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| Gregory J. Boyle, S.J. |
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Father Gregory J. Boyle, S.J. is a Jesuit priest who is Founder / Executive Director of Jobs For A Future / Homeboy Industries, an employment referral center and economic development program. Begun in 1988, for at-risk and gang-involved youth, Jobs For A Future is, today, a nationally-recognized center that assists 1,000 people a month in re-directing their lives. Through its unique and multi-service approach, Jobs For A Future offers hope to those for whom hope is often foreign. Located in Boyle Heights, a community with arguably the highest concentration of gang activity in Los Angeles, Jobs For A Future provides employment opportunities, counseling, and many other services (including free tattoo removal). By seeking to address the root causes of gang violence, Jobs For A Future creates opportunities so that at-risk youth can plan their futures and not their funerals. “Nothing stops a bullet like a job” is the guiding principle.In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Father Boyle formed Homeboy Industries, to create businesses that provide training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. The following economic development enterprises have been created since the first venture, Homeboy Bakery: Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy / Homegirl Merchandise, Homeboy Graffiti Removal, Homeboy Maintenance, and Homeboy Landscaping. Father Boyle was born in Los Angeles. He received his BA in English from Gonzaga University, an MA in English from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Divinity from the Weston School of Theology, and an STM degree from the Jesuit School of Theology. Before becoming Pastor of Dolores Mission (1986-1992), Father Boyle taught at Loyola High School and worked with Christian Base Communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He has also served as Chaplain of the Islas Marias Penal colony in Mexico and Folsom Prison.He is currently a member of the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, Crime and Delinquency Prevention, and serves on the National Youth Gang Center Advisory Board.As Executive Director of Jobs For A Future / Homeboy Industries, Father Boyle is a nationally renowned speaker at conferences for teachers, social workers and criminal justice workers about the importance of adult attention, guidance and unconditional love in preventing youth from joining gangs. |
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| Maria Elena Durazo |
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One of the most dynamic labor leaders in the country, María Elena Durazo was elected to serve as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, on May 15, 2006. The daughter of Mexican immigrant farm workers, Maria Elena learned the importance of hard work and determination at a very young age. As a child, she traveled from Oregon to California with her parents and nine siblings to work in the fields.
Before leading the federation, Maria Elena was President of the hotel workers union UNITE-HERE, Local 11, a position she held from May of 1989 up until her appointment as interim Executive Secretary-Treasurer. During her time as President, Maria Elena restructured Local 11 to become one of the most active unions in Los Angeles County and a vital force in the debate over the future of Los Angeles. In July 1996, Maria Elena became the first Latina elected to the Executive Board of HERE International Union. Her election to the Executive Board was followed by her 2001 election as General Vice-President of HERE International, a position that led her to represent approximately 250,000 workers in the hospitality industry from the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. In 2003, Maria Elena became National Director of the Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride, a national mobilization campaign initiated by HERE International to address the lack of comprehensive immigration in this country. One of Maria Elena’s most significant achievements was her election in 2004 to serve as Executive Vice President of the newly formed UNITE-HERE International, leading her to represent more than 440,000 active members and more than 400,000 retirees throughout North America. As Executive Vice President of UNITE-HERE, she represented a diverse membership, comprised largely of immigrants and including high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American workers in sectors such as: apparel, textile manufacturing, apparel distribution centers, apparel retail, industrial laundries, hotels, casinos, food service, airport concessions, and restaurants.
In 2006, Maria Elena was named one of the 100 most powerful people in Southern California by Los Angeles Times West Magazine. A resident of Los Angeles, Maria Elena is the mother of two, Mario and Michael, and the widow of former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Miguel Contreras. Maria Elena graduated from St. Mary’s College in Moraga and earned a law degree from the People’s College of Law in 1985. |
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| Reverend Cecil L. Murray |
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Reverend Cecil L. Murray was born on September 26, 1929 in Lakeland, Florida to Janie Belle Williams Murray and Edward Wilder Murray, Sr. His mother passed away when Murray was only four years old. He would be raised by his father who was devastated by his wife's untimely passing. Growing up in the segregated South, he, his father and brother experienced profound racism firsthand.
Murray earned his undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University, but joined the United States Air Force after graduation where he served during the Korean War as a jet radar intercept officer in the Air Defense Command and as a navigator in the Air Transport Command. Murray retired as a reserve major in 1958 after ten years and was decorated with a Soldier's Medal of Valor. After he left the U.S. Air Force, Murray attended the School of Theology at Claremont College in California, where he earned his Ph.D. in religion.
Murray's first church was in Pomona, California, where he helped grow a congregation of just twelve members to a group of 150. He then served at Trinity A.M.E. in Kansas City from 1966 to 1971, then at the First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church in Seattle, and Los Angeles' FAME Church in 1977 after Bishop H.H. Brookins recruited him to join.
Under Murray, the congregation grew from several hundred members in 1977 to roughly 18,000. Although Murray became a nationally known figure in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, he became actively involved in the issues of job-training, homeowner loans, affordable housing, condom distribution and HIV/AIDS awareness. He also started FAME Renaissance, a non-profit organization that focuses on economic development.
Murray retired as Senior Pastor from the FAME church on September 25, 2004. In 2005, Murray became a senior fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) and has since worked as a liaison to the Los Angeles area, as well as to African American and Latino constituents. He has also worked on the "Passing the Mantle" project, which aims to train clergy from African American churches across California in effective community development and organizing skills. |
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| Rabbi David Saperstein |
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Rabbi David Saperstein represents the national Reform Jewish Movement to Congress and the Administration as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He was described in a Washington Post profile as the “quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill.” During his 30 year tenure as Director of the Center, he has headed several national religious coalitions. He currently co-chairs the Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, and serves on the boards of numerous national organizations including the NAACP and People For the American Way. In 1999, Rabbi Saperstein was elected as the first Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom created by a unanimous vote of Congress.
Under Rabbi Saperstein’s tutelage, writes J.J. Goldberg in his book, Jewish Power, the Religious Action Center “has become one of the most powerful Jewish bodies in Washington, second only to AIPAC.” The Center not only advocates on a broad range of social justice issues, but provides extensive legislative and programmatic materials used by synagogues, federations and Jewish community relations councils nationwide, and coordinates social action education programs that train nearly 3,000 Jewish adults, youth, rabbinic and lay leaders each year.
Also an attorney, Rabbi Saperstein teaches seminars in both First Amendment Church-State Law and in Jewish Law at Georgetown University Law School. A prolific writer and speaker, Rabbi Saperstein has appeared on a number of television news and talk shows including Crossfire, the O’Reilly Factor, Hardball, Nightline, Oprah, Lehrer News Hour and ABC’s Sunday Morning. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the “Harvard Law Review.” His most recent book is Jewish Dimensions of Social Justice: Tough Moral Choices of Our Time.
Rabbi Saperstein is part of a large rabbinic family. Two great uncles were Reform rabbis, and two great-grandfathers were Orthodox rabbis; his father Harold and uncle Sanford were well-known Reform rabbis, and his brother Marc is one of this generation's leading Jewish scholars. He is married to Ellen Weiss, acting Vice President of National Public Radio. They have two sons, Daniel and Ari.
In his book, Thunder in America, network news correspondent Bob Faw writes of Rabbi Saperstein: "Saperstein learned from political masters...[His] energy was almost legendary—no one around him worked longer hours, no one darted in and out of more meetings... Once he'd taken on an assignment, he'd always guide it safely home to completion." |
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Rabbi Suzanne Singer - Conference Chair |
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Rabbi Suzanne Singer grew up in New York City where she attended the Lycée Français de New York. Her mother, from Strasbourg, France, was a survivor of Auschwitz.
Rabbi Singer was ordained at Hebrew Union College (HUC) in May of 2003. She also holds three Masters Degrees: a Masters of Arts in Hebrew Letters and a Masters of Arts in Judaic Studies from HUC; and a Masters in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where she also earned a Bachelors Degree in Comparative Literature. During her years at HUC, she won a number of awards for academic excellence. She also edited several books in the field, including one on adult Jewish education. Prior to attending HUC, Rabbi Singer spent twenty years as a television producer and programming executive, primarily for national public television (PBS) and primarily in news and public affairs. As executive producer of a national documentary series, POV, she won two national Emmy awards. She also co-created and produced a national preschool series, The Puzzle Place, designed to help children respect and appreciate diversity.
