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Brenda Shockley is the former President of Community Build, a nonprofit incorporated in 1992 in response to the Los Angeles civil unrest. The organization’s mission is to revitalize South Los Angeles through human investment and commercial and economic development. Brenda oversaw the development of 16,000 square feet of commercial space in Leimert Park. Serving as [...]
Victoria Ann Lewis is the founder and former Director of Other Voices, a play and community development program for artists with disabilities. Housed at the Mark Taper Forum until 2005, the program provided national leadership for the disabled arts community through writers’ residencies, reading and performance series, master workshops, and cultural conversations. In 1998, Victoria [...]
Johng Ho Song has spent his entire career at the Koreatown Youth & Community Center (KYCC), beginning as a Mental Health Community Worker in 1985 and now serving as Executive Director. KYCC is one of the nation’s largest Korean American community organizations, serving people of all races and ethnic backgrounds in the diverse Koreatown neighborhood. [...]
Dr. Elisa Nicholas is CEO of The Children’s Clinic, “Serving Children and Their Families” (TCC), a system of community health clinics in Long Beach providing care to low-income families. Elisa has led TCC’s growth from a single-site clinic into a network of health centers, all providing tens of thousands of visits annually to low-income families. [...]
Tomas Benitez is the former Executive Director of Self Help Graphics & Art, the leading visual arts center serving the Chicano community in Los Angeles. Founded in 1973 and based in the heart of East LA, Self Help Graphics operates a printmaking atelier, presents exhibitions, promotes artwork internationally, provides artists the chance to gain professional [...]
Ron Sossi was the Founder and longtime Artistic Director of the Odyssey Theater Ensemble, which he established in 1969. Known for staging plays that are provocative in both content and form, the Odyssey is a three-theater complex that continues to attract devoted audiences. An acclaimed director, Ron received numerous honors, including the Los Angeles Drama [...]
Carolyn Reid-Green spent more than 20 years in human services as a clinical psychologist, child advocate, community organizer, and educator. Beginning in 1989, she served as President of the Drew Child Development Corporation (Drew CDC), an organization dedicated to educating and ensuring the well-being of African American and other low-income, at-risk children and adolescents by [...]
Connie Watson served as Executive Director of People Who Care Youth Center (PWC) for more than 25 years. The organization was founded in 1974 by local residents concerned with the lack of positive outlets for youth in their community. PWC provided an urban haven where young people could receive mentoring and tutoring, as well as [...]
Bruce Saito is the former Executive Director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC), the largest nonprofit youth corps in the nation. LACC provides young adults and school-aged youth with job training, education, and work experience in conservation and community service projects such as tree planting, trail restoration, and graffiti removal. Bruce has also served [...]
Maria Cabildo was raised by immigrant parents in the same community that she would later serve as Executive Director of the East Los Angeles Community Corporation (ELACC). Under her tenure of over 15 years, ELACC developed and preserved quality affordable single and multi-family housing, organized residents, and provided homebuyer and financial literacy education in a [...]
