanthropist for Detroit’s Cornerstone Schools, providing education for thousands of young Detroiters. One of Bill and his wife Karen’s favorite missions was building homes and shelters for those in poverty. Together, they donated thousands of housing units and shelters to Central America’s poorest communities.

Read more on the Pulte Family Foundation website.

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About Joe Rideout, Esq.

Partner in law firm of Shumaker, Loop, & Kendrick, LLP of Toledo & Columbus, Ohio, Tampa, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina; current Administrator of the firm’s real estate department; extensive history with civic and charitable pursuits in Ohio and elsewhere.

About Dr. Firew

Dr. Tsion Firew is an assistant professor at Columbia University Department of Medicine. She is emergency medicine physician in New York. Dr. Tsion is currently serving as a special advisor to the Minister of Health in Ethiopia.

About Ms. Fitsum

Ms. Mahlet Fitsum is human rights lawyer and attorney at law. She is a researcher, trainer and women’s rights advocate. Mahlet represents Private Sectors, Government organizations, Non-Government Organizations as well as International Institutions.

About Mr. Shifaw

Suleiman Shifaw is the co-founder of Felek notebooks. Felek combines traditional artisanship with contemporary ecofriendly designs. Felek is making efforts to put a dent in illiteracy and to increase the reach of education in disenfranchised sectors of the population. They do so by following a business model that promises to cover the cost of one student’s exercise book supply for an entire school year for every notebook purchase.

About Dr. Tekle Lemango

Dr. Ephrem Tekle Lemango is the job commissioner of the Commission for Job Creation for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Commissioner Ephrem has worked as the director of Maternal and Child Health Directorate under the Ministry of Health and he also served the International Institute for Primary Health Care – Ethiopia as Executive director before assuming his current position.

About Mr. Tewolde

Yared Tewolde is owner of Naytra logistics P.L.C. His company handles customs clearing, port handing, and freight forwarding and transportation services in Ethiopia. Yared works with various national and international companies.

About Mrs. Tiruneh

Mrs. Birikit Tiruneh is the founding director of Women’s Health Association of Ethiopia, a grassroots knowledge-building organization that focuses on training women in life skills as well as health matters. Women’s Health works across nine regions in Ethiopia seeking economic empowerment through investing in marginalized women’s group businesses.