Board of Directors

The Executive board

Alexander Silver

CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN

Alexander Silver is a founder and Chairman of EBRP. He is a founding partner at P2 Capital Partners, a private investment firm based in New York City. Prior to starting P2, Alex held positions at Soros Fund Management, Karsch Capital Management and Lazard Freres.
Alex serves on the NAIMS Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health. Alex has a 10-year-old son, Jackson, with RDEB, and daughters Michaela and Charley.

He received a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science from Brown University where he graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Jill Vedder

CO-FOUNDER AND VICE CHAIRMAN

Jill Vedder is a founder and Vice Chairman of EBRP. In her role as Vice Chairman, she oversees fundraising and serves as a senior adviser on strategic and programmatic direction. Her efforts are demonstrably accelerating progress towards treatment breakthroughs and ultimately a cure.

Jill is a serial philanthropist who is also active with the Vitalogy Foundation.

Eddie Vedder

CO-FOUNDER

Activist and front man of Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder is a founder of EBRP and has taken up causes from health care to antitrust. Eddie’s connection to the Fullmers' son, Michael, inspires his work to improve the lives of individuals with EB and to aggressively fund research. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Vedder grew up mostly in Southern California. In his twenties, he played in several San Diego bands before his recruitment into the band that would become Pearl Jam.

Jamie Silver

CO-FOUNDER

Jamie Silver is a founder of EBRP. Jamie chairs ACTion for Jackson, a fundraising event in NYC that raises upwards of $1,000,000 for EB research annually. She has appeared on the Today Show and in the Huffington Post advocating for children with EB and their families. Jamie has a son, Jackson, with RDEB and two daughters, Michaela and Charley. Jamie received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree in special education from Bank Street College of Education.

Heather Fullmer

CO-FOUNDER

Heather Fullmer is a founder of EBRP and manages EBRP’s grant process. She is a Wound Care RN and serves as a wound and ostomy consultant for a Southern California based hospital. She is the mother of an 11-year-old boy, Michael, who has severe generalized RDEB. Heather chairs Night of Discovery, an annual fundraising event in Southern California. Heather received a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from San Jose State University and is a Registered Nurse in California with extended wound care education from Emory University in Georgia.

aRI dESHE

Ari Deshe is the founder and chairman of Safe Auto Insurance Co. He also served as President of Employee Benefit Systems, Inc., Director of American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Director of DSW Inc., and Director of Retail Ventures Inc. Ari was born with EB Simplex, as were three of his children. Ari and his family, including his wife, Ann, and their children Elie, David, Dara and Daniel, together with their spouses have decided to take an active role in making the mission to find a cure for EB a reality.

Scott Didier

Scott Didier AM is the Chief Executive Officer of Johns Lyng Group. Prior, he formed one of Australia’s leading commercial flooring companies, Trump Flooring. Scott has applied his business acumen to the philanthropic sector, founding the Starlight Foundation's prestigious Star Ball in 1998. Since then, under Scott’s guidance as Chairman, the event has become the Starlight Foundation’s biggest income generator, raising over $1.5 million each year. Recently, Scott co-founded the EB Research Foundation of Australia, a partner of EBRP, which shares the mission of finding a cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa. In recognition of his tireless philanthropic work, Scott was awarded Member of the Order of Australia in 2016.

Stephen Evans

Stephen Evans is a Managing Director at Silver Lake Partners. Prior to joining Silver Lake, he was a Principal at Cognetas, a European mid-market private equity firm. Previously, Stephen spent five years at Bain & Company. In his time at Bain & Company, he advised clients in Europe and the US across a variety of industries and also spent two years in Bain's Private Equity group. Stephen holds an M.A and an M.Phil from Cambridge University, and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

Edward Grossmann

Edward Grossmann is a founding partner of Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger & Grossmann, one of the leading securities litigation law firms worldwide. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades. He is also past President of the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades and is a past trustee of the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey. Edward received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.