The Forgotten International - Board

William Alderman

Partner, Orrick

Bill Alderman has been a litigation and dispute resolution specialist at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP since 1970, focusing primarily on securities litigation, regulatory, and corporate governance issues. He commits a substantial part of his time to pro bono representation, is a director of Bay Area Legal Aid and Disability Rights Advocates, and has previously served as a director and/or officer of the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, the St. Thomas More Society of San Francisco, and The National MS Society Bay Area Chapter. Bill is a graduate of Miami University and Yale Law School. He has four adult children and lives in Davis, California.

Diane Brandenburg

Philanthropist / Artist / Fundraiser, Brandenburg Family Foundation

Diane was a key capital fundraiser for the Martin Luther King Library, the first of its kind in our nation to combine its University collections and resources along with those of the city of San Jose’s public libraries. She served on the Library Council Board from 2004 until 2011, raising endowments and participating in other fund raising projects for the Library. She served on the Deep Peninsula League for seven years, raising funds for the San Francisco Symphony.

Diane’s passions have included being Boy and Girl Scout leaders, raising money for the Almaden Valley School District, and building and decorating over twenty homes. She was one of the leading hostesses at their home in Pebble Beach for the Crosby Golf Tournament from 1978-1988. She attends a Master’s Class in art at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara.

Diane and her husband Lee believe in the future of children of all races and ages. They built the theatre for the Children’s Discovery Museum and the Gymnasium for the New Children’s Shelter in San Jose, California, as well as funding numerous other philanthropic organizations. They have been the recipients of many awards for their continued generosity to their community in Santa Clara County and in other parts of our nation. Their giving extends to the Rasur Foundation, The Forgotten International, The Gardens of Unity and Unity Village, The Peace Alliance and the Peace Center in Washington, D.C.

Diane and Lee met at San Jose State University and have been married over sixty years. They have four children, four grandchildren and will soon have two great grandchildren.

Tarek Fahmi

Partner, SNR Denton

A leading IP Lawyer in California, Tarek Fahmi is a member of SNR Denton's Intellectual Property and Technology practice and counsels business leaders in intellectual property-related matters across a broad range of technologies and industries. Among his pro bono activities, Tarek serves as an advisor to the Global Heath Research Foundation. He is a former naval officer and lives in San Jose, California.

Debra Fischer

Partner, Bingham

As deputy chair of the Bingham McCutchen’s Litigation Area, Debra Fischer has practiced employment law for more than 20 years, successfully trying cases in both California state and federal courts. She has experience in arbitration and her appellate work consists of briefing and arguing cases in state and federal courts of appeal, including briefing in the U.S. Supreme Court. She has defended clients in a wide variety of employment matters, including sexual harassment and wrongful termination suits; claims of race, sex, disability, pregnancy, age and sexual orientation discrimination; and assault, battery, invasion of privacy, defamation, fraud and false imprisonment allegations. She also advises on trade secret and unfair competition issues that arise when employees change employment. She is often called upon to handle employment disputes with high-level executives and other highly confidential matters. Fischer hopes women will continue to emerge as leaders in the legal profession, thus enhancing their ability to practice law as well as providing more diverse representation to clients. She also has a personal interest in helping women and children locally and globally. Fischer has also provided pro bono assistance to parents of children seeking to obtain better and more comprehensive health education in the public schools.

Professor Thomas Nazario

Founder & President, The Forgotten International / Professor, USF School of Law

Thomas Nazario grew up in New York City. He is an attorney and Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco School of Law. Professor Nazario has authored four books on children’s rights including the acclaimed In Defense of Children. As a recognized expert on the legal rights and problems of children in America, he has, over the years, appeared on CNN, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King Live, and the Today Show and has also served as a consultant to attorneys and law firms throughout the country, appeared before Congress and on matters involving children who have been abused, neglected, lost in foster care, were the subjects of an intense custody battle, or have been injured or killed as a result of someone’s negligence. His international work largely began in 1999 when, as a member of a legal team charged with preparing a report of the United Nations on the treatment of Tibetan children by the Chinese government, he was asked to travel to India to meet with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Since then, and in addition to many more trips to India, Professor Nazario has traveled to Romania, South Africa, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, Rwanda and Botswana to work on issues related to world poverty. He is presently working on a book project entitled Living on a Dollar a Day and is Founder and President of The Forgotten International.

Professor Joshua Rosenberg

Professor, USF School of Law

Joshua Rosenberg is a Professor of Law at University of San Francisco specializing in Corporate Tax Law. He has been a Visiting Professor at New York University, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University. He has worked as a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and as Director of the Civil Rights Project in Richmond, Virginia. He has written five books and numerous articles. He is a father of four and currently lives in Mill Valley, California.

Jay Rossiter

Partner, Perkins Coie

Jay Rossiter has more than a decade of experience representing clients in the areas of general litigation, complex commercial litigation and insurance coverage litigation, including environmental, product liability, directors and officers insurance and intellectual property disputes. Jay is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Southern California Law School. He is a partner at Perkins Coie, LLP in San Francisco and a member at the Harvard Club of San Francisco and The Cousteau Society.

Brian Scharlin

Vice President of Mid-Markets, Salesforce.com Foundation

As a member of the Salesforce.com Foundation management team, Brian Scharlin leads a team focused on helping Nonprofits and Higher Education Institutions leverage Salesforce.com’s technology and resources for the purpose of improving communities throughout the world.

About Us