Rabbi Singer served at Temple Sinai of Oakland, CA from 2003-2006. In that capacity, she introduced alternative, creative services on Saturday mornings and was very actively engaged in Social Action In November of 2005, she launched a social action conference, the Consultation on Social Justice, winner of the Irving J. Fain Award for Social Action. Currently, she serves in several capacities: as Director of the Introduction to Judaism Program for the Pacific Southwest Council of the Union for Reform Judaism; as Project Director of a Hebrew Union College social justice interfaith program; and as Chair of Call to Justice: LA 2007. Rabbi Singer is married to Jordan Lund, an actor. She is also the aunt of seven nieces and nephews with whom she is very close. |
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Moderators and Speakers |
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| Steve Barr: Youth at Risk |
Steve Barr is Founder and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools. Steve founded Green Dot Public Schools in 1999 with the vision of transforming secondary education in California by creating a number of high-performing charter high schools using available public dollars. Under Steve’s leadership, Green Dot built one of the first comprehensive public high schools in the Los Angeles area in thirty years in fall 2000 and built a second high school in fall 2002. Green Dot’s first school scored a 10 out of 10 on the most recent similar schools API rankings. The company has now grown to ten schools. Currently, the schools are showing a 90% graduation rate and a two-thirds college acceptance rate. Prior to founding Green Dot, Steve held a number of leadership positions in political and social service organizations. In 1990, Steve co-founded Rock the Vote. The Rock the Vote campaigns and field efforts led the way in the first upward surge in 18-24 year old in voting since the passage of the 26th Amendment. Following Rock the Vote, Steve led the successful efforts to pass the Motor Voter Bill, which was signed into law in 1994 by President Clinton. Thirty million Americans have registered to vote via Motor Voter. In addition to leading Green Dot, Steve is a State Board of Education appointee to the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools, where he provides policy recommendations to the State Board of Education on charter school-related issues. Steve hosted President Clinton's National Service Inaugural event, which led to the creation of Americorps. He then oversaw an Americorps after-school program project in South Central and East Los Angeles that focused on helping single mothers transition off of welfare. Steve has been active in politics throughout his professional career, serving several presidential campaigns and as a finance chair for the Democratic Party. Additionally, Steve has helped drive political change through television, as a national correspondent on the nationally syndicated Disney-produced “The Crusaders”, as a contributor to Discovery Channel's “Why Things Are?”, and as a writer in national magazines such as George. Steve authored “The Flame: An Unlikely Patriot Finds a Country to Love” (Morrow, 1987).
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| Ryan Bell: Community Organizing |
Ryan Bell is the Senior Pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church, where he has served for two years. He received an M.Div. from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and is currently pursuing a D.Min. in Missional Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. For the past 18 months, he and his congregation have been actively involved in community organizing through the local PICO affiliate, LA Voice. In 2006 Pastor Bell spoke, along with Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Wendy Lazarus of Children's Partnership, at a press conference at the Bresee Community Center on behalf of Proposition 86 which would have funded children's health insurance through a cigarette tax. He has also traveled to Washington, DC and Sacramento to speak and advocate on behalf of S-CHIP reauthorization and Healthy Families. Pastor Bell and his congregation have also been actively involved in the fight for renters’ rights, the preservation of existing affordable housing, and the creation of new affordable housing stock in Los Angeles. He and several of his members participated in a recent Town Hall Meeting about the housing crisis, held at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in July, which drew over 1,000 members of the community. Pastor Bell is a member of the Gower Villas Advisory Committee, a community oversight committee set up to help move forward a 60-80 unit Permanent Supportive Housing Project slated to be built just north of Hollywood Blvd. on Gower St. Pastor Bell also spoke out on behalf of this housing development for the formerly homeless at a controversial Town Hall Meeting held in 2006. Pastor Bell is also the founder and director of re-church: a network of emerging, missional Seventh-day Adventist congregations across North America. He has written numerous articles and contributed to several books, including The Peacemaking Remnant. He blogs at www.ryanjbell.net |
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| Nancy Berlin: Advocacy training |
Nancy Berlin is the Director of California Partnership, a statewide coalition of grassroots community groups fighting poverty. She has worked on poverty, homeless and welfare rights issues for almost 30 years. Her work has included advocacy, organizing and direct service work, the latter including work in family shelters and on Los Angeles’ skid row. Her policy activities include work on welfare rights, as well as extensive grassroots education and organizing. She has received many awards, including the 2004 Faith Award, Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness; California National Association of Social Workers Public Citizen of the Year Award in 1998; State Senate Commendation, 1997; the Mildred Hutchison Award, Southern California Interfaith Hunger Coalition, 1992; Humanitarian Achievement Award, Western Center on Law and Poverty, 1989. She serves on the board of Alexandria House. |
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| Rabbi Sharon Brous: Community Organizing |
Rabbi Sharon Brous is the founding rabbi of IKAR, a vibrant new Jewish Spiritual Community in Los Angeles. In 2004, 2005 and 2006 she was included in the Forward's annual list of the 50 most influential members of the American Jewish community. The Forward described her as "one of the most dynamic religious leaders to be ordained in recent years."
Rabbi Brous was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2001, receiving several awards in Talmud and Homiletics. While in Rabbinical School, she studied for and received a Master's Degree in Human Rights and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University, where she also received her Bachelor's Degree in History in 1995, graduating cum laude.
Upon receiving ordination, Rabbi Brous served as a Rabbinic Fellow at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York City (BJ), where she was trained under the intensive mentorship of Rabbis Roly Matalon and Marcelo Bronstein.
For the past five years, Rabbi Brous has served on the faculty of REBOOT, a network of Jewish trend-setters, thinkers and activists, and on the board of Progressive Jewish Alliance, where she is involved in several city and state-wide justice-oriented initiatives. She serves as adjunct faculty at Hebrew Union College and the University of Judaism, where she co-teaches a class on Social Justice and Spiritual Activism to rabbinical and communal service students, and she is a member of the advisory board of Sh'ma: Journal of Jewish Responsibility. Rabbi Brous has been a fellow in the Jewish Life Network's Common Judaism Project, as well as a member of the Synagogue 3000 Leadership Network, a select national group of rabbis, cantors, and artists working to transform and revitalize American synagogue life. She speaks and writes frequently about emerging spiritual communities, next generation engagement and social justice. Rabbi Brous is married to David Light, a comedy writer, and they have two daughters. |
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| Samuel Chu:Community Organizing |
Mr. Samuel Chu is the Director of Relational Ministries at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles and the co-chair of One LA / Industrial Areas Foundation, an organization of over 100 congregations, schools, unions and non-profits throughout the Los Angeles region.
A first generation immigrant from Hong Kong, China, Samuel has served congregations in San Diego and Los Angeles and has been on the Pastoral Staff at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles since 2002. He oversees Immanuel's congregational and leadership development, community organizing and other justice works.
Samuel received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and his Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. |
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| Rev. Albert G. Cohen: Environment |
Reverend Albert G. Cohen has been Executive Director of the Southern California Ecumenical Council (SCEC) for the past ten years. He is also on the Steering Committee of California Interfaith Power and Light and a member of the Board of the Interfaith Environmental Council. Before SCEC, he served California State University Los Angeles for thirty-five years as Campus Pastor for United Ministries in Higher Education, an ecumenical agency. For the past thirty years, the principle focus of Rev. Cohen’s ministry has been to raise the consciousness of the religious community with respect to our responsibility for God's creation, a.k.a. environmental awareness and action. He is married to Faith Annette Sand, the Publisher of Hope Publishing House. They live in Pasadena. |
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| Sister M. Karen Collier: Community Organizing |
Sr. Karen is the Parish Life Director at St. Agatha’s Catholic Church in mid-city Los Angeles. Sister has been active in grass roots organizing since the 1980’s in parishes in the San Gabriel Valley and now in Los Angeles. Her church is a member of LA Voice, a PICO affiliate. The church members have been very active in working to bring safety to the local community by closing drug houses and other safety matters. They have worked on the issue of Health for all children on the city, state and national level for the past three years. Her passion is to see a place for the youth in her neighborhood to gather in safety and fun. |
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| Rev. Matthew Colwell: Economic Justice |
Reverend Matthew Colwell is a Presbyterian Pastor who has served in ministry at churches in Chatsworth, Claremont, La Jolla, San Diego, and Woodland Hills. His most recent position was in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he served for the past six years as Pastor for Education and Family Life, and chaired the Social Justice Committee of the Presbytery of Southern New England. Matt has also worked as an automobile mechanic, he has served as an international accompanist to communities in Colombia displaced by war, and he has led numerous trips of exposure, education, and service to Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and urban contexts in the United States. Currently Matt is working as a program partner at Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries in their Theological Animation division. He is also pursuing a doctoral degree at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and is serving on the Working Group of Yale University’s Center for Faith and Culture. |
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| Rev. Kathy Cooper-Ledesma - Advocacy Training |
The Rev. Kathy Cooper-Ledesma, an elder in the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church, is the Senior Pastor of Hollywood United Methodist Church.
