Welcoming New Board Members: Dr. Kennette Benedict, Sam Heins and Jill Werner
Ploughshares Fund has always benefited greatly from the insight and expertise of our fantastic board of directors. This week, we're thrilled to announce the addition of three new members to an already impressive group. Dr. Kennette Benedict, Sam Heins and Jill Werner.
Benedict, Heins and Werner join a group of concerned former officials, philanthropists, academics and public figures including Michael Douglas, former Senator Chuck Hagel, Dr. Gloria Duffy, former Congressman and Admiral Joe Sestak (D- PA) and Dr. Reza Aslan who lead and advise Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation, as the group works towards the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome three such talented and experienced individuals to our board of dirctors,” said Philip Yun, Ploughshares Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer. “Their passion and expertise in law, business and philanthropy will complement the already strong skills and experiences of Ploughshares Fund board members.”
A distinguished scholar and philanthropist, Dr. Kennette Benedict is the Executive Director and Publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an award winning magazine established in 1945 by scientists, engineers and other experts who had created the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. Previously, Benedict was Director of International Peace and Security at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where she also served as Senior Advisor to the President, and managed grantmaking on issues of international peace and security as well as programs in Russia. Dr. Benedict also taught organizational decisionmaking and women’s leadership in politics at Rutgers University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Benedict has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College and the Compton Foundation, and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Stanley Foundation. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute of Strategic Studies. She received her A.B. from Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University.
Samuel D. Heins is a lawyer and human rights advocate. In 1982, he founded, organized and served as the first Board Chair for the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, an organization that provides legal monitoring and aid on rights issues including education, women’s rights, immigration and refugee issues, and the death penalty. In 1985, he co-founded the Center for Victims of Torture to provide health services, research and advocacy for victims of torture, where he continues to serve as a board member. He was recognized for his ongoing human rights efforts in 1987 with the Minnesota Governor’s Honor Award for International Human Rights Activities and in 2008 with the Advocates’ Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award. In 2011, he also served as a Private Citizen Member of the U.S. Mission to the U.N. Human Rights Council. In addition, Heins is a senior partner at the firm of Heins Mills & Olson, where he has served as lead counsel in various securities fraud and antitrust actions securing awards totaling in excess of $3 billion. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Endowment Campaign of the University of Minnesota Law School as well as on the board of the ACLU of Minnesota. Heins earned a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Minnesota, and was awarded the school’s Regent’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010.
Jill Werner is Co-President and CEO of Federated Linen and Uniform Services, a family-owned business with over 900 employees nationwide. Werner has been actively involved in philanthropy through the Werner Family Foundation, where she serves as Vice President, and serves as a board member at the Los Angeles Parks Foundation, the Clare Foundation and Vassar College. Additionally, Werner was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa to serve on the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks Board of Commissioners. She was appointed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve on the California Economic Strategic Panel. She received her B.A. in Economics from Vassar College and her MBA from Columbia University.
Read our full press announcement here.
