Darren Binder
Position
BOARD CHAIR, VICE PRESIDENT, TREASURER, Rescue Co-Founder
Darren is a co-founder of City Dogs Rescue & City Kitties and lived in D.C. for 20 years prior to moving to Bend, Oregon two years ago for a new position. Darren was motivated to start the rescue in 2011 after seeing a plea on Facebook about a beautiful Labrador retriever puppy named Bentley who was going to be euthanized at a high-kill shelter in Georgia. Darren and his husband Dave Liedman quickly acted to raise funds to rescue Bentley, who became CDCK’s first rescue dog. Once in DC, this friendly guy soon found his future adopter while walking through Dupont Circle with an “adopt me” vest on. It became abundantly clear that the lives of so many other wonderful animals could also be transformed if resources could be mobilized to relocate them to a place where they would receive much more visibility. Hence, City Dogs Rescue (now City Dogs & City Kitties) was born.
Darren serves as Senior Vice President & Chief Legal and Risk Officer as well as Corporate Secretary for a health system in Oregon. In his role, Darren oversees the Legal, Internal Audit, Compliance, and Information Security Departments, and is a member of the health system’s Executive Care Team. He was recently appointed by Governor Kate Brown to serve as the industry representative on the Executive Committee of the Central Oregon Regional Solutions Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health System’s Health Equity Advisory Taskforce.
Darren previously served as Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at Bon Secours Health System, Inc. in Columbia, Maryland. Prior to serving as in-house counsel, Darren worked for eight years in private practice at the national law firms of Arent Fox PLLC in Washington, D.C. and Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C. in Houston, Texas.
Darren received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics-Economics (magna cum laude) from Union College and was elected as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is a graduate of Boston College Law School, where he served as Senior Notes & Comments Editor of the Boston College International & Comparative Law Review.
Darren also served for many years as a Board member of Premier Homecare, a home care agency affiliated with the Jewish Social Service Agency of Metropolitan Washington.