A Commitment To Excellence

A Passion For Justice

Board Of Directors

FDSDI was charted in 1972 under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for public purposes. FDSDI is governed by a nine-member board of directors. The board selects and oversees the executive director for the organization. The board meets throughout the year to discuss the business of the organization and oversee projects of the board, in furtherance of the goals of FDSDI as laid out in our mission statement.

The board names four officers – President (two-year term) and the Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer (one-year term). To facilitate its work it has a number of committees, both standing and ad hoc. Examples include Finance, Management Liaison, Awards and Annual Dinner, Board Development, Nominating, etc.

At the Annual Defender Dinner, which it sponsors, the board presents the Conant-Cleary Award for exceptional and unselfish devotion to protecting the rights of the indigent accused.

Members are chosen by the present board for three-year terms. They receive no compensation for their service.

At present the FDSDI Board of Directors includes:

President: Mary Ellen Attridge, Criminal Defense Attorney
Vice President: Laura Schaefer, Criminal Defense Attorney
Secretary: Gary Burcham, Criminal Defense Attorney
Chief Financial Officer: Frederick W. Kosmo, Jr., Partner, Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP
Andrew Nietor, Criminal Defense & Immigration Attorney
Callie A. Bjurstrom, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Juanita Brooks, IP Trial Attorney, Fish & Richardson
Floralynn Einesman, Professor at California Western School of Law
Guadalupe Valencia, Criminal Defense Attorney