Board and Staff

Mr. O´Brien is founding partner of O´Brien Law, LLC, a Washington, D.C. Law firm specializing in employment law and business immigration. He graduated in 1987 from Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. He is a member of the Bar of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He has run his firm for over 20 years. and says that the best part of running a small business is that he has, “given employment to many people, thus helping each of them in different ways along their own career paths. Mr. O´Brien joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors since July 13, 1991, and was elected chairman of the board at the June 7, 2003, board meeting.

In March 2022, Christian Relief Services Charities President and CEO Bryan Krizek was recognized for his 30 years of service by the Board of Directors for his service to the nonprofit organization, which began on October 1, 1991.

The board resolved “To express its deep and abiding appreciation for Bryan Lad Krizek’s leadership, foresight, and tireless efforts for three decades on behalf of Christian Relief Services Charities, Inc. and its charitable programs, as well as his exemplary service as its Chief Executive Officer since 2005, as its President and Chief Executive Officer since 2019, and as its President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member since 2020.”

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Thomas M. O´Brien has been a principal in Morningside Group, LLC, a consultancy, since 2024. Prior to that, since 2018, he was principally a private investor and entrepreneur. He was Chief Executive Officer and a board member of TravelCenters of America LLC, from 2007 until 2017, and a senior executive with the RMR Group from 1996 through 2017. Mr. O´Brien serves on the board of directors of VirnetX Holding Corporation, a public company engaged principally in internet communications security, and of BAYArts, a cultural non-profit based in Ohio. Mr. O´Brien joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors in 2008.

Admiral Jones served in the active duty U.S. Coast Guard for over 36 years, having commanded three cutters (ships) and the Seventh District in Miami, Florida. He also served in key positions directing Budget, Human Resources, Congressional Affairs and Operations Policy. Admiral Jones is a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Engineering, a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Brown University, and a Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College. Admiral Jones joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors in 2014.

Mr. Stitely is a partner at Stitely & Karstetter, CPA. He graduated summa cum laude from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and received the Elijah Watt Sells certificate in recognition of his performance on the CPA Exam. Mr. Stitely serves small businesses and individuals in the areas of taxation, financial reporting and software support services. He is a certified accounting software consultant and trainer working primarily with Sage Software products. He formerly served as an officer for the Dulles Area Chamber of Commerce. Stitely joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors since June 24, 2006.

Elayne Silversmith is the Librarian at the Vine Deloria, Jr. Library with the National Museum of the American Indian’s Cultural Resources Center (NMAI, CRC) in Suitland, Maryland. The Cultural Resources Center is the home for the museum, library and archives collections and serves as a place for respectful learning, understanding, and sharing of Native knowledge and lifeways. She feels fortunate to be in a place where the Native worldview guides the mission for the museum and library. To her, this is one meaning of Indian Self-Determination. Silversmith joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors since June 1, 2017.

The Right Rev Ketlen A. Solak graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary in May 2005 and was ordained in the Diocese of Virginia in June of that year. She served as Associate Rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church from August 2005 to November 2014. During her tenure at St. Luke’s, Rev. Solak was active in the Alexandria, Virginia area non-profit community and joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors in 2014 and is currently serving as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

John worked with the Veterans Administration (VA) as a Management and Program Analyst with the Veteran Experience Office focused on leading programs to improve the Veteran’s customer experience. After retiring from active duty and prior to joining the VA, John worked with the Coca-Cola company as a global project manager, supporting the development of a corporate-wide system economics tool, which provided improved efficiencies for the Coca-Cola system value chain. While on active duty, he was instrumental in the development and implementation of the revised Blended Retirement System as a part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Additionally, he is a member of the Economic Development Authority board of the City of Douglasville, Georgia. John earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech) and a Master of Business Administration degree from Capital University. John joined the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors since June 21, 2014.

An enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation of the Pine Ridge Reservation, SD, Loretta is an elder and Medicine Carrier for her tiospaye (extended family).

Loretta, and her husband Tom Kanatakeniate Cook, who oversaw Running Strong’s Slim Buttes Agricultural Development program on the Pine Ridge reservation for many years, are active in hosting Sun Dance ceremonies every year along with the Afraid of Bear, American Horse and Red Cloud tiospayes. Loretta is the female Sundance Leader for the Afraid of Bear/American Horse Sundance. As a fluent Lakota language speaker, faith keeper and holder of the pipe, Loretta is a cultural consultant and interpreter.

In 2016, Loretta made history as part of a delegation of Indigenous leaders who formally presented Pope Francis with the “Petition to Revoke the Papal Bulls of Discovery.”

Loretta has a long history of commitment to her Oglala Lakota people, as well as to Running Strong for American Indian Youth®, where she had served on the Running Strong Advisory Board for many years prior to joining the Running Strong Board in 2017 and the Christian Relief Services Charities Board in July 2022.

Ashley Shultz is from the Tuscarora Nation, Snipe Clan. A 2012 graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor’s degree in History where she also served as President of the Native American People’s Alliance. She has worked in the commercial residential industry, including as a Leasing Consultant for Christian Relief Services Residential (CRSC), a Property Manager for Bozzuto Management Company, and as a Service Manager in Benefits and Financial Strategies for the TrueNorth Companies. Ashley joined the Running Strong Advisory Committee in September 2022 and the Christian Relief Services Charities Board of Directors in June 2023.