A Child's Right

Robert Steiner, MPH (Aquillian Investments - Director)Rob is currently serving as a Director at Aquillian Investments and is responsible for identifying cleantech investment opportunities in the water, waste, air, environment sectors. Prior to joining Aquillian, Rob served as the Executive Director for the WaterLeaders Foundation, a Bay area nonprofit that is dedicated to providing appropriate, sustainable safe water solutions to the developing world. Prior to his work in the private sector, Rob was an officer in the US Public Health Service and served within the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically within the Office of the Secretary, the Office of the Surgeon General and the Office of Global Health Affairs. Rob has also served on the ground in response teams to both the World Trade Center Attacks and the Asian Tsunami of 2004. Rob holds a Masters degree in Public Health from George Washington University with a concentration in Global Health Policy and a BS from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. Rob has FINRA Series 7 registration. Rob currently resides in Danville, CA with his wife Amy and son James.

Arvind Phukan, PhD (Rotary International– Coordinator for Water Resources) Arvind Phukan is currently serving as Rotary International, Zone 23's Water Project Director and Coordinator for Water Resources. Arvind is also President of Phukan, Inc., a consulting engineering corporation based in Anchorage. Arvind was a Professor of Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering, University of Alaska, Anchorage, retiring from the University in December 1995 after teaching for 20 years. During his professorship, he was the author of technical papers in various professional journals and international conferences, co-author of four engineering books and author of an engineering textbook. Arvind was District Governor of Rotary in Anchorage, Alaska from 2002-2003 and past President of Anchorage Midtown Rotary Club (1993-94), Arvind was a charter member of the club, which was formed in 1986. He has also served as International Service Director and Foundation Chair, and has participated in numerous community service projects. Arvind became a Paul Harris Fellow in 1993. His community involvement includes Founder of the Cultural Association of India , Anchorage, and President in 1982 and 1989. He also served as President of the Ganesha Temple in Anchorage from 1999 to 2001. Additionally, Arvind is active with various professional organizations and served as President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1978-79, President of Alaska Professional Design Council, 1984-85, and Chairman of Working Group Seasonal Freezing and Thawing of Permafrost for the International Permafrost Association, which represents 27 countries, from 1993-98. Arvind currently lives in Brown's Point, WA with his wife Dipa.

Randal Samstag, MS (Carollo Engineers - Environmental Engineer)Randal is a licensed sanitary engineer in Washington State and a registered civil engineer in Washington and California. He is an active member of the Water Environment Federation, the International Water Association, the American Society of Engineers, and is a diplomat of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. He is a consulting engineer who has served as project manager or process engineer on over fifty wastewater treatment plant projects ranging in size from 50,000 gallons per day (gpd) to 275 million gallons per day (mgd) average flow capacity. He was project manager and partial author of a report evaluating appropriate technology for sewage pollution control for the Wider Caribbean Region for the United Nations Development Programme. He has developed computer software for treatment plant design and is active in development of numerical models for treatment processes. He has served as process engineer on 20 peer-review or value engineering teams. He is the author of nearly three dozen peer-reviewed journal articles, papers for national and international conferences, and other technical conference presentations. In his 32-year career in consulting and municipal engineering, he has worked on projects throughout the United States, in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the Republic of Singapore. Randal is active in the volunteer organization Engineers Without Borders and has served as project manager for a report evaluating irrigation improvement schemes for communities in the Andes foothills in Southern Ecuador. He spent a year as a volunteer, assisting Mayan-speaking farmers implement clean water systems in villages in the State of Chiapas in southern Mexico. He is a veteran of a successful volunteer trip to Nepal with A Child’s Right helping to install water treatment systems in schools in Patan and orphanages and women’s shelters in Katmandu and Pokara. He has traveled extensively in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Europe. Randal has an A.B degree in political science from Stanford University and a M.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Randal is married to Gloria and has one daughter, Katherine, now attending Western Washington University.

Steve Rotter (Adobe Systems - Director of Marketing)For over two decades, Steve Rotter has been helping corporations and non-profit organizations develop innovative growth strategies. Currently, Steve is the Director of Marketing with Adobe Systems where he leads the global marketing team responsible for Adobe's emerging internet technologies. Prior to joining Adobe, Steve was co-founder and Vice President of Marketing of Q-Link Technologies (which Adobe acquired in 2004), one of the pioneers in Business Process Management software.  Previously, Steve was Managing Partner with Paradigm Research, a management consulting firm specializing in business growth strategies for the Global 2000. Steve has also held numerous industry management positions including Worldwide Marketing Manager within Motorola's Cellular Infrastructure Group where his organization received the prestigious CEO Quality Award. Steve is a published author and frequently speaks on the subject of business optmization.  Mr. Rotter holds a Masters degree from Northwestern University 's Kellogg Graduate School of Management and serves as a volunteer on the Marketing Advisory Board and Vision Council for World Vision, a non-profit, Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide. Steve lives in Elgin, IL with his wife Angel and their four daughters.