From 1994-2005, Rev. Cooper-Ledesma served the California Council of Churches, the public policy and education arm of the mainline Protestant community in California, as Board Chair and later as program staff. She directed statewide projects on interfaith relations, public/private partnerships, welfare reform implementation, and faith based child care. From 2005-2006 she worked as a project specialist at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture on issues relating to communities of faith and preschool for all, her strong expertise.
Kathy is the author of First Fruits for California’s Working Poor? This six-session study guide for congregations, published in 2004, is designed to bring greater awareness to people of faith about the lives and conditions of those receiving federal Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) through the state's CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) programs.
Rev. Cooper-Ledesma is the convener of the board of The Wall/Las Memorias Project and the former chair of the Community Advisory Panel of the LAUSD HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Unit. Kathy is one of the founding members of the Homeless Task Force of the Hollywood area faith communities (LA VOICE), and has worked consistently to create community support for permanent supportive housing for the many people who call the streets of Hollywood their home. She is a board member of Housing Works LA, and a former member of the Los Angeles County Bring LA HOME! Blue Ribbon Panel on Ending Homelessness. In addition, Kathy served on the County’s Safe Surrender Task Force, resulting in the creation of effective public policies encouraging women to not abandon, but safely surrender, unwanted babies at local hospitals and fire stations. And, Kathy is the past co-chair of the Bishop’s Task Force on Children and Poverty for the Cal-Pac UM Conference.
In 2005, Kathy received the Boutilier Award for Distinguished Ecumenical Service from the Southern California Ecumenical Council.
Kathy received her B.A. degree from Occidental College and the M. Div. from the Claremont School of Theology. |
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| Rabbi Laurie Coskey: Moderator, Economic Justice |
Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Ed.D. completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and was ordained as a rabbi in 1985. After serving a large San Diego Congregation for eight years as associate rabbi, she completed her doctorate in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego in 2000. Her more than twenty year career in the rabbinate has been marked by a commitment to issues of social justice. Since 2001, Rabbi Coskey has served as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice (ICWJ). The ICWJ facilitates the partnership between the religious community and the labor movement to create a more just, fair and compassionate workplace for all workers. She is the spiritual leader of Chavurah Kol Haneshama in San Diego. She can be reached at LCoskey@onlinecpi.org. |
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| Rev. Art Cribbs: Economic Justice |
The Reverend Art Cribbs is pastor of San Marino Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. A former broadcast journalist, he has worked in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Mississippi, and Washington, DC. He has traveled to nearly 25 countries. Cribbs received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley; a Master of Divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary; and is enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Claremont School of Theology. |
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| Francesca de La Rosa: Affordable Housing |
Francesca de la Rosa is the Campaign Coordinator for the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH), overseeing a citywide campaign to increase the production and preservation of affordable housing in the City of LA.
Francesca has more than seven years of community organizing and campaign development experience. Prior to SCANPH, Francesca served as Campaign Director for the Center for Food and Justice based at Occidental College. In 2002, she helped establish the Healthy School Food Coalition (HSFC), a grassroots group of parents, teachers and students seeking to improve the quality of the LAUSD’s student meal programs. Under her leadership, the HSFC earned a national reputation for its school food organizing strategies.
Francesca began her organizing career and training shortly after college as an organizing intern with the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute. In 1999, Francesca became Lead Organizer of Coalition LA and was responsible for their member and electoral mobilization efforts in City Council District 10.
Francesca is a native of Los Angeles and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Philosophy from Mount St. Mary’s College. |
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| Bob Erlenbusch: Homelessness |
Bob Erlenbusch has spent the last 18 years as an advocate for the homeless: as Program Director for Homeless Health Care; Executive Director, West Hollywood Homeless Organization; and, currently, as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness.
He has served on various boards: Past Vice President, National Coalition for the Homeless; Past Chair, Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority, Advisory Board; Past President, California Homeless and Housing Coalition; Past Board member, Housing California; Past Board Member, Women’s Care Cottage; Former National Facilitator/Convener, National General Assistance Working Group
He is currently the Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Process of the Los Angeles Plan to End Homelessness [with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, LAHSA], on the Steering Committee of the California Welfare Justice Coalition, and President of the National Coalition for the Homelessness
He holds degrees from the University of Southern California (Political Science Thornton Bradshaw Fellow), and from the Claremont Graduate School of the Humanities. He has taught at the college and university level for 10 years. |
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| Ralph D. Fertig: Homelessness |
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Ralph D. Fertig, Associate Professor at USC’s School of Social Work, chairs the social welfare policy sequence and teaches Social Policy as well as Social Work & Law. He has fought for social justice as a federal administrative judge, civil rights lawyer, social worker, sociologist, and community activist.
Before entering a legal career, he was Executive Director of the Greater Los Angeles Community Action Agency, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Planning & Housing Association (where the Washington Post, in an editorial, dubbed him "the conscience of Washington") and of the Washington Welfare Association (where he launched programs in the war on poverty). He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago, his M.A. from Columbia University, studied for his Ph. D. in Sociology at the University of Chicago, received his JD from UCLA School of Law, taught at a number of universities in the United States and China, and consulted with many federal government agencies. He was the Regional Attorney (for Southern California and Nevada) and then an Administrative Judge for the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Mr. Fertig is President of the Humanitarian Law Project (a Non-Governmental Organization with consultative status to the UN Human Rights Commission); Vice President of Americans for Democratic Action; on the Board of Progressive Jewish Alliance; the Advisory Board of Americans for Peace Now; and was part of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights through the 1960's when that group led the fight for the Civil Rights Acts; a freedom rider and activist in SNCC, CORE, the NAACP, and assorted human rights groups.
His historic novel, Love and Liberation, became a Los Angeles Times best seller, and Fertig’s play, His Honor, won the Jerome Lawrence Prize as best One Act Play for 2005. He has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award (from Americans for Democratic Action) for lifetime service in human rights, the Clarence Darrow Award (from Peoples College of Law) for legal advocacy, the Jane Addams Award (from USC’s School of Social Work) for outstanding teaching, and the George D. Nickel Award (from the California Social Welfare Archives) for leadership in social work. |
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| Chris Gabriele: Affordable Housing |
Chris Gabriele is currently the Executive Director of People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER), a grassroots community organization that works in the low-income areas of West Los Angeles on issues people care about -- affordable housing, education reform, community safety, and access to affordable childcare.
Chris has over 8 years experience as a community organizer. He started his organizing career in 1999 as a rural organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI), a direct-action organization that fights for family farms and against factory farms. In Iowa, Chris worked with family farmers to develop Statewide Air Quality standards, end the un-democratic Mandatory Pork Checkoff, and draft federal legislation that would ban packer ownership of livestock. Chris started working for POWER in 2002 as the Venice Housing Organizer and was installed as Executive Director in March 2004. Chris has also served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and the AmeriCorps volunteer programs.
Chris received a BA from Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) where he majored in Biology and minored in Art History. He was born in Canoga Park, CA and graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood. |
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| Dora Leong Gallo: Homelessness |
Ms. Gallo is the Chief Executive Officer of A Community of Friends (ACOF), a nonprofit affordable housing development corporation whose mission is to develop permanent housing for people with special needs. Established in1988, ACOF has completed 31 apartment buildings throughout Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Diego, with another 12 projects in various stages of development. As CEO, she is responsible for overseeing project development, asset management, residential services, public relations, advocacy and fundraising for the agency.
