Meet the Team
Larry Crickenberger
President
Larry is currently a consultant, having formerly served as the Director of Financial Planning for Silicon Valley Bank in San Francisco, CA. He is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and has worked as an administrative law judge, attorney and as Vice President at Fidelity Investments in Burlingame, CA. His community involvement spans organizations concerned with hunger, wildlife, the environment and LGBT rights. He previously served as treasurer of SF Pride and vice president of Independent Living Resource Center in San Francisco. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia (BA) and New England Law School (JD).
Cathe Giffuni
Vice President
Cathe Giffuni has been involved with EMERGENCY USA in New York City since its inception in 2005. She has participated in EMERGENCY USA and EMERGENCY conferences throughout the years. More than 20 of her bibliographies of 20th century authors including several Italian authors have been published in books and journals in the United States and abroad.
Kais Rona
Vice President
Kais Rona is an Afghan-American surgeon. He and his family fled their homeland during the Soviet invasion. His humble upbringing instilled in him a passion to excel and provide a better life for his family. He was inspired by the work of the late Dr. Gino Strada and his own experiences catalyzed an interest in the field of medicine. Dr. Rona completed his medical and surgical training at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is a trained fellow in bariatric surgery, robotic surgery, and advanced endoscopy. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles as well as original work in surgical texts, primarily in the fields of foregut and bariatric surgery. He currently serves as the director of bariatric surgery at Placentia-Linda Hospital in Placentia, California.
Fazlia Seraj
Treasurer
Fazlia Seraj is a business professional at Applied Medical Resources Corporation, a medical device company devoted to using innovation to pioneer medical products that aid in creating the best outcomes for patients. With over 30 years of experience in the fields of accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and management, not only does she have extensive knowledge in analytics, but also robust problem-solving skills. Her passion for serving her community has led her to utilize her background and skill set through the active involvement and participation in multiple charitable and humanitarian projects. She is both a co-founder and current member of the Afghan Women Association of Southern California, a non-profit charitable organization established in 1998 with the central goal of empowering Afghan women both in the United States and Afghanistan through education and dialogue. Joining the Board of EMERGENCY USA in 2023, she also serves on the Board of International Orphan Care, a non-profit aimed at creating comfort and self-reliance for Afghan orphans primarily through education.
Nafisa Abdullah, MD
Board Member
Born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah earned her medical degree from Kabul University. She is an Ob/Gyn who has extensive experience in Endocrinology and Infertility. She spent decades of her career at West Los Angeles Kaiser, brought her expertise to numerous hospitals in Afghanistan and is dedicated to aiding the most vulnerable civilians impacted by war: mothers and infants.
Maneza Ali
Board Member
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Maneza M. Ali is a governance and redevelopment paralegal at McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC in New Jersey. She has her bachelor’s degree in International Relations from China Foreign Affairs University and her master’s degree in International Political Economy from Peking University in Beijing China. She has previously served as a paralegal for the City of Jersey City Law Department and Christopher Law Group in Manhattan. She also served as an AmeriCorps Vista in the City of Jersey City.
Maneza was born in Afghanistan and raised in China. She moved to the United States in 2016. She has experience working in real estate and as a teacher. Maneza was deeply involved in her community in China, where she participated in a mentorship program educating students from rural China about gender equity issues.
Daniele Casarotto
Board Member
Born in Italy, where he graduated in Physics and began his professional career in the microelectronics industry. Moved to USA 20 years ago. Forever sensitive to the instances of social justice and the needs of the developing world, he has many years experience as a volunteer, but just new as an NGO board member.
Nicola Ciano
Board Member
Nicola discovered a passion for fundraising in 2013 when he led the Direct Marketing Area start-up at WeWorld Onlus. Previously, he had several years’ experience in the profit sector, including with Product and Brand Management in the Publishing and Mail Order sector. An expert in Direct Marketing with several experiences using different mediums and campaigns, he coordinated individual fundraising for WeWorld until arriving at EMERGENCY ONG Onlus in 2019, where he is Fundraising Director.
Emily Farkas
Board Member
Dr. Emily A. Farkas is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon and one of only 3% of female cardiac surgeons. She was the first woman accepted to train in the specialty at Yale University. Following graduation, she spent five years on the faculty at Saint Louis University as Assistant Professor of Surgery. During her time there, she was honored with a Mayoral Proclamation designating August 3rd, 2011, “Dr. Emily Farkas Day” in the city St. Louis due to her extensive community and international volunteer work. This passion for humanitarian surgery eventually led her to leave the University to focus on providing free heart surgery overseas. Dr. Farkas now partners with different charity organizations to do so every six to eight weeks. She has directed or participated in more than 35 missions around the world.
Asma Rasikh
Board Member
Asma’s work involves data analytics, process improvement, and technology. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration from University of Southern California (USC). She is passionate about human rights, social justice issues, and leveling playing fields for economic equality. Asma has been involved with EMERGENCY USA for many years but recently joined as a board member.
Mary Ray
Board Member
Mary Ray joined the board of Emergency USA in 2023. She is co-founder and COO of MyHealthTeam, a direct to patient and social networking company, which has made the company’s web and mobile apps a daily healthy habit for millions facing a chronic health condition in 13 countries. Her innovative vision for digital health solutions has transformed the way people connect with others who share their diagnosis, facilitating candid conversation and accelerating access to trusted medically-reviewed information. Recognized for building scalable platforms that drive consumer engagement, Mary was named to the Inc. Magazine “Female Founder 100” list and the MM+M “Hall of Femme” in 2021 and was honored as a DTC Innovator and a PM360 ELITE in 2019. Mary is an advocate for women’s health, social justice, and humanitarian initiatives.
Mimi Yu
Board Member
Mimi was McKnight Presidential Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota from which she retired in 2009 after 30+ years in academic medicine. She is also a board member of the Orchestra Santa Monica, CA, a community orchestra where she and her husband reside. Mimi has been involved with EMERGENCY USA since 2009. She writes: “Social justice, human rights and pacifism are central to my world view.”
Gino Strada, MD
Honorary Co-Founder
Gino Strada was an Italian surgeon and an outstanding humanitarian who provided high-quality medical and surgical services to victims of war for two decades. From Afghanistan to Sudan, EMERGENCY, the organisation that he co-founded in 1994, has treated more than 11 million people. Strada and EMERGENCY have also campaigned forcefully against the root causes of war and human suffering, speaking out against Italian military involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and playing a leading role in the successful campaign that resulted in Italy banning the production and use of antipersonnel landmines in 1997.
Kief Davidson
Kyler Hunter
Hollie McKay
Amira Resnick
Courtnay Robbins
Diana Silverman
Michele Willens
Ataullah Zulfacar
Doctor, Educator and Humanitarian
Giuseppina Ciarla