Meet our Board

Brian Wallach

Co-Founder

Brian Wallach was diagnosed with ALS in November 2017. At the time of his diagnosis, he was 37, with two daughters under three. He is married to his co-founder, Sandra Abrevaya, whom he met on the 2008 Obama campaign. Brian is an avid skier who ran the 400 at Yale. His favorite movie is Big Fish and his favorite band is the National.

In addition to I AM ALS, Brian is an Associate at Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Prior to rejoining Skadden in May 2018, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois from August 2014 to April 2018. From July 2011 to April 2013, Brain served as Senior Vetting Counsel at the White House in the Obama Administration. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the vetting process for Senate-confirmed executive branch appointees and was a part of the White House Counsel’s Congressional Oversight Investigations teams. From July 2007 through November 2008, he served in a variety of positions on the Obama campaign, including as the New Hampshire Political Director in the general election.

Brian holds a BA from Yale University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Dan Tate, Jr.

Board member

Dan Tate, Jr. is the founding partner of Forbes Tate Partners, a bipartisan, full-service government and public affairs advocacy firm, and ALS patient. Prior to founding Forbes Tate Partners, Dan spent 25 years in government relations, holding senior staff positions in the White House, U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. House of Representatives. Since leaving the White House, Dan has used his high-level government experience and legislative expertise to successfully represent a diverse group of Fortune 500 companies and major policy coalitions — including those in the energy, environment, telecommunications and healthcare industries — on matters before the legislative and executive branches of government. He is a graduate of Amherst College.

Jano Cabrera

Board member

Jano Cabrera is the chief communications officer for General Mills where he oversees the entirety of communications for the company. Previously, he served as senior vice president of corporate relations for the McDonald’s Corporation and served as worldwide vice president for Burson-Marsteller. Jano founded Carthage Group Communications, a strategic communications, government affairs and issue advocacy firm. The firm advised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Grameen Bank, and America Votes, the nation’s then largest political action organization. In 2005, Jano lived in Baghdad, Iraq, and through the National Democratic Institute worked daily with members of the Transition National Assembly on the Iraqi constitution and the historic elections in December. During the 2004 campaign, Jano served as the communication director for the Democratic Party. During the primaries, he was the national spokesman for the Joe Lieberman for President campaign. He also served as a national spokesman for Vice President Al Gore from 1998 to 2002, working at the White House, and on Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and for Gore’s political action committee during the 2002 midterms. Prior to presidential politics, Jano worked on Capitol Hill. He also served as the communications director for the Recording Industry Association of America during the Napster trial and their transition into the digital marketplace. He serves on the board of the Institute for Public Relations and Results for Development. Jano is a graduate of Pomona College, where he earned his degree in politics.

Jenny Fortner

Board treasurer

Jenny Fortner recently retired from Goldman Sachs as their Director of Impact and Engagement for the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund (GSPF). In this role, she helped advisors and clients develop their charitable efforts and amplify their impact in the community. 

Prior to this role, Jenny advised high-net-worth households and foundations for 20 years as an investment advisor. She co-founded and led the Goldman Sachs (GS) Chicago Women’s and Diversity Networks. Jenny co-founded WRAP (Women Reaching Accelerated Potential) and was Client Engagement Team board chair. She wants to use her past 24 years of Wall Street experience to give back to the community through philanthropy, advocacy, board service, and volunteering.

Jenny is a Special Olympics International board member and finance committee chair. Jenny co-chaired the Special Olympics 50th Anniversary, raising $10 million and hosting 10,000 people for the first Global Day of Inclusion. Jenny champions ALS awareness and advocacy. She joined HopOnACure and I AM ALS recently. She helped care for her mom who had ALS for 2 1/2 years and will not stop until we find a cure!

Jenny is a trustee of DePaul University, the Misericordia Foundation, and the Big Shoulders Fund, which supports Chicago Catholic schools. Jenny served on the University of Chicago Visiting Committee and Leadership Greater Chicago (2016). In 2018, she received the Special Olympics “Volunteer of the Year” award, and in 2015, she was inducted into Mother McAuley High School’s Hall of Honor for developing a financial literacy pilot program. Jenny received the Women’s Venture Fund’s Highest Leaf Leadership Award in 2008.

Jenny got a BS in Psychology with Phi Beta Kappa honors from The University of Chicago in 1998, where she was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame for playing varsity basketball. She coaches Windy City Elite Travel girls’ basketball in Chicago’s South Suburbs.

Juan A. Reyes

Board member

Juan A. Reyes, USAF MSgt retired, is an ardent advocate for those suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), having been diagnosed Oct. of 2015. Juan served 21 years in the United States Air Force as an Independent Duty Medical Technician and Clinic Superintendent. 

Post retirement Juan held a position with Battelle Memorial Institute as a defense contractor. As an CBRNE Emergency Medical Disaster Response Manager, for 13 Air Force Hospitals and Clinics. This was followed by serving as the Executive Director for the San Antonio Texas Salvation Army Area Command; responsible for execution of all services delivered to the entire community of San Antonio and surrounding area. 

Currently Juan is focused on improving services, research and quality of life for ALS patients. He has shared insights with medical students and other healthcare professionals, enhancing understanding of ALS patient needs. His efforts have also taken him to our nation’s capital engaging elected officials on behalf of patients. 

As a Patient Mentor Juan aids newly diagnosed patients navigate this devastating diagnosis. Juan actively serves on committees locally and nationally to include: I Am ALS, NEALS Consortium and the ALS/MND International Alliance. Juan also serves as a Patient Ambassador for Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, the makers of Radicava. 

Juan resides with his family in Castroville, Texas.

Louise Langheier

Board member

Louise is co-founder of Peer Health Exchange, Inc., an organization that helps fill a gap left by underfunded, understaffed health education programs in public high schools nationwide. As chief executive officer, Louise is primarily responsible for leading Peer Health Exchange’s national growth to show up for more young people, building and managing the Peer Health Exchange staff and boards, raising funds and providing fiscal and organizational oversight. At Yale University, her alma mater, she co-founded and directed Community Health Educators, the student volunteer program out of which Peer Health Exchange grew. Louise is an Aspen Entrepreneurial Education Fellow and an Ashoka Fellow. She sits on the Board of Directors of Cow Hollow School and America Achieves. Louise graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in History. She lives in SF with her husband and three sons.

Michael O’Neil

Board member

Michael O’Neil previously worked as Special Assistant to the President in the Obama White House and was an early staff member on Obama for America in 2007 based in Chicago, Illinois. Following the White House, Michael was a member of Airbnb’s policy team, and is a Co-Founder of Overture. Michael was the Finance Director for US Senator Sherrod Brown, and previously worked at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Recently, Michael was a member of Biden for America’s National Finance Committee and served as a volunteer on the Biden-Harris Transition Team. Michael is a full-time volunteer for I AM ALS.

Michael Slaby (He/Him)

Board member

Michael Slaby was the community director of Harmony Labs. Prior to that, he ran Chicago Ideas — the community impact nonprofit behind the Chicago Ideas Week festival. Previously, he founded and was head of Mission of Timshel — a social-impact technology company — and was a fellow at Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. In 2008, Michael acted as deputy digital director and chief technology officer at Obama for America, and in 2012 he oversaw technology and analytics as the chief integration and innovation officer. In addition, Michael has served as an advisor and board member to initiatives including the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, Rhize, Bright Pink, I Am That Girl and LIVESTRONG, and he was named one of Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40 and Tech 50. He is a graduate of Brown University.

Neel Parekh

Board member

Neel is the Chief Strategy Officer of Clave, a Latin America focused fintech enterprise. He’s also a Partner of CrossRegional Management. Prior to that, Neel spent over 15 years in finance, investing in consumer and technology companies. In addition to founding his own firm, Night Square, Neel spent time at marquis institutions as a Portfolio Manager, including Millennium, Citadel and Tiger Consumer. At peak, Neel managed over $4 billion in assets. He currently is Director Emeritus at Urban Arts Partnership, after serving as Board Chair for over a decade. Neel received an A.B. from Brown University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He lives in NYC with his wife and two sons.

Peggy Plews-Ogan

Board secretary

Peggy Plews-Ogan is Bernard B. and Annie E. Brodie Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the Co-Director of the Wisdom and Wellbeing program—a health-system initiative to address stress, burnout and professionalism at UVA, which includes a coaching program for faculty and staff. She and her husband Jim, a pediatrician and Emeritus Associate Professor at UVA, have been together for 44 years. Jim was diagnosed with ALS in 2021 and after Jim’s diagnosis, they have devoted their lives to advocacy work toward ALS. For 10 years, Peggy led UVA’s primary care, geriatrics, palliative medicine, and hospital medicine divisions. Her therapeutic practice has concentrated on vulnerable groups, starting with migrant farmworkers. She has studied patient safety and quality of care to help physicians operate compassionately and creatively. She founded UVA’s Institute for Appreciative Practice to improve healthcare organizations. Her study focused on patient safety and error prevention. This led to study on learning from failures and the arena of wisdom—how wisdom is obtained from unpleasant experience and post-traumatic growth. She has several teaching and medical humanism honors and has written many articles and book chapters, as well as three books: Appreciative Practices in Health Care, Choosing Wisdom: Strategies and Inspiration for Growing through Life-Changing Difficulties (with a public television documentary), and Wisdom Leadership: Leading Positive Change in the Academic Health Sciences Center. Dr. Plews-Ogan completed her internal medicine residency at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital after graduating from Harvard Medical School. She and Jim have two grown children, Erin (a second-year medical resident at Massachusetts General Hospital) and William (just graduated from Columbia Law and commencing practice in NYC), and a son-in-law, Hal (third-year medical student at Brown), who all advocate to eliminate ALS!

Peter Bowen

Board chair

Peter Bowen is a partner at the global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, where he focuses on technology. He joined the I AM ALS Board in 2019 after working with Brian and Sandra to help start I AM ALS. Peter’s father battled ALS from 2005-2007 and he has stayed involved in the fight in various ways including fundraising, local action, and acting on the board of Prize4Life–an innovative prize-based ALS group helping in the race for a cure. Peter graduated from Cornell University and Harvard Business School.

Sandra Abrevaya

Co-Founder

Sandra Abrevaya is the co-founder of I AM ALS and ALS caregiver. She is the former president and chief impact officer of Thrive Chicago. Under her leadership, Thrive partnered with more than 300 public and private youth-serving organizations to identify and enact collective solutions for Chicago’s youth. Prior to joining Thrive, she worked in the Office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel as the education policy director. Sandra also served as founding executive director of Urban Alliance Chicago, a non-profit that provides internships, mentoring and college access support to Chicago Public Schools students. Before returning to Chicago, and during the Obama administration, she served as associate communications director at the White House where she oversaw press strategy on weekly domestic policy announcements as well as press secretary to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.