Prior to joining ACOF, Ms. Gallo served in various capacities on the staff of former Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas (now a State Senator), including Chief of Staff. She also spent several years working for the Culver City Redevelopment Agency and the City of Los Angeles in the Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst.
Ms. Gallo received a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.
She is a member of Enterprise Community Partners’ National Network Advisory Board, and serves as a Board member of Housing California and the Southern California Association of Non Profit Housing (SCANPH). Ms. Gallo is currently a Mayoral appointee to the City of Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Council Review Commission. |
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| Lark Galloway-Gilliam: Health Care |
Lark Galloway-Gilliam is Executive Director of Community Health Councils, a Los Angeles-based health promotion, advocacy and policy organization. Supported by a network of community councils, Lark is an advocate for quality healthcare for uninsured and underinsured communities throughout Los Angeles. During her twelve-year tenure at CHC, Ms. Galloway-Gilliam has played an active role in policy development on issues that include Medi-Cal managed care, Healthy Families, non-profit hospital conversions, welfare reform, access to healthcare, consumer rights, and disparities in health among ethnic communities.
Ms. Galloway-Gilliam has over twenty years of progressive responsibility in the field of non-profit management and public administration. Her professional experience includes senior management positions at two of the largest community mental health centers in Los Angeles and at a national health maintenance organization, and over twelve years as Executive Director of a community-based organization serving individuals with physical, learning and emotional disabilities.
Ms. Galloway-Gilliam received her undergraduate education at UCLA and a Masters in Public Administration at USC. She has completed coursework towards a doctorate in public administration. She currently serves on the Kaiser Arbitration Oversight Board and on the board of the California Budget Project. She is a Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles Commission for Children, Youth and their Families. |
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| Tzivia Schwartz Getzug: Advocacy Training |
Tzivia Schwartz Getzug is the Executive Director of Jewish World Watch (JWW), a new non-profit organization dedicated to educating and advocating on issues of genocide and egregious human rights violations, while also raising funds to provide humanitarian relief to victims and survivors of genocide.
Tzivia has a degree in Jewish Studies from UCLA and a law degree from Loyola Law School. She practiced law for several years before becoming the Western States Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). She left the ADL after almost 7 years to serve as the Community Liaison on DreamWorks’ first animated film, The Prince of Egypt. Prior to her role as JWW executive director, Tzivia served as the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at the Jewish Federation, responsible for the work of the Jewish Community Relation’s Committee.
Tzivia and her husband, Steve, were both born and raised in Los Angeles and, with their 3 children, are members of Adat Ari El synagogue. |
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| David Gist: Advocacy Training |
In October 2001, David joined Bread for the World as California Regional Organizer with the hope of generating greater activism in California as well as further developing Bread for the World’s already active base of California activists, churches, and coalition partners. Like many people of faith called to address issues of hunger and poverty, David points to Bread for the World’s advocacy as an integral part of his faith life and a viable avenue for change. From 1994-2000 David worked in Nicaragua for CEPAD [Nicaraguan Council of Protestant Churches], a relief and development agency. He was responsible for a journal reporting on Nicaraguan politics and social movements and helped coordinate international communications for CEPAD following natural disasters. From 1984-93 David worked at the UCLA Oral History Program researching, interviewing, and editing interviews. He earned his master’s degree in U.S. history from Claremont Graduate School in 1994, focusing on political reform. |
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| John Glaser: Health Care |
John (Jack) Glaser is Sr. Vice President of the Theology and Ethics Department and Founder of the Center for Healthcare Reform for the St. Joseph Health System in Orange, California. Prior to the St. Joseph Health System he held positions as Director of Ethics for the Sisters of Mercy Health Corporation; Vice President of Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital, Detroit; and Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Detroit and at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois. He also spent several years as a psychotherapist in private practice.
Dr. Glaser holds graduate degrees in Philosophy, English Literature, Psychology, and Theology. He earned his Doctor of Theology at the Professional School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Main, West Germany. He has authored three books on ethics, several dozen articles, and a score of videotapes, poetry and photographic work. |
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| The Reverend Dr. Gwynne Guibord: Interfaith Coalition Building |
The Reverend Dr. Guibord currently serves as the Officer of Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Dr. Guibord is also The Consultant for Interfaith Relations for The Episcopal Church/USA. She carries an international portfolio. Dr. Guibord serves on a number of boards, including: past President of the California Council of Churches, past President of Progressive Christians Uniting, Immediate past Chair of the national board of The Interfaith Alliance, President of The Interreligious Council of Southern California, Founder and Co-convener of The Christian – Muslim Consultative Group, and Trustee and on the Executive Committee of A Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions. Dr. Guibord has addressed the National Council of Churches on two separate occasions. Prior to the Iraqi War, she was sent by the National Council of Churches as one of a delegation of four to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, John Paul II, Pontifical Councils, and the vice President of the Italian Parliament to avert the pending war in Iraq. She presented at the 8th World Council of Churches General Assembly in Harare, Zimbawe as well as the Ecumenical Decade: Women in Solidarity with Women in 1998. Dr. Guibord has dialogued with judicatory heads, both Christian and interfaith at the highest levels. Recently, she initiated two interfaith dialogues in Los Angeles: The Diocese of Los Angeles and the Hindu Vedanta Society, and The Episcopal Diocese, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese, and the Sikh community. Most recently she has convened The Christian – Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California. She is an award preacher and a much sought after speaker. Recently, she delivered an address at Cornell University entitled: ‘When Faith Becomes Hate: Religion Gone Awry.’ In the summer of 2006 she was in Kyoto, Japan where she represented the Episcopal Church USA at the 8th Assembly of the World’s Religions for Peace. This year she will be participating in the second round of a faith based peace and reconciliation talks with Syrian Muslims at the invitation of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy and The Islamic Studies Centre. |
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| Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez: Immigration |
Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez is the Director of Urban Ministry for the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church. In this position she is privileged to meet with pastors and laity from churches throughout Southern California and the Pacific Islands, helping them to connect with their neighborhoods, and connect to one another across geographic, ethnic, and class boundaries.
Previous to this appointment, Jennifer served as the pastor of the Pico Union Shalom Ministry. There she helped the ministry link with a non-profit developer to build 30 units of affordable housing with a Head Start daycare center, as well as recreation and meeting space for the church and the neighborhood. During this building project, the ministry itself became itinerant, traveling to various United Methodist churches to share their facilities and worship.
Jennifer lives in Los Angeles with her husband Marx and their 5-year-old daughter, Liliana. |
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| Robin Hughes: Affordable Housing |
Robin Hughes is Executive Director of the Los Angeles Community Design Center. Ms. Hughes has over nineteen years of experience in the affordable housing and community development industry. She has worked with for-profit and non-profit developers in the syndication, financing, construction, development and management of affordable housing. In addition to her non-profit experience, she has held positions in the private and public sectors with The Richman Group of Companies, Citibank, Federal Savings Bank, the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles, and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Ms. Hughes received her Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Ms. Hughes is a Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles. She also serves on Boards of Directors of the Low Income Investment Funds and the CityLife Downtown Charter School, as well as the Board of Governance for the California Housing Consortium and the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council. |
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| Rebecca Isaacs: Homelessness |
Rebecca Isaacs, Esq., is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). LAHSA is a joint powers authority of the City and County of Los Angeles, created in 1993 to address the problems of homelessness on a regional basis. LAHSA plans, funds and administers programs throughout Los Angeles County that assist homeless individuals and families in their transition to permanent housing. She oversees an organizational budget of $60 million and 70 full-time staff, incorporating a broad range of duties including outreach, contracts and grants management, fiscal monitoring, evaluation, and policy and planning. LAHSA funds agencies that address many underserved homeless populations including battered women and their children, veterans, youth transitioning from foster care, and individuals with mental health needs.
Ms. Isaacs was previously Executive Director of the Inner City Law Center, a legal services and housing advocacy agency serving homeless people and low-income clients in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on Skid Row. She also served as Vice Chair of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. She is a former Legislative Aide and Communications Director for U.S. Representative, Lucille Roybal-Allard and a Policy Director for People for the American Way in Washington, D.C., where she served on the Executive Committee for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a preeminent civil rights umbrella organization in the nation’s capital.