JD Fitz, MD (Good Samaritan Hospital – Vice President)JD is currently VP for Medical Affairs at Good Samaritan Hospital, Puyallup, WA where he is responsible for the quality of care in the entire facility.  JD is an Internist who has practiced in Tacoma, WA since 1982, following his training at Walter Reed and subsequent active duty service.  He has been active in teaching at the Tacoma Family Medicine residency.  He had a large primary care practice before starting the MultiCare Inpatient Service – a team of physicians dedicated to primary and consultative inpatient care of the indigent and of the patients of those physicians choosing to no longer practice within the hospital environment.  JD is dedicated to improving the quality of the care hospital patients receive.  He pioneered the use of standardized physician order forms for specific illnesses so that, similar to pilot's checklists, important considerations are not overlooked.   He served as the Medical Director for over 200 employed physicians in MultiCare's Multispecialty group where he initiated an annual physician performance evaluation which included feedback from patients and nurses as well as objective criteria of their clinical activities.  His wife and family have brought him the most satisfaction over the years.  JD resides in Tacoma, WA and is now enjoying his new sons-in-law, 2 grandchildren and is relishing being with his wife of 33 years in their (now) empty nest. 

Betty Pien (Costco International - Manager)Betty is currently the Manager of Costco International's Vendor Code of Conduct Compliance Department. Bio to come shortly.

Gregory Rurik, MD (Pediatrics Northwest - Pediatrician)Greg is currently a pediatric physician with Pediatrics Northwest- a multi-subspecialty pediatric practice that accepts and treats all patients with the same standard of care. He has served as one of the primary pediatricians there for 19 years and has played a key role in the customization, implementation, and optimization of the electronic health record at that practice as well as through the entire MultiCare Health System. Greg is an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, assisting in the clinical instruction of medical students there. Greg's devotion to children extends outside of the US and he has worked overseas with various organizations assisting children in Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, and was part of a relief team which worked in Sri Lanka after the devastating tsunami of 2004. There he worked collaboratively with a water team: while he worked examining and treating children the water team was treating and purifying the drinking water for cooking and drinking purposes- thus he has witnessed firsthand the impact of clean water in the areas ACR works in. Greg received his BS in mechanical engineering from Stanford, his MD from the Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, and performed his pediatric residency at Stanford. Greg lives in Gig Harbor, WA with his wife Dion and 4 sons.

George Flanigan (City of Gig Harbor - Inspector)George Flanigan is currently the construction inspector for the City of Gig Harbor Engineering Department and is responsible for the oversight of all construction to the City's infrastructure as it pertains to the public right-of-way, large private development, and public works projects.  In the past five years George has managed and inspected numerous large municipal projects including water and waste water system upgrades, roadway development, and ensuring the compliance of environmental requirements imposed on land development.  George has an extensive back ground in maintenance and construction and is a journeyman machinist, third year electrical apprentice, and holds a Water Distribution Manager II certification from the Washington State Department of Health.  George has worked with ACR in Nepal, China, and Tibet. He resides in Gig Harbor, WA with his wife Allison and two daughters, Kaitlin and Hope.

Elizabeth Bamber (Group Health Cooperative - Project and Events manager)Elizabeth has been with Group Health for 17 years and currently works managing and producing special events and projects on behalf of the organization's Executive Leadership Team. She has a background in event and hospitality management, fundraising and community relations. Elizabeth earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a teaching certificate in English as a Second Language (ESL). She has taught ESL both in the US and abroad. Long interested in social justice, she has been involved with causes dedicated to children, the poor and animal welfare for many years. Elizabeth had been involved with A Child's Right since it's inception and credits her travel to Nepal as the final frontier of inspiration to do all she can to help bring the precious resource of clean, safe water to the world's children. Elizabeth lives on Bainbridge Island, WA with her husband Clay, a legal aid attorney, and their daughter, Sophia Diptee adopted from Nepal in 2007.

Jon Yanasak (Washington State Water Reclamation Facility Manager)Jon is currently the Manager of a 1 million gallon per day, ‘state of the art' Water Reclamation Facility. A Washington State Legislative Pilot Project, this facility is owned by a growing Central Washington Community, and is regulated by both the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Washington State Department of Health. Utilizing both biological and filtration methods of treatment, along with disinfection techniques, the primary goal of water reclamation is the conservation of existing water resources by restoring and re-using contaminated flow streams for beneficial use. Jon has extensive experience in the design and operation of Water Reclamation Facilities including laboratory set up and testing techniques. Additionally, Jon has extensive experience with wastewater collection and treatment systems. Jon also has fairly extensive international travel and work experience and has worked with ACR in China assisting more than 2,500 children. Jon resides in Graham, WA and has 3 adult children and 2 grand children, who bring him much joy.