Board of Directors

Larry Golden

Sr. Maintenance and Compliance Engineer, GATX Corporation
Larry Golden is the Sr. Maintenance and Compliance Engineer at GATX Corporation. In his role, he works closely with various governing bodies responsible for the regulatory landscape of the railroad industry. He currently sits on the Arbitration and Rules Committee for the Association of American Railroads. Larry obtained his Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University and has a Master’s of Business Administration from Bellevue University.

Amy Hill

Executive Director, Injury Prevention and Research Center, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
Amy Hill is Executive Director of the Injury Prevention and Research Center at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. In this role, she is Director of Safe Kids Illinois and Chicago and project coordinator of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Chicago. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University of Chicago and a Master of Science in Public Administration from DePaul University and a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois Chicago. She and her husband, Mark, are parents of two kids.

Ben Hoffman, MD

Professor of Pediatrics, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Oregon Health and Science University
Ben Hoffman is a nationally recognized expert in child passenger safety, and a leader in the field of community health and advocacy training for pediatric residents. He is a Professor of Pediatrics at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Oregon Health and Science University. There, he is the Vice-Chair for Community Health and Advocacy, Director of the Oregon Center for Children and Youth with Special Heath Care Needs, and Medical Director of the Tom Sargent Safety Center. He is the immediate past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury Violence and Poison Prevention, and Director of the AAP’s Community Pediatrics Training Initiative. His knowledge and experience is greatly valued at KID.

Prashanth Kamath

VP Underwriting Valuations, CoreLogic
Prashanth Kamath is the Senior Leader of Product Management at CoreLogic. He is a high energy business leader with experience in developing and executing product strategies in healthcare and technology. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Strategy, Marketing, and Finance from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Prashanth brings experience in product management, new product introduction, and strategic marketing to KID’s Board.

Dawn Kasserman

Since 2014, Dawn has co-chaired the KID Best Friend Award Night. She looks forward to continuing in that role and pursuing new avenues of fundraising to strengthen KID. Over the years, Dawn has volunteered with several non-profits including Infant Welfare and Friends of the Library. She’s also worked on numerous political campaigns. She is honored to dedicate her energy to the KID Board.

Shawn S. Kasserman, Esq.

Partner, Tomasik Kotin Kasserman
Shawn is a Trial Lawyer who for over 30 years has fought insurance companies, manufacturers of defective products and others whose reckless conduct has injured or killed innocent victims. He has represented many families whose children were killed by defective products, including the including the Ginzel/Keysar family, founders of KID, whose son Danny was killed in a defective portable crib. Shawn has served as the President of the Lawyers’ Trust Fund of Illinois, the President of the Illinois Bar Foundation, and on the Board of the Lawndale Christian Legal Clinic, and in 2023 will be sworn in as the President of the Illinois State Bar Association. Shawn and his wife, Dawn, have been married for 32 years and have 3 children.

Brendan Keefe

Global Process Internal Audit Director of Global Audit Risk and Strategy, Mars Incorporated
Brendan is currently the Internal Audit Director of Global Processes Audit Risk and Strategy at Mars. Previously he held a number of finance, accounting, and audit roles at AbbVie, Abbott, and Andersen including roles in developing markets. He has wide experience managing risk, finding practical solutions to complex challenges, and fostering collaboration across diverse teams and geographies. Having a school aged son and 12 young nieces and nephews, the mission of KID is very personal for him.

Heather Mason

Heather Mason is an accomplished corporate executive, leader and strategist with 30+ years of experience building and restructuring organizations for rapid, sustained growth. Throughout her career, she has steered multibillion-dollar businesses through major industry and economic changes—growing profits and outpacing competitors around the world. In her 27 years with Abbott, Heather was most recently head of the global Nutrition business. She overhauled the $7B consumer-focused business to deliver products that were first and fast to market, with rising gross margin profiles. Her efforts increased free cash flow and delivered above-market growth in China, Southeast Asia, and the U.S. Prior, Heather led the $1.3B Diabetes Care division and the creation of the revolutionary FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring system, which prompted a top-to-bottom organizational transformation and has since generated over $2B in annual revenue. As a core contributor to boards and executive committees, Heather has helped charter the course for global, national, and local organizations. She serves on numerous boards, including the University of Michigan College of Engineering and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Kilts Marketing Center. Heather holds an MBA in Marketing, Strategy, and Finance.

