board of directors
Board of
directors
Rochelle Rausch
Chair
Rochelle has over thirteen years of experience complex technical accounting and financial reporting. More specifically, Rochelle has advised companies, both as an external advisor, and internal subject matter expert, on complex technical accounting issues and SEC reporting related to transactions including initial public offerings (IPOs), spin-offs, acquisitions, dispositions, mergers, and joint venture or SPE formations. Currently, Rochelle is a Partner in Connor Group, leading the firm’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice in Southern California. Previously, Rochelle was a Managing Director in Deloitte's Accounting & Reporting Advisory (ARA) practice and led their expansion efforts in southern California. Rochelle has also served in Deloitte’s National Office, specializing in complex technical accounting issues as well as its London-based global offering services group which specialized in U.S. GAAP, IFRS, and SEC compliance for global companies already publicly traded in the U.S. or foreign companies executing an initial offering in the U.S. While in industry, Rochelle built in-house accounting policy functions at both public and private companies and was responsible for concluding on the accounting and financial reporting impacts of complex transactions. In addition, Rochelle led the SEC reporting and financial reporting teams with deep expertise in SEC rules and regulations and U.S. GAAP financial reporting requirements.
Sarah Willis
Vice - Chair
Sarah Willis is an accomplished Senior Executive with demonstrated success spanning the Aerospace, Defense, Consumer Goods, and Tech industries. She leverages her extensive experience designing and implementing corporate marketing strategies to increase brand awareness, drive revenue, grow market share, and increase profitability. Her broad areas of expertise include marketing, growth, mergers and acquisitions, go-to-market initiatives, content development, communications, branding, leadership, and public relations. At present, Sarah serves as Vice President, Marketing & Customer Experience at National Technical Systems (NTS), where she is responsible developing, leading, and executing the NTS marketing strategy. Previously, she has held titles of Director of Global Marketing with Verify; Director Strategic Planning at Quality Systems, Inc.; Vice President of Marketing, United States with CDNetworks; and Senior Director of Marketing for Internap. Sarah holds a BSBA degree in Marketing and Statistics from the W.A. Franke College of Business at Northern Arizona University. Dedicated to giving her discretionary time, Sarah held a variety of board positions, designing, planning and implementing successful, record-breaking fund raising events for each organization she served. Sarah and her husband have two sons and reside in Orange County.
Michelle Lawrence
Secretary
Motivated by the prevalence of human trafficking in Southern California, Michelle was moved to find an anti-trafficking organization to support and was introduced to International Sanctuary in 2016. Most recently, she completed a 15 month pro bono volunteer assignment in the Sanctuary Support Center in Irvine, California providing leadership coaching, oversight of the administrative function and serving on the Leadership Team. Empowering and supporting women in the workplace has been a long term effort of Michelle’s. She recently retired from executive municipal management, serving as the City of Oceanside’s City Manager for five years. She has 30 years of municipal experience, serving in a variety of executive leadership roles since 2000. Prior to serving in local government, Michelle worked for a nonprofit international development organization located in Davis, California. The Freedom from Hunger Foundation served women in Africa, Central America and Asia providing an “education with credit” program that included health education and financial literacy modeled on the micro enterprise efforts of the Grameen Bank. Michelle holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations from UC Davis and a Master of Arts degree in International Public Administration from Middlebury College’s Institute of International Studies. Michelle lives in South Orange County and is married with two grown daughters.
Janet Clardy
Director
Janet’s career consists of over 20 years of human resources experience covering multiple industries. Currently, she is Senior Vice-President of human resources for Experian, a global leader in providing value-added information solutions to organizations and consumers. In her leadership role, Janet provides overall HR strategy and business support, and participates on the senior HR team of Experian North America. In addition, she has initiated and is now leading the human resources community of practice for North America at Experian to drive innovation and collaboration across the HRBP team. Previously, Janet Clardy served as Vice-President of human resources for Korn/Ferry, Vice-President of human resources for St. Joseph Hospital of Orange, and Corporate Human Resources Manager for Taco Bell Corporation. Janet also has experience in city government and retail operations. Janet is dedicated to helping others realize their potential. In addition to her role as a board director for International Sanctuary, Janet serves as an advisory board member for a start-up company providing a work-life balance benefit for employers across the U.S. Previously, she served as a board member for Bethany, a ministry for women in transition, and the board chair for Junior Achievement in Orange County. Janet earned her MBA and undergraduate degrees at Cal State University in Fullerton, California. She resides in Orange County with her two daughters and husband, who owns a company that provides engineered industrial processing equipment.
Brandon joined International Sanctuary in 2023. He is passionate about integrating his professional experience in financial services with the mission of International Sanctuary. Brandon currently works at Connor Group as a technical accounting expert, advising on complex accounting issues. He has vast experience in the preparation and oversight of financial statements with varying reporting requirements. Prior to Connor Group, Brandon worked in Deloitte’s Audit and Assurance practice. Brandon has served a broad range of clients and has experience in numerous industries. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and received a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from Biola University. Brandon and his wife, a NICU nurse, have one son and reside in Eagle, Idaho.
Brandon Berz
Treasurer
