FARE Welcomes David Jaffe as Chair of the Board of Directors

McLean, VA, Dec. 16, 2021—FARE, the world’s leading non-governmental organization engaged in food allergy advocacy and the largest private funder of food allergy research, is pleased to announce that David Jaffe has been elected Chair of the Board of the Directors and Alan Hartman has been elected Vice Chair.  

Jaffe, along with his wife Helen who serves as a Member-at-Large on the board, has long supported research and education initiatives to help the 32 million Americans with food allergies. Raising four children with severe food allergies, the Jaffes are the founding members of the Food Allergy Initiative, one of FARE’s legacy organizations. In 1997 the Jaffes established the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, the first medical research institute dedicated to food allergy research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, a Discovery Center of Distinction in the FARE Clinical Network. David was recently a Senior Fellow in Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, where in addition to his academic work, he started SubjectToClimate, a not-for-profit venture that combines his interest in promoting education with fighting climate change. Until his retirement in 2019, David was the Chairman and CEO of Ascena Retail Group, Inc., a leading specialty retailer of apparel for women and tween girls including such brands as Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Grey, Lane Bryant, Justice, Dressbarn, Maurices and Catherines. He received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and his BS/BA from the Wharton School of at the University of Pennsylvania.

Alan Hartman has been a senior partner at Centerview Partners, a leading independent investment bank, since joining the firm in 2009 as a co-founder of its healthcare practice. In his over 25 years of investment banking experience, he has advised on almost $1 trillion of transactions that have helped transform the healthcare sector, including representing many of the largest and most respected pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School.

In addition, Dev Ganesan, a global leader in building and scaling companies in the digital, mobile and eCommerce industries, was elected to the Board of Directors. He brings decades of experience helping companies grow by building strong teams, go-to-market planning and execution, and fundraising. Currently, Dev is the President & CEO at PathFactory Inc, an AI-driven MarTech firm that helps companies grow revenues. 

With these additions, the FARE Board of Directors includes the following members: David Jaffe-Chair; Alan Hartman-Vice Chair; Milton Brown, MD, Ph.D.; David Bunning; Leigh Feuerstein; Dev Ganesan; Robert L. Rich; and Mary Weiser. Adam Miller and Helen Jaffe serve as Member At Large directors. Full bios and pictures of the FARE Board of Directors can be found here. 

“We are fortunate to have such seasoned leaders serving on the FARE Board of Directors,” said Lisa Gable, FARE CEO. “These leaders will guide FARE’s programs and initiatives in 2022 and beyond as we build upon the incredible successes we have achieved in 2021 and address ongoing challenges we face due to the economic and social impact of COVID-19.” 

Key FARE accomplishments in 2021 include:

• FARE is on track to surpass $100 million committed to our $200 million goal to fund research and education priorities;
• More than 250,000 patients were served across 51 FARE Clinical Network sites in 23 states and Washington, D.C.;
• FARE’s number of grassroots advocates increased by 59%, to over 70,000;
• More than 13,700 enrolled in the FARE Patient Registry, with 1,800 added in 2021;
• Over 35,000 learners joined Food Allergy Academy since its launch last year; and
• The FASTER Act to label sesame ingredients as allergens on packaged foods was the 11th bill signed into law during the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration.