Our Team
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Our Board of Directors
Nathan Schmidt, Lt Col USMCR
Board Chairperson
Founder
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Board Chairperson
Founder
Mountain Seed Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, EIN 87-1017090. Donations are tax deductible.
A clinical psychologist, Amit G. Oren, PhD, has treated patients in private practice for over thirty years. For the past twenty five years Dr. Oren has also served as an assistant clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine, where she supervises psychology interns and psychiatry residents.
Dr. Oren is passionate about positive psychology and is deeply committed to applying its concepts and research findings to the practice of psychotherapy. A dedicated educator and contributor within the Yale psychiatric community, she has shared her considerable knowledge and clinical expertise by conducting workshops and lecturing extensively in the US and abroad.
Vlad Kondratiuk is from Kyiv, Ukraine and is currently an Associate with Moelis & Company, a global investment bank based out of New York.
Before joining the firm, he was an Associate with The Blackstone Group, where he worked across a variety of industries, including Capital Markets, Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate. Prior to Blackstone, Vlad was a Research Analyst with the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) in Washington, DC, where he covered issues surrounding Ukraine’s economic development, domestic politics, and regional security.
Vlad has 6+ years of experience working with Ukraine-focused non-profits, including Ukrainian Finance Professionals Association (UFPA), Support Hospitals in Ukraine (SHU) and Building Ukraine Together (BUR). Vlad holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a BSBA in Finance and International Business from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
Victor is a world-renowned British mountaineer and became a UIAGM mountain guide in 1996 after a career as an architect in London. He relocated to Chamonix, France in 2003 becoming a member of the SNGM (National Syndicate of French Mountain Guides).
He has climbed extensively throughout Europe, the Himalayas and Karakoram achieving many first ascents including the North Pillar of Spantik. He recently calculated that he’s spent five years of his life under canvas!
Victor summitted Mount Everest for his first of six times in 2004 and with back to back summits on Aconcagua in 2013, he completed his Seven Summits bid.
His ascents list is predominantly on climbs of a remote and desperately hard nature, and Victor is still bubbling over with enthusiasm for the peaks and peoples of the Himalayas after 20 years of climbing.
In addition to being an IFMGA guide, Victor is a recipient of the Boardman Tasker prize for mountain literature and won the Grand Prize at the International Mountain Book Festival at Passey in 2015 for his book “Les Tribulations de Mick & de Vic en Himalaya”.
Dr. Davis is a board certified radiologist with practice specialization in neuroradiology, emergency radiology and traumatology. Dr. Davis trained at Yale, where he met his Ukrainian-born wife, Dr. Nataliya Uboha. Both Dr. Davis and his wife were part of Yale’s Medical Scientist Training Program, obtaining PhDs in neuroscience in addition to their medical doctorates and post-graduate specializations in radiology and oncology, respectively.
Prior to February 24, 2022, Dr. Davis was practicing full-time with a large private group in Wisconsin. With Russia’s invasion, Dr. Davis helped evacuate his wife’s family to the safety of their home in Wisconsin and then he stepped away from clinical practice to pursue full-time medical relief and humanitarian assistance for those suffering in Ukraine and for those protecting Ukrainian freedom, sovereignty, and self-determination.
Dr. Davis and his Ukrainian physician family have leveraged their healthcare backgrounds and networks in the USA and Ukraine to mobilize resources and assistance via a number of nonprofits and NGOs. They are part of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA), a nonprofit organization that has facilitated medical missions and sent hundreds of tons of medical aid to Ukraine since the war began. Dr. Davis now serves on the Board of the U.S. charity Give To The World as their Chief Operations Officer, helping to coordinate the assistance they provide to Ukraine and other conflict zones. Dr. Davis also works with a variety of other mostly volunteer organizations, including Rotary, Be An Angel, Friends of Be An Angel, IDA Foundation in the Netherlands, Help Heroes of Ukraine and others. He also works closely with volunteer partners in the healthcare networks of Yale, University of Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin/Froedtert, and others throughout the U.S. and Ukraine. To borrow from a MSF canon, it is these partnerships of committed volunteers that Dr. Davis envisions as the “seeds” which will help Ukraine to move mountains. The MSF mission resonates deeply with Dr. Davis, and he feels honored and privileged to have joined the team.
