Board of Directors
METALLICA
Board Members
Metallica was formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and has become one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 110 million albums worldwide while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. They have scored several multi-platinum albums, including 1991's Metallica (commonly referred to as The Black Album), with sales of nearly 17 million copies in the United States alone, making it the best-selling album in the history of Soundscan.
Metallica has also garnered numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009. All four members of Metallica - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo - are members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
PETER DELGROSSO
Executive Director and Board Member
Pete Delgrosso was named Executive Director and Board Member in January 2022 after being a member of the AWMH Advisory Board since 2018.
For over 25 years, Pete has been operating, advising, and investing in a wide range of technology-related businesses and has fostered a network of relationships across technology, sports, entertainment, music, consumer brands, venture capital, and private equity. Pete is co-founder and Managing Partner of Bryant Stibel, an investment firm started with Kobe Bryant in 2013 and primarily focused on later-stage technology investments. Prior to Bryant Stibel, Pete held senior executive operating roles at companies such as Dun & Bradstreet, Web.com, and United Online, where he focused on business development, partnerships, and communications.
In addition to his current position on the AWMH Board, Pete is also an advisory board member for The Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission, a nonprofit organization officially designated to attract, secure, and support high-profile sports and entertainment events in Los Angeles. Additionally, Pete advises and invests in start-ups and tech companies, including Inveniem, Arternal, and House of Fangs. Pete was a past Board member of The Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA), and LSTN Sound Company, and was an advisory board member at USC’s Viterbi Student Institute for Innovation.
Originally from Connecticut, Pete now lives in the Los Angeles area with his family. Fun fact, Pete is the only person we know who has ever worked with Kobe Bryant and Metallica! His first Metallica show was in 1992 outside of Boston in Foxborough, MA.
RENÉE RICHARDSON
Director of Philanthropy
Renée Richardson joined the Metallica family in 2019 as Associate Director of the Foundation. After a 20-year radio career in the San Francisco Bay Area on the now-defunct KFOG FM (insert foghorn), she decided it was time to pivot and do something more rewarding with her life. In 2016, inspired by a culture of philanthropy in the Bay Area, she signed on as the Director of Development for Blue Bear School of Music (the original school of Rock!) where she promoted the idea of music education for all. Today, Renée remains an active member of the Board of Trustees for Blue Bear School of Music, as well as serving on the Board for Project Glimmer a national organization that supports foster girls. Renée is passionate about the mission of Metallica's All Within My Hands as set by the Board of Directors and she still can't believe she gets to help support communities around the world.
Renée is originally from Rockland County New York, she studied graphic design and advertising at SVA in Manhattan - although her artistic skills were mainly used to sneak into Spin Doctors shows (sorry Marc!), and moved to San Francisco in 1992 after falling in love with the city on a road trip. Still inspired by the power of music, Renée is always up for a live show, she still does a bit of sketching and painting, and will always lend her auctioneering skills to a worthy cause as she is a Missouri School of Auction graduate... sold!
TONY DICIOCCIO
Board Member
Tony DiCioccio has been a part of the Metallica family for longer than he’d care to remember, dating back to the late ’80s. He is now a key member of the band’s inner circle, serving as a senior strategist and overseeing all facets of their global touring activities and commercial merchandising.
While a student at Regis College (now Regis University) in Denver, Tony worked on the school’s concert board, booking acts such as Dire Straits, Cheap Trick and the P. Funk All Stars to perform at the school. After selling merchandise for touring artists Judas Priest and Diana Ross, Tony was introduced to Q Prime’s Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, and he began handling management and accounting for the touring of two of their clients, Def Leppard and later Metallica.
Subsequently, Tony joined Q Prime in 1989, taking the reins of the touring and merchandising operations for the company’s entire roster.
Originally from Cleveland, Tony is a longtime New York resident; although he and his wife Sheila live a nomadic life between traveling to Metallica HQ and tour dates and trips to Lancaster County, PA and Columbia, SC to visit their two sons’ families, including four grandchildren.
PAUL DONAHUE
Board Member
Paul Donahue is Managing Partner of Black Squirrel Partners, a content and growth equity platform backed by Metallica. Prior to Black Squirrel, Paul enjoyed a 32-year career at Morgan Stanley where he was a member of the Global Capital Markets Operating Committee, Chaired the Equity Underwriting Committee, and led the award-winning Equity Capital Markets practice from 2006 to 2020. He remains a Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley and is a member of the Board of Directors of PBF Energy.
By his own admission, Paul is a “mediocre on a good day” guitar player, despite his love of playing and his role as a long-time investor in the parent company of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. He is also a passionate fan of soccer (“footy”), and you can find him up at the crack of dawn watching a European match during the season in whatever city he finds himself.
