Board Members
Merrill Debbs
Co-Founder of Red Sneakers for Oakley
Merrill D. Debbs is an American Interior Designer, and Co-Founder of Red Sneakers for Oakley, a food allergy awareness organization dedicated to saving millions of lives but most importantly, a mother to girl and boy twins. Mrs. Debbs attended a kaleidoscope of schools beginning in NYC to Greenwich Academy in Connecticut, to Palm Beach Day School in Florida, to Westover boarding school in Connecticut, University of Miami in Miami and eventually finishing at New York School of Design in NYC.
Mrs. Debbs married Robert J. Debbs on April 15, 2000 and had girl and boy twins named Olivia and Oakley Debbs on June 27, 2005 at St. Mary's Hospital in Riviera Beach, Florida. The twins were the best thing that ever happened to the Debbs family. Eventually, it was brought to the family’s attention that one of the twins, Oakley, was born with Asthma and Food Allergies. Then a tragedy happened in November on the 23-26, 2016, during a family Thanksgiving vacation. Oakley, the boy twin, was 11 years old and ate a piece of walnut cinnamon coffee cake around 9 pm. Oakley’s first reaction was “Mommy, I think I just ate a nut.” Delayed anaphylactic shock began an hour and a half later, and Oakley went to Heaven that night.
Red Sneakers for Oakley (RSFO) was born on November 26th, 2016, the day the family decided to discontinue life support. RSFO was created to help communities to understand the severity of food allergy reactions. Red Sneakers for Oakley is the creation of Robert and Merrill Debbs in memory of their son Oakley Gage Debbs.
Robert Debbs
Principle Partner at Royal Palm Wealth Management Group & Co-Founder of Red Sneakers for Oakley
Robert is a principle partner in the Royal Palm Wealth Management Group and oversees the investment management and key relationships. He earned a MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Robert worked for Source Capital Group in their Investment Banking Division. He joined UBS Financial Services in 2005 until our group moved to Merrill Lynch in 2015.
Robert is a member of the following local boards: Red Sneakers for Oakley, Lourdes Noreen McKeen, the Town of Palm Beach United Way, and Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches. He and his wife are the proud parents of twins, and two golden doodles.
Robert is a co-founder of Red Sneakers for Oakley. He helped found the food allergy awareness organization after tragically losing his son, Oakley, to an anaphylactic reaction to walnuts.
Ruchi S Gupta, MD, MPH
Director, Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM) - Center for Food Allergy & Asthma
Professor of Pediatrics (Advanced General Pediatrics and Primary Care), Medicine (Allergy and Immunology) and Preventive Medicine
Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Clinical Attending at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Gupta has more than 17 years of experience as a board-certified pediatrician and health researcher and currently serves as the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR).
She is world-renowned for her groundbreaking research in the areas of food allergy and asthma epidemiology, most notably for her research on the prevalence of pediatric and adult food allergy in the United States. She has also significantly contributed to academic research in the areas of food allergy prevention, socioeconomic disparities in care, and the daily management of these conditions. To reduce the burden of these diseases and improve health equity, she and her team develop, evaluate, and disseminate interventions for families and conduct work to inform local, national, and international health policy. Along with being an author of The Food Allergy Experience and Food Without Fear, Dr. Gupta has over 160 publications and her work has been featured in major TV networks and print media.
To learn more, visit cfaar.northwestern.edu.
Marc A. Stefanski
President of Third Federal Savings and Loan and Company
Marc A. Stefanski joined Third Federal Savings and Loan in 1982 and was appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1987, succeeding his father in these positions. He was elected President of Third Federal Savings and Loan and Company in 2000. Mr. Stefanski’s parents, Ben and Gerome Stefanski, founded Third Federal Savings and Loan in 1938.
Jim Garner
CEO, AllerGenis
Jim has over 30 years of experience providing products and services to help patients and doctors better diagnose and manage health conditions. Jim is the chief executive officer and board member of AllerGenis. He led the effort to establish the company in 2017 to develop precision, data-driven diagnostics to help healthcare providers, patients, and caregivers more accurately and safely diagnose, assess, and monitor patients with food allergies.
