The role of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations’ Governance Committee is to review and report to the Board on items and areas within it’s remit and to develop and monitor procedures to ensure the organization’s legal and regulatory compliance.
Committee Members
Calaneet Balas
Calaneet Balas became CEO and President of The ALS Association in December 2017. She joined the organization in June 2016 as the Executive Vice President of Strategy, leading all three mission areas, including global research, public policy and care services, which work in an integrated fashion to find a cure, advance treatments and enhance the quality of life for people living with ALS.
Calaneet joined the Board of Directors of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations in December 2017. Most recently Calaneet was elected Chairwoman in December 2018.
Mary-Ellen Bench
Mary Ellen Bench advises on land use planning and municipal affairs at StrategyCorp. She has over 30 years of experience in municipal public service, mostly in leadership roles, where she was often engaged on project teams outside of the traditional legal role because of her practical approach to achieving solutions that work for all parties. has actively participated in many governance reviews and has sat on many not-for-profit boards based in Canada and the United States. Mary Ellen also holds the Certified In-House Counsel (CIC.C) designation from the Canadian Corporation Counsel Association and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Laura Freveletti
Laura Freveletti is Chief Executive Officer of the Les Turner ALS Foundation. She comes to the ALS field with 30 years of experience in executive leadership, most recently as senior program officer at The Allstate Foundation. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to driving social impact via strategic planning, fundraising, and innovative programming, with experience as a senior fundraising executive at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago and Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as service as board president of the Sudden Infant Death Services (SIDS) of Illinois. Having lost her brother-in-law to ALS, she is committed to advancing research and improving care for the ALS community.
Heather McLoughlin
Heather McLoughlin is a lawyer with Jones Day. She is based in England. She practices corporate law with a focus on M&A and equity capital markets. She advises private and public companies on a range of domestic and cross-border transactions, including acquisitions, disposals, initial public offerings, secondary fund raisings, reorganizations, and joint ventures.
Marcela Santos
Marcela is a Psychologist with Masters in Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities. Her dad lived with ALS for 16 years, and she was one of his primary caregivers. Her dad had a very positive outlook on ALS and the way he embraced it was passed to his daughter. Her father, Alfredo Santos recently passed away on February 8th 2020. She has dedicated all her academic and professional life to the care of people with disabilities in Colombia in public and private entities and NGOs. She has been a volunteer psychologist providing psychotherapy at no cost to PALS and their CALS in Colombia since 2014. Besides her academic history and professional experience, the personal experience with her dad, allows her to give a much more meaningful care to PALS & CALS.
ALS Association of Colombia (ACELA)
