LOS ANGELES, August 24, 2021 — The American Red Cross Los Angeles Region welcomed Verna Grayce Chao, Executive Vice President of City National Bank’s Treasury Management Solutions, and Shannon Kramer, Principal in Deloitte’s Risk & Financial Advisory, to the regional board of directors. Chao and Kramer will serve under the leadership of Bruce Daly, a former Digital Risk Management executive and a current Red Cross disaster responder.
“In my role as Chair, I’m determined to strengthen our community resilience in Los Angeles,” Daly said. “In these historic pandemic times, and given the added complexity of the wildfires raging in California no less other risk and threats such as earthquakes, I am determined that our Board take an inclusive and proactive approach to our role in achieving Red Cross LA’s community goals and safety.”
Daly joined the Los Angeles Region board of directors in 2011 and was appointed as board chair in July 2020. His leadership came at a pivotal time as the region welcomed new CEO Joanne Nowlin, faced with the then-worst wildfire season and maneuvered through a pandemic. The team of Daly and Nowlin guided the organization through a challenging time with a committed guarantee that all services provided would continue smoothly.
“As we look into year two, this partnership will play a critical role in driving the vital work our region does in support of the more than 10 million Los Angeles County residents, Nowlin said. “I am thankful for Bruce Daly, the two new members and each individual on our board. They each bring something new and powerful to our work advancing the mission of the Red Cross.”
Bruce Daly
Retired Principal, Deloitte & Touche
Until his recent retirement, Daly served as Deloitte’s national leader for the Digital Risk Management practice. Across multiple industry sectors, his work in AI, automation and other disruptive technologies is helping organizations meet their digital and transformational goals. Inherent in his digital work, Daly was leading assorted cyber risk projects to help position organizations with a more secure, vigilant and resilient capability.
With extensive overseas and cross-border work including many years in Japan and Asia/Pacific, Daly has brought to the Red Cross seasoned judgment in overcoming the complexities of regulatory, talent, technology and process challenges. His work with clients’ boards of directors and audit and technology committees addressing matters of cyber, technology and business risk have led to him being repeatedly called upon as a trusted adviser.
In addition to serving as chair of the Los Angeles Region Board of Directors, Daly also serves on the board of The Asia Society – Southern California and, in the past, he served as the founding board member for the National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC) board, a critical nonprofit cybersecurity agency bridging healthcare corporate America with the nation’s intelligence agencies and threat reporting.
Verna Grayce Chao
Executive Vice President Treasury Service Division
Chao presently serves as the Executive Vice President of City National Bank’s Treasury Management Solutions, managing a department of more than 200 colleagues who are responsible for City National’s commercial deposit products. Additionally, she oversees the bank’s fintech subsidiaries, which include Exactuals, a Los Angeles-based provider of innovative SaaS solutions for complex payments in the entertainment industry, FilmTrack, a Studio City-based leader in intellectual property rights management, and Datafaction, the bank’s accounting solution.
Chao holds more than two decades of financial services and management experience and prior to joining Datafaction, she held the position of General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer of Source Medial Solutions in Los Angeles. Furthermore, she previously served as the Marketing Director for Dell and Program Director for IBM. Not only does she have her bachelor’s degree from Boston University, but she also holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. She is active in the community and is also a founding member of Chief’s LA-Chapter, a private network that connects and supports rising female leaders.
Shannon Kramer
Principal Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory
Kramer is currently a Principal in Deloitte’s Risk & Financial Advisory (RFA) practice and is the national point of contact for Deloitte’s Technology Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Assurance practice. She oversees the strategy for talent deployment, client allocation and succession planning for TMT assurance clients and practitioners. She leverages 20 years of experience leading advisory risk engagements and information technology reviews in support of independent financial statement audits and internal audit engagements as well as experience in helping clients rationalize controls, evaluate the control procedures in place, determine an acceptable level of business risk exposure and providing recommendations regarding risk management and control techniques.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Kramer worked for the Utah State Department of Emergency Management, handling Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant programs with a focus on emergency preparedness, business continuity planning and disaster recovery efforts. With a master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California, Kramer is an active member of the community, volunteering to local organizations, including the National Charity League, Pasadena Humane Society, Club 21 and Families Forward.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/la or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on Twitter at @RedCrossLA or @CruzRojaLA.