Sabrina D. Ashjian, Esq. JD/MBA/MA
Sabrina Ashjian consults in the legal, legislative, and regulatory space internationally, nationally, and locally with clients ranging from investment firms to nonprofit organizations. She has taught in environmental law and legislation clinics at UCLA and UC Berkeley. Prior to academia she advanced animal welfare legislation as California State Director of the Humane Society of the United States. She has served as an environmental crimes prosecutor and began her career as a public defender. She has been appointed by two governors to serve California. First by Governor Brown to the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel, and most recently, by Governor Newsom to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Sabrina is proud to serve as Board Chair for the American Red Cross Pacific Coast Chapter. She also participates in several other nonprofit spaces on issues of environmental justice, increasing representation of women in appointed and elected office, and mentoring the next generation.
Sivani Babu
Sivani Babu is the co-founder and CEO of Hidden Compass, a women-founded independent journalism outlet ending the era of clickbait. She is also an award-winning conservation journalist and nature photographer whose work frequently meshes history, science, and polar exploration. She’s contributed to numerous publications and exhibits worldwide, and her stories have been recognized multiple times in The Best American Travel Writing series.
Babu began volunteering with the American Red Cross after evacuating her own home twice due to wildfires in the first two years she lived in Santa Barbara. The experiences drove home her desire to be of service to her community and others during challenging times. She is grateful to be able to help tell the Red Cross story and further the organization’s mission — both as a volunteer disaster responder and as a Vice Chair of the board.
She holds an AB in economics, public policy studies, and political science from the University of Chicago, and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. A former Teach for America corps member and federal public defender, she also teaches storytelling as a tool for justice and advocacy to law students around the country.
Ken Bauer
Aaron Bright, M.D.
Dr. Bright is an Emergency Physician, entrepreneur, and educator. He is the founder and CEO of Hippo Education, a modern medical education company blending superior academic quality with high production value and a more human tone. Hippo’s mission is to empower the people of medicine to learn, grow, and thrive. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at LAC+USC in Los Angeles, where he served as a chief resident, and later transitioned to leadership positions in community and academic medicine. He lives in Santa Barbara with his family and tries to get into the surf as much as possible.
Jean Flanagan
Jean Flanagan is beginning her second year on the Pacific Coast Board of the American Red Cross. She has lived in Santa Barbara for over 15 years, having moved to the area for a role at Deckers Brands, where she remains employed. Jean holds a Bachelor's degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and has worked consistently in the fashion industry since graduating in 1997.
In 2008, she successfully sold a manufacturing business outside her area of expertise—a milestone that reflects her perseverance and adaptability. Jean enjoys spending her free time at the movies and is an avid participant in the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where she immerses herself in film as a way to explore stories, cultures, and perspectives from around the world.
Serena Kelsch
Serena Kelsch is an international nonprofit executive with more than 20 years of experience designing and scaling systems that enable humanitarian and community-based organizations to meet urgent and long-term needs. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy, partnerships, and enterprise architecture, aligning people, capital, and operations to strengthen resilience in both developing and disaster-affected communities.
She has led cross-functional growth during periods of rapid scale, helping expand organizational capacity from $8 million to $25 million while building the internal systems and external partnerships required to sustain that growth. Rather than focusing solely on revenue, Serena’s work centers on constructing durable infrastructure: multi-year partnership models, cross-border collaboration, governance alignment, and adaptive operating structures that allow organizations to respond effectively under stress.
Serena’s experience spans both domestic and international contexts. She has worked across the Sahel region of Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Central America, and the Philippines, collaborating with local leaders and international partners to strengthen community resilience, disaster preparedness, and humanitarian response systems. She believes deeply in locally rooted solutions supported by globally coordinated partnerships.
Her connection to the Red Cross mission spans her lifetime. Serena learned to swim through Red Cross classes and was certified in CPR, First Aid, and swim instruction. As an AFS exchange student in Switzerland, she was profoundly moved by studying the origins of the Red Cross movement and its commitment to neutral, impartial humanitarian action. That founding principle, serving all people regardless of background or circumstance, continues to guide her leadership.
Throughout her professional career in disaster relief and development, Serena has partnered regularly with the Red Cross during disaster response and preparedness efforts. She has witnessed firsthand the strength of volunteer-driven networks, coordinated logistics systems, and community trust in moments of crisis.
A seventh-generation Ventura County resident, Serena brings both global perspective and deep local roots to her board service. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a master’s degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She is honored to serve the Pacific Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross, contributing to disaster readiness and resilience in the region she calls home.
Serena lives in Camarillo, California, with her partner Albert and her tortoise, Mr. Tortoisaurus Rex. She is committed to strengthening systems that endure, locally and globally, before, during, and after disaster.
Ruilong Ma, Ph.D
Morgan Noble
Natalie Yanez
Natalie Yanez serves as a Government Relations Manager for Southern California Edison, focusing on strategic engagement across Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles Counties. With a deep commitment to community resilience and public service, she brings extensive experience in political and stakeholder engagement, supporting initiatives that strengthen emergency preparedness and humanitarian outreach.
Natalie is actively involved in regional leadership through her roles on the West Ventura County Business Alliance, Santa Clarita Valley EDC, and various political advisory committees across her region. Her work emphasizes collaboration with local governments, nonprofits, and business communities to advance resiliency and public safety.
As a board member of the Pacific Coast Chapter, Natalie supports the Red Cross mission to turn compassion into action, helping communities prepare for and recover from emergencies through advocacy, volunteerism, and resource mobilization.
