OUR BOARD

Trisha Abbe (Founder, President/Director) – Over 34 years of experience in financial planning, management and contract negotiation. She currently serves as the Operations Executive Assistant for the Senior Vice President of Costco Wholesale, Texas Regional Office.

Her current role involves office management, financial planning, contract negotiations, human resources and customer service. Preceding her position with Costco Wholesale she served as the General Manager and Corporate officer of a construction company overseeing operations, sales, estimating, budgeting, human resources and payroll for 6 years.

Prior to working in the construction industry, she was involved in apartment management holding the positions of Assistant Manager, Property Manager and moving into the Financial Coordinator. She attended South Plains College and Texas Tech University where she studied business administration with a focus in accounting.

She has participated in several nonprofit organization fundraising events including the Susan G. Komen 60-Mile and 5k walks, the Cancer Support Community ONERUN, the Mary Kay Foundation 5k and as the Captain of the Living Proof team under the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Races of Dallas and Dalhart, TX.

She has also been involved as a volunteer for the Soup Mobile assisting the homeless since 2012. Trisha brings to Living Proof Cancer Warriors her personal experience as a survivor of breast cancer as well as being in a support role for her sister, father and many friend’s during each of their cancer diagnosis’ and subsequent treatments.

Manuel (“Manny”) Torres (Co-Founder/Vice-President/Director) Over 25 years of experience in law enforcement.

He currently serves as the Tarrant County Deputy Constable for Precinct 3 in the City of Southlake (2015-Current). Preceding his position with Tarrant County he was with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for 3 years and a police officer for over 20 years. During his civil service he also served in the U.S. Army National Guard as a Readiness Sergeant for the U.S. Army for 8 years. He was involved in multiple combat missions for Operation Enduring Freedom from 2005-2007 in Egypt. He graduated from the Panhandle Regional Law Enforcement Academy at Amarillo College and has studied Business Administration at Central Texas College.

Manny has volunteered for multiple nonprofit organizations including his position as team leader of the Special Olympics Fire Truck Pull, the co-captain of the Living Proof team at the Cancer Support Community’s ONERUN and the co-captain of the Living Proof team under the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Races of Dallas and Dalhart, TX.

He is also a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Manny brings to Living Proof Cancer Warriors his personal experience as a survivor of Non-Hodgkins Follicular Lymphoma as well as being in a support role for his cousins and many friend’s cancer diagnosis’ and subsequent treatments.

John Wynns (Treasurer/Director) has over 36 years of experience in retail which included management of over 200 employees, financial budgeting, construction, vendor management, Human Resources, member services, building and equipment management, food service, merchandising and teaching.

He managed Costco Wholesale warehouses in three states, California for 26 years, Colorado for 6 years and Texas for 4 years before retiring in 2018. He loves to golf, travel and spend time with wife Keli, his three grown children and grandchildren.  He has supported and participated in raising funds for United Way and Children’s Hospital.

 
John brings to Living Proof Cancer Warriors his financial background and personal experience as a supporter through the loss of his father to cancer.

Carol Weidner (Board Member) Over 24 years of medical and teaching experience. She recently completed a Master in Public Health degree at UNTHSC.

Her current goals include improving public health through nutrition studies. She has held positions as the Director of Anesthesiology at St Paul’s Hospital, an Associate Professor at UT Southwestern as teaching faculty in the Anesthesia Department, and she had a private practice.

She is involved in charity work through Humane Tomorrow helping foster furry friends and volunteers at Fellowship Church doing clerical and registration work.

She enjoys time with her family on their farm, traveling, jet skiing, playing tennis and softball, fostering dogs and enjoying personal time with her two daughters.

She brings to Living Proof Cancer Warriors her medical and nutritional knowledge as well as her own personal connection to cancer through her father, step-father, grandmother, and aunt. Her father is currently battling metastatic prostate cancer and her aunt is currently battling lung cancer.

Tammy Brickhouse / Board Member / Advisor – Over 22 years of experience in administration,auditing, event management, and analysis. She currently serves as the Regional Motorsports Planner for Toyota Motor North America.

Her role involves engaging with numerous race fans, Toyota Executives, team members, and consumers on a daily basis elevating their attendance within Toyota race weekends to a life changing experience on the hospitatiliy side as well as the track activation side of NASCAR, NHRA and Formula Drift.  She also serves on the Toyota North America Women’s Conference (NAWC) planning committee.

Prior to working in the this industry, she was involved in administrative, HR and event planning at various companies such as Dr Pepper Snapple, Torchmark, Compass Bank and Adams Golf.

She has participated in several nonprofit organization fundraising events including the Susan G. Komen 60-Mile and 5k walks, the Cancer Support Community ONERUN, the Mary Kay Foundation 5k and as the Captain of the Living Proof team under the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Races of Dallas and Dalhart, TX.

Tammy previously served as a Secretary for the Celina Library Board for 12 years while raising her children where she was responsible for grant applications and coordination of children’s summer programs.  

She endured the loss of her beloved mom to breast cancer so she understands the needs for foundations such as ours.  She brings her knowledge of team building, marketing, administration and leadership to our board. 

Jonni-Renee Vasiliou / Board Member / Advisor – Over 15 years of experience in marketing, event coordination, and talent acquisition administration and management. She currently serves as the Talent Acquisition Partner for Three Oaks Hospice.

Her role involves talent recruitment, people development and retention while maintaining KPI’s and strategizing methods for areas of improvement for executives in her field.  Prior to working in the this industry, she was involved in start-up companies such as Proveer Senior Living, Pegasus Senior Living and Citizen Home Solutions.

Jonni-Renee traveled the world for 15 years as a Professional Dancer, directing/managing The Kids Club departments and working Concierge on several MSC Cruise Ships before moving to Texas where she immediately became Dance Director at Win Kids Academy. She then decided to enter the business world of Marketing and Promotions Directing/Managing several companies including Bar Etc, First Choice Loans, and Cardinal Financial. Jonni-Renee has a take charge kind of attitude with just the right temperance of flexibility to get the job done here at Citizen Home Solutions. Her organizational skills and background of working with literally all kinds of people of all ages from all over the world allows her to focus on the task at hand no matter what the situation without getting distracted. No job is too big or too small for her to handle yet she never loses sight of what’s most important- that human touch – and her ability to make everyone feel noticed and special makes her stand out in any crowd.

Her brother endured brain cancer as a child and is now in remission.  She is passionate about the cause and brings her expertise in event coordination, marketing, team building and sales to help grow our event participation as well help us develop our foundation further.