Ruth Westreich

Biographical Information
"Ruth Westreich, trained as an artist and designer, is a talented mixed-media artist working in oils, water media and glass...Her commitment to the health and growth of the nonprofit in San Diego is unwavering. The Westreich Foundation, of which Ms. Westreich is the president, is having a deep and wide impact in the San Diego nonprofit community. The focus of the private foundation is Optimum Health and Wellness; and Education and Literacy; In the areas of wellness and prevention, The Westreich Foundation generously supports integrative medicine and palliative medicine nationally and locally. Nationally, she is a member of the prestigious Bravewell Collaborative, a national philanthropic collaborative furthering the cause of the integrative medical model of care. Locally she supports Dr. Mimi Guarneri's work at the Scripps Center for Integrated Medicine in La Jolla.

"She is a board member of the Institute for Palliative Medicine and the San Diego Hospice and is working to bridge the integrative, patient centered care medical model and the chronic pain and end of life care of the palliative care medical model.

"She is also passionately working to bring the arts and music to the health care arena as healing modalities in restoring optimum health. Her vision, in conjunction with countless other groups is to be able to use forms of visual and auditory art therapies as a modality in healing the body and mind, and adding comfort to the death and dying process for patients and their families.

"Ms. Westreich is passionately helping to strengthen the entire nonprofit sector in San Diego by being instrumental in the development of the University of San Diego’s Institute for Education and Research where Ruth serves as co-board chair with Michael Pinto. Ms. Westreich is heavily involved as an initial supporter of the USD’s Nonprofit Leadership and Management master's and doctoral program. She is working tirelessly to be a vital force in strengthening the entire nonprofit and philanthropy sector in San Diego by helping to establish best practices for nonprofits, educate and train Board of Director’s in board governance, and making clear the differences and obstacles between larger nonprofits and those all-volunteer nonprofits that are so vital to San Diego.

"Ms. Westreich also has over thirty years experience as a Creative Marketing Communications Director and Strategic Marketing Director in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors. She is also the visionary responsible for the creation of the highly acclaimed new business book, The Art of Original Thinking - The Making of a Thought Leader written by award winning author, Jan Phillips, which just won the Editor's Choice Award from Allbooks Review and was nominated for the Best Books Award by USABookNews.com. It shows businesses that by adhering to the triple-bottom line method of accounting you can increase profits, create loyal employees and increase employee retention and start making peace with our over-burdened planet.

"She also was the underwriter of the best seller on Amazon, Gluten Nation by Jackie Townsend Konstanturos. Gluten Nation is a thorough look into the hidden role that gluten and gluten intolerance plays in the lives of millions and how taking simple, safe steps of instituting a gluten free diet can have a remarkable impact on the quality of life for millions of men, women and children around the globe. It also speaks in depth about the alarming role that gluten plays in arthritis, ADHD, autism, bi-polar disorder, cancer, diabetes, fibromyalgia and other disorders."

Affiliations

 * Director, Samueli Institute