Signature Events

Tara Barauskas joined us as Executive Director  in 2016.  She oversees the functional areas of the organization, including management of 1,800 units of affordable housing; housing development; resident services; maintenance; and administration of 80 team members.

Ms. Barauskas has more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing development, having worked at both for-profit and non-profit affordable housing development organizations prior to joining Community Corporation. Her past experience includes overseeing and managing the development process of dozens of projects throughout California.

Ms. Barauskas holds a Bachelors’ Degree in English from California State University, Long Beach, and a LEED AP Accreditation from the US Green Building Council. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Southern California Association of Non-profit Housing (SCANPH), a nonprofit membership organization that advocates for effective affordable housing policy throughout Southern California. In addition, she serves on the Board of the Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council and the Board of Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.

Evonne Biggs, currently serves as the Program Manager for Homeless Services and Health Equity at Venice Family Clinic. She is responsible for the general management of the clinic’s homeless programming, which includes projects impacting patients experiencing homelessness. She also provides oversight of other projects addressing a variety of social determinants of health, in order to remove barriers to achieve health equity. She has several years’ experience in providing direct care to families experiencing homelessness, and holding supervisorial roles in social service settings addressing the needs of people who have been marginalized. Evonne values the importance of servicing as a catalyst for systemic change, by both participating in and facilitating collaborative efforts with people who provide direct patient care, external service providers, and representatives of local government.

GREG COMANOR

PARTNER

Greg Comanor is a native Angeleno focused on affordable housing and public policy. He completed his undergraduate degree at Washington University in St Louis and completed his MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He’s worked in investment banking, consulting, and affordable housing development before founding Daylight Community Development. He is an avid Philadelphia sports fan and fully Trusts The Process

As Senior Vice President of Housing, Brian oversees Century’s affordable housing activities. In this capacity, Brian serves as president of two Century affiliates, Century Villages at Cabrillo (“CVC”) and Century Affordable Development, Inc. (“CADI”). In his CVC role, Mr. D’Andrea is responsible for the 27-acre Villages at Cabrillo campus that is home to more than 1,500 individuals on any given night and managed by a staff of more than 50. In addition to overseeing the campus’ fundraising efforts, Mr. D’Andrea is actively involved with expanding the collaboration of some 30 nonprofit and government agencies that operate at the Villages, including U.S.VETS and the VA. In his CADI role, Mr. D’Andrea manages an 8-member development team that handles all of Century’s affordable housing preservation, investment and development activities on the Villages at Cabrillo campus and beyond.

Since joining Century in 2006, Mr. D’Andrea has been involved in nearly $350 million worth of affordable housing transactions entailing more than 1,000 affordable homes. These include campus-based new construction developments, preservation projects, acquisition-rehabilitation projects, and infill new construction developments. Mr. D’Andrea is responsible for Century’s expansion into other large-scale redevelopment efforts, including the 21-acre Rancho San Pedro site and the 388-acre West LA VA campus, coupled with myriad infill and preservation projects.

Prior to Century, Mr. D’Andrea worked for Toll Brothers, a public homebuilder, where his responsibilities varied from acquisitions to project management. Previously, Mr. D’Andrea was a Program Manager for an economic development organization. Mr. D’Andrea graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a liberal arts degree. In 2005, Mr. D’Andrea earned his MBA in real estate and finance from UCLA’s Anderson School and is a licensed real estate broker in the State of California since 2010. He is a 2012 graduate of NeighborWorks America’s Achieving Excellence in Community Development, an 18-month performance-driven leadership program administered in collaboration with Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Ruby Ferguson, MS, MEd, RD, LDN serves as Chicago’s first Food Equity Policy Lead and stewards the work of the Food Equity Council. In this role, she has the privilege of collaborating with city and community partners to reimagine Chicago’s food system in to one that is just and vibrant. Driven by the belief that access to good health is a fundamental human right, Ruby has committed her academic and professional career to addressing the root causes of health inequities in communities of color. Her experience as the Director of Nutrition at a Federally Qualified Community Health Care Center, where she oversaw WIC clinics, clinical dietitians, and a cooking program, showed her the transformative power of food to give back agency to community over its own health. Ruby holds a BA/BS from Spelman College, a MEd from Auburn university in Exercise Physiology, and MS from University of Illinois at Chicago in Human Nutrition.

Jamiah E. Hargins is a chronic social entrepreneur, community leader, and self-proclaimed gardengineer. He is the founder of Crop Swap LA, which is determined to grow food on unused spaces, creating green jobs, independent economies, and nutrient-dense food. His team recently opened the world’s first water-recycling front yard garden, which uses just 8% of the water previously used for grass to grow over 600 plants for 40 families, recycling hundreds of gallons of water. His innovative business and design models gained the attention of LA City officials looking for sustainability solutions around water, food, and economic sustainability, and he was named a Good Food Champion in 2019. He also invented ToiletTrees, a patented device that hooks onto your toilet and uses the clean water to grow fragrant and odor-eating plants. Jamiah is also a member at BREAUX Capital, a financial technology company focused on Black millennial men who launch and invest in each other's businesses. Jamiah began his career as a stock and equity options trader, a corporate headhunter, and a non-profit program leader. Jamiah is a graduate of the African American Board Leadership Institute, the University of Chicago, and Columbia University. Personally, he is a father of a 4-year old little girl, a husband to a school administrator, and a practicing Taoist.

