Leadership/Board of Directors

Central Valley Veterans’ Board at their annual meeting in January. We are hard at work planning an exciting year!

We have come a long way! In 2019 CVV has a $180,000 operating budget. When CVV started in 2011, our operating budget was $30,000! Thank you so much to all of our volunteers, donors, board members, and above-all else, our veterans!! We couldn’t have done it without you!

2019 Board Members:

Deb Riordan, President
Bill Gonzalez, Vice President: U.S. Army, Retired
Chelsea McCliment, Secretary
Alex Riordan, Treasurer
Thom Miller, Board Member: U.S. Army Veterans
John Schuler, Past Vice President: U.S. Army, Retired
Michael Russell, Past President: U.S. Navy Veteran
Sarah Brown-Monroe, To The Mat, Chair
Kimberly Raymond, Board Member
Kayla Christiansen, Board Member

Meet the Board:

Deborah Riordan, President
Deb is a U.S. Marine Corp Veterans Mom. She works in the family owned business. She is active in the community. She serves as a board member at “Fresno Center for New Americans”. She and her husband Tim enjoy traveling all over the world.

Bill Gonzalez, Vice President
Bill is a retired U. S. Army veteran. Along with John Schuler, He is our “Boots on the ground”. He and John have been extremely instrumental in the success of our Hospitality House. He is an amazing cook and feeds the masses at our events. He also coordinates our Holiday Meal giveaways. He and his lovely lady, Mary enjoy spending time in Mexico.

Chelsea McCliment, Secretary
Chelsea is the daughter of a U.S. Navy Veteran. She works as a legal assistant for a well known law firm in Fresno. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family. She is also considering a career in law enforcement.

Alex Riordan, Treasurer
Alex is project manager for a local dairy environmental consulting firm. He is also a Reserve Deputy with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. He is committed to supporting our local valley veterans in the memory of those that we have lost.

Thom Miller, Board Member
Thom is a U. S. Army veteran, 1966-68. Thom along with his wife Kelly run “Bullard Uniform Shop”. Thom also helps with his son’s local business’, “The Press Box” as the controller. Thom is a volunteer at the Veterans Treatment Court. He also enjoys riding his Honda VTX motorcycle.

John Schueler, Past Vice President, Board Member
John is a retired U.S. Army veteran. John is well known in the “Veteran Community”. He was instrumental in the development of the “Stand Down” in Fresno. He and his wife Cheri are looking forward to utilizing their new camp trailer.

Michael Russell, Past President: U.S. Navy Veteran
Mike is a U.S. Navy veteran. Mike served as President of our Board for 5+ years. He is a licensed realtor and H.R. director at an alternate fuel company. Mike and his wife Ashli both work in the real estate field. Besides being active with CVV, Mike enjoys Researching his genealogy and traveling to Ireland as often as possible.

Sarah Brow-Monroe, Board member
Sarah joined our board after working closely with CVV through her employer, Central Valley American Red Service to Armed Forces. She is the Volunteer/VAVS rep/Veterans along with her partner "Freckles" ARC K9 Action Team and Therapy Dog. Her son proudly serves in the U.S. Army! Sarah has already stepped in to co-chair our Stand Down Committee.

Kimberly Raymond, Board Member

Kimberly joined the board after 4 years of being co-chairman of the Star Spangled Ball. Kimberly is also invaluable as our Communications Chair. She is the proud wife and mom of U.S. Air Force veterans. She enjoys spending time with her 5 grandchildren as often as possible.

Kayla Christiansen, Board Member
Kayla is the newest member of the board. She is the daughter of an Army Veteran, her aunt and grandpa served in the Air Force and her brother is active duty in the Air Force. It's no surprise she loves veterans! She has served on the Star Spangled Ball Committee for 2 years. Kayla is employed by Clovis Unified School District where she is Program Supervisor for Child Development. She and her soon to be husband have just purchased their first home and are planning an October 2019 wedding!