Board

Thomas A. Allegretti joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board in 2006 and became Chairman in 2021. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science, graduating with honors from The College of New Jersey in 1973.

Rear Admiral J. Timothy Riker, USCGR (Ret.) was elected Vice Chair of the Board of Directors in 2026 after serving as a trustee since 2024 .  He enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1970 and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in 1971. His active-duty and reserve assignments included time aboard Cutters Hamilton and Unimak, and overseas duties in Operations Desert Storm and Uphold Democracy (Haiti). He retired in 2000 as the Reserve’s senior officer. From 2006-2010 he returned to active status and performed a variety of flag assignments, including Deputy Director of Intelligence and Criminal Investigations, and Director of Response Policy. He is presently Regents Board Chair of the Foundation for Coast Guard History. A graduate of Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio, Rear Admiral Riker practices law in Cincinnati. 

Cherrie Felder was elected to the Coast Guard Foundation Board in 2010. She is Vice President of Legislative and Governmental Affairs for Channel Shipyard Companies. She is First Vice Chairman and Treasurer of Waterways Council, Inc. and Immediate Past Chairman of the Lower Mississippi River Waterway Safety Advisory Committee.

She serves on the executive committees of The Louisiana Association of Waterway Operators and Shipyards and the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association, and on the board of directors of the National Waterways Foundation. She is a member of the American Waterways Operators and the New Orleans Business Alliance Transportation, Trade and Logistics Industry Council. Ms. Felder is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Richard M. Symons joined the Coast Guard Foundation board in 2019, was elected to the Executive Committee in 2024 and elected to the position of secretary in 2025. He is a retired Coast Guard Reserve Commander, having served in the Coast Guard Reserves from 1979-2009. In 1994 he returned to active duty and served on the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area operations staff. His subsequent assignments include Chief of Force Optimization and Training for the Eleventh District, Chief of Personnel Services at Integrated Support Command, San Pedro and later Executive Officer. His final assignment was Director of Auxiliary, Eleventh Coast Guard District, where he was responsible for the operation and administration of Auxiliary affairs for over 1,800 Coast Guard Auxiliary members in southern California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Richard and his wife Annette are owners/operators of Mannara Properties LLC which owns and manages multiple industrial properties in the Los Angeles area. They are also major supporters of CHOC Children’s Hospital in Orange County, California. They reside in Irvine, California.
 

Alexandra Anagnostis-Irons joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board of Trustees in 2016 and the Executive Committee in 2024. Alex is the founder and president of Total Marine Solutions (TMS) headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She holds a graduate degree in business administration and undergraduate degree in accounting from Barry University in Miami.  She is actively involved in a number of marine organizations, including WISTA USA, the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association. She chairs the Coast Guard Foundation’s Tribute to the Coast Guard 7th District event, held each year in Miami, and serves on the scholarship committee.

Fred Brodsky became a Trustee of the Coast Guard Foundation in 2017, a Director in 2019, and elected to the Executive Committee in 2021. Fred was a Trustee of Northeastern University where he earned his BSBA degree and served on the Alumni Board of Governors of the Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan where he earned his MBA in International Business.

He was CFO of Morse Diesel and Trammell Crow International before starting his own real estate investment and development company, International Investment Advisors. Fred is a 100 ton USCG Captain and enjoys blue water cruising with his wife, Darla, and two rescue dogs. He is the founder of the Brodsky Family Foundation, whose mission is to protect marine mammals, birds of prey, and our environment. He recently released his autobiography, The Accidental Entrepreneur: How I Stumbled into Success.

Abbott Brown joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board of Trustees in 2021 and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2022. Abbott is the founder of Ridgestone Corporation, an investment firm based in Los Angeles that invests in publicly traded equity securities, private equity transactions, venture capital transactions and real estate. His 50-year career in finance served a broad range of companies with a focus on entertainment and media, real estate and the aerospace industries. He has served on the Board of Directors of public and private companies, and he is currently serving on the Board of Trustees at Claremont McKenna College and St. John’s Hospital. He is a graduate of Lehigh University and is an active member of his community, an avid sailor and golfer, and is a member of Brentwood Country Club and the California Yacht Club.

Christopher B. Chandor joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board of Trustees in 2023 and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2025. He is the chief executive officer of Penn's Grant Corporation, a commercial real estate and investment firm headquartered in Bucks County, Pa. Chris is also a licensed real estate broker and president of Doylestown Real Estate, Inc. A recently retired real estate and business attorney, he practiced in Doylestown for 50 years. In addition to serving in the U.S. Coast Guard for four years, he is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and Villanova Law School.

Charley Diaz joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board of Directors and Trustees in 2018 and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2026. In addition, he chairs the Nominating and Trustee Engagement committee.  He is a Senior Director at Saildrone Inc. where he oversees Homeland Security and Defense programs. Prior to joining Saildrone, he worked at Huntington Ingalls Industries and was President of Guardian Maritime Solutions. As a retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain, he has 30 years of operational and managerial experience across all Coast Guard mission areas. A career cutterman, he has over 12 years of sea duty and has commanded four Coast Guard cutters. He is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Naval War College and holds an MPA from Harvard University. He also served as a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institute and as a Coast Guard Fellow on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

David Grzebinski joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board of Trustees in 2014 and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2023. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Kirby Corporation. Prior to joining Kirby Corporation, he served in various operational and financial positions with FMC Technologies Inc. (“FMC”), and prior to that, he was employed by The Dow Chemical Company in manufacturing, engineering, and financial roles. Mr. Grzebinski serves as a director of the American Bureau of Shipping, director of BlueSky Maritime Coalition and a member and director of The UK P&I Club. David Grzebinski is a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”), holds a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Tulane University, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Florida.

James Linkous joined the Coast Guard Foundation Board of Trustees in 2024 and was elected to the Executive Committee in 2025. He is a seasoned executive with a 30-year track record in the high-tech sector. As a founding member and senior vice president at STACK Infrastructure, he oversees major client relationships for one of the leading global data center developers. He attended the University of Oregon, focusing on finance and marketing. Passionate about community service, he co-founded the "Heroes of the Sea Foundation," raising more than $2.1 million for the U.S. Coast Guard.