Donald Mays

Founder, Product Safety Insights, LLC
Don Mays is the founder of Product Safety Insights, LLC. He is the former Chief Safety and Quality Officer at Samsung where he had oversight of enterprise quality and product safety. He worked to identify and mitigate product risks to Samsung, its customers, and consumers. Prior to Samsung, Don was Managing Director at Deloitte where he led the firm’s product safety and quality advisory services. Don was also the former Senior Director, Product Safety and Technical Policy for Consumer Reports.

Susan Nied

Susan is a retired Senior Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance at Sara Lee Corporation. She brings her expertise in Product Safety Design, Regulatory Processes, Recall Management and Consumer Relations along with her dedication to quality to KID. She holds a BS in Food Science and Nutrition from Eastern Illinois University.

Marisol Pantoja

SVP, Chief Audit Executive, TransUnion
Marisol is the Senior Vice President, Global Audit Executive of TransUnion. Prior to joining TransUnion in late 2019, she was VP, Internal Audit at the GATX Corporation for 5 years, and worked as Risk Assurance Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 15 years. Ms. Pantoja is one of 50 top executives for the 2021 Business Leaders of Color (BLC) by Chicago United. She is a current member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion EMBA Advisory Group at the Kellogg School of Management. Her background is in accountancy, and she holds an MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. KID is lucky to have her expertise in these skills, as well as her commitment to child product safety, in her role as Treasurer on the Board.

Ayesha Rafique

Chief Financial Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Ayesha is the Chief Financial Officer for Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory. She is the former leader of Deloitte’s US consumer products practice. She has extensive working with consumer product companies and retailers including those selling children’s products. Ayesha’s in depth understanding of the global consumer products sector and financial acumen makes her a vital member of the KID board.

Shehnaz Safiuddin

Marketing & Product Development Executive
Most recently, Shehnaz led the brand marketing product development, and eCommerce functions at Precious Moments Company. In addition she has over 16 years of experience in the toy industry at Fisher-Price and TOMY International. With her extensive background in toy marketing and new product development she is passionate about child development and children’s product safety, a perfect fit with KID’s mission.

David Zivan

Lead Writer/Program Book Editor, Lyric Opera of Chicago
David is the Lead Writer and Editor for the Lyric Opera company. He has served as co-chair of KID’s Best Friend Awards several times. Previously, he served in a variety of senior roles as a journalist, working at Chicago magazine and Indianapolis Monthly, and most recently as Group Editor in charge of the Modern Luxury offices in Chicago. He holds an MSJ from Northwestern University, an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a B.A. from Denison University.

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Co-Founders

Boaz Keysar, Ph.D

Professor of Psychology at The University of Chicago
The co-founder of KID, Boaz has been championing children’s product safety since the tragic death of his son Danny in 1998. Boaz continues to advance our cause even as he advances his field of study as William Benton Professor in Psychology and the College Psychology Department at the University of Chicago, where he has been a faculty member since 1991.

Linda Ginzel, Ph.D

Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
The co-founder of KID, Linda has been advancing children’s product safety since 1998 after the tragic death of her son Danny. While championing our cause, Linda has also been advancing her field of study as a Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology at The University of Chicago, where she has been a faculty member since 1992. Linda is the author of the book Choosing Leadership.

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Advisory Board

Leslie M. Batterson, CSP, CPEA

Senior Consultant, AON Global Risk Consulting

Rose Cammarata

Assistant Corporate Controller at CDK Global

Sonny Garg

Energy Solutions Lead, Uptake

Amy Hogan

Vice President, Brand Marketing, Solera Health

Kristina Paschall

CIO, Ferrara Candy Company

Geoffrey Phillips

Vice President, Group Executive, NA Rail Services; Logistics, GATX Corporation

Kyran Quinlan, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center

Julius E. Rhodes, SPHR

Founder and Principal, mpr group

Judy Sage

Executive Beauty Director, Teen Vogue

Karen Sheehan, MD, MPH

Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Lisa Turano, Esq.

VP, Legal Operations, Turano Baking Company

Steven W. Swibel, Esq.

General Counsel, Mazzetta Company LLC

Robert Tanz, MD

Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago