Founder
Wayne Muller
Wayne is the founder of Bread for the Journey® and is a therapist, public speaker, minister and author of five books, including his newest release A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough. For over 25 years, Wayne has worked with people who have suffered abuse, alcoholism, poverty, illness and loss. His focus is to help each of us find the spiritual grace, courage and wisdom that is born from sorrow.Staff
Marianna Cacciatore
Executive Director
Marianna Cacciatore is Founding Executive Director of Bread for the Journey International (BFJ). Since 1998 she has directed the development of BFJ from a single chapter in Santa Fe, NM into a national organization with 20 locations in North America. She provides ongoing care and support to each chapter’s Board of Directors as they practice neighborhood philanthropy in their respective communities.
Marianna is also an author and public speaker. Her recent book (April, 2010) is Being There For Someone In Grief. She serves as a Lifetime Emeritus Board Member of Tu Nidito “Your Little Nest,” the parent agency for an organization she founded called Children to Children--a center for children and families in grief.
These two careers — one in the field of grief, the other marked by kindness & generosity — found common ground inside Marianna's heart and can be best explained in the words of poet Naomi Nye in her poem titled Kindness. "Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing... Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore, only kindness that ties your shoes and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread... "
Sierra Castillo
Administrator
Sierra Castillo is the Office Administrator for Bread for the Journey. She has a diverse background in administration, which includes project management and event planning. She is a native of Sebastopol, CA., and was raised in an environment that fostered individuality, creativity and community outreach. In addition to her work at Bread for the Journey, she is a part-time student, aspiring to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Conservation. She is also a beekeeper and volunteer for Partners for Sustainable Pollination. She enjoys hiking, gardening, photography and shopping local.
Board of Directors
Nichole Christian
Nichole is a storyteller at heart and by training. She was recently named a senior editor for WDET public radio, where she actively contributes as a national reporter with a regional beat, helping Americans better understand Detroit. Prior to joining WDET, Nichole was Director of Communications and Marketing for TechTown, Detroit's largest small business incubator. She was formerly a member of the Detroit Free Press’ editorial board, serving as the Op-ed editor and writing about education issues. She began her career at the St. Petersburg Times and later became a staff writer at The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Time magazine. At the New York Times, Nichole was among the metro news reporters who produced “Portraits of Grief,” chronicling the lives of people killed in the September 11th attacks. Nichole wrote more than fifty of those portraits, part of the Times’ A Nation Challenged special section, which was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Nichole's writing is featured in Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood, a new anthology from WestSide Press Books in Chicago. She is the proud Founder and Chief Believer of The Circle Fund, aBread For the Journey Partner. TCF gives micro-grants to promising 3rd through 8th graders who give service to their school or community. Nichole is also the creator of ThinkThis!Designs, a positive apparel company. Like the t-shirt that launched her company, Nichole believes in living with Fearless Hope! She lives in suburban Detroit with her husband, their daughter and family dog.
Don Linnertz
Don Linnertz is a founding member of the BFJ Seattle chapter, now entering it's fifth year. Don's work life has taken him from philanthropy (Pike Place Market Foundation) to the travel industry (Holland America Line) to his current role at Adobe Systems, Inc. where he has worked for the past 14 years. His background includes strategic planning, negotiation, facilitation and international operations management. He is thrilled to have joined the national BFJ board in August 2011 and to be spending more time nurturing the work of generosity. Don and his partner, Scott Wallace live in West Seattle with their 23 year old cat, Priscilla. Don enjoys rowing crew, travel, gardening, cooking, and anything outdoors!
Dan Moore
Dan Moore is the principal in GivingInsight, a consulting group that helps people and organizations increase their capacity to achieve their goals, especially through strategic giving. He is founder of NCGives, an innovative initiative for inclusive philanthropy which celebrates and inspires giving, particularly within and among communities of color, women, and young people. This work draws upon his almost 20 years at the Kellogg Foundation where he served in a variety of roles, including Vice President for Programs. Before joining Kellogg, he was a faculty member at Cornell, Penn State, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wayne Muller
Wayne is the founder of Bread for the Journey and is a therapist, public speaker, minister and author of five books, including his newest release A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough. For over 25 years, Wayne has worked with people who have suffered abuse, alcoholism, poverty, illness and loss. His focus is to help each of us find the spiritual grace, courage and wisdom that is born from sorrow.
Nathan Sheth
Nathan Sheth is Bread for the Journey's Finance Chair. He currently lives in Philadelphia where he is working towards his MBA at The Wharton School, with an emphasis on business in Asia. Prior to business school, Nathan worked at SPO Partners & Co, a private investment partnership located in Novato, CA. Prior to SPO he worked as an advisor to technology companies, assisting in mergers, acquisitions and corporate financings. Nathan has been a board member of the Marin Chapter of Bread for the Journey since August 2009 and left that post when he became a board member of Bread for the Journey International.
Mary Beth Stepanek
Mary Beth Stepanek joined the Board of Bread for the Journey in November, 2011, after having been an ardent supporter since 1998. She is Founder and President of Accelerated Clinical Research (ACR), a contract research organization focused on medical devices and device/drug combination products. The company uses innovative tele-presence technologies combined with non-traditional patient recruitment strategies to help manufacturers evaluate the safety and efficacy of their products in order to gain market entry. Mary Beth built ACR based on a solid knowledge of the needs of medical device companies after having worked in the areas of training, product development, clinical and regulatory, sales and sales management for start-ups to market leaders. She currently commutes between her residences in Utah and Mexico, the company’s base for Latin American operations
Frank Taylor
Frank retired in 2007 as program director at the Kellogg Foundation, where he directed both its international and U.S. leadership development programs. Frank’s background includes serving in the Peace Corps in Peru, conducting research for the UN in Paris, foreign aid administrator in Brazil, Latin American Bureau Chief of Business Week magazine, and heading a community economic development organization in Appalachia.