Board Members

Bruce LeBel - Executive Director

Bruce LeBel’s involvement with relief shelter began when he designed and coordinated a disaster relief shelter project in Guatemala after the 1976 earthquake, with a team from the Mohawk Nation. A year later Bruce became a student of Buckminster Fuller’s in a graduate tutorial program with an emphasis on design science and tensile structures (tensegrity). Bruce went on to become a production engineer and special projects engineer with The North Face - the first manufacturer of tents applying Fuller’s principles of tensegrity.

LeBel has twenty-five years of hands-on management and executive and consulting experience for manufacturing companies. He has led divisions responsible for operations, production, quality, logistics and information systems from tent manufacturing with The North Face to positions in the electronics, medical, and automotive industries. He has also served a range of clients such as IBM, Honeywell and PPG as an independent consultant, providing business systems integration and management consulting.

LeBel is responsible for overseeing the World Shelters organization.

Roger James, President

Ellen Searle LeBel, Secretary

Tina Mackenzie, Treasurer

Tina Mackenzie has worked and volunteered in the Humboldt non profit community for 35 years, most recently as past CEO of Six Rivers Planned Parenthood.  Over the years her appreciation for the immense contribution local non profit organizations make to the fabric of our community has grown.  Serving on the Board of World Shelters is a tangible way to assist with the effort to provide housing to those most in need of transitional shelter and exemplifies the generous, can-do spirit of the Northcoast.

She also serves on the Eureka Symphony board and volunteers time to the Co-op Community Fund committee and the Breast Health Project . 

Allan Katz

Allan Katz recently joined the World Shelters Board after retiring as Executive Director of the Community Health Alliance of Humboldt-Del Norte. A Harvard graduate and Peace Corps alumni, Allan comes to us with a wealth of experience working with non-profits on the North Coast, including: Redwood Community Action Agency, Southern Humboldt Working Together, and Redwoods Rural Health Center, where he served as Executive Director for six years. 

 As a consultant Allan assisted many non-profits and public agencies with strategic and financial planning, focusing on community-based and public providers of health care, social services, and housing for underserved populations.

 Allan joined the Board in May 2009.