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.
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CHAIR: Marvin J. Suomi
President & CEO, KUD International, LLC
VICE CHAIR: Mary Odell
President, UniHealth Foundation
CFO: Robert L. Wicke
Director, Technology Practice, Deloitte Consulting
The Honorable Richard Alatorre
President, Richard Alatorre & Co.
Garrett Q. Bland
Managing Director, J.P. Morgan
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
Dorothy M. Gibbons-White
Attorney
Andrew Goldfarb
Retired Executive
Sharon Graves
Chief Financial Officer, Phorus
Robert V. Graziano
Managing Partner, Western Region Northern Trust
Russ Hagey
Global Chief Talent Officer & Partner; Bain & Company Inc. /Los Angeles
Amy Moynihan Heyward
Co-President, A Squared Entertainment LLC
Allan K. Jonas
Owner, Jonas & Associates
Gerald L. Katell
Board Chair Emeritus & President, Katell Productions, LLC and Katell Properties, LLC
Jamie Kershaw
Senior Counsel, Hulu
Nigel Lythgoe
Executive Producer, "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol"
Amber Holley Melius
Attorney, Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP &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
Director, BritWeek
Matthew D. Petersen
Vice President of North America Marketing, Boys and Games Brands, Mattel
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
Carla Sanger
President & CEO, LA’s BEST
Dean Schramm
Principal, The Schramm Group
Carmel B. Sella
Vice President, Community Development, Wells Fargo Bank
Reva Shakkottai
Senior Vice President, RBC Wealth Management
Tom Shapiro
President & Owner, Trade Supplies, Inc.
Robert D. Shipp
President & Owner, RDS Investments
Candy Spelling
Commissioner Emeritus, City of Los Angeles, American Humane Association Board Member
David Travers
Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners
Barry B. Waldo
Principal, Awake Connected Entertainment
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.
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CHAIR: Alice Desobry Bowens
Educator
VICE CHAIR: Trudi Ferguson
Professor, USC, Marshall School of Business
Bryant Alexander, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Communication & Fine Arts, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
Marilyn Brown
Parenting Consultant
Richard S. Cheung
D.C., Director of Sports Medicine Residency/Assistant Clinical Professor, So. CA University of Health Sciences
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
Director of Marketing & Sales, FVO Solutions
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
L. Spencer Humphrey
President & Founder, Rocky Hill Group
Andrea Kannike
Analyst, United States District Court
Ann Reiss Lane
Founder & Chair, Women Against Gun Violence
Dr. Peter McAllister
Dean of College of Arts and Letters, California State University, Los Angeles
Nancy Ramirez
Deputy Chief, Systems Manager, Los Angeles School Police Department
Doris Roberts
Actor
Laura C. Romero, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Brillante Strategies Systems
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
Virginia Victorin
Vice President, Relationship Manager, Global Philanthropy, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Deborah Villar
Senior Vice President, Bienvenidos Children Services
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 Amber Holley Melius
Attorney, Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP
Senior Vice Chair Melanie Marconi
Partner, BDI Events
Junior Vice Chair Jordan Kaye
Marketing Communications Manager, Andaz West Hollywood
Rob Carliner
Head of Film, Prospect Park
Matt Clemo
Director of Business Development, TRG Insurance Services
David Cotterman
Real Estate Private Equity, MSD Capital
Kristen DeLeo
Senior Executive Assistant, Neutrogena Corporation
Jack Fluor
Chief Financial Officer, Integrated Media Technologies
David Freedman
Technology Executive, Creative Artists Agency
Mary Friberg
Director, PR & Consumer Engagement, Hourglass Cosmetics
Jeremy Gibbs
Liability Risk Management, Bank of America
Paul Keltner
Regional Vice President, Specialty Products Division, Zurich Financial Services
David Lessoff
Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, Rhino Entertainment Company
Jennifer Lin
Senior Associate, Andy Spahn & Associates, Inc.
Michael Lynn
Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch
Mallory Maske
Director, People, Culture & Recruiting, The Rubicon Project
Julia Michelson
Associate Marketing Manager, Mattel
Tian Mu
CEO, Naked Sky Entertainment
Claire Nilsson
Vice President, MML PR
Julie Paluch
Senior Counsel, General Counsel West, PC
Amani Roberts
Vice President, Sales, Fifty & Five
Paula Rodgers, MD
Head & Neck Surgeon, Kaiser
Stefanie Schwartz
Vice President, Marketing and Production, Nickelodeon
Anthony Slater
Director of Performance, Athlete's Performance/Core Performance