Her life’s calling and work has been as an advocate for the disenfranchised--working since the 1980’s on behalf of battered women, women in prison, gays and lesbians, youth, and people with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Isaacs has combined a passion for civil rights and justice with managerial expertise and leadership skills. She served as Policy and Public Affairs Director and then Interim Executive Director for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center from 2000-2003.
She has been quoted extensively in media and press stories including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the LA Times, and CNN, among many others.
She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She is a member of the California Bar. |
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| Matt Keener: Advocacy Training |
Matt Keener, a senior trainer with Media Action Project, is a former corporate media consultant turned environmental activist. He has worked extensively as a marketing/branding consultant in Hollywood using story development techniques to craft the onscreen and public personas of motion picture star actors. He is also an independent filmmaker. Matt lives in Los Angeles where he is actively fighting for cleaner, healthier air for his children as the Chief Executive of the American Lung Association of the Greater Los Angeles/Santa Barbara area. |
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| Rev. Peter Laarman: Advocacy Training |
Rev. Peter Laarman is Executive Director of Progressive Christians Uniting (PCU), a network of congregations and individuals. PCU seeks to revitalize
the witness of the progressive Christian community through action programs,
theological reflection, publications, and the sponsorship of large and small
conferences. Prior to coming to Los Angeles, Rev. Laarman, an ordained
minister of the United Church of Christ, served for ten years as Senior
Minister of Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Before his seminary
training, he was a communications specialist in the trade union movement.
He is a graduate of the Yale Divinity School and Brown University.
Rev. Laarman is the editor of a book of essays on Christian moral values
that was published in April 2006 by Boston's Beacon Press. The book is
entitled Getting On Message: Challenging the Christian Right from the Heart of
the Gospel, and includes reflections by 14 prominent thinkers and activists.
In recent years, he has contributed articles and analysis for the New York
Times, Christian Century, The Nation, Dissent, and other publications. He
blogs frequently on the Huffington Post superblog. |
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| Sister Maribeth Larkin: Community Organizing |
Sister Maribeth Larkin is a Roman Catholic Woman Religious, a member of the Sisters of Social Service. During her work as a parish social worker in East Los Angeles in the mid-1970’s, she became associated as a leader with the United Neighborhoods Organization (UNO) and the Industrial Areas Foundation. In 1978 she joined the staff of UNO and has been organizing since then.
She worked for two years in the early 1980’s in New York City as lead organizer of the Queens Citizens Organization.
In 1984 she moved to Texas and for 15 years worked with Ernesto Cortes, Christine Stephens and other organizers in the development of a network of strong church and congregation-based organizations like Dallas Area Interfaith, EPISO in El Paso, and COPS in San Antonio.
Sister Maribeth returned to Los Angeles in the spring of 1999 to work with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Organizing Strategy. Together with Ernesto Cortes and five other senior organizers, Sister Maribeth led the reorganizing of four IAF affiliated organizations in the area to build an organization of over 100 congregations, schools, unions and non-profits throughout the Los Angeles.
Sister Maribeth assists institutional leaders from schools, churches and unions in learning how to engage one another in a process of practical democracy. As an organizer, she teaches ordinary people how to shape and influence public policy around issues such as education reform, increasing wages and benefits, and health care availability. |
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| Zachary Lazarus: Economic Justice |
| Zachary Lazarus is the Los Angeles Program Associate for the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA), California’s leading Jewish social justice organization. PJA connects Jews to critical social justice issues through education, advocacy, and organizing. Zach runs PJA’s anti-sweatshop campaign and programming, including the creation of our “Kosher Clothes Curriculum,” a publication aimed at educating Jewish youth about sweatshops. This November, he is co-coordinating PJA’s first annual Sweat-Free Fashion Show. Additionally, Zach leads all of PJA’s local restorative justice organizing initiatives. Zach graduated from Wesleyan University in 2006 with a degree in Religious Studies and a Certificate in Jewish and Israel Studies. At Wesleyan, he co-facilitated a for-credit class titled “Contemporary Radical Jewish Thought.” Zach has led workshops on sweatshops in a variety of contexts, including Jefferson High School, Lishma and Spark: The Center for Jewish Service Learning. |
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| Susan K. Lee: Youth at Risk |
| Susan K. Lee is Program Director of The Advancement Project, equity advocates with a strong civil rights bent, focusing on low income residents, especially low income children and youth. She has over 15 years of experience in non-profit management, strategic planning, fundraising, facility development, staff training & development, and community engagement as well as research and expertise in immigration history and law. Her work in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles has focused primarily on empowering and serving low income immigrant communities of color. Most recently, as the Director of Children & Family Services at Koreatown Youth & Community Center, she successfully oversaw the implementation of a $5 million dollar Early Childhood Initiative resulting in two new facilities providing high quality child care for 105 infants, toddlers, and preschool aged children. She brings program expertise in early childhood education & development, youth development, school readiness and success for K-12 students, outpatient mental health, and violence prevention. Susan Lee holds a BS in Economics from University of California Berkeley, as well as a JD from Boalt Hall, School of Law, UC Berkeley, and is currently on leave from the Ph.D. program in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. In addition to being a member of the California State Bar, she has more than 6 years of experience teaching undergraduate courses in Asian American history and community issues at UC Berkeley, and has published on issues of immigration, citizenship, and immigrant rights. Her scholarship has been recognized through numerous fellowships and awards, including the Jurisprudence Award from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1995. She is active in supporting other community based organizations and schools, and was the Chair of the Larchmont Charter School Board of Directors, a start-up charter elementary school. Susan lives in Los Angeles with her husband Bobby, daughter Zoe, and son Francis. |
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| Rev. Joanne Leslie: Moderator, Health Care |
Rev. Joanne Leslie ScD, recently retired from the Community Health Sciences Department of the UCLA School of Public Health, where she taught courses in nutrition and women's health. Dr. Leslie’s research focused primarily on household factors related to hunger and malnutrition. She worked for many years on nutrition and health issues in francophone West Africa. She has served as a staff member or consultant for several development organizations including: the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, and the International Center for Research on Women. She continues her work in international nutrition as a trustee of Freedom From Hunger.
Dr. Leslie is a founder and was a co-director of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health in Los Angeles. A major focus of her work in the past decade has been the application of lessons learned from international health to local health and nutrition problems, particularly nutrition and fitness promotion in undeserved communities. For the past five years she has served as a member of the Steering Committee for the federal Bright Futures for Women’s Health and Wellness initiative.
Dr. Leslie also an ordained deacon and serves on the Bishop’s Commission for Peace and Justice of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. She has established innovative nutrition and fitness programs, working with a range of faith organizations to promote improved health for their congregations and surrounding communities.
Among her publications and presentations are: The Health of Africa: A Look into the 21st Century; Women, Work, and Child Welfare in the Third World; Health Economics in Development; “The Relationship Between Maternal Work Patterns, Infant Feeding Practices and Infant Nutrition in Jamaican Female Headed Households”; and “Obesity at the crossroads: feminist and public health perspectives.” |
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| Rafael López: Youth at Risk |
Rafael López is the Executive Director of Los Angeles’ Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families (CCYF). The CCYF coordinates policy, budgeting and programming issues relating to children, youth, and families among federal, state, county, and city departments. The CCYF also works to promote the well-being of children by implementing youth development and safety programs, organizing communities via the Neighborhood Networks4Kids, and providing City policy makers with sound research, planning and legislative analysis.
López is an experienced manager and leader with over 12 years of experience inthe public and private sector. He came to this position from his previous post as Deputy Director for the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families for the City and County of San Francisco. Within Mayor Gavin Newsom’s administration, he partnered with a senior leadership team to direct a multi-million dollar department and Children’s
Fund dedicated to San Francisco’s children, youth and their families in the areas
of early care and education, health and wellness, out-of-school time, violence
prevention and youth development.
Previously, Lopez served as Senior Deputy for Health and Human Services for
First District Supervisor Gloria Molina, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
As a member of her senior leadership team, he developed and directed
legislation and public policy relating to health and human services in Los Angeles
County. Nationally admired for his passion and commitment to the well-being of
youth and families, Lopez was selected an Annie E. Casey Foundation Children
and Family Fellow earlier this year.
Lopez also served as founding Executive Director First 5 in Santa Cruz
County from 1999 to 2004 launching that countys implementation of the
California Children and Families First Act (Proposition 10); as Research and
Development Grants Manager for the organization Salud Para La Gente Inc. in
1999; and as an analyst for Fourth District Supervisor Tony Campos, Santa Cruz
County Board of Supervisors in 1998, in land use, environment, public
transportation, economic development, housing, health care, education, youth
development, juvenile justice and courts issues.
Lopez holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard
Universitys Kennedy School of Government and was a Center for Social
Innovation Fellow at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business. |
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| Frankie Maryland-Alston |
Frankie L. Maryland-Alston is a Senior Intergroup Relations specialist with the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, and has been in that role since 1976. She is the lead specialist for the Commission’s countywide organization, the Human Relations Mutual Assistance Consortium (HRMAC). A vision for this organization came into being on December 7, 1994 during a Commission-sponsored event at the Museum of Tolerance. The purpose of this countywide group is to establish a human relations infrastructure that can address the challenges posed by the tremendous cultural diversity of Los Angeles County. In her role as a mentor and facilitator to various county communities, she helps them to work on human relations issues such as conflict management, resources and referrals to effectively manage tensions and training of community activists and city staffs on human relations. The HRMAC group for an area can act as a clearinghouse for information, offering technical assistance in developing effective citywide intergroup relations plans, and providing information on human relations funding sources. Her career involves over 25 years of progressively responsible employment in the public sector beginning with Mrs. Maryland-Alston’s graduation from Cal State University, Dominguez Hills with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies and a Masters of Arts in Negotiations and Conflict Management. Mrs. Maryland-Alston also has trained with the national Coalition Building Institute International and currently is teaching a class in re-evaluation counseling and mediation. The personable and energetic Frankie, known as “Sparkle” to her intimate friends, is a tireless professional who is enjoying her recent marriage to Al Alston, formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, her continued work on personal development, and her global travels with her husband. |
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| Sister Martha McCarthy, SSS: Advocacy Training |
Sister Martha McCarthy, a member of the Sisters of Social Service, is executive director of JERICHO, statewide interfaith advocacy organization, where she facilitates the development of public policy responses to issues of economic justice. Prior to this position she was JERICHO's Director of Education for three years. Sister Marti has developed and directed programs to serve and empower low-income and homeless women, seniors and people with mental illness for more than 30 years. She is a registered lobbyist at the state capitol. Prior to joining JERICHO, she served as Lake County program director for Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa, California. Earlier, as an independent contractor with three interdenominational organizations, she organized Bay Area communities to address welfare restructuring in California. From 1992 to 1998, she directed Elizabeth House in Oakland, California, a residence for women and children in transition from homelessness, addictions and abuse. From 1987 to 1992 she served as a co-director of Bread & Roses -- a shelter, multi-service center and meal program for homeless people in Olympia, Washington and co-founded a low-income housing development corporation. As founder and executive director of Transitional Living and Community Support (TLCS) in Sacramento, she created a continuum of community-based services that maximized independence for mentally ill adults. With her leadership, TLCS developed the first continuum of residential services in the state for homeless people with mental illness. |
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| Reverend Anna Olson: Economic Justice |
The Reverend Anna Olson is an Episcopal priest and graduate of Union Theological Seminary and Stanford University. Since November 2006, she has served as Deputy Director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) in Los Angeles, directing the administration and field operations of CLUE in Los Angeles County. CLUE is an interfaith organization dedicated to organizing religious leaders and communities to stand with workers in challenging the conditions that create working poverty. Prior to commencing her ministry at CLUE, Olson was Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in East Hollywood from 2002-2006, and Associate Rector of Holy Faith Episcopal Church in Inglewood from 1998-2002. She has served as chair of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles Commission on Peace and Justice, and has worked for justice and peace locally and internationally throughout her ministry. |
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| EJ Omakwu: Community Organizing |
Ejugwu Omakwu (pronounced A-joo-goo O-mah-koo) grew up a Christian in the predominantly Muslim region of northern Nigeria. During this time his parents were actively involved with the work of the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. They introduced EJ to interfaith relations at an early age, and he became familiar with the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, as well as that of the indigenous African religions prevalent in this part of the world. EJ later came to the United States for studies; there he completed an undergraduate program in the cross-disciplinary fields of Communications and Management from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He later pursued a graduate program in Intercultural Studies/International Business from Biola University in La Mirada, California. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, EJ completed in-depth course work in Christian Theology, while completing classes in Islam and Jewish Culture at the graduate level. With this background and experiences from traveling, living and studying cross-culturally, EJ has been intrigued by the field of human relations and seeks opportunities to contribute and foster better cross-cultural understanding. Before joining LA Voice as an Organizer, EJ’s professional career included serving as the Director of Alumni & Constituent Relations with the Western University of Health Sciences and as a Communications/Investor Relations Manager with the US-Africa Technology Council Inc. |
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| Lizette Patron: Youth at Risk |
Lizette Patron, United Students Coordinator, is a founding youth member of United Students and long-time resident in the Pico Union area in Los Angeles. She has been with InnerCity Struggle since 2000. Lizette’s efforts have included mobilizing young people of color to challenge existing inequalities in schools that contribute to under-resourced conditions in low-income communities. Lizette has played a key role in developing the momentum of a youth-led movement in Los Angeles to demand educational justice. Lizette is a recent graduate of Cal State Northridge with a major in Chicano Studies and a resident of Los Angeles. |
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| Fran Pavley: Environment |
Fran Pavley has served three terms in the California State Assembly. She became known as one of the most effective legislators in Sacramento. Serving with integrity and vision, the former Mayor of Agoura Hills and long time public school teacher had over 70 of her bills and resolutions become law. During her tenure in the Assembly, Fran focused on education, the environment, consumer protection, public safety and creating a clean, secure energy future for California and the U.S. Her landmark legislation on global warming has become a model for other states and countries to follow.
For example, 11 other states and Canada have modeled their laws after Fran's Clean Car Regulations, AB 1493, (also known as the Pavley Bill). As the author of the "Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006" (AB 32), there will now be a cap on greenhouse gas emissions emitted from California. This will help spur an increased investment in alternative fuels, renewable energy and clean technologies. Her leadership on the most important environmental issue facing our world in the 21st Century has been recognized by many entities, including being selected as one of Scientific American's Top Technology Leaders in Transportation, and receiving the 2006 California League of Conservation Voters "Global Warming Leadership Award" along with former Vice President Al Gore.
Prior to serving in the State Legislature, Fran Pavley became the first Mayor of the new City of Agoura Hills in 1982. She served as a Mayor and Councilmember for four terms, focusing on protecting the quality of life for her community. In order to become a more effective elected official and to better prepare herself to make sound land use decisions, Fran returned to college and earned a Master's Degree in Environmental Planning.
Fran Pavley and her husband were both middle school teachers in nearby school districts for nearly 30 years. This real life experience in education gave Pavley the needed background to become a valuable member of the Assembly's Education Policy Committee for six years. Improving California's public schools in order to educate the workforce for tomorrow continues to be one of her highest priorities.
