Voices for Children Appoints New Board Chair and Welcomes Three New Board Members

(September 3, 2024) SAN DIEGO — Voices for Children (VFC) is the only local nonprofit organization certified by the San Diego and Riverside Counties courts to recruit and train Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers who speak up for the needs and well-being of children in foster care. As VFC begins a new fiscal year, we are pleased to announce Kristi E. Pfister, Esq., as the organization’s new board chair. She will serve a two-year term as chair during fiscal years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. Longtime VFC supporter Annette Bradbury previously held Pfister’s role.

La Jolla resident Kristi Pfister brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to her new role. She has practiced civil and criminal public law as an attorney and community board member. Her governance and strategic planning skills have been honed through her service on philanthropic and school boards. Her fellow attorneys elected her to the San Diego County Bar Association Board, where she spearheaded outreach efforts and increased law student membership. Pfister then served as an officer of the philanthropic arm of the same Board, the San Diego County Bar Foundation, where she chaired the grant-making committee. She served as a member of the Board of Trustees for California Western School of Law. Named to the Gillispie School Board of Trustees, Pfister also reinvigorated the New Families Program and represented the board in crafting a strategic plan. More recently, she has advised Voices for Children on strategic planning, led their Governance Committee, and served as the parliamentarian for the National Charity League.

Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS, President & CEO at Voices for Children, expresses her gratitude towards Annette Bradbury for her phenomenal service and contributions to the organization as board chair over the last two years. She also welcomed Pfister’s appointment, saying, “Voices for Children is pleased to have Pfister serve as the new board chair. We are grateful to have her join us and contribute to our special cause with her extensive background in advocacy for those in need.”

Pfister shared, “I am honored to work alongside our dedicated board and extraordinary staff at Voices for Children to further our mission to advocate for and serve children in foster care in San Diego and Riverside Counties.”

VFC also welcomes three new board members, each bringing unique expertise and a deep commitment to our organization:

• Joshua E. Kim, Ph.D., Esq. – An attorney specializing in intellectual property law in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He is currently the Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Becton Dickinson (BD), a Fortune 500 medical technology company. As an attorney representing numerous pro bono guardianship cases and a foster parent to two teenage girls, Dr. Kim’s personal connection to the foster care system fuels his commitment to serving children in foster care.
• Anne Potiker, Esq. – An attorney at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP. She practices commercial and securities litigation and is a member of the State Bar of California and the Association for Business Trial Lawyers.
• Martha Sottosanti – An attorney with experience in commercial litigation and employment law. She has significant experience in fundraising, having served as President of Las Patronas, a local nonprofit that has awarded over $27 million to thousands of philanthropic institutions in San Diego. Previously, she also served on the board of trustees for The Bishop’s School and was an active board member for the National League of Young Men, Yale Alumni Service Corps, National Conflict Resolution Center, and The Children’s School.

Our Board of Directors plays an essential role in governance, financial stewardship, and ensuring that VFC has the resources to fulfill our work and mission of transforming the lives of vulnerable children by providing them with the life-changing advocacy of a CASA volunteer. “I am personally delighted to welcome such a strong group of new board members, and I look forward to serving with each of them in the coming year.” shared Jessica Muñoz, Esq., MFS, President & CEO at Voices for Children.