our board of directors

Drew Plotkin is the Chairperson of Global Mobility. Mr. Plotkin is a Principal and Creative Director at LAUNCH DRTV a full-service infomercial production company and direct response marketing agency. Mr. Plotkin has extensive international development and philanthropic volunteer experience, as well as knowledge of global wheelchair and mobility issues.

Neil Frame is the Secretary for Global Mobility. He is the retired former Vice President of Procurement & Logistics for Operation USA, a 501c3 organization that helps communities alleviate the effects of disasters, disease and endemic poverty throughout the world by providing privately-funded relief, reconstruction, and development aid. Operation USA is currently providing Global Mobility free warehousing and staff support in their Port of Los Angeles logistics facility.

Eric M. Munro, M.D., M.P.H. is an internal medicine specialist who works in Torrance, California with a focus on general medicine as well as complicated and esoteric diagnostics and treatments. As an undergraduate, he studied nuclear engineering, German, and biology at the University of Michigan and the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Germany. Then he went on to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for his medical degree and the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, where he received a Masters of Public Health concentrating in international health and infectious disease control. He did his medical training at Beth-Israel Hospital in Boston, where he was also a Clinical Fellow of the Harvard Medical School. He is very honored to be a part of Global Mobility and looks forward to continuing to develop the medical clinics and to help widen the breadth of care that this life-changing organization is already providing. One significant reason why Eric is so excited to be a bigger part of Global Mobility is that he can genuinely inform patients in the wheelchair distribution clinics that the wheelchair being provided to them that day would be why many of their medical issues would likely not develop again. Giving people a fish (cleaning and dressing their wounds) is great, but teaching them to fish (giving them a wheelchair so that the problem does not recur) is amazing.

Michael Collins is a blogger for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and a contributing editor for New Mobility magazine. He is the former Executive Director of the National Council on Disability, and was the first executive director of the California State Independent Living Council. Mr. Collins is also a professional writer, with over 170 published articles, and is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Barbara Krieg DeWitt has been involved in disability advocacy since 2002, when she first joined the Board of Directors of the Disability Rights Legal Center (then known as the Western Law Center For Disability Rights). Prior to relocating to Hawaii in 2006 with her husband, Nick DeWitt, Barbara worked as a labor and employment attorney in Southern California. Her practice included disability rights litigation and advice. Barbara is currently the Assistant Superintendent, Office of Human Resources for the State of Hawaii, Department of Education. Although her primary residence is in Hawaii, Barbara remains committed to actively supporting the mission of Global Mobility and is proud to serve on its Board of Directors.

Mayra Fornos is a volunteer director. For more than 18 years, the Fornos Law Firm has been considered a leading Los Angeles plaintiffs' law firm. It has been representing and advocating for people who have sustained catastrophic life-altering injuries, as well as for those who are or who have been discriminated against because of their disability. Ms. Fornos has been a recognized leader and board member of various organizations that work to provide support and resources to the disabled community and to protect the legal rights of people who have sustained serious catastrophic, life-altering injuries. Ms. Fornos has been honored as one of the “Best Lawyers of America, 2011”, received the Ed Roberts Independent Living Award from the Dayle McIntosh Center in 2010 and was the Westside Women's Network 2010 Woman of the Year.

Angela Rockwood started modeling at the age of 17, later becoming a fitness instructor, a martial artist and ultimately, acting with roles in The Fast and the Furious and the television series V.I.P. As the result of an automobile accident in 2001, Angela was diagnosed as a c4 quadriplegic. When Angela awoke from surgery, she was given a 3 to 5 % chance of regaining any movement from the neck down. In 2003, she was the third American to undergo a pioneering stem cell surgery in Portugal, which allowed her to operate a manual wheelchair. Today, Angela is an active passionate advocate and spokesperson, working as an Ambassador for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the Paralysis Resource Center, Ti-Lite Wheelchairs and also works as a model for Target and Nordstrom. Recently, she created, produced and stars in the Sundance Channel's, ‘’Critic’s Choice Awards’’, Best Reality series Push Girls. The show follows the lives of five women living with paralysis while cultivating their friendship as they undertake everyday life.

Cathy Mulholland OTR/L is a volunteer director. She is the Principal at Pacific Rehab, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Ms. Mulholland is a leading Occupational Therapist and wheelchair seating specialist. Besides teaching seating and positioning across the U.S. and internationally, Mulholland spends much of her time as an advocate for the disabled. Ms. Mulholland is a USC graduate and has extensive international volunteer experience, as well as knowledge of international disability-related needs and mobility issues in developing countries.

Paul Bowers is a Boston native who lives in Los Angeles. After sustaining a spinal injury in a motorcycle accident ten years ago, he summoned his determination to stay in his hillside home, where he utilized assisted technology and universal design to bring his dream of restoring his historic house to completion from a wheelchair. This determination has been mirrored in his tireless efforts on behalf of others with spinal cord injuries. In the past decade, Paul has advocated for both cure and care at research conferences all across the country, where he has made ongoing connections with prominent scientists. Paul has also participated in research at the Veteran’s Association; UCLA with Dr. Susan Harkema; and currently Harvard University’s Spaulding Hospital Exercise for Persons with Disabilities (EXPD) FES rowing research study. Currently, he is the CIO of his Echo Park Neighborhood Council, and is working with the Los Angeles Department of Disabilities and other agencies to create fitness options for people with disabilities at the Elysian Park Adaptive Recreation Center. Most recently, Paul returned from Washington, D.C. where he took part in the United Spinal Association’s Roll on Capitol Hill, lobbying for legislation such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which passed in the House of Congress and Senate in the summer of 201 and is now awaiting the president’s signature.