​Steering Committee Members
Dr. Linda Quan, Pediatrician and Researcher, American Academy of Pediatrics
Connie Harvey, Director of the Aquatics Centennial Initiative, American Red Cross
David Bell, Aquatics Subcommittee, Boy Scouts of America
Rebecca Wear Robinson, Founder and Former President, Make the Minute Matter
Adam Katchmarchi, Executive Director, National Drowning Prevention Alliance
Morag MacKay, Director of Research, Safe Kids Worldwide (Committee Chair)
Megan Ferraro, Executive Director, The ZAC Foundation
Tina Dessart, Program Director, USA Swimming Foundation
Lindsay Mondick, Director, Innovative Priorities – Movement Services, YMCA of the USA
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Morag MacKay is Director of Research at Safe Kids Worldwide (SKW), where she is responsible for ensuring all aspects of their work are informed by data and research evidence and for supporting evaluation efforts.

Prior to joining SKW in early 2016 she was Programme Manager at the European Child Safety Alliance for 11 years, where she managed several large multi-country research and advocacy projects aimed at bridging the evidence to action gap and supporting adoption and implementation of evidence-based good practices for the prevention of injuries to children and youth in Europe.

Morag is originally from Canada and has an undergraduate degree in nursing science and graduate degree in medical science with a specialization in epidemiology. Her professional activities have largely focused on the prevention and control of children's injuries and her contributions to the field over the last 25+ years have been in the areas of surveillance, education, research, program and policy planning and evaluation.

She currently chairs the Water Safety USA supported Steering Committee tasked with overseeing the development of a U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan.
Linda Quan MD is Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA where she was chief of the emergency department for 26 years. She has received federal and foundation funding for her research and projects in prehospital care and drowning prevention involving adolescents, ethnic/racial minorities, and life jacket use. Her research has focused on drowning, pediatric and drowning resuscitation. She has served on committees of the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, ILCOR, WHO and led statewide drowning prevention projects in Washington State addressing the problem of open water drowning prevention. She continues to work on legislative and policy approaches to drowning prevention. She was vice-chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the American Red Cross and is a member of its Aquatic subcouncil, the Irish Lifesaving Foundation, International Drowning Research Alliance (IDRA) and Water Safety USA
Connie Harvey is the director of the Centennial Initiative for Aquatics at national headquarters of the American Red Cross. She works daily to advance the Red Cross mission to prevent drowning with a focus on at-risk communities throughout the nation. Since joining the NHQ team in Washington DC in 1996, she has played key leaderships roles in the development of many Red Cross Aquatics programs, including Lifeguarding, Swimming and Water Safety, Safety Training for Swim Coaches and Longfellow’s WHALE Tales.  Connie is a national spokesperson for the organization regarding drowning prevention and water safety. She is a regular speaker at national conferences and represents the Red Cross as an advocate for water safety and drowning prevention at the federal level, including in Congressional briefings and hearings and with federal agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
David Bell  is a member of the national Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Aquatics and Program Safety Subcommittees and is a BSA representative for Water Safety USA. He spent twelve summers on the aquatic staffs of various youth camps and has since served as an instructor trainer for the BSA Aquatics Instructor program and an aquatic staff member for ten Scout Jamborees.  David is a primary and contributing author for various BSA aquatic publications and has been a writer, director, and editor for BSA water safety videos. He was a member of the Lifeguard Standards Coalition, a contributor to various revisions of the American Red Cross lifeguarding program, and twice served on the Supervision and Lifeguard Technical Support Committee of the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code. He has PADI open water diver certification and began 2020 with lifeguard credentials from the BSA, the American Red Cross, and the YMCA. David has a PhD in physics and dabbles in the hydrodynamics of swimming and paddling.   
Rebecca Wear Robinson is the Founder and former Executive Director and President of Make the Minute Matter, an organization dedicated to jolting the public into awareness about the epidemic of drowning, and being part of the solution.  Rebecca has worked in the global drowning prevention field for 13 years.  She works with organizations all over the world to integrate social marketing into their programs with the goal of creating sustainable, internalized behavior change around water.  Prior to entering the drowning prevention field, Rebecca worked as a consultant specializing in process restructuring, system testing, and health care.  Rebecca’s first master’s is in International Management, Marketing and Economics from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  Her second master’s is in Organizational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics.
Dr. Adam Katchmarchi (Ph.D.) is the executive director of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) and an assistant professor of sport management at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has dedicated his career to drowning prevention and water safety. Adam is currently a member representative for Water Safety USA, the North American Aquatic Coalition, and is also a member of the US National Water Safety Action Plan Steering Committee.  He is a licensed EMT, a certified health and physical education teacher, and holds multiple trainer and instructor certifications in lifeguarding, water safety, pool/spa management and operations, and emergency response.
Megan Ferraro is the Executive Director of the ZAC Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to water safety and drowning prevention education, awareness and prevention. Within her role, Ms. Ferraro oversees the Foundation’s programs, directs philanthropic partnerships, manages the annual budget and represents the Foundation as a subject matter expert at press conferences, industry events and with both State and Federal legislators throughout the country. Megan brings a wealth of experience in strategic communications and policy development to the ZAC Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, Megan served as a management consultant for more than 10 years in the Washington, D.C. metro area, where she guided Federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies and political candidates in strategic communications, policy development and best practices for navigating advocacy within both State and Federal governments.
Tina Dessart is USA Swimming’s Make a Splash Program Director.  Tina is a 30-year veteran in aquatics management and learn-to-swim programming, and in her current role provides strategic oversight, direction, creativity and coordination for USA Swimming and USA Swimming Foundation’s learn-to-swim initiatives and associated efforts. Tina is responsible for building and fostering relationships which support water safety education and drowning prevention at the national level; these strategic partnerships provide resources, materials, and funding which aid USA Swimming and the USA Swimming Foundation in providing the opportunity for every child in America to learn to swim.
Lindsay Mondick is the Director of Innovative Priorities for the YMCA of the USA.  Ms. Mondick joined Y-USA in 2015 and in her role leads the YMCA innovation process that works to identify inclusive solutions and sustainable options in response to identified critical issues or concern within YMCAs across the country, in addition, she maintains a portfolio of work related to aquatic safety, aquatic programming, drowning prevention, and training on behalf of YMCA of the USA.  Prior to this, Ms. Mondick was with the YMCA of Greater Twin Cities for 14 years in a variety of aquatic leadership roles, including Association strategy.  Ms. Mondick holds bachelor’s degrees in biology and psychology from the University of New Mexico.