Board of Directors

NPH USA is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. In addition to our national office located in Illinois, we have six regional offices, each of which has its own volunteer Board of Directors. The members of our boards have diverse professional backgrounds and expertise, but each actively works to raise funds for and awareness of NPH USA and our mission.

National Board – Officers

Dr. Jeff Kempf, Chair

Dr. Jeff Kempf has practiced pediatric medicine for over forty years , working for the last thirty in pediatric emergency medicine at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, Ohio. While working in Akron he established the office of Pediatric Global Health dedicated to providing services to children outside the walls of the hospital, both domestically and internationally. This work included service in Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Belize, and Haiti.

In January 2010, two weeks after the earthquake, he traveled to St. Damien Hospital Haiti to provide relief work. There he fell in love with the Haitian people and the incredible work being done by NPH. After returning home, he founded the St. Damien Pediatric Collaborative, a group of children’s hospitals in the US and Canada, whose mission is to provide clinical, educational, financial aide and equipment to St. Damien Hospital.

During his medical career in Akron, he has served in other leadership roles, including Director of the Pediatric Emergency Department, Director of the Pediatric Residency Program, Medical Staff President, Medical School Clerkship Director, Akron Children’s Hospital Board, and the Board of Gift of Life of NE Ohio. He met his wife, Dr. Ellen Kempf,a practicing pediatrician, in Fort Myers, Fla while working in the Public Health Service Corp providing health care to children of migrant farmers and the indigent poor of SW Florida.

Together they share a passion for work internationally for nearly forty years, and though recently retired in Akron, they continue to volunteer in the Costanza Region of Dominican Republic. They are blessed with three grown children and two grandchildren, all residing in the Akron area.

John Kuehne, Treasurer

John Kuehne brings over 40 years of financial and consulting experience to NPH USA.  He recently retired from Accenture LLP as Managing Director and North American Aviation Lead, where he led the sales and execution of consulting projects focused on airlines in the US and Canada.

Prior to joining Accenture John was Senior Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer for Seabury Group, an aviation focused consulting / investment banking firm of 300+ people.  He led and negotiated the sale of Seabury’s consulting practice to Accenture in 2017.

John was also President of Cargill Communications, a Minneapolis based broadcasting company, Executive Vice President of the Radio Division of Space Center Inc and Manager of Corporate Finance at Midwest Communications.  He started his career at KPMG Peat Marwick and is a Certified Public Accountant (Inactive).

John and his wife Teresa, who is a Registered Nurse, live in Sea Girt New Jersey and have three grown children and four grandchildren.  They have a passion for faith-based organizations that provide food, health care and education to poor and disadvantaged people worldwide.  They have been involved with NPH as God Parents since 1985 and have visited the NPH home in Honduras twice as volunteers at the surgery center located at the home.

National Board – Members

Chris Heim

Chris Heim is currently the Executive Chairman of HelpSystems, an IT infrastructure software company located in Eden Prairie with over 900 employees. Previous to this position, Chris served as CEO from 2015 to mid 2019. Chris has a strong track record of success serving previous stints as CEO of Axium Software, Amcom Software, and HighJump Software.

During his tenure at HelpSystems, the company grew from $100 million in revenue to $260 million in revenue. The company completed 14 acquisitions during this time period and greatly accelerated organic growth. Prior to HelpSystems, Chris was CEO of Axium Software, a Portland, Oregon based software company that was sold to Deltek to June of 2014. While Chris was CEO only 18 months, the value of the company increased six fold during this period. From 2007 to 2012, Chris was CEO of Amcom Software which grew from $12 million to $52 million in revenue before being sold to Spok Corporation.

Chris began his career at HighJump Software where he held a variety of roles before becoming CEO in 1997. Under his leadership, HighJump Software grew from $8 million in sales in 1997 to a run rate of $80 million in sales in 2006 and became the fastest growing company in their space. In 2003, Heim was selected as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. HighJump was sold to 3M in 2004.

Chris Heim received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and a Masters of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. He proudly serves on the board of Ascentis, Aventri, Calabrio, Digi International, Field Nation and HelpSystems. Chris is married with two adult children.

Mark Kruzel

Mr. Kruzel is a senior vice president based in the New York office and a member of the capital markets team at PIMCO. He focuses on originating investment opportunities and building relationships with PIMCO’s bank counterparties. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2022, Mr. Kruzel led the Americas bank solutions business at Citi, where he was responsible for the origination and structuring of bank capital transactions in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. He also held roles in loan portfolio management in New York and franchise governance at Banamex in Mexico City. He has 12 years of investment experience and holds a master’s degree in international relations from American University, where he also earned two undergraduate degrees. He is a CFA Charterholder and speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Miguel Venegas

Miguel Venegas joined the NPH family when he was 15 years old along with his two siblings. He graduated from secondary school and then completed his year of service to the NPH family at the home in Miacatlán. He attended the English program in Yarnell, Arizona, mastered the English language, passed his GED, and pursued his college education in the U.S. at the University of Texas at Tyler. Miguel earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics.

In 1997, he served as the administrator and accountant for the newly opened NPH home in Guatemala. After two years in Guatemala, Miguel returned to Mexico to develop the Finance Department of NPH International (NPHI) where he served as Finance Director for six years.

Miguel is now the Executive Director of NPH International (NPHI) and is based in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He is a member of the NPHI Project Committee, NPHI Consejo Familiar, and chairs the NPHI Finance Committee.