Board of Directors 2023
Michael Rubino
Chair & Co-Founder
Michael Rubino is an air quality expert who helps bridge the gap between the air in our homes and its direct impact on our health. Rubino works with over 100 doctors globally to not only raise awareness but also provide solutions to correctly identify and remove the pollutants causing this global health crisis.
As President of HomeCleanse, Rubino specializes in working with people who are immunocompromised or have acute and sustained reactions to mold exposure and has helped heal over 1,000 families—including celebrities and athletes. He is also a council-certified Mold Remediator by IICRC and ACAC and is a contributing member, sponsor, and speaker for the Indoor Air Quality Association.
He is a contributor to MindBodyGreen and has been featured on Gwyneth Paltrow’s The goop Podcast and goop's website, Brandi Glanville’s Unfiltered podcast, Luke Storey, NBC, ABC, Fox, Forbes, USA Today, and Livestrong, to name a few. He hosts the YouTube series, Mold Talks, where guests include medical experts as well as mold recovery patients, including media icon Atoosa Rubenstein.
Email: [email protected]
Kendra Seymour
Vice-Chair & Co-Founder
Kendra Seymour is a Co-Founder and Vice President of Change the Air Foundation and a passionate advocate for improving health by improving indoor air quality. She oversees foundation initiatives, with a special focus on raising awareness, outreach, and fundraising.
As a mother of two, Kendra discovered hidden mold and water damage in her home were harming her family’s health. After years of research into mold and indoor toxins, and a lot of hard lessons-learned, she became dedicated to helping others by building awareness in online communities and collaborating with fellow advocates to educate the public around the importance of indoor air quality.
Kendra is an educator at heart. She graduated from Miami University with a degree in Early Childhood Education and later completed a master’s degree in Initiatives in Education Transformation from George Mason University. She spent nearly a decade as a teacher and Instructional Coach in Fairfax County, having taught students at the elementary level for several years before transitioning to the role of Instructional Coach where she led professional development and supported teachers and administrators in making data driven decisions.
Email: [email protected]
Jamie Way
Board Member
Jamie Way is passionate about how indoor air has affected autoimmune diseases, particularly how it impacts alopecia. In 2018 his family was greatly impaired by toxic mold, which resulted in his daughter losing her hair. It took years of research to find that her condition has triggered by issues in their home. He has since become dedicated to sharing their story and building awareness, to connect the dots of alopecia to indoor air quality.
He joins Change The Air Foundation with a background of over 10 years in eCommerce strategy and marketing, as well as over 20 years in the entertainment space.
Email: [email protected]
Andy Pace
Board Member
Andrew Pace is a Healthy Home Concierge and Founder of The Green Design Center, a leading resource for homeowners and contractors looking to source products that are healthy and green and receive expert consulting advice on designing and building healthy green homes. Andrew is the host of the weekly Non Toxic Environments Podcast. He is a worldwide expert on green and healthy building products and services customers and contractors from around the globe. As founder of the oldest healthy building supply company in the United States, Andrew has become one of the single most helpful and educational experts dealing with the day-to-day concerns of those individuals who suffer from allergies, asthma and chemical sensitivities.
Email: [email protected]
Staff
Brandon Chappo
Director of Public Policy & Co-Founder
Brandon Chappo is a Co-Founder and Director of Public Policy for Change the Air Foundation. Serving as Director of Public Policy, he heads the organization’s advocacy development and implementation strategies. In working closely with community stakeholders and elected officials, he brings much-needed attention to the worldwide epidemic of poor indoor air quality and the need for improved standards nationwide.
Brandon’s advocacy journey began in the summer of 2019 after his health drastically began to deteriorate due to unknown exposure to mold and microbial growth from a water-damaged housing rental. His firsthand experience sparked his passion to help others suffering from similar circumstances. No one, he believes, should have to live in an indoor environment that makes them chronically ill. Since this realization, he’s become a resolute defender of healthier indoor air quality standards for all.
Brandon's tireless involvement with state legislators and constituents in Ohio, Florida, Hawaii and Pennsylvania has led to the creation of five state bill proposals regarding mold and indoor air quality. He was also instrumental in the creation of federal legislation, the Healthy at Home Act of 2023 (H.B. 5533, S. 2834), which aims to combat indoor mold in residential and HUD housing across the United States. Brandon's dedication led to his feature in the December 2021 issue of Healthy Indoors Magazine promoting his advocacy efforts.
Email: [email protected]
Strategic Advisors
Justin Nahama
Justin is a passionate and highly-accomplished business strategist, attorney, and Marine veteran committed to creating impact for all. He has 15 years of experience leveraging a unique blend of legal, business, and non-profit acumen to help scale the global reach of industry leaders and early-stage companies. Justin has worked closely with disruptive visionaries in wellbeing ranging from Deepak Chopra, Oprah’s Executive Director, CrossFit’s founding team, leadership in the Navy SEAL and special operations communities, and cryptocurrency/blockchain innovators. According to a successful founder he advised, “Any effort Justin leads becomes a movement without fail.”
