¶ Third Option Foundation
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The Third Option Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Reston, Virginia.[1]
¶ History
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, a group of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Special Operators formed the Third Option Foundation to provide support and resiliency services to actively serving and transitioning operators and families of the CIA's Special Activities Center (SAC) and their families, as well as the families of deceased operators.[2][3]
¶ Organization
As noted on Third Option's website, numerous members of its board and leadership team have "deep roots in the CIA."[4]
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Allen | Founding Chief Executive Officer[2:1] | - |
| Melissa Allen | President and Chief Operating Officer[4:1] | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Peace Corps |
| Michelle Baumgarten | Development Officer | Armed Services YMCA, Tacoma Art Museum, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums |
| Stephanie Usry Bellistri | Secretary | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Counterterrorism Mission Center (CTMC), United States Atlantic Command, Palantir Technologies, Evolv Technology, Saildrone |
| John Brennan | Member of the Board of Advisors | Kissinger Associates, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States National Security Council (NSC), Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), Obama-Biden Transition Project |
| John Burnham | Board Member | Accenture Federal Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs, United States Navy SEALs, Joint Interagency Task Force-National Capital Region, Naval Special Warfare Development Group (SEAL Team Six), Naval Special Warfare Group Four (SEAL Team Four) |
| Brian Carbaugh | Co-Founder and Board Member | Red Cell Partners, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Special Activities Center (SAC), United States Marine Corps |
| Steve Cashen | Chief Executive Officer | United States Army Special Forces |
| James Clapper | Member of the Board of Advisors | Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Intelligence and National Security Foundation (INSF), National Security Agency (NSA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) |
| Shiri Cohen | Family Resiliency Lead | Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Home Base |
| Elizabeth Delasobera | Medical Director | MedStar Washington Hospital Center, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington Capitals, Marymount University |
| Miriam D'Alessandro | Communications Director | George Washington University Virginia Science and Technology Campus |
| Bob Eatinger | Member of the Board of Advisors | SpyLaw Consulting, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Directorate of Operations, Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG), Navy Reserve Law Program |
| David Finn | Medical Director | Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Bruins, Harvard Medical School |
| Jay Goffman | Treasurer | Smitt Goffman Partners, Teneo, Rothschild & Co., Skadden, American College of Bankruptcy, American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation (CPARF), China Institute in America, American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) |
| Porter Goss | Member of the Board of Advisors | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Council for Responsible Social Media, Dickstein Shapiro, United States House of Representatives |
| Michael Hayden | Member of the Board of Advisors | Chertoff Group, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), National Security Agency (NSA), Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, Langley Intelligence Group Network (LIGNET), Central Security Service |
| Kevin Higgins | Board Member | Zipline International, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Counterterrorism Mission Center (CTMC), KSTK Enterprises, New North Ventures, Semantic AI, Benchmark Executive Search |
| Megan Jacoby | Controller | Deloitte, Honeywell |
| Lulu Kabanje | Senior Program Operations Specialist | Seismic Software, Salesforce, AmeriCorps VISTA |
| Scott Krase | Board Member | one2one USA Foundation, Oak Hill Advisors (OHA) |
| James Matthews | Board Member | Stone Point Capital, Evercore, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, J.H. Whitney & Company, Salomon Brothers, Alliant Insurance Services, Eagle Point Credit Management, HireRight, Private Client Select, SambaSafety, Tree Line Capital, Verisys, Bollinger Insurance, Black Mountain Systems, Frenkel & Company, Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Greenwich Academy |
| Stanley McChrystal | Member of the Board of Advisors | McChrystal Group, United States Forces - Afghanistan, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Siemens Government Technologies |
| Colin McKee | Program Director, Survivorship and Operator, Family Resiliency | United States Navy, Navy Wounded Warrior, Office of the Chief of Navy Reserve |
| John F. Mulholland Jr. | Member of the Board of Advisors | Mulholland Consulting, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Razor's Edge Ventures, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) |
| Leon Panetta | Member of the Board of Advisors | Panetta Institute for Public Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States House of Representatives |
| David Petraeus | Member of the Board of Advisors | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I), United States Central Command, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) |
| John Phelan | Chairman | Rugger Management, MSD Capital, ESL Partners, Zell-Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity Funds, Goldman Sachs, Whitney Museum of American Art, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Spirit of America, Harvard Business School, Southern Methodist University (SMU), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSE) |
| Paula Rauch | Senior Family Resiliency Advisor | Yale University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Marjorie E. Korff PACT Program, Home Base, Military Children Education Coalition (MCEC), Harvard Medical School |
| Debra Rogers | Development Operations Manager | Brain Injury Association of Virginia, Virginia Health Care Foundation, Henrico County Court Appointed Special Advocates, The Doorways |
| Mike Rogers | Member of the Board of Advisors | United States House of Representatives, United States Army, United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CNN, Mitre Corporation, CyberSponse, IAP World Services, 4iQ, Harvard University, National Security Institute (NSI), Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress |
| Karen Schaefer | Board Member | MicroStrategy, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Biden-Harris Transition Team, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Atlantic Council |
| R. Scott Spellmeyer | Vice Chairman | Cerberus Capital Management, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States National Security Council (NSC), Special Activities Center (SAC), United States Army, 75th Ranger Regiment |
| George Tenet | Member of the Board of Advisors | Allen & Company, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States National Security Council (NSC), United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Walsh School of Foreign Service |
| Grant Verstandig | Board Member | Red Cell Partners, Epirus, Spycraft Entertainment, Rally Health, UnitedHealth Group, National Security Agency (NSA), American Enterprise Institute (AEI), NexImmune, International Spy Museum, Verstandig Family Foundation |
| Michael Vickers | Member of the Board of Advisors | Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, United States Army Special Forces, Directorate of Operations |
| Chris Wood | Board Member | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Joint Chiefs of Staff, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Counterterrorism Mission Center (CTMC), Directorate of Operations, Northern Afghanistan Liaison Team, Bin Laden Issue Station, Senior Intelligence Service (SIS) |
¶ Funding
Donors, corporate sponsors and partners of the Third Option Foundation include:[3:1][5][6]
- A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation
- Acrisure
- Anduril Industries
- Balius Partners
- Blackbaud Giving Fund
- Boulder Crest Foundation
- Cape
- CIA Officers Memorial Foundation
- The Cipher Brief
- District Film Company
- Fidelity Charitable
- Fiserv
- Greater Washington Community Foundation
- MedStar Health
- Navy SEAL Foundation
- one2one USA Foundation
- Quantum Leap
- RdV Vineyards
- Red Cell Partners
- Ridgeline International
- SongwritingWith:Soldiers
- Tull Family Foundation (TFF)
- Tradeweb
- Travis Manion Foundation
- Valor Mission Project
¶ External links
Contact. Third Option Foundation. Retrieved August 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240805220026/https://www.thirdoptionfoundation.org/contact ↩︎
About. Third Option Foundation. Retrieved August 7, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240807154120/https://www.thirdoptionfoundation.org/about#story ↩︎ ↩︎
Support. Third Option Foundation. Retrieved August 7, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240807154139/https://www.thirdoptionfoundation.org/support-us#support ↩︎ ↩︎
Leadership. Third Option Foundation. Retrieved August 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240805220010/https://www.thirdoptionfoundation.org/leadership ↩︎ ↩︎
Partners. Third Option Foundation. Retrieved August 7, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240807154141/https://www.thirdoptionfoundation.org/partners#partners-content ↩︎
Third Option Foundation. Cause IQ. Retrieved August 7, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240807160738/https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/third-option-foundation,464884866/ ↩︎