Skip to content
Hellen Hong served as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (now the Survivor Justice Center) for seven years. Located in Boyle Heights, the Center has provided decades of free legal representation, education, and advocacy for the low-income residents of Los Angeles. Hellen has previously served on the Board of Trustees [...]
Nancy Halpern Ibrahim joined Esperanza Community Housing Corporation in 1995 as the founding Director of Health Programs, and has served as Executive Director since 2006. Esperanza works to achieve comprehensive and long-term community development in the Figueroa Corridor neighborhood of South-Central Los Angeles. Beyond Esperanza, Nancy was a founding board member of TRUST South LA, [...]
Mike Lansing is the former Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor, the largest private child development agency in the entire South Bay. Born and raised in San Pedro, Mike is an alumnus of the Club and served on its Board of Directors for three years. He previously founded [...]
John Maceri is the Executive Director of The People Concern, a nonprofit social service agency based in Los Angeles. Formed in 2016 from the merger of the Ocean Park Community Center and Lamp Community, The People Concern strives to empower the most vulnerable among us to improve their quality of life—ensuring they are housed, healthy, [...]
Lisa Watson is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Downtown Women’s Center, which provides permanent supportive housing and other services for women who would otherwise be homeless. Lisa oversaw the administration of a nationally-recognized model program that provides permanent housing and supportive services to thousands of homeless women annually on Skid Row in Los [...]
Sister Terry Dodge is the former Executive Director of Crossroads, Inc., which provides housing, education, support, and counseling in a homelike environment in Claremont for women who have been previously incarcerated. Beginning her tenure in 1989, Sister Terry helped equip women with the tools to lead self-sufficient lives, helping them avoid substance abuse, homelessness, and [...]
Arturo Vargas served as Executive Director of NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials) Educational Fund, headquartered in his native Los Angeles, for over 30 years. NALEO empowers Latinos to fully participate in the American political process by assisting legal permanent residents in becoming US citizens, developing future generations of Latino policymakers, and [...]
Sister Jennie Lechtenberg is the Founder and former Executive Director of PUENTE Learning Center, a nationally and internationally recognized institution with locations in Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles. Since 1985, the organization has provided educational instruction to thousands of economically and educationally disadvantaged students, from preschoolers to elderly adults. Before founding PUENTE, Sister Jennie [...]
Anne Bray is the Founder and Executive Director of LA Freewaves, a media arts network that fosters creative connections among arts organizations, cable stations, cafés, libraries, schools, and videomakers. The organization produces a biennial festival of independent video and offers new media workshops and a website as resources for artists, curators, programmers, teachers, and students. [...]
Luis Mata is the former Executive Director for the Multicultural Area Health Education Center (MAHEC), a family-oriented organization that promoted health care through educational interventions. During his 24-year tenure in the field of health care and disability management, Luis played a central role in developing national strategies to increase childhood immunization rates, creating culturally sensitive [...]