An intuitive “fixer” who thinks fast and effectively, Justin forged his legal practice as a federal prosecutor and Marine JAG shortly after 9/11. Justin became a sought-after advisor to senior military officers where he prosecuted felony cases earning the reputation—according to one of his awards—“as one of the premier litigators in the Marine Corps.” Justin’s success and commitment to service continued when he transitioned to one of the largest law firms in the country. During his tenure, Justin broke the mold to make partner based on his ability to fuse business and legal strategy to empower companies around the world.
Justin currently serves as the COO of the Chopra Foundation, a partner at the world’s largest distributed law firm, and a general partner at the venture-capital fund he founded to support veteran entrepreneurs.
Michael Pinto
Michael A. Pinto is chief executive officer of Wonder Makers Environmental, Inc., a manufacturing and environmental consulting firm that specializes in identification and control of all types of indoor contaminants. For over 40 years Michael has provided professional safety and industrial hygiene services related to asbestos, lead, IAQ, mold, chemical exposures, infectious agents, and noise. Mr. Pinto is the author of over 230 published articles and several books including, Fungal Contamination: A Comprehensive Guide for Remediation and Forensic Restoration: Procedures to Protect Operators and Occupants.
He completed doctoral course work in environmental engineering and holds numerous certifications in the environmental and safety areas, including Certified Safety Professional, Safety Management Specialist, Certified Mold Professional, Fire Loss Specialist, and Certified Forensic Operator. In addition to being a frequent speaker at industry events, Michael has been honored with such prestigious awards from the Restoration Industry Association (RIA) such as the Golden Quill, Martin L. King Award, and the Phoenix Award for Innovative Restoration. He has also been honored with the President’s and Emeritus Board Awards as well as the Snider Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Information Association (EIA). He also served as an RIA representative on a joint task force with members from the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) providing education and guidance regarding the provision of restoration services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From asbestos to mold Michael has been on the forefront of industry trends and shared expertise with homeowners, property managers, the restoration industry, cleaning contractors, and the general public. He is known internationally for his expertise in dealing with situations involving sensitized individuals and has been recognized by federal and state courts as an expert in addressing indoor contaminants.
Medical ADVISORY PANEL
Dr. Pejman Katiraei
Dr. Pejman Katiraei is a board-certified pediatrician who is also boarded and fellowship-trained in integrative medicine. He completed his undergraduate at UCLA and then obtained his osteopathic medical degree at the Western University of Health Sciences. He completed a pediatric residency at Loma Linda University, where he stayed on as teaching faculty for over 4 years. Dr. Katiraei has also completed two fellowships in integrative medicine. He is now in private practice in Santa Monica, where he focuses on helping children with severe behavioral challenges. He is also working with a talented team to build an AI online portal that empowers providers to help families understand the root cause of their child’s behavioral issues and what steps they can take to help resolve it.
Scientific Advisory Panel
David Fontaine
Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel
David Fontaine is Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel. David has a Masters degree in Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and leverages 20+ years’ experience in aerospace/defense systems engineering, including safety-critical systems design, root cause analysis, project and test planning, and decision analysis.
David and his wife, Lissa, lost home and health, due to water damage hidden in their home and exposure to multiple species of toxigenic mold. This was followed by a failed remediation, leaving them with a gutted, contaminated home. With few good options, they sold their distressed home with full disclosure and liquidated their salvageable belongings. They purchased a 36’ fifth-wheel RV, which has been their full-time home since 2018, while they travel with the seasons, treating with specialists along the way.
With his background, David has a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of things. Over the past 4 years, while doing personal research to aid his own recovery, he has examined the toxic mold problem from many different perspectives. Studying winners and losers, profits and losses, across the landscape of real estate, insurance, public health, agriculture, state and federal agencies, veterinary medicine, and our healthcare systems, he quickly recognized deep, widespread, and totally inconsistent patterns of messaging and behavior around mycotoxins in different contexts..
David hopes his unique perspectives, passion, and tenacity will help bring improved understanding of and protection from the dangers of mold and mycotoxins. And, as he likes to note, there are profits to be made in the solutions – and solutions are everywhere!
Email: [email protected]
Rebecca Lesan
Rebecca Lesan completed her PhD in Molecular Medicine at the University of Iowa, but had to take a medical leave from finishing her MD because of toxic mold exposure in her home. The disabling experience was disappointing, but allowed for the unexpected opportunity to serve with Change the Air Foundation in developing preventative & environmental medicine.
Previously, Rebecca worked in cancer research in South Dakota and completed her interdisciplinary Bachelors Degree at Tufts University in Massachusetts. She interned in the government, worked in medical nutrition in Switzerland, studied architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Summer Program, facilitated children’s camps, and sang in a gospel choir.
Moving forward, Rebecca’s interests are in servant leadership, building biology, intercultural translation, sympathetic/parasympathetic tone, and voice/harp performance. She lives in Iowa with her husband, Jacob, and supports him with his work in orchestra music, illustrating children’s books, and at the Czech/Slovak museum. She has been encouraged by the Change the Air Foundation team and is enthusiastic about the connections that can be made to bring light to important issues in air-quality and health.