The Ventura County Community Foundation has welcomed longtime residents Venkat Yepuri and Meryl Chase to its board.
Mr. Yepuri has been with Amgen for more than 19 years and currently serves as its vice president of global business solutions and chief procurement officer.
Prior to that, he had broad experience in the healthcare industry both in the U.S. and globally.
A resident of Ventura County for 25 years, he has actively volunteered locally along with his family and has previously served on the Dean’s Leadership Council at California State University, Channel Islands.
Mr. Yepuri holds a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Delhi University.
“It is a privilege to be on the Board of VCCF, and I am looking forward to serving the community and our donors in my role as a fiduciary. I am excited to support VCCF’s mission to promote and enable philanthropy to improve our community,” Mr. Yepuri said.
Ms. Chase is co-owner of Clearmont, LLC, a family-owned real estate investment company. Ms. Chase considers serving the community her primary vocation.
She was recently awarded emeritus status by the board of directors of kidSTREAM, a Camarillo-based museum and nonprofit serving Ventura County’s children.
Additionally, Ms. Chase served a three-year term as kidSTREAM’s founding vice president of finance. She is also involved with such local organizations as Women’s Economic Ventures and Women United, and especially enjoys her involvement with her son’s school.
Ms. Chase considers joining Ventura County Community Foundation’s board as “an opportunity to serve philanthropists and charitable organizations throughout Ventura County, and an extraordinary honor.”
Having married into a third-generation Ventura County farming family, Ms. Chase moved to Camarillo in 2007, following a career in advertising, film and TV production.
She and her company, LA-based Zystar Films Inc., worked with clients including Ford, Acura, Intel, Toyota, Fox and Imagine Entertainment. Ms. Chase credits UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management with giving her the financial acumen to build a successful business in a highly competitive industry.
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