Prior to joining AllerGenis, Jim was the Chief Business Officer of Integrated Diagnostics, a diagnostics company developing technology for early detection, prediction, and prevention of disease. Prior to that he was Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Senior Director of Corporate Development for UnitedHealth Group, Director of Marketing & Corporate Development at Elan Diagnostics and Sales Manager at DIANON Systems.
Jim received the Meritorious Service Medal among other honors while serving as Captain in the United States Army where he was Air-Cavalry Troop Commander, Aviation Task Force Operations Officer, Helicopter Attack Pilot, and Helicopter Scout Pilot, among other roles and distinctions.
Jim lives in Florida with his family where he enjoys surfing, golfing, and tennis with his wife and two sons.
Annie Smith
Founder & CEO, Golden Tusk Marketing
Annie is a seasoned marketer with experience across dozens of industries. As the founder & CEO of a South Florida-based full-service marketing agency, she is passionate about helping businesses strategically connect with their audiences to drive engagement and sales.
Inspired by empowering and educating others, Red Sneakers for Oakley (RSFO) was a natural fit for Annie. With over a decade of experience in social media marketing, website design, content marketing, creative design, strategic branding, SEO, and print media, she helps RSFO reach millions of people every year. Annie brings a unique and advantageous perspective to RSFO’s board. In addition to managing RSFO’s social media channels and website, she has personally connected with thousands of individuals and families who are affected by food allergies. She understands both the extraordinary challenges that they face and the education and advocacy they seek.
Prior to founding her marketing agency, Annie was the Director of Marketing & Investor Relations for a publicly-traded technology company, as well as the Chief Operating Officer of a consumer perception/mystery shopping company. Annie has a marketing degree from Florida State University and her work has been featured in a variety of publications. She is an avid world traveler and has visited 40+ countries to date, allowing her to bring a keen cultural worldview to her business ventures.
Dr. Irma Morales, DVM
Owner of Lake Worth Animal Hospital
Dr. Irma Morales graduated from the University of Florida in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science followed by a post-baccalaureate in Zoology in 1992. She obtained her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1996 from the University of Florida after completing externships at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Swine Medicine and Colorado State University in Small Ruminants.
Since 1996, she has been in private practice, including eight years in mixed animal medicine in Hendry County, Florida.
From 2004-2006, she was a board member for Palm Beach Cats. For several years, she has been a committee member at the Lourdes Noreen McKeen Foundation and a supporter of Opportunity Inc., Brigham & Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA), Palm Beach Day Academy, Family Church of West Palm Beach (aka First Baptist Church), and The Christian Veterinary Mission.
Dr. Morales and her husband (Mr. Angel Arroyo) have been residents of the Town of Palm Beach for the past 17 years.
Dr. Morales’s daughter, Camilla B. Arroyo-Morales, attends Palm Beach Day Academy. Both her husband and daughter suffer from life-threatening food allergies.
Mortimer F. Curran
Managing Partner of ThunderHorse Investment Management
Mortimer F. Curran is the Managing Partner of ThunderHorse Investment Management, a private family investment firm which he started in 2005. Prior to this he worked in Institutional Equity Sales for UBSPainewebber. He is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and has an MBA from Tulane University. Prior to business school he worked in Equity Research at both Bear, Stearns and Salomon Brothers in New York City after earning a Bachelor's degree from Georgetown University.
Mortimer's connection to raising awareness about food allergies is deeply personal as one of his four children has several food allergies that only were diagnosed after the child had allergic reactions to several different foods. Even now with the knowledge of what those food allergies are, every day is a reminder of the obstacles that those with food allergies face to eat outside their home and maintain a full and healthy lifestyle when packaged food companies, restaurants, and those around us may be less aware of the risks of food allergies and cross-contact.
Lynn Giordano
Corporate Account Manager for BBDO
With a long writing career in the advertising business Lynn has worked for major clients like Coca Cola, DeBeers, Cover Girl, Kimberly-Clark, ETrade, Neutrogena, Heineken, Kraft and more. In this digital age she has mastered every media platform with a strong belief that a creative idea must be central to any and all technology.
She currently works on the Johnson & Johnson Corporate account at BBDO NY
Tyler Debbs Squire
Founder & CEO of Styler Media Productions, LLC & Secretary of Red Sneakers for Oakley
Bio coming soon.