Board 2.0

Karen Bass is the 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles and the first woman and second African American to be elected as the city's chief executive. With an agenda focused on bringing urgency, accountability, and a new direction to Los Angeles, she will start her term with a focus on housing people immediately and increasing safety and opportunity in every part of Los Angeles. A daughter of our city, Mayor Bass was raised with her three brothers in the Venice/Fairfax neighborhood and is a proud graduate of Hamilton High School. After serving as a front-line healthcare provider as a nurse [...]

Tom is the Founding Partner of one of LA’s leading venture capital firms, Rustic Canyon Partners. Previously Tom served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Times Mirror Company. Further, he was a partner of Morrison & Foerster and earlier, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Tom also serves on the boards of The California Community Foundation (CCF), CalArts, Heal the Bay, MOCA (Life Trustee), and ProPublica. He is also a Trustee of the California State Teachers Retirement System. Tom is also a board member of several Rustic Canyon portfolio companies, as well as Blackline Systems and Praedicat. [...]

Michael Tubbs is the Founder of Tubbs Ventures, Founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC); the Founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI); and the Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility and Opportunity. In 2016, he was elected Mayor of Stockton at 26-years-old. He was the city’s first African-American Mayor, and the youngest Mayor of any major city in American history. As Mayor, Tubbs was lauded for his leadership and innovation. He raised over $20 million dollars to create the Stockton Scholars, a universal scholarship and mentorship program for Stockton students. Additionally, he piloted the first mayor-led guaranteed [...]

President, Campaign for College Opportunity Since its founding in 2004, Michele Siqueiros has been the driving force behind the Campaign forCollege Opportunity, a California based nonprofit policy advocacy and research organization committed to ensuring more students can go to college and succeed. Born and raised in Los Angeles, the daughter of a seamstress who then became the first in her family to go to college, Michele understands the transformative power of education and has dedicated her life to opening the doors of college opportunity. In her 19 years at the Campaign for College Opportunity (President since 2008), she has [...]

George L. Pla is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and author whose work spans business and civic activities focused on empowering communities throughout California. He is the Founder and CEO of Cordoba Corporation, a nationally recognized engineering firm, whose innovative leadership was the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. George Pla is the Governor’s appointee, currently serving as the President of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, host of the 2028 Summer Olympics. As a Trustee of the California Science Center Foundation Board, George chaired Cordoba Corporation’s historic transport of the Space Shuttle Endeavour through the streets of Los [...]

Elizabeth Meyer Brink is a Co-Regional Managing Principal of Gensler’s Southwest Region. In that position she oversees six Gensler offices and develops transformative design and business strategies that enable the Southwest Region to thrive. As a design strategist for more than two decades, she has helped innovative companies create and implement high-performance, people- focused workplaces that leverage both changing technologies and shifting employee expectations. She is a sought-after expert on issues related to workplace transformation, providing an integrated and human-centered perspective on the workplace. With a professional background that combines architecture, communications, user research, and business strategy, Elizabeth brings a [...]

Travis Kiyota is the Senior Vice President, Head of Global Corporate Affairs for East West Bank. Based in California, East West Bank is the 25th largest bank in the U.S. with over 120 locations across seven states and overseas. As a member of the Bank’s senior leadership team, Mr. Kiyota leads the Bank’s public policy and governmental relations strategy, oversees the communications and marketing function, and directs the company’s corporate security and crisis management. Mr. Kiyota has broad and extensive experience in public affairs, strategic communications, corporate philanthropy, and crisis and risk management, spanning more than 25 years. Prior [...]

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie is a lawyer, author, philanthropist, community leader, and former television executive. Her Holocaust memoir, Bending Toward the Sun, documents her mother’s experience in the Holocaust and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. In 2022, Leslie was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to the California State University Board of Trustees. The CSU is the largest public University system in the United States. Gilbert-Lurie is a member of the International Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Board of Directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy. She also serves on the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors, [...]

Rose Chan Loui is the inaugural Director of the Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits at UCLA School of Law. Launched in 2021 with a $3.7 million seed gift from UCLA Law alumnus Lowell Milken ’73, the Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits aims to become a national resource for scholarship and policy analysis of the rapidly shifting nonprofit sector. The Program’s priorities include training the next generation of nonprofit lawyers, developing scholarship, and bringing together the sector’s many stakeholders. They will develop events and curriculum for practitioners and managers of nonprofits in such areas as governance, lobbying and compliance. Prior to [...]

Jarrett Barrios serves as the Senior Vice President of Strategic Community & Programmatic Initiatives for the California Community Foundation. At the Foundation, he oversees organizational strategy and leads all CCF programmatic initiatives, marketing, communications, policy and advocacy. Prior to CCF, Barrios has served as CEO of American Red Cross of Los Angeles, the Massachusetts Red Cross, GLAAD and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. From 1999 to 2007, he served in the Massachusetts legislature, first in House of Representatives and then as the first Latino elected to the Massachusetts Senate where he chaired the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee and [...]

Stephanie Graves is CEO of the Lee Andrews Group, a public relations firm located in downtown Los Angeles. Since 2013 she had led the national communications firm that partners with businesses, agencies and organizations to evolve, promote, engage and protect their projects, reputations and brands. Stephanie oversees the company’s media relations, outreach campaigns, digital and social media, communications, crisis management, diversity and inclusion policies and strategic partnerships. An accomplished businesswoman, entrepreneur and community leader, her business acumen and financial expertise provides her with the right experience to lead the firm while managing the company’s overall operations, driving profitability, managing [...]

Leisa Wu has been committed to board leadership and community service for over 25 years. She serves on the Boards of Directors at Forest Lawn and Community Partners, Venice Family Clinic Advisory Board, Television Academy Investment Committee, and Providence Health & Services Foundation Audit Committee. Ms. Wu also has over 30 years of global finance and strategy leadership experience with Warner Bros. Entertainment Group. Her work in North America, Asia, and Europe led to a deep appreciation for global cultures and business practices. She retired from her last role as Corporate Senior Vice President of International Finance & Strategy and [...]

David White is the Founder and CEO of 3CG, a firm that provides executive coaching, leadership development and strategic consulting services. He is a strategic advisor to Ulu Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early stage companies and emphasizes support for diverse entrepreneurs. David is a corporate board member of the global consulting firm, RGP (Nasdaq: RGP), and of the nonprofit Blackhouse Foundation, which supports Black content creators and executives.  He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Previously, he was National Executive Director (CEO) and Chief Negotiator of the Screen [...]