CoFounders

Gerard Dupuis, Volunteer Co-Founder, Advisory Director

Gerard Dupuis has been confronted with cancer for most of his life. As Gerard was completing high school, his mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease that took her mother. Mary beat cancer in the 1989, but it returned over a decade later. Gerard’s smile is its widest when he describes his mother now as a two-time breast cancer survivor.

Gerard is president and CEO of Verde Brand Communications, a brand communications, media relations, and digital marketing agency specializing in outdoor, active lifestyle, and adjacent specialty markets. He holds a M.B.A degree from the Harvard Business School (HBS), and a B.A. degree in design communication from Arkansas Tech University.

A brand strategist and creative designer for over 15 years, Gerard is the past president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He serves as a director of Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business and of NYU Entrepreneurship. In 2010, San Diego Business Journal named Gerard the best young leader who excel in his industry and shows dynamic leadership. He is an active member of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church.

Derec Brandon, Volunteer Co-Founder, Advisory Director

Derec Brandon is close to several cancer survivors, including his mother, who has survived 54 years since being diagnosed as a child with skin cancer, and his father, who defeated colorectal cancer using alternatives to traditional treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy and surgery.

Derec is CEO of TOMI Environmental Solutions, a provider of infection prevention and decontamination products and services. He was previously CEO of Dorm Company Corporation, an American online retailer headquartered in Buffalo, NY that specializes in dorm supplies for college students. An undergraduate of the University of Washington and M.B.A graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management, Derec has 17 years of experience designing and marketing new ventures for start-ups.

Derec frequently speaks on social responsibility and business ethics to universities and leadership organizations.