A native Angeleno, Fran Pavley grew up in Sherman Oaks and graduated from Grant High School. She has lived in Agoura Hills with her husband, Andy, for over 30 years, where they raised their two children, as well as four Guide Dogs. Living nearly her entire life in the 23rd Senate District gives Fran a long-term understanding and personal perspective of the people and issues affecting our region. |
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| Cantor Steven Puzarne: Musical Performance |
Cantor Steven Puzarne, a graduate of the HUC School of Sacred Music, is the co-founder and Executive Director of Breeyah. Breeyah is a non-profit organization that is revitalizing Jewish life by tapping and promoting vibrant music, deep spirituality, social and environmental justice. His most recent project is Pilgrimage of Peace: Interfaith clergy and laity traveling to the Holy Land, to strengthen and support interfaith activists who stand up for peace, co-existence and compassion. The first delegation recently returned, with the next due to depart in March of 08. |
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| Jared Rivera: Community Organizing |
Jared Rivera was born in the Californian Central Valley, before moving with his family to Southern California’s Inland Empire at the age of 5. As a teenager, he first became involved with issues of social justice through his high school involvement with MEChA, a Chicano student organization that seeks empowerment through education. He continued his involvement with this organization as a college student at UC Berkeley, where he earned a Bachelors degree in Social Welfare in 2000. Upon graduation Jared began his career as an organizer with the California Nurses Association, working on organizing drives and contract negotiations all over Southern California. After several years of union organizing, Jared joined LA Voice, where he currently serves as Executive Director. LA Voice is the Los Angeles affiliate of the PICO National Network and organizes religious congregations to transform local communities throughout Los Angeles. |
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| Pastor Bridie C. Roberts: Community Organizing |
Pastor Bridie C. Roberts currently serves as both Senior Organizer and Director of the Young Religious Leaders Project for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Los Angeles (CLUE-LA). CLUE-LA is an organization of religious leaders throughout Los Angeles county who come together to respond to the crisis of working poverty by supporting low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that affect them. Pastor Roberts has worked in community and religious organizing for many years around issues as varied as tenant organizing, urban planning, community greening, responsible economic development and community reinvestment in various programs for youth and children in Seattle, New York City, and Des Moines, IA. She is a United Methodist minister, most recently serving as Pastor of Pico Union Shalom Ministries, in Los Angeles, a Shalom Zone Ministry of the United Methodist Church. This immigrant, Spanish speaking ministry offers low income housing, head-start daycare, community organizing, free ESL and more. After organizing part time at CLUE for several years, she left her pulpit to join CLUE and the fight for economic justice full time in July of 2007. |
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| Vivian Rothstein - Economic Justice |
Vivian Rothstein is the Deputy Director of the LA Alliance for a New Economy, a research and advocacy organization devoted to raising standards for low wage workers. At LAANE she oversees campaigns to improve conditions for workers in the hospitality industry. Vivan also serves on the Board of Directors of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, an interfaith organization addressing the crisis of working poverty in California.
Vivian directed LAANE’s 5 year Living Wage campaign in Santa Monica which dramatically raised wages in that city’s hotel industry. Previously she served for 10 years as the Executive Director of the Ocean Park Community Center, a nonprofit agency providing emergency shelter and services for homeless adults and families and battered women and their children.
Vivian was raised in the LA area and attended UC Berkeley where she first became involved in the civil rights movement and the 1965 Mississippi Freedom Summer project. |
| Rev. Alexia Salvatierra: Immigration |
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the Executive Director of CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), an organization of religious leaders throughout Los Angeles county who come together to respond to the crisis of working poverty by supporting low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that affect them. Rev. Salvatierra is also the co-chair of a new statewide alliance of interfaith worker justice groups, CLUE California.
CLUE California is currently organizing new chapters in Orange County and the Inland Empire. Rev. Salvatierra is an ordained Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with over 20 years of experience in interfaith and community ministry, community organizing and legislative advocacy. She has directed organizations focused on helping the homeless, migrant farm workers and inner city youth, in addition to providing consulting services in the areas of program/resource development, strategic planning and evaluation. In addition, she has worked on projects in the Philippines, Central and South America, and Northeast Africa. Rev. Salvatierra has recently been one of the primary leaders in the development of a new national interfaith initiative for immigrant rights and comprehensive immigration reform, the New Sanctuary Movement. |
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| George Savage: Health Care |
George Savage is State Chair of the OneCareNow Campaign for SB840 and on the Board of Directors of Health Care for All California, founders of the 365 Day, 365 City OneCare Campaign. He was also the co-chair of the Great LA Health Care Rally of August 12. George is one of over a thousand HCA volunteers who have developed this record-setting educational campaign for SB 840 in 35 HCA Chapters across the state. Now retired from his busy Los Angeles advertising agency, Savage is busier than ever learning about health care reform and helping to develop the campaign of all campaigns—the successful passage of SB 840 in California. Health Care for All – California is a 12-year old citizen’s health advocacy group and original sponsor of SB-840, The California Universal Health Care Act, authored by California Senator Sheila Kuehl. SB 840 will be introduced to the Assembly in January 2008. George’s e-mail is gsavage@onecarenow.org |
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| Elizabeth Sholes: Advocacy Training |
Elizabeth Sholes is Director of Public Policy for California Council of Churches and California Church IMPACT. She has been with the Council and IMPACT since early 2002, working to educate members on major issues and advocating for them in the state legislature. Ms. Sholes has worked for over 25 years in policy analysis and advocacy, focusing on issues of social justice and community well-being, as well as on faith related concerns. She has provided both federal- and state-level legislative analysis and advocacy to several non-profit organizations in both California and New York. Her focus on justice has included developing a moral economic critique of global capital; using existing laws in building sustainable urban and rural economies; standing for worker justice; fighting for universal health care for all California residents; and assuring access to health care for forgotten populations. |
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| Joumana Silyan-Saba: Interfaith Coalition Building |
Joumana Silyan-Saba is a Policy Advisor for the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. Currently, her focus is on areas of inter-group relations particularly as it pertains to interfaith relations. Some of her work entails working on a joint effort with the Mayor’s office and Council President Eric Garcetti’s office to address local communities who are impacted by the Middle East conflict. This includes working with faith and community leaders, civil rights organizations and academic institutes to bridge divides and address social justice issues. Ms. Silyan-Saba served on the planning committee for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s first Peer Mediation Summit. Much of her work is focused on community safety and she participates in a number of safety collaboratives both for schools and communities. In addition, Ms. Silyan-Saba has designed and provided Human Relations and Conflict Management training to LAUSD teachers and administrators, as well as other City departments including Public Works employees. She also acted as a consultant for Human Relations and Conflict Management training curriculum for LAPD and LAFD. Prior to that Ms. Silyan-Saba was a Program Director for Community and Intergroup Conflicts at the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center. She managed all mediation and conciliation direct services as well as community programs, training, and outreach. She also developed and implemented Conflict Management Skills and Peer Mediation Training Programs for Middle School teachers, students, parents. In addition, she has conducted numerous community trainings in Mediation and Cross-Cultural Competency, and mediated civil disputes with the APADRC and the City of Los Angeles Attorney’s Office Dispute Resolution Program. Ms. Silyan-Saba obtained her B.S. in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement with a minor in Business Administration Human Resources Management at California State University Long Beach in December 1997 She completed an M.A in Negotiation and Conflict Management at California State University Dominguez Hills in December 2002. She has recently returned to CSUDH and co-instructed a graduate course on Bridging Cultural Conflicts along with Najeeba Syeed-Miller. |
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| Cambria Smith: Advocacy Training |
| Cambria Smith is currently President of Valley Interfaith Council (VIC), a nonprofit which provides services to over 85,000 seniors, families in need and people with disabilities per year. Prior to VIC, Cambria worked for the Volunteer Center of Los Angeles for over 11 years as the Director of Resource Development and as Assistant Executive Director. Before coming to the States in 1994, Cambria, who was born and raised in Bermuda, marketed the rights of BBC documentaries in Europe and managed an English School in Japan. Cambria has served on the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles Justice and Peace Commission for 7 years and has worked to establish social justice ministries in parishes throughout the Archdiocese. She is a member of the San Fernando Regional Pastoral Council, chairing the Council’s Social Justice Committee, and a member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. Cambria has a BA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University in England, and a Master’s Degree in ReIigious Studies from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles. |
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| Melida Skeete-Smith: Musical Performance |
Melida Skeete-Smith was born in Colon, Panama and was raised in Pasadena, California. Although Melida never received formal training she has a God given ability to sing, write, arrange and play the piano and organ. Melida is a freelance musician, choral director, soloist, song writer and arranger. As a soloist and musician, Melida has ministered, among other venues, throughout Southern California, in Seattle, Las Vegas, Arizona, Texas, New Orleans, Huntsville, Alabama, Washington D.C., New York, and to a sold out audience in Wuppertal, Germany. She has also worked On-Call for the Southern California Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Churches throughout the Southern California area. Melida led "The Jubilant Voices of Holman United Methodist Church" to capture the Adult Category 1st Place win of the 19th Annual McDonald's Gospelfest, held at the Shrine Auditorium in 2003. The Jubilant Voices has appeared over the last three years at the Los Angeles Holiday Celebration held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Christmas Eve and will again perform on December 24, 2007 which will be broadcast live on KCET-TV-channel 28. Melida has received declarations and certificates by Los Angeles City and California State officials for her dedication and untiring work in the community, all while maintaining her fulltime position as Continuity Director of KFWB News. Melida performed the National Anthem on May 14, 2007 at Dodger Stadium, when the Dodgers played their first game against the World Champion Cardinals. She also most recently performed her original composition “Uyoyo,” as well as the National Anthem, at the 50th Anniversary Route 66 parade for the City of Duarte, California in 2007. Melida will be directing the Mass Choir at Beulah Baptist Church November 18, 2007 at 4pm, and the Jubilant Voices of Holman United Methodist Church, November 25, 2007 at 5pm. |
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| Daniel Sokatch: Community Organizing |
Daniel Sokatch began work as the Progressive Jewish Alliance's first Executive Director in June 2000. Under his leadership, PJA has become California’s leading Jewish social justice organization, a Jewish voice in the progressive community, and a progressive voice in the Jewish community, focusing on education, advocacy, and organizing on issues of justice, equality, diversity and peace. PJA has offices in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Daniel speaks and writes frequently on Jewish social justice issues at universities, organizations and congregations. He has published articles in, and his work has been covered by, journals such as The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, the national Jewish newspaper the Forward, The Jerusalem Post, Sh’ma, Heeb, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles and the j., the San Francisco Bay Area’s Jewish newsweekly.He appears frequently on National Public Radio, as well as on various other radio and television programs. Daniel teaches a class on Jewish social justice for rabbinical students at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion with Rabbi Sharon Brous. He has twice been named one of the “Forward 50,” the Forward’s annual list of “Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers.” In 2002, the Forward stated that Daniel “is building a new model for an aggressively liberal and unabashedly Jewish grass-roots urban activism.” In 2005, the Forward wrote that he is “at the center of a budding resurgence of Jewish liberalism.”
