Who We Are

Team: noun |tēm| : 1: a number of persons associated together in a group or activity 2: emphasizes the organization’s focus on small, cohesive units

Rubicon: proper noun |rü-bi-ķän| : a bounding or limiting line; especially: one that when crossed commits someone irrevocably. Origin: River in Northern Italy marking the border of Gaul and Rome; crossed by Julius Caesar in 49 A.D., considered by the Senate an act of war

TEAM RUBICON: proper noun | tēm rü-bi-ķän| : 1: a group of military veterans and medical professionals irrevocably committed to changing veteran reintegration and disaster response 2: the “Nation” of supporters who make this mission possible

President & Co-Founder

Jacob Wood graduated from the University of Wisconsin, where he played football, with a double major in Business and Political Science. He honorably served four years in the United States Marine Corps, deploying to Iraq in 2007 as an infantry squad leader and to Afghanistan in 2008 as a Scout-Sniper. He graduated Scout-Sniper School at the top of his class and in 2007 he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with “V” for valor in the face of the enemy while in Iraq. Jake serves on numerous national veteran committees and speaks around the country at universities and conferences about veteran issues and social entrepreneurism.

Vice-President & Co-Founder

William McNulty is a Marine who served in both the infantry and intelligence. He has worked in support of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Council's Iraq Threat Finance Cell. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Communication Studies from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in Government from The Johns Hopkins University.

Director of Program Development

Joanne Dennis manages program development and daily administration for Team Rubicon. Before joining TR, Joanne coordinated domestic and international volunteer trips for Loyola Marymount University, sending out over 100 trips that spanned the globe. She holds a Bachelors of Social Work from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. Her love of travel and the outdoors has taken her to over forty countries and provided a wealth of experience. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two dogs.

Chief Medical Officer

John P. Sutter, M.D. is a board certified family practitioner who, when not traveling, lives in New York City. He splits his professional duties between volunteering with Team Rubicon, and working intermittent shifts in rural Alaska where he provides full spectrum family medicine care to native Yupik populations. He received his B.A. in international relations from the University of Virginia, where he also served as a volunteer firefighter. During medical school at George Washington University, and during residency at University of California, San Diego, he volunteered for medical relief trips to Tibet, Malawi, Southern Sudan, and the Philippines. He has additional training in trauma and tropical medicine.

Director of Domestic Operations

Matt Pelak is currently working as a Firefighter/Paramedic in Poughkeepsie, NY and has over 13 years experience in EMS and technical rescue. He has worked in a multitude of environments from busy urban systems, to rural, to third world. Matt has over 12 years of Army service as an infantryman and forward observer and is currently serving in the National Guard in NY. Matt deployed to Iraq with the Army in 2004 and also worked as an overseas contractor with the US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. He deployed to Pakistan with Team Rubicon following the massive 2010 floods.

Director of Personnel and Readiness

Joshua Maverick Webster is an Air Force Pararescueman “PJ” for the 131st Rescue Squadron in Mountain View, California. He has deployed to Afghanistan twice as a PJ and his experience includes: High-Angle Technical Rope Rescue, Confined-Space/Structural Collapse, S.E.R.E, Military Dive and Freefall, Surf-Zone Rescue, Open Water Insertion and Recovery, Helicopter Rescue Operations, and Tactical Mobile Defense. He is a registered Paramedic with a CCAT trauma skill-set and countless mission hours as a Rescue Team Leader. He previously served as an Army Ranger Team Leader at 2/75th Ranger Battalion and was released honorably after two combat tours in Afghanistan. Before the military Joshua was a lifeguard in his hometown of Long Beach, CA. He has a B.A. in History from UCLA.

Operational Planning Coordinator

Andrew Stevens works as the Alaska state planner for critical infrastructure and heads the security vulnerability assessment team for the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Prior to this he worked as the community emergency planner for the division. A former U.S. Marine, he acted as an Assistant Operation Chief and react team leader for Tango 5/11 during the initial assault on Iraq in 2003. Traveling ranks highest in his list of hobbies.

