Board of Directors


2023-2024 Board of Directors

Officers

Jeff Smith, President

My career as a health care executive includes being responsible for hospital-based rehab centers in Montana and Illinois and a large state operated facility and veterans’ home in Minnesota and a retirement community in Mississippi. Prior to my retirement I served as the administrator of the Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home in Bellevue

Prior to my US career I served as a public health consultant in Jordan and Lesotho (Southern Africa) and as consultant to church health missions in Malawi (Southern Africa) and Papua New Guinea.

I have been happily married to my wife Esther for 55 years, we have 2 adult sons -1 in Los Angeles and 1 here with 4 grandchildren. When not volunteering with VAS (truly a great organization), our church or local service organization my wife and I spend a lot of time seeing the world-so far, we have been to 79 countries.

Barbara Rizvi, Vice President

Barbara serves as a Financial Planner for FNBO’s Wealth Management division. She specializes in providing comprehensive and personalized financial planning that incorporates investment, retirement, tax, protection and estate planning strategies.

Barbara’s passion for helping people make informed financial decisions reaches beyond the office.  She is an active volunteer and board member of Volunteer’s Assisting Seniors, a local non-profit and regional SHIP office committed to making sure all seniors receive unbiased education and information regarding Medicare (benefits, enrollment, problem resolution) and property-tax relief through Nebraska’s Homestead Exemption program. She is also active on the board of her homeowner’s association and SID.

Family time is spent exploring the world with her husband, trying to master her vegetable gardening and landscaping craft, and wrangling her two rowdy pups.

Susan Whitfield, Secretary

Susan Whitfield joined No More Empty Pots in 2010 and was instrumental in assisting with its development and growth.  She has held several leadership roles and responsibilities.  Currently, Susan is the Facility Manager for No More Empty Pots.  She is responsible for the daily management of all of No More Empty Pots’ physical facilities, manages financial and operating budgets, provides supervision, and ensures that facilities meet government regulations and environmental, health, and security standards.  Susan serves on multiple community committees and boards in the Omaha metro area. Susan holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Bachelor of Science, Business, and Public Administration from the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

  • C.J. Guenzel, Treasurer

Directors

Rick Scofield

Rick has been with VAS for 17 years and has participated in many of the changes that have ensued during those years.  After retiring from an engineering career at OPPD, Rick joined VAS as a volunteer in February 2006.  He immediately took the initial SHIP training to become a SHIP counselor.  This was the first year of the Medicare Prescription Drug Program when all Medicare recipients were required to sign up by May 15, so VAS was extremely busy.  In addition, Rick became a counselor for the Homestead Assistance Program and the Conservatorship Program.  He was initially elected to the board of directors in 2006 and has filled all of the officer positions.

David Levy

David. Levy joined Bellevue University in 2001 as an associate professor in the College of Business.  In 2008, he was promoted to professor rank.  In 2012, he also became the MBA Program Director.  His primary areas of interest are supply chain management, decisions sciences and strategy.  He has experience in both the traditional classroom and online teaching. In the summer, 2023, he stepped down from full-time teaching to teaching a limited number of courses.  He has also earned the rank of Professor Emeritus. Prior to joining Bellevue University in 2001, he worked for Union Pacific Railroad for 23 years.  His work included a variety of staff positions focusing on the freight car asset.  His last role was as the Director – Freight Car Planning, Standards and Programs.  During his employment at Union Pacific, he often taught as an adjunct for universities in the Omaha, Nebraska area.  From 1995 until he joined Bellevue University in 2001, he taught for Bellevue University as an adjunct.

Dan Lorraine

Dan is a retired IT-industry executive, with over 40 years of experience leading sales and consulting teams in providing leading-edge solutions to enterprise customers.  He has been a Medicare counselor for Volunteers Assisting Seniors/SHIP for two years.Dan has been married to his wife, Julie, for 38 years.  He and Julie have three adult sons.   When not working with VAS clients, Dan enjoys watching sports, woodworking, and traveling to warmer locations.

Share This