Daniel received a B.A. from Brandeis University, a J.D. from Boston College Law School, and an M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters. |
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| Najeeba Syeed-Miller, JD: Interfaith Coalition Building |
Najeeba Syeed-Miller is Executive Director Western Justice Center, Pasadena, CA. Previously, Najeeba served as the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC), which has provided mediation and conciliation services for the diverse Los Angeles Asian and Pacific Islander community as well as youth based conflict resolution programs for schools. Najeeba was instrumental in the expansion of youth and community programs through innovative partnerships and initiatives such as the South Asian Mediation Initiative to offer mediation services to communities targeted for hate crimes after 9/11. Under her directorship, one of the youth programs was awarded the John Anson Ford Award for improving human relations in South Los Angeles (LA County Human Relations Commission, 2001) and received funding from the LA City Human Relations Commission to start a unique peer mediation program at LeConte Middle School. Najeeba has attended over 400 hours of conflict resolution training and mediated a large number of cases, including youth oriented disputes, inter-racial disputes and community based conflicts. She has trained hundreds of people in mediation skills ranging from prosecutors to community leaders. She is experienced in the area of inter-religious conflict resolution. She chaired three national conferences on Muslim Peacebuilding. Najeeba has written and researched in the areas of law, religion, and family issues. She has extensive experience in dialogue design and facilitation, having served as one of the international facilitators for the America Speaks World Trade Center dialogue project and leading hundreds of community members in Los Angeles, Pasadena and surrounding cities in public dialogues on race and community/police conflicts. Najeeba has trained international relief workers who will be serving in Afghanistan on issues of cross-cultural conflict resolution. In addition, in 2001 she trained University of Southern California students who will serve as relief workers in Africa and Asia. She assisted USC in its design of a peer mediation program and trained the first class of mediators. Najeeba served as the Chair of the South Asian Bar Association Judicial Evaluations Committee. She was recently elected to the national Board of Directors for the National Association for Community Mediation and was appointed as a member of the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation Board of Directors. She was appointed to a three year term for California State Bar Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution. Najeeba is a Commissioner on the City of Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women and a Board member of the Pasadena Child Health Foundation. Najeeba served on the Guest Advisory Board, Department of Justice grant for the Fuller Theological Seminary on Just Peacemaking. She has served on the Blackmun Scholarship committee for the California Women's Law Center. Najeeba is chairing the Diversity/Conflict Intervention Committee of the National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation.. Najeeba graduated in 2000 from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington. While in law school, Najeeba was the Coordinator of Student Mediation Services and awarded the Oexmann Fellowship for her work in community conflict resolution. Najeeba designed and taught a graduate/undergraduate course on campus based dispute resolution. She currently teaches Intercultural Conflict Resolution, a master's course at California State University, Dominguez Hills. During college, she served as the Coordinator for the Peace and Conflict Studies Department and was awarded the Hazel Steinfeldt Scholarship for excellence in community conflict resolution work. She is a graduate of the month long inter-ethnic conflict management trainings International Institute of Conflict Resolution program held in The Hague. She has made presentations at universities such as Harvard Divinity School and other institutions on the area of conflict resolution and minority communities. |
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| Lee H. Wallach: Environment |
Lee H. Wallach, M.S.W., M.P.A. As both a business leader and non-profit professional, Lee H. Wallach is active in his community. He is currently a Managing Partner in an environmentally sustainable court/deposition reporting firm, Rocket Reporting Network, which services litigation attorneys. He is also the CEO of Community Assets Consulting, a firm specializing in assisting Israeli and United States environmental technology companies with business in California. He is a founding Board Member and President of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life of Southern California (CoejlSC), Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Interfaith Environmental Council (LAIEC), and is on the board of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters.
Lee Wallach has assisted environmental companies in obtaining over $80 million in sales this year. He has been instrumental in shaping U.S. solar policy, including California Governor Schwarzenegger's "One Hundred Million Solar Rooftop Initiative" and "Global Warming" bills. President Bill Clinton has recently joined forces with Lee and CoejlSC to stop global warming and support the opening of the Israel office to further Israeli environmental companies’ sales and technology in the U.S.
In addition, Wallach holds executive and board member positions with the State Bar Examiners Committee, Legal Cabinet of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Children Uniting Nations, USC Hillel Foundation, the state Jewish Public Affairs Council and Charity Finders Corp. He also serves on the Los Angeles Business Council’s Energy Commission, the Los Angeles Energy Coalition and is a delegate to the World Zionist Congress.
Previously Wallach served as Executive Director for Days of Dialogue, the California Israel Chamber of Commerce, the Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation’s Commission on Urban Affairs, and a member of the California State Budget Advisory Committee, 40th District.
Formerly at the University of Southern California, Wallach served as director for USC’s Graduate Student Community programs and as a field representative for the Office of Civic and Community Relations. He represented the University on University Trustee Committees, USC Board of Governors, and Governor Wilson’s Interim Commission on California Service.
He has earned numerous honors including several city citations and county awards for public service, and was named Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers. Wallach was recently honored by the Coalition for Clean Air for his environmental accomplishments and contributions. He is often interviewed by the print media on his activities, and has been a featured commentator on many national radio and television shows such as National Public Radio and KCET’s Life and Times.
Wallach holds a Master’s in Public Administration, (M.P.A.), and a Master’s in Social Work, (M.S.W.), from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Child Mental Health from California State University Northridge. He has been married since 1999 to Leslie and they have two children—Benjamin, 4, and Sarah, 1. |
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| Ani Zonneveld: Performer |
Ani is a co-founder of MPV, a songwriter, producer, singer and a multi-instrumentalist. She has worked with many different artists with releases in Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Germany, the U.K., Japan, and the U.S. Her work in Malaysia resulted in an Album of the Year award at the AIMM, which is the Malaysian equivalent of the Grammy. She also contributed a song to Keb’ Mo’s album “Keep It Simple” which helped him win a Grammy (2005) in the Contemporary Blues category, a song for the Grammy nominated album “Big Wide Grin” (2003) performed by Grammy winners Keb’Mo’ and Brenda Russell, and to Melissa Manchester’s latest release called “Thank You For Your Faith In Me”. Ani contributed three songs for Japanese artist Yuki. Her album ‘Joy’ was at #1 for several weeks. In the genre of Islamic music, she has produced Irfan Makki’s first album for SoundVision called “Salam”, and recorded vocals with Dawud Wharnsby Ali. Recently Ani’s undertaken a personal journey through an Islamic pop project called “Ummah Wake Up” and “One” (www.a-n-i.net ). Her speaking and singing engagement includes Churches, Synagogues, peace vigils, panel discussions, magazines, and radio and television features. |
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