Eradicate Hate Announces Six New Board Members to Advance Mission of Preventing Hate-Fueled Violence

Their expertise will support efforts to make communities safer for all

PITTSBURGH – Today, Eradicate Hate announced the addition of six new members to its Board of Directors as the organization expands its global reach and efforts to prevent all forms of hate-fueled violence. The new board members include Sara Carlson, former Deputy General Counsel for Analysis, Technology, and Science in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Office of the General Counsel; Dr. Colin P. Clarke, Executive Director of The Soufan Center; Robert DeMichiei, retired Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Dr. Heidi Ellis, Associate Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital; Vidhya Ramalingam, Founder and CEO of Moonshot; and Dr. Robert Scherrer, Executive Director of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The new members join a dynamic and dedicated Board encompassing vast experience across different sectors, including education, health, government, and law, as well as survivors. Their unparalleled expertise will bring vital perspectives on how to address this global challenge.  

“Everyone has a role to play in preventing hate-fueled violence, and our new Board members exemplify that by bringing backgrounds in fields as diverse as counterterrorism, technology, education, and mental health,” said Brette Steele, President of Eradicate Hate. “As Eradicate Hate continues to expand its year-round programming and bolster its work globally, we are excited to welcome and collaborate with them to guide our efforts to forge communities safer for all.”

Rooted in the aftermath of the deadliest antisemitic shooting in the U.S., Eradicate Hate has grown from an annual Global Summit that brings people together to create practical solutions to prevent hate-fueled violence, to a 501(c)3 nonpartisan nonprofit that runs year-round programs and initiatives such as the youth-focused UP End Hate, Reach Out Resource Hub, and Prevention Practitioners Network. Eradicate Hate recently released its 2025 Impact Report, detailing the results of its efforts to prevent hate-fueled violence last year through these programs and more.

The new members of Eradicate Hate’s Board of Directors on joining the Board:

“My experience in counterterrorism and the military has taught me that private organizations can play an important role in combating the growing threat from violent extremist movements. Defeating this threat requires practical solutions and strong partnerships,” said Carlson. “I’m proud to be a member of Eradicate Hate’s Board and support work that will forge these partnerships to keep communities safe, both online and offline.”

“Growing threats to national security and incidents of hate-fueled violence demonstrate now more than ever the importance of organizations like Eradicate Hate,” said Clarke. “I’m proud to be a part of Eradicate Hate’s mission, and to work alongside other dedicated and determined Board members to create innovative, multidisciplinary solutions that will make a difference.”

“I feel a deep connection to the city and a responsibility to work towards a community free from hate-fueled violence,” said DeMichiei. “I greatly appreciate the honor to serve on Eradicate Hate’s Board and to advance its strategy and solutions, not just in Pennsylvania, but globally.”  

“Mental health is a crucial part of violence prevention, and I’m proud to already serve on the Advisory Board of Eradicate Hate’s Prevention Practitioners Network in their work to apply public health approaches to prevention,” said Ellis. “I am excited to continue my work with Eradicate Hate as a member of its Board, and to collaborate with others dedicated to getting people the help they need and keeping our communities safe.”

“As the leader of an organization aiming to disrupt and counter violent extremism globally, I’ve learned that collaboration is key to prevention,” said Ramalingam. “Eradicate Hate provides an important forum to partner with others passionate about stopping hate-fueled violence.”

“Empowering youth with the tools they need to prevent hate-fueled violence and feel secure at school is a passion of mine,” said Scherrer. “As a member of Eradicate Hate’s Board, I will be able to work closely with experts across different fields to find feasible solutions to violence prevention.”   

Eradicate Hate also thanks Jeffery Finkelstein, the President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, for his invaluable service to Eradicate Hate from the beginning on the Community Advisory Board from 2021 to 2023 and then the Board of Directors from 2023 to 2026. His expertise and leadership were vital to advancing Eradicate Hate’s mission. Until Eradicate Hate formed a nonprofit corporation, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh was indispensable in serving as Eradicate Hate’s fiscal sponsor. Finkelstein was instrumental in making the Eradicate Hate Global Summit a success.

More information about the new members and the Board of Directors can be found here and below.

About Eradicate Hate’s New Members of their Board of Directors:

• Sara Carlson brings more than two decades of government service focused on counterterrorism, intelligence, and technology, to contribute to advancing the mission of Eradicate Hate. Most recently, Carlson served as the legal counsel for a technology startup based in Australia focused on providing open-source intelligence tools to government and private clients. Prior to that, she served as the Deputy General Counsel for Analysis, Technology, and Science in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Office of the General Counsel. While assigned to the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Carlson served as the primary legal advisor to the Director and the Center on domestic terrorism and as the primary legal advisor to two directorates. In addition to her time in the Intelligence Community, Carlson served as an active-duty Army officer in both deployed and garrison environments retiring in 2021. A native of rural Ohio, Carlson earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and her law degree from the Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law at University Park. She also has a Master of Laws in Military Law from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a Master of Laws in National Security Law, with distinction, from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she recently served as an adjunct professor teaching in the National Security Law program.

