Our Executive Committee
Susan Berger, President
Susan brings over twenty years of business expertise to the Blue Harbor Foundation. She received her undergraduate degree in finance and her graduate degree in accounting. As a CPA and management consultant with Ernst & Young for over 12 years, her practice focused on the health care and financial services sectors. Currently, she owns and manages a real estate firm specializing in residential rehabs and management throughout greater Indianapolis .
Susan has been active as a board member of several not-for-profit organizations, including the Mental Health Association in Marion County, Lupus Foundation of Houston (where she was co-founder and president of the board). At the Kentucky Day School she was a member of the finance committee that was responsible for a highly successful ten million dollar capital campaign. Her fundraising experience also includes chairing various black-tie events, co-chairing capital campaigns, and preparing grant proposals for several 501(c) organizations.
She and her husband, Walter, (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Leap Wireless ), have two teenage sons, one of whom has bipolar disorder.
Michael Heckman, Executive Director
Michael brings a unique combination of management, marketing, and health communications experience to the Blue Harbor Foundation. A graduate of Oberlin College , Michael began his career as a television news reporter for the NBC affiliate station in Waco, Texas. He then returned to his native Washington D.C. in 1989 to earn a law degree at night at George Washington University. By day, he worked for a D.C. law firm with practices in administrative, nonprofit organization, and health care.
Michael then combined his legal education with an entrepreneurial career in publishing and multimedia training: First as head of product development for Thompson Publishing Group, then as Associate Director of Marketing and Training for the Investment Company Institute. The opportunity to apply this experience in a health communications agency attracted him to Matthews Media Group (an Omnicom Company) in 1999. As head of MMG's New Media division, he produced television commercials, radio spots and patient education materials for clients that included Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Eisai, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He also won a CINDY (Cinema in Industry) award for a documentary on cancer research that he wrote and produced.
Michael then became a partner in an independent multimedia production company, where he continued to focus on health-related advertising and marketing. In this capacity, Michael became involved with several pharmaceutical and nonprofit campaigns involving bipolar disorder and pediatric depression.
Michael is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Foundation, and works closely with the Board on strategic, research, and development initiatives.
Grady Gaynor, Treasurer
Grady Gaynor has over 15 years of experience in the financial services and banking industry. He is focusing his efforts in portfolio management and financial planning strategies to high net worth families across the U.S. In 2005, Grady started Chamberlain Wealth Management in Indianapolis, Indiana. Chamberlain means "steward". Grady views his role with his clients as a steward to help them with their various financial goals. His primary markets are Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and New York. Grady is a Cum Laude graduate of Bellarmine University, Louisville, Kentucky, with a degree in business administration.
He is active in various community activities in the Carmel and Indianapolis community. Grady is a member of Legatus (which is a Catholic business leaders organization designed to promote good stewardship of time, treasure, and talent). He currently serves as baseball commissioner at his parish, and lives in Carmel with his wife Robin and 6 children.
David Baker, General Counsel
David has been practicing law in Washington, D.C. for over 25 years, focusing on the areas of safety law and transportation law. He regularly represents clients before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Transportation. His clients include national trade associations, Fortune 500 corporations and privately held companies. Mr. Baker previously served as the Executive Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of an AM LAW 50 law firm and on the Executive Committee of an AM LAW 200 law firm. In 2006, he decided to pursue a career goal of establishing his own firm focused on safety law.
David has also served as an Instructor in Transportation Regulation at the University of Maryland and the Department of Defense (Military Traffic Management Command). He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia .