New Board Members

AMI/USA is pleased to announce its two new members of the Board of Directors. Zack Nauth and Durkin Ledgard will take their seats on the Board this July, at the Board meeting in San Francisco. At that time, AMI/USA will wish a fond farewell to Adam Lewis and Roger Ochs, both of whom have given so much of their time and dedication to AMI/USA over the years. Please join us in wishing Adam and Roger the best, and welcome Zack and Durkin to AMI/USA leadership!

Zachary Nauth for 10 years has been the Administrator of the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois Benefit Funds in Chicago. He manages the day-to-day operations of a 50-employee office providing service to 21,000 health and pension plan participants who work in health care and social services. He has worked for 20 years for SEIU in various capacities—from organizing contract negotiations, to strategy and politics, to employee benefits. Prior to that, he founded and ran a non-profit organization in Louisiana dedicated to improving the environment, education and social services. Mr. Nauth is a journalism graduate of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and has worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Los Angeles Times and other publications. He has served on the board of Human Rights Watch (Chicago). His wife, Ileana Gomez, has worked as an AMI-trained elementary teacher for more than 20 years, and currently is the owner/director of seed, a Montessori-based afterschool program. The two reside in Oak Park, Ill.

Durkin Ledgard practices law, and consults on energy, infrastructure and transportation issues. He served as Chief Legal, Commercial & Administrative Officer of BPZ Resources, Inc., a publically traded oil and gas exploration and production company focusing on Latin America. Mr. Ledgard also served BPZ as Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining BPZ, Mr. Ledgard was a Partner of the law firm Eastham, Watson, Dale & Forney, LLP, where he specialized in Admiralty and Maritime law. Mr. Ledgard was an Assistant Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel for the Department of the Navy. He has over 30 years of experience in the energy and marine transportation industry and holds an Unlimited Tonnage Master’s License issued by the U.S. Coast Guard. He earned his B.S. in Marine Transportation from Texas A&M University in 1982 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992. He is active in the local community as a past President and current Member-at-Large of the Memorial Meadows Homeowners Association, and serves on the Troop Committee of Boy Scout Troop 673 where he was the past Committee Chair.