Board of Directors

Andy Besser has been actively involved in the field of addiction treatment for the past 10 years. After retiring from a 25-year career as a medical malpractice litigation attorney, Andy went back to school to earn a certification as an addiction counselor.

Andy founded and operates a nonprofit intensive outpatient treatment program, and has volunteered as an addiction counselor for a Los Angeles based nonprofit addiction treatment center. He also is the Chief Financial Officer of the Burstein Company, a management and production company that represents actors, writers and directors of film, television, theatre and new media. In addition, he serves as a volunteer case evaluator for the California State Bar’s Lawyers Assistance Program, and he was appointed to a four-year term on the program’s Executive Oversight Committee.

After graduating with a B.S. degree in Animal Behavior from Bucknell University, Andy earned his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School. He also received a certification in Drug, Alcohol and Addiction Counseling from UCLA.

Andy has been actively involved in Alcoholics Anonymous over the past two decades. He first learned about CLARE Foundation more than 15 years ago when he spoke on an Alcoholics Anonymous panel. He also serves on the board of Beit T’Shuvah, a nonprofit organization devoted to addiction treatment.

Andy and his wife, Joannie, are parents of two children, Jordan and Carly.

James C. Birch is the Founder and Chief Strategic Officer of Cloud Cover Music, a streaming music service for business locations. He successfully navigated the maze of industry and Internet licensing regulations to create an innovative business model, delivering legal music to stores using a proprietary software platform. The company is considered the industry leader for cloud-based music, serving enterprise clients.

Prior to working in the music industry, James worked for 25 years as a video-based corporate communications specialist for advertising agencies and major corporations. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Occidental College and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, specializing in Consumer Behavior.

James currently serves as Treasurer of the Board for CLARE|MATRIX. He and his wife, Gail, reside in Santa Monica Canyon.

John Carrick is Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Integrated Capital Management (ICM). ICM is a Los Angeles-based investment management firm that is privileged to invest the commercial real estate allocation of Disney and several other family offices around the country, as well as multiple registered investment advisors, high net worth individuals, and foreign capital sources.

Mr. Carrick’s extensive experience as a real estate attorney, investment banker and principal is reflected in the execution of more than $75 billion in real estate transactions during and throughout his accomplished career. He brings invaluable insight and a powerful macroscopic perspective to ICM, with the ability to handle complex legal and business-related matters, debt and equity financing needs, and the analysis and evaluation of commercial real estate investment opportunities.

Immediately prior to forming ICM, Mr. Carrick was Senior Managing Director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF), where he advised clients with respect to both equity and debt capital formation on a project, portfolio or entity basis. He also held executive positions at Anderson Global Corporate Finance, Savills Studley and Cohen Financial. Previously, he was part of the investment banking practice at Nomura Asset Capital where he focused on debt underwriting, origination, securitization and asset management. Mr. Carrick started his professional career as a structured finance attorney in the private sector and as counsel for the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC).

Mr. Carrick received a BA from Bucknell University and a JD from The Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America. After practicing law for five years, he continued his education at UC Berkeley and earned an MBA at the Haas Graduate School of Business where he was awarded the prestigious Marshall Bennett Real Estate Fellowship.

Kevin Fahy is a native of Southern California who grew up the second oldest of five children in the city of Downey. Not long after high school, Kevin’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to Chicago, where he learned the trade of selling leather hides, spending three years perfecting his knowledge and skill-set.

In 1979, Kevin launched his own business, Fahy Leathers, and became a leading independent leather sales representative in Los Angeles. By 1986, he expanded his business to include importing and selling leather worldwide.

Bolstered by his appreciation for his own sobriety and a desire to help others attain theirs, he became a board member of the CLARE Foundation in 2005. He has been a part of many CLARE Foundation committees, focusing primarily on finance and facilities. Currently, Kevin diligently serves as the Chairman of the Board for CLARE|MATRIX.

Kevin resides in Pacific Palisades with his wife, Loree, and their three children, Erin and twins Ryan and Dylan.

Mark Freund is a Southern California native who graduated from UC San Diego, where he studied film and earned a B.A. degree in Communications. His love for science fiction movies and books led him to work as a visual effects artist and supervisor in the motion picture industry. He has worked on such films as Star Wars, The Matrix Reloaded, X-Men: The Last Stand, and nearly 100 other notable feature films. He is a member of the Visual Effects Society and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Now retired, Mark enjoys traveling by bicycle and giving back in meaningful ways. He has a longstanding involvement with Deaf West Theatre, and he continues working with the hearing impaired in recovery. He also regularly reads to children at local libraries.

Mark and his wife, Trice, are longtime supporters of CLARE Foundation. Mark has served on CLARE Foundation’s board committees since 2012, and he also spent more than a decade working as a volunteer for the Matrix Institute on Addictions.

Since its merger, CLARE|MATRIX has enabled Mark to continue his enthusiastic service for an organization with a mission of saving lives through recovery.

Stanley Janowiak is the Senior Vice President at Morgan Stanley & Co. He joined their team in November 2008 and is a partner with the Monroe Harbor Group at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Before his tenure at Morgan Stanley, he served in the Global Private Client Group of Merrill Lynch since 1995.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he was an Account Executive for Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group in Chicago. Over the past 25 years, he has worked in investment consulting and private banking services.

Stanley holds a B.S. in Business Administration from DePaul University. He and his wife, Jennifer have two children.

Melissa Sandoval is in-house counsel at SoCalGas. She joined the SoCalGas team in September 2020, and is Senior Counsel with the litigation group. Prior to joining SoCalGas, she served as in-house trial counsel for Union Pacific Railroad. Before joining Union Pacific Railroad, Melissa was an Associate Attorney for Randolph, Cregger & Chalfant, LLP, a Sacramento-based defense firm representing railroads and public entities.

Law is a second career for Melissa. She began her professional work as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York City and Northern California, where she provided school-based and in-home services to families and children. She worked full-time as Clinical Supervisor at Victor Community Support Services (VCSS) while attending law school, and finished her clinical career as Assistant Director of Business and Program Development and HIPAA Compliance and Privacy Officer at VCSS.

Melissa holds a B.S. in Family Studies from University of Arizona, a M.S.W. from New York University, and a J.D. from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in California and Nevada. She is a die-hard college basketball fan, and enjoys running and biking in her spare time.