About - Our Board

Our Board
Our Staff
Our History
Our Research
Our Future
Our Locations

Debra Coleman Hyde

President

Debra Coleman Hyde is Director of Institutional Advancement at the Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, CT, an independent coeducational day school with an enrollment of 510. Debra is responsible for the philanthropic initiatives of the school.

Debra has held senior management positions in two other non-profits: one university and a premier children’s hospital and was instrumental in establishing the first of the Global Partners Initiative of the Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camp for children with cancer in South America.  She is presently working with IBM and the children’s hospital Ninos de Acosta Nu in Paraguay to set up the first telemedicine capability in the country. Debra lives with her husband and two dogs in West Hartford, CT where they raised their three sons.

Earl Strimple, DVM

Vice President

Dr. Earl Strimple is a pioneer in the field of Animal Assisted Therapy.  Dr. Strimple had a successful veterinary practice in Washington DC for 30 years and in 1982 created the animal-therapy foundation, People Animals Love (PAL) to bring the healing power of the human-animal bond to the incarcerated and the bereaved. PAL also offers year-round afterschool and summer enrichment to lower-income children living in Southeast D.C.

Julie Walters

Secretary and Treasurer

Julie Walters is a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental advocacy non-profit, and previously served as a board member with the World Foundation for Environmental Development.   She is involved with the Nature Conservancy in their programs to purchase and preserve habitat for Florida black bears and panthers and to restore the Everglades. 

Charles Coleman, PhD

Charles Coleman is Senior Executive for IBM’s Global Health and Life Sciences Division specializing in “Smarter Planet” initiatives in clinical quality outcomes, clinical research, and bio-medical informatics and analytics.  Before coming to IBM, Charles served as Senior Managing Director for SAS Institute’s Higher Education and Academic Medical Centers Practice (2004-2010) and headed up SAS’s Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) initiative and clinical analytics in conjunction with the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (Oxford).

In 1980 Harper and Row published Charles’s novel, Sergeant Back Again—a novel about a Vietnam Veteran struggling with a psychiatric condition now designated as  Post Traumatic Stress.   A 30th Annotated Anniversary Edition of Sergeant Back Again was recently published by PTSD Press—a publishing company recently founded by Charles along with a new on-line journal, PTSD today, which serves as a forum for the clinical and behavior sciences as well as sociological discussions regarding post-traumatic stress disorders.

Charles is Associate Adjunct Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC); Adjunct Assistant Professor, Health Policy & Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Public Health, UNC; Founding Member and Board of Directors, Institute for Advanced Analytics, North Carolina State University (NCSU); Adjunct Professor, College of Engineering and Department of Computer Science, NCSU; Board of Visitors, School of Information and Library Sciences, UNC; Senior Visiting Scholar, UNC; Member, Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP).

Tora Fisher

Tora Fisher continues a proud family tradition of improving the lives of our military, veterans, and their families. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Fisher House Foundation – a home away from home for the families of our wounded warriors. Getting an early start, she helped dedicate the first international Fisher House at the age of 11 with her late father, M. Anthony Fisher. The passion for this work, however, has grown from a legacy to a personal dedication.

As an emerging singer-songwriter, Tora first found a way to give back through her music. She recognized that many of the returning Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans were not only of her generation, but also her colleagues and friends. Gaining personal insight as a young adult into the experiences of these men and women, she was inspired to write “Man of Steel” – a song that donates 100% of its proceeds to the Fisher House Foundation.

Tora is also an animal lover and has supported the World Wildlife Fund and ASPCA since she was old enough to donate her time and resources. Above all, she is a dog lover. A full-time and adoring parent of a blue Great Dane named Titan, she understands the special bond between man and his best friend. It was a natural fit when Tora learned of the Warrior Canine Connection. Excited by the prospects of the exponential good our furry four-legged friends can do for our warriors, she was honored to accept a position on the Board.

With a meeting of her true passions, Tora continues to try to better the lives of our heroes and their families – be it through music, a helping hand, or four paws at a time.

William (Rocky) Gall

William Rocky Gall served in the Air Force in the 1980’s.  He graduated from West Virginia University and has worked in the mental health field for nearly 20 years.  A certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner, Rocky has worked with adults with psychiatric disabilities in a variety of settings.  He also has extensive experience working with abused and neglected youths in specialized foster care.  Rocky has two sons and resides with his wife in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Katherine Hutt

Katherine Hutt is the Director Communications and Media Relations at the Council of Better Business Bureaus.  In 2004 Katherine received the lifetime designation of Fellow, PRSA, the highest professional recognition bestowed by the Society for practitioners who exemplify excellence and give back to the profession and the community. She was also honored by Washington Women in Public Relations as Washington PR Woman of the Year in 1994.

Robert Rosenbaum, MD

Dr. Robert Rosenbaum specializes in neurosurgery at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and has recently returned from serving a 9 month tour at a military hospital in Afghanistan.   His 19 years of military medical experience and expertise in treating combat wounds at home and in the in the field brings valuable insights to WCC’s mission.  Rob is an ardent supporter of Animal Assisted Therapy in the treatment of mental and physical combat wounds and also serves on the Board of People Animals Love.

Elenor Smith

Elenor Smith was an early supporter of the renewable energy industry and served on the board of a local conservation group in Connecticut.  Elenor is a mother and grandmother and accomplished horsewoman.  She is a strong believer in the healing power of the human-animal bond and generous supporter of WCC’s mission to help relieve the suffering of our Wounded Warriors.


Rick Yount

Rick Yount is the Executive Director of Warrior Canine Connection.