President

MARCUS THORNTON

Marcus has been a Political Officer with the Department of State since 2016. He previously served as a Border Patrol agent and in other capacities with the Department of Homeland Security from 2007 to 2016.  Marcus has over 1000 mission-flight hours as a crewmember with DHS and as a Major in the United States Air Force Auxiliary. He speaks three foreign languages and including two critical-needs languages. Marcus is the recipient of three Meritorious Honor Awards for his recent work defending human rights, rescuing victims of human trafficking and religious persecution, and advancing national security issues.

Treasurer

BRIAN C. LOMBARDI

Brian has been with the Department of Homeland Security since 2010.  He started as a Border Patrol Agent at the Lordsburg, NM station and served there until his transfer to the Office of Field Operations in 2014.  He is now a CBP Officer at the Port of Las Vegas where he has been the recipient of five Joint Award Commission Awards and several Special Recognition Spotlights including a $1.3 million counterfeit goods seizure and multiple actions which led to international criminal investigations.  He has worked in the Admissibility Review Unit since 2015, where his efforts have contributed to an increase of over 1000% in the number of cases.

Vice President

JAMES E. ERDMAN

James began his federal service in the military with 2/75 Ranger Bn. Following active duty, he served in the 1/162 light infantry national guard unit while finishing a bachelor’s in biochemistry at Western Oregon University. Shortly after enrolling in a graduate biochemistry program at Oregon State, he was reactivated after 9/11.  He worked in the private sector in biotech and bioinformatics for 6 years before resuming federal government service with the Department of State regionally in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East–James speaks Mandarin and Arabic. He recently ended his work as a CIA Operations Officer and is currently employed in the private sector.

Board Member

MELISSA BRUCKNER

Melissa has worked at the Social Security Administration since 2005 and has more than 8 years of senior leadership experience. She has received multiple awards for exemplary service including commissioner and deputy commissioner awards for her work in combatting fraud in the disability program and her efforts to reconstitute the agency’s disability operation in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from Yeshiva University and a law degree from New York Law School. 

Secretary

MEGAN GUERRERO

Megan is a mother of four and the wife of a diplomat. Her family has served in the Foreign Service since 2015, with assignments in Amman, Jordan; Doha, Qatar; and currently Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Megan has worked as a volunteer in those communities with the BSA Cub Scouts and the embassy Community Liaison Office. She served two years as the head of the children’s organization for her church in the Middle East region (Jordan and Egypt), and is currently head of a youth organization for teen girls in her church in Rio. With a degree in communications, Megan also works as an independent consultant for small businesses and runs a lifestyle blog when she’s not fighting for the rights of federal workers. She homeschooled her 4 kids from 2020-2022 and continues educating and empowering other parents to fight against mandates within the public school system.

Board Member

KATHLEEN T. RUDDY, MD

Kathleen T. Ruddy, MD, is an internationally recognized breast cancer expert. She is the founder and medical director of the Breast Service at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey; the founder and president of Breast Health And Healing, her private practice in New Jersey; and the founder and executive director of the Breast Health & Healing Foundation. 

 

Dr. Ruddy’s commitment to helping women with breast cancer began early in her medical career, when her own mother was diagnosed with the disease. After completing her surgical residency as Chief Resident in 1994, Dr. Ruddy was chosen as the first Fellow on the Breast Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The following year, Cancer Treatment Centers of America recruited her to establish the Breast Service at the Clara Maass Medical Center, where she has since cared for more than 6,000 patients while conducting research and initiating projects that focus on how best to deal with the growing epidemic of breast cancer—by trying to understand its causes, rather than focusing exclusively on its cures, with the goal of preventing the disease.

 

Dr. Ruddy continues to care for patients in her own private practice, while working tirelessly to grow the Breast Health & Healing Foundation, whose goal is to discover the causes of breast cancer and to use that knowledge to prevent the disease.