Learn more about our board of directors

Johanna Edwards Bracken

Born, Portland, Oregon; raised there and in Northern California, Johanna “Jo” Bracken has enjoyed a long, celebrated career as a businesswoman, philanthropist and volunteer. 

She is a founder, president or executive emeritus of two highly successful Southern California direct marketing firms: Match Mail Productions in Anaheim, and Rauxa Direct in Costa Mesa, which she has grown from a modest three-person start-up in 1999 to a $46 million company.

 Amid an always demanding work schedule, she has also managed to contribute time and capital to causes that reflect her love of animals, obligation to society and respect for human rights.  These include:

• The American Red Cross
  (Vice Chair and Lifetime Volunteer, Greater Long Beach Chapter)

• Chimps, Inc., Bend, Oregon
  (Member, Board of Directors)

• Center for Great Apes, Wauchula, Florida

• Doctors Without Borders

•  Amnesty International

• The Nature Conservancy

•  Bighorn Sheep Institute, Palm Desert, California

In her earlier years, Jo joined the Volunteers in Parole, Los Angeles County, where she counseled incarcerated youths, and was also an Orange County, California, volunteer probation officer specializing in domestic violence. 

A longtime resident of Long Beach, California, Jo received a BA in Communications from Stanford University in 1977, then went on to earn an MS in Criminal Justice at California State University, Long Beach.  She is currently exploring a return to higher education to obtain a PhD in Criminal Justice. 

In her free time, Jo enjoys travel, golf, scuba diving and backpacking with her husband, Michael, along with their growing brood of dogs.