• Dr. Colin P. Clarke, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of The Soufan Center. His research focuses on domestic and transnational terrorism, international security, and geopolitics. Clarke previously served as the Director of Research at The Soufan Group and as a Senior Research Fellow with The Soufan Center. Prior to those roles, he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he spent a decade researching terrorism, insurgency, and criminal networks. At RAND, Clarke led studies on ISIS financing, the future of terrorism and transnational crime, and lessons learned from all insurgencies since the end of World War II. Clarke is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) – The Hague, a non-resident Senior Fellow in the Program on National Security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), an Associate Fellow at the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), and a member of the “Network of Experts” at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. He serves on the editorial board of three of the leading scholarly journals in the field of terrorism studies, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence,and Perspectives on Terrorism, as well as the Advisory Board of the Orion Policy Institute, an independent non-profit think tank based in Washington, D.C.

• Robert DeMichiei has decades of experience as a Board-level strategic advisor and corporate finance executive. In his retirement, he is using his deep expertise and broad experience in strategic planning, business operations, auditing, and finance to advise and serve on public and private boards, such as Waystar, Inc., Ardent Health, and Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation, and to advise and often lead the boards of non-profit organizations, including United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Seton Hill University, and The Advanced Leadership Institute. DeMichiei served for 16 years as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, retiring in 2020. At UPMC, DeMichiei led financial strategy and operations, supply chain management, and revenue cycle. Before joining UPMC, he served in top financial executive roles for the General Electric Company. DeMichiei began his business career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he led audit and consulting engagements for companies in the manufacturing, transportation, and technology sectors. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, with a major in Business Economics. 

• Dr. B. Heidi Ellis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, and a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also the Director of the Trauma and Community Resilience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, a partner in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Ellis’ primary focus is on understanding and promoting youth mental health and well-being, with a particular emphasis on understanding how trauma exposure, violence, and social context impact developmental trajectories. She is also conducting research to advance a public health approach to preventing violent extremism across the ideological spectrum. Ellis is co-developer of the trauma treatment model Trauma Systems Therapy, and led the development of the Massachusetts Area Prevention Program, a multidisciplinary team approach to preventing targeted violence and terrorism among adolescents. 

• Vidhya Ramalingam is Founder and CEO of Moonshot, an organization empowering people to thrive online. Under her leadership, Moonshot has pioneered a proven model to offer lifesaving services online to people considering violence; collaborations with tech companies to ensure safer user experiences; and critical support to institutions and individuals facing online abuse. Moonshot has twice been named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies list. Ramalingam is also recognized internationally for her role leading policy responses to terrorism. Following the 2011 attacks in Norway, she led the European Union’s first intergovernmental initiative on white supremacist terrorism. She has been recognized by Fortune’s Most Powerful Women and sits on Spotify’s Safety Advisory Council. She has served as a Commissioning Panelist for the UK security and intelligence agencies, and regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress, House of Commons of Canada, and UK Parliament on threats to national security. Watch her TED talk: The real-world danger of online myths.

• Dr. Robert Scherrer, D. Ed., has served as the Executive Director of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) since 2020. Prior to his current role, Scherrer served as the Superintendent of North Allegheny School District. The AIU is a regional education services agency and a crucial part of Pennsylvania’s public education system. As its mission states, the AIU is an educational community that advocates and advances equitable opportunities for every learner. The AIU employs nearly 1,200 educators, administrators, and support staff who provide specialized services to Allegheny County’s 42 suburban school districts as well as non-public, charter, and career and technical schools. The agency serves as a liaison with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and proudly operates three schools for exceptional children, 10 family centers, and approximately 130 programs for children, adults, and families in the region.  Previously, Scherrer was the Superintendent of the North Allegheny School District. He also served as an administrator in the Pittsburgh Public, Woodland Hills, and Peters Township School Districts, and began his career as a teacher at Baldwin High School. Scherrer received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education, a Master of Education in Business Education, and his Principal’s Certification from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He earned his Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility and Doctor of Education in Administrative and Policy Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, where his dissertation focused on teacher evaluation. 

Eradicate Hate believes that no matter who you are, we all have a role in preventing hate-fueled violence. Rooted in the aftermath of the deadliest antisemitic shooting in the U.S., the organization has grown from an annual Global Summit to a nonpartisan nonprofit providing comprehensive, year-round programs all working toward one common goal – to find practical solutions to prevent hate-fueled violence. Together we can make our communities safer for all. Learn more at www.eradicatehate.org or in the latest Eradicate Hate Impact Report and check out the new Reach Out Resource Hub, a first-of-its-kind national resource that Eradicate Hate recently launched to help those at risk of radicalization and those impacted by hate-fueled violence.