Ploughshares Fund Welcomes New Board Members: Douglas Michelman and Gael Tarleton
San Francisco – Ploughshares Fund is pleased to welcome two new members to its board of directors: Douglas Michelman and Washington State Representative Gael Tarleton. Tarleton and Michelman join a group of philanthropists, academics and public figures, including journalist and author Philip Taubman, Kennette Benedict of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Dr. Gloria Duffy of the Commonwealth Club, and religious scholar Dr. Reza Aslan. The board of directors leads and advises the publicly supported grantmaker as it works towards a world where nuclear weapons can never be used again.
“Gael Tarleton has a deep understanding of the risks that nuclear weapons pose our cities, our economy and our future. Doug Michelman brings world class communications skills and a strong commitment to improving public policy,” said Philip Yun, the group’s Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer. I look forward to benefiting from their wisdom and experience.”
About Michelman
Doug Michelman is a seasoned global communications leader with more than 20 years of experience leading in-house corporate communications functions at Visa and Pacific Bell and serving in senior roles at a global communications firm. As Chief Communications Officer for Visa, Michelman led the communications strategy for the largest IPO in the U.S, developed the company’s first set of corporate values and business principles and established its global corporate responsibility and philanthropy programs. In addition to leading a team of more than 100 professionals based in more than 15 countries and traveling extensively, he has lived and worked outside the U.S. for more than four years in Hong Kong, China enabling him to develop global perspectives and greater cultural sensitivity. Prior to his work at Visa, Michelman served as Western United States Regional President of Fleishman-Hillard, Vice President for Corporate Communications at AT&T and in several roles at public relations giants Edelman and Burson-Marsteller.
About Tarleton
Gael Tarleton represents Washington’s 36th legislative district (Seattle). Tarleton has a long history of involvement in national security and port issues. She began her career as a senior defense intelligence analyst for the Pentagon, becoming one of the few women to advise the Joint Chiefs of Staff on threats to our nation. In 1989, she was the youngest person ever to receive in public the Director of Intelligence’s “National Intelligence Medal of Achievement.” After a decade working at the Pentagon, Gael ran two international subsidiaries of a Fortune 500 company in Russia, managing multi-million dollar budgets. Her work helped rebuild the country after the Cold War collapse, employing new technologies in an effort to clean up nuclear waste and prevent environmental disasters. Back in Washington, Tarleton co-founded the Northwest chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS) and was elected as Port of Seattle Commissioner from 2007 to 2012. In addition to her work as a representative, Gael previously served as a strategic advisor for the Institute for National Security Education and Research at the University of Washington, and a technical advisor for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Seattle. Tarleton is also a member of the Women’s Legislators Lobby.