Dive Pirate's Foundation

Officers & Board of Directors

	President—Barbara Thompson AN SSI Advanced Open Water Instructor and co-founder of the foundation. When not teaching and diving, Barbara is an Account Manager for subsea engineering and construction company, Acergy. Barbara leads fund raising efforts and recruiting new students.
	Vice President—Sophie Wimberley Sophie is also a co-founder and an Advanced Open Water Instructor with SSI. Sophie is a Medical Science Liaison for Schering-Plough. Sophie instructs adaptive students and plans travel.
	Secretary - Janet Pitts Janet has been involved in Dive Pirates for 3 years through her 3 children and husband who dive, even though Janet sticks to snorkeling. Janet has been seen eagerly helping out at the Pirates Ball, greeting people and checking out Silent Auction winners. Janet is an educator and full time Mom.
	Treasurer—Theresa Cortez Although not a diver and never plans to be one, Theresa is fully behind the organization and works very hard in recruiting and press relations. She and her husband, Martin who is a new diver, create promotional videos for Dive Pirates and write our press releases. She is a Press Officer for CPS Energy utility in San Antonio. TX

Board Members

	Lou Brown Lou is a West Texas rancher, political advisor, critter keeper, and organist for the local monastery. She has lots of divers in the family but much prefers to sit on the beach and listen to the surf. She brings terrific experience in organization and fund raising.
	Kurt Byth Kurt has been diving since the 70's and has 2 daughters that started diving with Scuba Rangers and are pretty accomplished themselves. Kurt is an owner in PPI Technologies, a petroleum engineering consulting firm in Houston. Kurt brings enthusiasm and a lot of other companies along at each Pirate Ball.
	Nettie Evans Nettie has the distinction of being our first dive pirate and is a co-founder. "Naughty Nettie The Red" is a hardware store owner in Indiana, a PADI Divemaster & SSI Adaptive Dive Buddy. “I want to encourage new divers to join us without feeling physically impaired and enjoy the freedom of diving.“
	Bob Evans "Overboard" Bob Evans is a career Navy Mechanical Engineer, civilian. As a PADI Divemaster & SSI Adaptive Dive Buddy from Indiana, I hope to help spread the word of Dive Pirates to the eastern seaboard !
	Martine Hamilton Martine is a Master Diver with PADI and an enthusiastic member of our team. No job is too small or big for her and she volunteers for extra tasks whenever she has time available. She works in the insurance industry in Dallas.
	Tracy Hamilton Tracy is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer with PADI and recently became an SSI Adaptive Instructor. He is a Project Manager for EDS in Dallas and also travel coordinator for Adventure Scuba in Plano, TX. Tracy, along with his wife, Martine, has worked very hard in fund raising and contributing to our Pirates Ball.
	Gardiner Henderson Gardiner has been diving for 3 years and has already passed 100 dives. He has become an accomplished UW photographer and now has the duties on our Pirate Trips to Cayman Brac. Gardiner is a Group Vice President with ABB and took time last year while circling the globe to get a large grant from ABB.
	Dave Kuhary Dave is a Vietnam Veteran and an SSI Open Water Instructor in the Cleveland, Ohio area. When he learned about our foundation, he immediately sent donations and asked what more he could do. He owns a successful injection mold business and is an enthusiastic grandparent.
	Byrdie Thompson Byrdie lives in Tulsa, OK which is not considered a diving mecca, but she stays close to our organization by giving great advice on how we raise funds and generously giving herself. She does not dive, but thinks the program is terrific. She has worked in charitable giving for 30 years in Tulsa and is a great resource for us.