Board of Advisors
Sharon Y Eubanks
For the first 25 years of her career, Sharon Eubanks was a lawyer representing the people of the United States. She spent three years litigating antitrust cases at the Federal Trade Commission and 22 years at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 2000 to 2005, she served as lead counsel for the United States in the largest civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) enforcement action ever filed, United States v. Philip Morris USA, et al., the federal tobacco litigation. Following a nine-month trial, the federal district court found that defendants, the major U.S. cigarette companies, violated the civil provisions of RICO and committed fraud on a massive scale. They were ordered to change the way they do business, particularly in the area of marketing and advertising. That decision was sustained on appeal, and the case continues before the federal district court on remedies issues.
In October 2007, Sharon began a new legal career in private practice, specializing in civil rights, employment law, and general public interest cases. Since leaving the Department of Justice, she has worked at a large law firm as well as a “litigation boutique,” representing individuals in public interest cases. Presently, she is in Washington, D.C., in her own firm, Edwards & Eubanks, and she continues to represent clients in public interest matters.
Sharon is a member of the Board of Directors of the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, and she is on the Advisory Committee for the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco. With much support and encouragement from Professor Stan Glantz and the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, she completed her book on the tobacco litigation, Bad Acts, which was published in 2012 by the American Public Health Association.
Sharon Eubanks earned her undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She has taught Trial Advocacy at George Washington University Law School. Sharon lives with her family in McLean, Virginia.
Rear Admiral Don Loren
Rear Admiral Don Loren has over 40 years of leadership, management, strategic, operational, and exercise experience in the Department of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the U.S. Interagency at the flag officer, Senior National Intelligence Service, Senior Executive Service, and political appointee levels.
He was appointed by President Bush as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security Integration, serving as the primary DoD interface with the Department of Homeland Security, interagency departments, and international partners for matters concerning homeland security, Defense Support of Civil Authority, and Countering weapons of mass destruction. He was also responsible for partner capacity building and exercises with all U.S. international and interagency partners.
He represented the Department of Defense as a member of the White House Homeland Security Council Domestic Readiness Group, where he lead DoD coordination with the White House and Interagency for national planning and response to catastrophic terrorist and natural disasters.
He served as Deputy Director, J-5 The Joint Staff for Politico-Military Affairs and was Deputy Director for Strategy and Policy in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He also has senior NATO and U.S. combatant commander staff experience, as well as extensive overseas and deployed operational experience including leadership and command in Europe, South America, Africa, the Balkans, Southeast Asia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
As a Senior National Intelligence Service Executive with the Director of National Intelligence, he was the first Deputy Director of the National Counterterrorism Center for Operations Support where he had responsibility for 24 hour a day monitoring of the threat environment and oversight of the operations center, and coordination of national security special events.
He is a member of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Homeland Security Intelligence Council and has been appointed advisor to the Governor of Virginia on civil military relationships and preparedness. He is an adjunct lecturer in National and Homeland Security at the Joint Forces Staff College, Naval Postgraduate School, and Syracuse University Maxwell School National Security Studies Program. He has served as exercise facilitator and lecturer at The Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany.
Don has graduate and post-graduate degrees, and certificates of advanced study from The United States Naval Academy, Old Dominion University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of technology, Syracuse University, Northeastern University, The University of Maryland, The center for Creative Leadership, The National Defense University, and the NATO Defense College.
George W West
George West has over 40 years of leadership experience in working with international financial institutions including such organizations as: The World Bank, The United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, The Islamic Development Bank and the African Capacity Building Foundation.
Mr. West was at the World Bank for over 30 years serving in a wide variety of senior managerial and advisory positions supporting operational, financial, technology, administrative and corporate functions. He was the Bank’s Country Manager in Sri Lanka, Chief Administrative Officer for the South Asia and Latin American and Caribbean Regions. He led the World Bank’s Y2K program supporting both internal operations and worked with the UN preparing developing countries. Mr. West also served as the World Bank Representative on the US President’s Y2K Council. While at the World Bank he lead a variety of technology initiatives including the expansion of the Bank’s global communications network.
Mr. West has served on the Board of Directors of the Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union (BFSFCU) as it President. He is currently functioning as its CEO. BFSFCU is the 32nd largest Credit Union in the US with over $3.5 billion in assets. This Credit Union serves 80,000 members consisting largely of the staff and families of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Mr. West is also the President of an educational 501c3 organization. In addition, Mr. West has been an Executive Coach for almost 15 years and he specializing in helping senior executives. He has done organizational consulting work with a variety of organizations. An avid reader his interests include: continental philosophy, history, organizational design, technology and mathematics.