Board of Directors

Our leaders at SOS Children's Villages USAexemplify all of the qualities that make our members extraordinary: integrity, expertise and a commitment to service.

SOS Children’s Villages USA is governed by a Board of Directors, who oversee an executive team responsible for running day-to-day business operations, including international programming, partnerships, marketing, finance and human resources.

Emeritus Board

Michel Lagarde joined the SOS Children’s Villages - USA Board of Directors in 2011 and served until 2017. He is currently the President of Patheon, the leading global provider of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services. Previously, he was Principal of JLL, a middle-market private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, health care and basic industries. Prior to JLL, he served as Controller for Philips Consumer Electronics in Hong Kong; CFO for Philips Group Indonesia; and CFO, and then CEO, of Philips Domestic Appliances North America.

Lagarde received an Executive Master of Finance and Control in 2002 from a combined program of the University of Maastricht, University of Amsterdam, and the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. He received a BBA and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1995 from European University, Antwerp, Belgium.

David Mitchell has been a passionate friend and supporter of SOS Children’s Villages since 2005, when he first encountered SOS Emergency Relief teams in Indonesia after the December 2004 tsunami. A retired United States Air Force Captain, Mitchell has personally flown to visit SOS Villages, Relief Programs, and Family Strengthening Programs in Bosnia, Nicaragua and Haiti on multiple occasions. In January 2010, he visited the SOS Village in Santo, outside of Port-au-Prince, to aid in relief efforts within two days of the Haiti earthquake.

From 1973 to 1980, Mitchell flew missions with the Air Force in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and the Arctic Circle. After his honorable discharge in 1980, he worked with the oil and gas industry and with large-scale commercial/corporate agriculture. He now runs a general contractor commercial industrial construction business.

In addition to his service to SOS Children’s Villages, Mitchell also worked to help children at risk as Board Chairman for the Tyler, Texas/Smith County Child Welfare Board, and he continues to work with youth in his community of Southlake, Texas. He received a BBA with a major in Management and a secondary in Marketing from Southern Methodist University.