XPDSHN is governed by a founding board responsible for fiduciary oversight, mission
stewardship, and the long arc of the foundation.
Joseph Paul Schmitt
Founder & Board Chair
Joseph is a U.S. Navy veteran, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal
Auditor, and Certified Healthcare Financial Professional. He previously served as
Chief Financial Officer for the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, one of the
largest and most complex healthcare systems in the Department of Veterans Affairs,
with prior public-sector roles at the VA, USDA, Tahoe Forest Hospital, Southeastern
Illinois College, and Boeing.
His career inside large, complex systems where public money, institutional
accountability, and human outcomes intersect shaped his conviction that communities
need more than inspiration. They need structure, clarity, discipline, and durable
support. As founder, Joseph protects the foundation’s mission, strengthens its
governance, and keeps XPDSHN aligned with its core purpose: helping people face
reality, build capacity, convert suffering into agency, and live with intention
instead of drift.
Michael Tsiaklides
Treasurer
Michael (pronounced cha-klee-deez) is a Certified Financial Planner, IRS
Enrolled Agent, wealth management advisor, tax accountant, and Missouri-licensed
insurance agent. He is the founder and principal of
BenefitPerqs
and the past President of the Hellenic Spirit Foundation, a St. Louis charitable
organization supporting educational and non-profit causes. BSBA, University of
Missouri-St. Louis.
Across 25+ years in public and corporate accounting, banking, retail, financial
planning, and wealth management, Michael has built a reputation for non-judgmental
clarity and the discerning eye of a tax professional who relates equally well to
families and small business owners. As Treasurer, he safeguards the foundation’s
financial integrity, oversees its tax and reporting compliance, and guides prudent
stewardship of every dollar entrusted to XPDSHN.
Joseph D. Haverstick
Vice President
Joseph Haverstick, CPA, MBA, PMP, is Vice President at
Vetera Analytics,
bringing senior-level federal financial management, governance, and advisory
experience across healthcare and large public enterprises, informed by prior public
accounting work at PwC. A licensed CPA with multi-state practice authority, he
specializes in financial policy, internal controls, and executive decision support
inside complex public-sector environments.
His leadership has spanned enterprise financial operations, financial management
policy, and large-scale transformation initiatives, with a focus on the gap between
formally designed governance systems and their ability to produce outcomes in
practice. As Vice President, Joseph strengthens XPDSHN’s governance discipline,
its control design, and its readiness to scale responsibly as the foundation grows
from founding through national reach.