Dan Cnossen was raised on a fifth-generation family farm in Topeka, Kansas. After successfully completing SEAL qualification training in 2003, he deployed numerous times in support of global special operations. As a SEAL platoon commander, he was severely injured in 2009 in Afghanistan, resulting in the amputation of both legs above the knees. Td, he began training for the U.S. Paralympic ski team in 2011 as a cross-country skier and biathlete. He has since competed for Team USA in the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Games and is the first male athlete to win a gold medal for the United States in biathlon, a sport that combines cross-country skiing with precision shooting. In addition to training and competing for the U.S. Paralympic team, he is a public speaker for corporate and other audiences, as well as a resilience specialist for O2X, conducting workshops for firefighters and first responders. Cnossen holds a bachelor of science degree in English from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a master’s in theological studies from the Harvard Divinity School.
Dr. Beary has American Board certifications in Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Pharmacology. His education and training were at Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Hospital for Special Surgery-Cornell in NYC (HSS). He currently serves in the TriHealth PHO-Population Health Organization in Cincinnati Ohio.
He is a former Air Force Flight Surgeon and continued his service in the Naval Reserve, retiring as Captain, Medical Corps after 30 years of reserve service. He was asked by President Reagan to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense while on a three-year leave of absence from Georgetown University School of Medicine.
His major projects were securing funding for the first two new Hospital Ships since WWII, the Mercy, and the Comfort. They are the two largest shock trauma hospitals in the world, on land or sea. In addition, Medical Readiness was restored including Reserve surgical personnel, deployable combat hospitals and the medical supplies and logistics systems to support them.
Trevor D. Traina is an American diplomat, entrepreneur and private investor who served as the United States Ambassador to Austria from 2018 – 2021.
In January 2018, Trevor D. Traina was nominated to serve as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Austria. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in March, 2018 and served in Vienna for three years. Ambassador Traina was awarded the Medal for Exceptional Public Service by the Secretary of Defense and the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold from the Chancellor of Austria.
A seasoned entrepreneur, Ambassador Traina has founded / co-founded six technology startups. He is currently the CEO and Founder of Kresus Labs. Previously he was Founder and CEO of IfOnly, a San Francisco-based e-commerce platform and charity venture (Sold to MasterCard in 2019); Co-Founder and Chairman of DriverSide, a venture-funded startup in the online automotive category (Sold to Advance Auto Parts in 2011); Chairman and Founder of SchemaLogic, Inc. (Sold to SmartLogic in 2011); Chairman of StepUp Commerce (Sold to Intuit in 2006) and President and Founder of CompareNet, Inc., the original online product comparison guide (Sold to Microsoft in 1999.) Ambassador Traina spent two years at Microsoft after the acquisition. He began his career as the youngest brand manager ever at Seagram’s in New York.
Trevor D. Traina has served on the boards of the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF); Princeton University Art Museum, Gladstone Institutes; Venetian Heritage, Grace Cathedral and the Cathedral School for Boys. He holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University, a graduate degree in international relations and social studies from Oxford University and a master’s in business administration from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Katie R. Ross, MSW, serves as a strategic advisor for Mountain Seed Foundation with more than a decade of experience in mental health and non-profit management. She is a nationwide healthcare leader as the creator of Tactical Recovery(specialized residential trauma treatment) in her role as Director of Veterans Services for Summit Behavioral Healthcare. Katie is also a long-time advocate serving on several non-profit boards working to increase access to care and stengths-based, resilience building programs, driven to improve the lives of others.
What should it be, snow, ice or rock – Andi is everywhere at home in the Zell am See Kaprun region in Salzburger Land. Andi grew up in Zell am See in the shadow of the Hohe Tauern and kept a distance from Grossglockner in his young years. It wasn’t until he was 13 that he discovered skiing and started doing it with passion. He quickly got into the pull of the mountains and started climbing and climbing in rock and ice.
The mountains took up an ever-increasing part of his life. He became youth director of the Alpine Club section Zell am See, mountain rescue man and completed his training as a ski and snowboard instructor. During his studies he devoted himself to meteorology, because you can use weather science when mountaineering. Where did he do that? Of course in the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck. His travels took him to the Eastern Alps around Piz Bernina and Biancograt. Soon he couldn’t get past Chamonix and Mont Blanc – eventually traveling to the high mountains of Bolivia and Chile.
