Beth Givens
Founder and Executive Director Emeritus
In 1992, Beth founded our organization and led it for nearly 26 years before retiring. During her tenure she represented the public interest in public policy proceedings at state and federal levels and participated in numerous task forces and commissions on privacy policy. She developed award-winning consumer education resources, authored The Privacy Rights Handbook: How to Take Control of Your Personal Information and co-authored Privacy Piracy: A Guide to Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft. Prior to becoming a consumer advocate, Beth was a librarian specializing in library network development and resource sharing in Montana and has masters’ degrees in communication management from the University of Southern California and library and information services from the University of Denver.
Albert Shelden
President, Board of Directors
Al was the Senior Assistant Attorney General in charge of the California Attorney General’s Office Consumer Law Section from 2004 to 2008, and a member of the Consumer Law Section from 1973 to 2012. During his years there, he drafted many important California consumer laws and has argued cases before the California Supreme Court, the California Courts of Appeal, the Ninth and Fifth Circuits and various federal district courts. He also second-chaired the states’ argument involving the application of state deceptive advertising laws to airline advertising before the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, Al has written a number of publications for the National Association of Attorneys General and lectured widely on consumer law and related issues. Al has a law degree from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Susan Henrichsen
Secretary-Treasurer, Board of Directors
Susan was a California Deputy Attorney General in the Consumer Law Section for 29 years, investigating and prosecuting a wide variety of cases involving unfair or deceptive business practices. She participated in multi-state actions and investigations relating to credit practices and consumer credit issues and has prosecuted cases in California involving a wide variety of businesses. She was also actively involved in privacy issues, handling cases involving information-sharing practices, drafting comments on proposed federal rules and testifying on state and federal legislation. Susan has a law degree from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Evan Hendricks
Member, Board of Directors
As Founder/Editor/Publisher of Privacy Times, Evan covered a wide range of privacy and information law subjects between 1981 and 2014. He authored Credit Scores and Credit Reports: How the System Really Works, What You Can Do and is a court-qualified expert witness on the Fair Credit Reporting Act and identity theft—regularly testifying before Congress and serving as a consultant on privacy issues to federal and state governmental organizations and businesses. He is also a regular presenter at Federal Trade Commission workshops and has been a featured presenter on privacy-related issues at events worldwide. Evan has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and also attended the University of Oregon.
Pastor Herrera Jr.
Member, Board of Directors
A longtime advocate for consumer protections, Pastor is an adjunct professor at California State University, Northridge in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. Prior to his current role, Pastor served 19 years as Director of the Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs. Under his leadership, the department provided consumer counseling, complaint mediation and investigation, developed an award-winning volunteer and college internship program and implemented a strong community partnership and consumer education component. Pastor has served as a board member of several other consumer organizations. He has a degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Lifetime California Adult Teaching Credential.
Aleecia McDonald
Member, Board of Directors
Aleecia is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Information Networking Institute based in Silicon Valley where she teaches masters-level courses and researches public policy issues related to privacy through her Psst! Lab. Her research findings have been featured in media outlets such as Washington Post, Ars Technica and NPR. She has presented her findings in testimony before the California Assembly, and contributed to testimony before the United States Senate and the Federal Trade Commission. Aleecia has a decade of experience working in software startups and was previously the Director of Privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, a senior privacy researcher for Mozilla and a co-chair of the WC3’s Tracking Protection Working Group. She holds a doctoral degree in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon.