2025 Friends of Ridhwan Board of Directors
Vaishali Chadha, Secretary
San Francisco, California, USA
Vaishali is an advocate for cultivating higher consciousness in both individuals and organizations. She coaches and leads spiritual tours with her company, Adventures for My Soul, serves on the boards of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, where she is also a docent storyteller. She has been a member of DH9 since 2012.
Laurie Chestnut, Treasurer
Boulder, Colorado, USA
Laurie is an economist who worked for over 30 years for a private consulting firm managing research and policy analysis in environmental and natural resource economics for federal and state regulatory agencies. She has been a member of the Ridhwan School in Colorado for nearly 40 years where she helped to establish the Colorado Operations Committee that oversees the maintenance and operation of the Ridhwan property there. She has served on the Ridhwan Board since 2006, has been Treasurer of the Ridhwan Foundation since 2009 and chairs the Finance Committee. She has also served on Ridhwan’s Strategy Planning Committee.
John Dunham
Berkeley, California USA
John Dunham is an executive coach and seasoned entrepreneur with a history of fostering high-performing teams in the San Francisco Bay Area tech scene. He founded several successful startups, including Sauce Labs and Caw Networks, and served as COO at Cloud9 IDE, where he led its acquisition by Amazon Web Services. John now dedicates his time to coaching leaders and entrepreneurs, helping them realize their full potential through his integral coaching practice. John’s commitment to community and philanthropy is reflected in his role as founder and president of the Gary Atkinson Imagine Scholarship Fund, which supports college-bound students from his alma mater. He also established the Caw Foundation in 2002 to promote community-benefit initiatives. A student of the Diamond Approach since 2018, John is a member of the DHR6 and DA Asia retreat groups. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife Dana and their two Cardigan Welsh Corgis. John joined the Friends of Ridhwan Board in 2024 and is dedicated to supporting the school’s mission and growth.
Rob Gussenhoven, President
San Diego, California USA
Rob is a leadership and brand development consultant with a global client portfolio. He has served on the Ridhwan Foundation Board of Directors since January 2022 and is a member of the Feature and Decision Body that oversees the implementation of the IT Infrastructure & Website Project. Rob joined the Friends of Ridhwan Board in 2019. He was previously Board Chair and Interim Executive Director at the Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute. Born in Holland, he is happiest on a bicycle. He lived and worked in Switzerland, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong. He speaks four languages. As an explorer he climbed in Europe and Alaska and crossed the Greenland ice cap on skis. Rob has been a student of DHR3 since 2002, completed five years of Seminary, and is currently a member of DHROmega.
Claus Friedrich Haalck
Hamburg, Germany
For 25 years Claus has worked for an international airline in the field of change & health management. He is involved with the development of the Ridhwan Stiftung, the German nonprofit foundation and affiliate of the School in Germany. As part of the team, he is involved in outreach in German-speaking territories. Claus is 55 years old and a member of DHR4, DHROmega, and DHE2.
Michael Ohr
Surrey, UK
Michael has worked in the financial markets / investment management industry for over 30 years. He's had experience in startups as well as Merrill Lynch, UBS and Credit Suisse. Born in Chicago, he moved to the UK in 1994. He's a big fan of detective stories. Michael is a member of UK4 as has been part of the school since 2015
Seth Schapiro
Berkeley, California USA
Seth is the Executive Director of the Ridhwan Foundation. He has been a student in the school since 1996 and he has over 20 years of experience leading a large non-profit with a 50-million-dollar budget. Also, as a consultant for both private and governmental agencies, he has diagnosed organizational needs and the strategic steps to implement change, and has facilitated processes with large groups of diverse stakeholders to support development in effective decision-making, organizational transparency, and strategic planning.
Alexander Verdegaal, Vice President
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Alexander was born in a small village on the Dutch border with Belgium, has an M.B.Sc. from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, and now lives in the old heart of Amsterdam. He enjoys traveling whenever possible and is independently employed. His work includes in person guiding of ceremonies and special events as well as consultancy projects in areas of fundraising, public relations and training. He joined the Ridhwan School in 2004 and is a member of the DANS1 group in Europe.
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