Primavera’s Board of Directors has sole fiduciary responsibility for the organization. Our board members are as diverse as the communities we serve. One third of our board is low-income or resides in low-income neighborhoods, and several of our board members are current or former participants. Our co-founders are Nancy Bissell and Gordon Packard (d. 2018). Nancy continues to be an active and integral part of Primavera as Emeritus on the Board of Directors, and as a volunteer. She also continues to serve meals monthly at the Men’s Shelter with her own meal team.
Board meetings are held every other month at Primavera’s Administrative Offices at the Jim and Vicki Click Training Center, 151 W. 40th St., in Tucson, Arizona. Members are elected every three years. Officers are elected bi-annually.
Founders
Nancy Bissell
Gordon Packard
d.2018
Officers
Andrew Rouse, PhD (President)
Director - Translational Bioimaging Resource, University of Arizona
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Andrew Rouse
Andrew Rouse, serves as President of the Primavera Foundation Board of Directors. He is Director of the Translational Bioimaging Resource at the University of Arizona, where he leads a multidisciplinary research facility supporting biomedical imaging research across the university and beyond. Andrew earned his PhD from the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences and has spent his career advancing biomedical imaging technologies and supporting collaborative research. A longtime Tucson resident, he is committed to strengthening the community and supporting Primavera’s mission to co-create pathways out of poverty.
Sami Hamed
(Vice President) Business Development Manager - SAAVI Services for the Blind
(Vice President) Business Development Manager - SAAVI Services for the Blind
Patrick J. Lopez (Secretary)
Shareholder (Litigation) - Mesch Clark Rothschild
Jeffrey Warren (Treasurer)
Retired - Petroleum Company Executive
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Jeffrey Warren
Jeff Warren joined the Board in January 2024 and he currently serves as Treasurer. He is a retired petroleum company executive and he and his wife live in Vail. Jeff has served on the Boards of Directors of various non-profit organizations in both California and Arizona for over thirty years. These organizations involved the performing arts, health, education, and human services sectors of society. Jeff’s particular passion is to provide vital services to the unhoused members of our community and the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. He brings expertise in finance, strategic planning, and governance to the Board of Directors.
Members
Susan Tarrence
Retired - Former President
Kimberley Hoffman
Arizona Licensed Insurance Agent
Paul Koss, M.D.
Retired Physician
Elizabeth Noble Rollings Friman
Principal – Fleming & Curti, PLC
Trayce N. Peterson
Co-Founder/Producer - Split Seed Productions
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Trayce N. Peterson
Trayce N. Peterson is a Philadelphia native and a lecturer in the Human Rights Practice program at the University of Arizona. She brings over 10 years of experience in conflict resolution, consensus building, and facilitation for non-profit organizations. Trayce is a producer and co-founder of SplitSeed Productions, which uses art to drive social change. She is currently co-producing Las Mujeres de Manzo, a documentary about four extraordinary women who shaped more than 50 years of human rights activism in the borderlands. Trayce serves on the boards of BorderLinks and the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
Bobby Burns
Author, Journalist & Educator
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Bobby Burns
Bobby Burns is an author, speaker, educator, and longtime advocate for people experiencing homelessness. His advocacy is rooted in lived experience, having experienced homelessness himself and spent more than 25 years working to bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness. Burns has a background in higher education, including academic advising, student services, admissions, and instruction at Pima Community College and Louisiana State University at Eunice.
He is the author of Shelter: One Man’s Journey from Homelessness to Hope, published by the University of Arizona Press, and has written extensively on homelessness, poverty, education, and social justice. Burns previously served on Primavera Foundation’s Lived Experience Advisory Council and now serves on its Board of Directors, where he brings his lived experience, advocacy, and commitment to ensuring the voices of people who have experienced homelessness have a seat at the table.
Roxanne Veliz
Finance Lawyer, Snell & Wilmer
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Roxanne Veliz
Roxanne Veliz’s practice is concentrated in banking, commercial finance, real estate finance,
renewable energy lending, premium finance transactions, franchise lending, loan sale transactions,
and loan restructures and workouts. Her experience includes representing financial institutions and
borrowers in real estate secured and commercial lending transactions, including extensive
experience in commercial projects, construction loans, hotels, restaurants, golf courses, and
residential loan transactions. Roxanne is also experienced in representing lenders in transactions
with Indian tribes and developers of tribal gaming projects.
Emeritus
Andy Silverman, JD
Professor Emeritus – James E. Rogers College of Law, The University of Arizona
Debbie Wong
Retired - Vice President, JP Morgan Chase
Leslie L. Hunter
Retired – City of Tucson Community Services
Advisory Councils
Lived Experience Advisory Council
Front (L-R): Caroline Gardner, Carroll Bowman, Monique Ortega, Barbara Abbott | Back (L-R): Michael Burks, Jose Carrizoza
Resident Advisory Council
Front (L-R): Rosanne Loya (Staff), Tonya Carter, Jay Rasmussen | Back (L-R): Laurie Bleam, Cynthia Taylor, David Hardy, Brian McGrath (Staff), Scott Lee Benner, Paul Tenor | Not Pictured: Jeanne Deveau, Susan Crane, Robert De Hart