“As a mountain guide, I have really found my calling and am happy every time I look in the faces of my guests at the summit or after a hammer deep snow day and the grin from my left to the right ear no longer seems to go away. Then I am happy and exactly where I always wanted to go.”
Jeff is a former US Government senior executive with more than 25 years of foreign affairs and military experience, and has served abroad in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He is a former Marine Corps officer with service in Somalia (1993-1994) and holds degrees in Physical Therapy (which he practiced in North Carolina) and Russian Studies (including study abroad in the former Soviet Union).
After departing US Government service, Jeff started FHI Insights LLC, a consulting firm which advises US government, military, and private sector entities on geopolitical risk. He is on the Senior Advisory Board of London-based Labrys Technologies, a dual-use (defense and private sector) tech company transforming human network management and is a Contributor/Speaker for Skytop Strategies in NYC.
Jeff grew up in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in NY State, and now lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Lisa. They have two children in college. Jeff is excited to join the Advisory Board of the Mountain Seed Foundation and contribute to the long healing journey ahead for Ukrainian families affected by the Russian invasion.
Emory developed his love for the mountains at a young age. In college, he became a snowboarding instructor and an AMGA certified Single Pitch Instructor for rock climbing. He traveled for years of his life in search of rock and snow, finally landing in the mountains of Colorado.
After spending his twenties as a guide, Emory moved to the office as the Executive Director for Bold Earth, an adventure travel program for teenagers. There, he managed the full-time staff programming trips all over the world. In his free time, he would work as a mentor for the Snowsports Outreach Society, teaching leadership skills to underserved youth through skiing and snowboarding. Emory also enjoyed volunteering for the Range of Motion Project, helping raise funds to purchase prosthetics for patients in developing countries.
“I have witnessed firsthand how powerful nature and community can be for young people. I am honored to help Mountain Seed provide a healing and fun experience for these kids.”
Vasu Sojitra is a professional skier and a Disability Access Strategist living in Bozeman, MT. He has climbed peaks like the Grand Teton and was the first Disabled person to ski peaks in Montana’s Beartooth and Bridger Mountains with monumental ski descents on Tahoma (Mt Rainer) and Denali all on one leg and without a prosthetic leg.
Through his goals and ambitions, he hopes to create more accessible spaces for people with disabilities and people of color in the outdoors and the ski world with the motto of “#ninjasticking through the wood to center intersectionality in the outdoors.”
Iryna Prykhodko is one of the founding members of the Mountain Seed Foundation and the Non-Executive Director for Programs. Iryna brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the foundation, including a vast network of contacts in Ukraine.
As a Crimean native, she lived through the period of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of the USSR, and the birth and growth of the independent state of Ukraine. Iryna’s expertise, creativity and resourcefulness immediately allowed the Mountain Seed Foundation to provide vital assistance to Ukrainian refugees. She is also currently obtaining a masters degree in International Relations.
Kristen has over ten years of public interest advocacy experience in government, NGOs, and community-based organizations. Her eclectic background includes direct legal services to low-income residents of Washington, DC; consulting work on global education initiatives; Embassy work in Ukraine and Georgia; plus policy and outreach efforts to promote social reform in the areas of women’s and children’s issues, victims’ rights, disability services, and education reform.
Kristen is a licensed attorney and trained mediator in Maryland, and received her J.D. from the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. She also has a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Colorado.
Bryn is an accomplished Educator, Artist and Graphic Designer with a long time focus on Art Education. At the onset of the Russian invasion into Ukraine, she decided to transition out of the classroom and devote her full time efforts to helping Ukrainian children heal from the war. Having lived in Ukraine recently, Bryn developed relationships and important context to craft MSF’s programs to meet the needs of Ukrainian children.
Bryn is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, and sculpture. She previously led large public display art through her volunteer efforts at ArtWorks, to include leading Willkommen to Clifton Heights mural project and has taught students of all ages — from early elementary to high school. She originally is from Pennsylvania, received her Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and has over a decade of experience in the classroom and freelance graphic design work. She has lived in Eastern Europe – Kyiv, Ukraine and Tbilisi, Georgia. Prior to joining Mountain Seed Foundation, she had volunteered with numerous faith-based and education focused non-profit organizations and charities, both in the United States and abroad.
