Profile of Thomas Tighe
Under the leadership of Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief International had record-breaking results in 2001, providing international emergency assistance with a total wholesale value of $81.5 million. This material assistance was sufficient to provide care for 10.5 million people in 60 countries including response to the catastrophic earthquakes of India and El Salvador, and the Afghanistan refugee crisis. Direct Relief International, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, was also recognized by two important publications in 2001. Worth Magazine included Direct Relief International on its list of 100 Best Charities for 2001 and was also ranked the 165th largest non-profit organization in the United States, based on private support, by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Tighe came to Direct Relief International from the Peace Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C., where he served as Chief-of-Staff and Chief Operating Officer from 1995 -2000. In that role, he was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Peace Corps' worldwide operations, involving more than 7,000 volunteers in 72 countries and an annual budget of $250 million.
During that period, the Peace Corps experienced a resurgence of interest and growth to the highest volunteer levels in 27 years. He negotiated agreements to establish new programs in South Africa, China, and Bangladesh, and directed a revamping of the agency's organizational structure and business systems. In 1998, Congress recognized the improvements and approved for the first time ever a 4-year authorization for the Peace Corps to expand the Peace Corps to 10,000 volunteers. Tighe traveled to 40 countries, including China in connection with the Presidential Summit in 1998 and the trip of the Vice President To South Africa in 1995, during which bilateral agreements to establish Peace Corps programs were signed.
Tighe also served two years as Associate General Counsel of the Peace Corps under Director Carol Bellamy, now Executive Director of UNICEF, handling the legislative and funding issues, international agreements, health and employment issues.
From 1989 to 1993, Tighe served as a committee counsel in the United States Senate, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where he was responsible for policy issues related to veterans' mental-health care, special disability programs, drug and alcohol treatment, and services for homeless veterans. Appointed by then Chairman Alan Cranston, Tighe also handled collateral duties related to foreign aid and the Peace Corps.
Tighe was raised in Palo Alto, California, is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the U.C. Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Thailand, after completing law school and being admitted to the California State Bar, from 1986-1988. Tighe was recently selected as a Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, the West Coast partner of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Tighe is married to Carrie Cresap Tighe, also from Palo Alto, and they have four children.