Program Coordinator

Beth Shaw graduated from Loyola Marymount University where she studied Political Science with minors in Peace Studies and Dance. Her exploration of justice issues has taken her to Ecuador, Mexico and Moshi, Tanzania. In Moshi, she taught English and General Studies for two years at a secondary school for women.

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Board of Advisors

Matt Burden served as a Sergeant before becoming an Officer in the US Army. He has been deployed on four continents, serving in leadership positions from Fire Team Leader to Battalion Commander. Matt holds a Master of Science degree (Computer Science) from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the University of Illinois. Matt founded the most popular and award winning military blog on the Internet -BlackFive- and authored a book for Simon & Schuster about the military, combat, and new media-"The Blog of War".

Glenn W. Geelhoed, M.D. received his BS and AB cum laude degrees from Calvin College and his MD cum laude from the University of Michigan. Following his Harvard surgical internship and residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, he served as clinical associate and senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Geelhoed was commissioned a LtCdr in the USN in 1970 and assigned to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center where he served as a surgeon. Later he was promoted to Commander and seconded to USPHS. He joined the full-time faculty at George Washington University as an Associate Professor of Surgery in Washington, DC in 1975. His major clinical interests are in endocrine surgery, surgical physiology, oncology and transplantation.

Kaj Larsen is an award winning Correspondent and Producer for CNN and Current TV. He covers conflict zones and international policy issues around the world reporting frequently from the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. He spent five years as a US Navy SEAL Lieutenant at SEAL Team One. Kaj continues his service as a reserve officer at USSOCOM. A former ocean lifeguard in his hometown of Santa Cruz, California; he has been a certified EMT and volunteer rescue swimmer since 2000. Kaj holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Drew Lewis has worked on foreign and defense policy issues at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Institute for Defense Analyses. He holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Hamilton College, and an MA in Government from The Johns Hopkins University. As a member of Team Rubicon's Board of Advisors, he applies his analytical skills through the lens of his extensive international experience to address our major strategic questions moving forward.

Stephanie Rudat Stephanie Rudat is a social entrepreneur effectively leveraging business and life experiences to steer nonprofits toward an effective and impactful existence. Her vast business experience, passion for technology, and natural affliction to do something that helps others has lead her down a path of leading causes, changemakers, and businesses on effectively using connective technologies and business principles to achieve their objective. Stephanie co-founded Alliance for Youth Movements, is a partner at Absot Marketing, writes for Huffington Post and has recently launched {think}CONSORTIUM.

Board of Directors

Scot Chisholm is the CEO of Stay Classy, an online fundraising software company for Nonprofit organizations. Scot was selected by Businessweek as one of the top 5 most promising social entrepreneurs in America. He has been quoted or featured on CNN, AOL News, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Mashable and more. Scot is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society of Quality, and holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, with a Mechanical Engineering concentration, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Col G.I. Wilson USMC (ret) is a combat veteran with 33 years of military service and several years of experience in law enforcement-emergency services. He is widely published in professional journals, appears on national television, radio, and in documentaries. He coauthored the seminal paper “The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation” (which coined the term “fourth generation warfare”). He has BA in psychology from the State University of New York at Albany, an MA in Business and Organizational Security Management from Webster University, and an MA in Forensic Psychology from Argosy University.

Bob Verhey brings twenty-five years of entrepreneur experience and has successfully launched and managed five new ventures in Silicon Valley as the CEO in healthcare, high technology and telecommunications companies. Having experienced a successful career as an operating entrepreneur and executive, Bob chooses now to guide others so they may also succeed. Bob earned his BA in Economics from Duke University and his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Jacob Wood

Jeff Wood

William McNulty

Behind the Scenes

Our Pro Bono Heroes working to make Team Rubicon a success. See them here.

TR Wharton 2011

The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School has kicked off a new project to develop a more robust risk management strategy for Team Rubicon. Click here to learn about TR Wharton 2011.

Disaster Relief Organization & Support Squad | Team Rubicon