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
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