Our Boards
The LA's BEST Board of Directors, Advisory Board and BEST Friends Board were established to represent a broad cross-section of the community, and to leverage additional expertise and resources for LA’s BEST.
Board of Directors
Responsible for oversight and strategic planning, including the creation of a diverse and sustainable funding base for the organization.
See all Board of Directors Members
CHAIR: Marvin J. Suomi
President & CEO, KUD International, LLC
VICE CHAIR: Mary Odell
President, UniHealth Foundation
CFO: Robert L. Wicke
Specialist Practice Leader, Deloitte Consulting
The Honorable Richard Alatorre
President, Richard Alatorre & Co.
Alice Desobry Bowens
Educator and Advisory Board Chair
Pamela Buffett
President, Rebecca Susan Buffett Foundation
Jimmie I. Cho, Vice President
HR Diversity & Inclusion, Southern California Gas Co.
Christopher D. Dusseault
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Marlyn M. Gates
Attorney
Robert V. Graziano
Managing Director, Western Region Northern Trust
Russ Hagey
Global Chief Talent Officer & Partner; Bain & Company Inc. /Los Angeles
Amy Moynihan Heyward
Marketing Executive, A Squared Entertainment LLC
Allan K. Jonas
Owner, Jonas & Associates
Gerald L. Katell
Board Chair Emeritus & President, Katell Productions, LLC and Katell Properties, LLC
Katherine Kendrick
Rick Kersenbrock
Los Angeles/Ventura County Manager, First American Title Insurance Co.
Richard S. Kline
Nigel Lythgoe
Executive Producer, "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol"
Melanie Marconi
Partner, BDI Events & BEST Friends Board Chair
Carmen Moch
Regional Vice President, Target Stores
Gary W. Park
Partner, Ezra Brutzkus Gubner LLP
David L. Paulson
CEO, Paulson Enterprises
Sharon Harroun Peirce
Tracy Rafter
Principal, Rafter Group, Inc.
The Honorable Richard J. Riordan
Former Mayor of Los Angeles & Founder, The Riordan Foundation
Cristina Rose
President & CEO, Rose Policy Solutions
June Sale
Advisory Board Chair Emeritus and Child Care Consultant
Nancy Sanders
Carla Sanger
President & CEO, LA’s BEST
Dean Schramm
Principal, The Schramm Group
Carmel Sella
Community Development Manager, Wells Fargo Bank
Reva Shakkottai
Senior VP, Financial Consultant, The Cottom/Shakkottai Investment Group
Tom Shapiro
President & Owner, Trade Supplies, Inc.
Robert D. Shipp
President & Owner, RDS Investments
Candy Spelling
Commissioner Emeritus, City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation & Parks
Neil Stiles
President, Variety Group
Barry B. Waldo
Martin J. Wolff
Chairman, Martin J. Wolff & Co., Inc., Insurance Agents
Advisory Board
Responsible as stewards of the program for assuring quality and representing diverse community and constituency views to the organization.
See all Advisory Board Members
CHAIR: Alice Desobry Bowens
Educator
VICE CHAIR: Trudi Ferguson
Professor, USC, Marshall School of Business
Bryant Alexander, Ph.D.
Acting Dean, College of Arts & Letters, California State University, Los Angeles
Marilyn Brown
Parenting Consultant
Richard Cheung
D.C., ATC, Chirocenter
Bill Coggins
Retired Executive Director & Founder, Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center
Dr. Cheryl Cruz
Professor, Department of Accounting, California State University, Los Angeles
Kristen DeLeo
Sr. Executive Assistant, Neutrogena Corporation and BEST Friends Board Representative
Raymond Ealy
President & CEO, Intra Vera Worldwide
Lucy Esparza
Executive Assistant/Office Manager, KCBS/KCAL
Ray Gonzales
Former Producer/Host, Pacesetters, KTLA Channel 5
Sweet Alice Harris
Executive Director, Parents of Watts
Helen Hartel
Retired Principal, Lowman Special Education Center
Andrea Kannike
Analyst, United States District Court
Ann Reiss Lane
Founder & Chair, Women Against Gun Violence
Nancy Ramirez
Deputy Chief, Special Operations Bureau, Los Angeles School Police Department
Doris Roberts
Actor
James Rosser, Ph.D.
President, California State University, Los Angeles
Lois Saffian
Community Activist
June Sale
Advisory Board Chair Emeritus and Child Care Consultant
Carla Sanger
President & CEO, LA's BEST
Marilyn F. Solomon
MBA, OBE, President & Chair, Solomon Leadership Foundation
David Travers
Principal, Rustic Canyon Partners and BEST Friends Board Member
Virginia Victorin
VP, Community Relations Officer, Global Philanthropy, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Deborah Villar
Vice President, Development & External Affairs, Weingart Foundation
Martha Watson
Retired Manager, Counseling and Child Dev., Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center
Barbara Yaroslavsky
Community Activist
BEST Friends Board of Directors
Responsible for creation, management and oversight of all fundraising, marketing and volunteer initiatives targeting the BEST Friends network.
See all BEST Friends Board of Directors Members
Chair Melanie Marconi
Partner, BDI Events
Vice Chair Amber Holley Melius
Attorney, Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP
Rob Carliner
Head of Film, Prospect Park
David Cotterman
Real Estate Private Equity, MSD Capital
Kristen DeLeo
Senior Executive Assistant, Neutrogena Corporation
Chris Erro
Vice President / Venture Banker, Square 1 Bank
Jack Fluor
Chief Financial Officer, Integrated Media Technologies
David Freedman
Technology Executive, Creative Artists Agency
Mary Friberg
Director of Marketing & Public Relations, Hourglass Cosmetics
Jeremy Gibbs
Liability Risk Management, Bank of America
Reed Harris II
Project Management, Neutrogena Corporation
Jordan Kaye
Account Supervisor, The Rose Group
Jennifer Lin
Senior Associate, Andy Spahn & Associates, Inc.
Julia Michelson
Associate Marketing Manager, Mattel
Tian Mu
CEO, Naked Sky Entertainment
Mallory Portillo
Director, People, Culture & Recruiting, The Rubicon Project
Amani Roberts
Area Sales Leader, Marriott International
Paula Rodgers, MD
Head & Neck Surgeon, Kaiser
Whitney Rogers
Consumer Brand Development, Marc Entertainment
Stefanie Schwartz
Vice President Marketing and Operations, Nickelodeon
Anthony Slater
Director of Performance, Athlete's Performance/Core Performance
David Travers
Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners
Donate Now!
LA’s BEST needs your support.