DR. EDWARD (ED) H. FRANK
Board Member and Executive Director Emeritus
Ed Frank’s career in the computer industry has spanned more than 30 years. From 2009 through 2014 he was Vice President of Macintosh Hardware Engineering at Apple, where he led the development of several generations of Macintosh computers.
Previously he was Vice President of Engineering at Broadcom following its acquisition of Epigram, a company he cofounded in 1996. At Broadcom Ed co-led the company’s expansion into WiFi, among many other activities. Ed presently serves on the Boards of Directors of Analog Devices (ADI), Cavium (CAVM), Quantenna (QTNA), and eASIC.
He is a Vice-Chairman of the Carnegie Mellon University Board of Trustees, and is a Vice Chair of the Executive Leadership Board of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology.
Ed holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from Stanford University, where he was on the ski team, and where he met his wife of nearly four decades, Sarah Ratchye, who is an artist working in San Francisco. He received a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow.
In addition to supporting AWMH, Ed and Sarah have focused their personal philanthropy on major US research universities, the arts, and local cultural institutions. Ed and Sarah currently reside in the city of San Francisco and have two adult children: Whitton, an actress in Los Angeles, and Naomi, an artist and musician in Brooklyn.
MARC REITER
Board Member
Marc Reiter has worked closely with Metallica for a quarter century, the last year at the band’s Bay Area headquarters as their “Chief Creative Guy”, as well as overseeing their record label, Blackened Recordings. In this capacity, Marc works closely with the band to plan and execute all of their music, video and film releases, as well as overseeing many of the band’s new ventures.
Prior to that, he spent nearly twenty-four years at Q Prime Inc., one of the industry's leading artist management companies, and Metallica’s managers since 1984.
Marc was raised in Albany, New York, and spent his formative years skateboarding and listening to the radio and records incessantly. In 1984, he was hired on as a College Rep at CBS Records (later Sony Music) in Albany, and he remained with the company for nearly nine years, rising to the position of Senior Director of Marketing at their Epic Records label. At Epic, Marc worked with such artists as Pearl Jam, Suicidal Tendencies, Spin Doctors, among others, until the fall of 1992, when he accepted a position at Q Prime Inc.
In addition to his current position on the AWMH Board, Marc has been on the national Board of Directors for the TJ Martell Foundation for Cancer Research since 2003. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Tony Hawk Foundation, and was a past member of the Board of Trustees at Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, NY, as well as the Summit, NJ Police Athletic League.
Marc lives in the Bay Area with his wife, Abigail Moore-Reiter; that is, when he’s not living in airplanes on his way to see the band performing live somewhere or visiting his two daughters, Sophie and Olivia, at their respective universities.
VICKIE STRATE
Board Member
Vickie Strate has worked exclusively for Metallica since 2000, based at the band’s headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tasked with the construction and establishment of HQ as Metallica’s creative and physical home base, Vickie oversees the band’s websites and social media channels, online store and fan club, along with managing the staff and the building that houses the recording studio and rehearsal space.
Prior to moving to San Francisco to join the Metallica family, Vickie was with Sony Music in a variety of sales and marketing positions for 13 years and at one time or another was based in Chicago, Minneapolis or Los Angeles. A native of Detroit, MI, Vickie attended Michigan State University where she worked for the CBS Records College Department and ran the university’s concert board.
Vickie manages Metallica’s Bay Area community relations, coordinating events and fundraisers as well as various charitable donations. Additionally she oversaw all CrowdRise campaigns raising money for AWMH in conjunction with the band’s WorldWired Tour.
An avid skier, Vickie escapes to the mountains of Colorado as often as possible for time on the slopes with her family. When she’s not on the slopes, you can frequently find her at Oracle Park cheering on the San Francisco Giants.
ERIC WASSERMAN
Board Member
Eric C. Wasserman is the Managing Partner and co-founder of the Los Angeles-based multi-family office business management firm of WG&S, LLP. He manages the Wealth Management Group which provides family office services to high-profile public figures and ultra-high-net-worth families both nationally and internationally.
In 1988, Eric was one of the original founding partners of GLWG, Inc., a financial management firm focused on entrepreneurs, executives and entertainment industries in Northern and Southern California and the mid-Atlantic. The firm was a leader in the development of financial management services to individuals and families. GLWG, Inc. was acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2000.
Eric graduated from Rutgers College with a Bachelor of Arts. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York State Society of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs. He is a member of the City of Hope Music and Entertainment Industry Board. In 2014, he was appointed to the CHLA Board of Trustees. He is the Chair of the Audit Committee as well as serving on the Investment and Finance Committees. Eric and his family reside in Pacific Palisades, California.