Anisha Hingorani

she/her/hers

Senior Manager, Equity in Community Investments

Advancement Project CA

Anisha works in partnership with community-based organizations to advance racial and social justice through public investments in healthy built environments, such as access to safe and affordable public transportation and high-quality, urban parks. In this role, she conducts research, facilitates coalitions, leads budget trainings, and engages in policy analysis and budget advocacy that is grounded in the priorities and experiences of low-income people of color. Anisha currently serves as a member of the LA County Community Prevention and Population Health Task Force. In previous roles, she served as the manager of Multicultural Communities for Mobility (now known as People for Mobility Justice), where she helped develop and oversee culturally-relevant outreach programs that meaningfully engaged transit-dependent residents and organized for policies to protect vulnerable communities from over-policing, criminalization and displacement. She is a proud daughter of Taiwanese and Indian immigrants and was raised in the San Gabriel Valley. Anisha holds a bachelor’s degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in public policy from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, where she received the Jane Pisano Award for Exemplary Community Service.

Tim Kawahara is the founding executive director of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. Mr. Kawahara is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Center, including the development, implementation and oversight of the Center's numerous programs and activities; internal and external relationships; industry and academic conferences and events; marketing and communications; media relations; student programs; fundraising; strategic partnerships; budget; personnel; and management of the Center's Board. Mr. Kawahara serves on all of the Center's committees, including Development and Membership; Public Policy and Community Outreach; Industry Outreach and Professional Programs; Student Programs; Research; and Curriculum. As the Center's founding executive director, Mr. Kawahara has guided the Center through a period of immense growth.

Mr. Kawahara serves on several boards, including the Los Angeles District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI); Lambda Alpha International (LAI), an honorary society for the advancement of land economics; and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW). Mr. Kawahara has also led program initiatives in partnership with numerous industry organizations, including the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP); United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA); Los Angeles Business Council (LABC); Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM); International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC); Pension Real Estate Association (PREA); Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge; California Association of Realtors; Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing (SCANPH); UCLA Anderson Forecast; UCLA Extension; UCLA Department of Urban Planning; UCLA Field School of Public Health; UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; the State of California; and the City and County of Los Angeles.  Additionally, Mr. Kawahara serves as an expert resource to the media, and frequently engages in public speaking on a wide range of matters related to real estate markets and the built environment.

Mr. Kawahara is a graduate of UCLA and the Executive Program of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Prior to joining the Ziman Center, Mr. Kawahara was the director of development at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.  

Executive Director, Ave Lambert (ze/zir/they/them)

Ave is a food systems changemaker with a culinary and farming background. As a seventh generation Californian, Ave has dedicated themselves to local food justice, serving as an elected member of the San Francisco Food Security task force, on several boards including the Hawai’i Food Policy Council and Slow Food San Francisco, advisory councils and committees including ShapeUp San Francisco’s Steering Committee & Equity Action Team, and organizing for grassroots campaigns like labeling GMOs, the Women’s March and the San Francisco Dyke March. In their previous roles at organizations including Farming Hope and Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), Ave incorporated food as medicine and sovereignty into curriculum and developed programming and funding models for eliminating food insecurity that dismantled systems of oppression like institutionalized racism, poverty, disease and mental illness.

Ave has an undergraduate degree in International Studies and Business from the University of Washington and a Master’s in Global Leadership and Sustainable Development from Hawaii Pacific University. Their Master’s thesis featured MA’O organic farm as an innovative solution to removing barriers to access in the food apartheid area of Wai’anae, Oahu.

Supportive practices for Ave include breathwork, healing and grief ceremony in community with other teachers, as well as facilitation and storytelling with groups like Real Food Real Stories, for radical self-acceptance, interconnectedness, care and real change

Ariel Williams-Lewis (she/her) is currently Program Manager of Community Initiatives (Built environment) at National Health Foundation (NHF). At NHF, Ariel supports urban beautification and community organizing efforts concentrated on the built environment and park access.

Prior to her time at NHF, Ariel launched youth and adult coalitions focused on park safety, public smoking policy, and secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing.

In 2019, Ariel received her Master of Public Health from University of Southern California specializing in Global Health Leadership. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from Towson University. Ariel’s passion for park equity stems from her interests in social justice, community organizing, and civic engagement.

Ariel lives in Los Angeles and loves to explore local parks with her daughter and their pup. She also enjoys graphic design, writing, and social media development.

Adam is Senior Manager of Market Development and Public Policy at EVgo, the nation's largest public Electric Vehicle (EV) Fast Charging network. In this capacity, he leads external engagement with legislators, regulators, and utilities to ensure a coordinated approach to transportation electrification and charging infrastructure deployment for the West Coast. Adam has deep expertise in public-private partnerships of EV charging infrastructure, spearheading the first state-wide public EV charging network in partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia under the VW settlement and regularly consults with public funding administrators on optimizing program design, including for the $7.5 billion Federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) investments.

Over the course of career, Adam has consistently tackled issues that intersect industry, policy, and climate. Adam draws from his background in environmental public affairs and strategic partnerships, bringing experience from Metrolink, Coca-Cola, and Politico. Adam serves as Board Chairman of the EV Charging Association. Adam holds a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and completed the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs in Los Angeles.

Guillermo Rodriguez is the Vice President-Pacific Region and California State Director at Trust for Public Land. Rodriguez has spearheaded the movement to create more climate resilient communities across the state and is dedicated to putting a park within a 10-minute walk for every resident, especially in cities that need them most. Los Angeles currently ranks #71 on Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore® index, far behind other Californian cities, but Rodriguez is passionate about big solutions to close the park equity gap. By transforming asphalt covered and treeless schoolyards into vibrant treasured spaces, students and community members alike can connect to the awesome benefits of nature. Rodriguez has protected thousands of precious acreages—pristine Californian coastline to sacred tribal land—and advocated for bold environmental initiatives to eliminate access barriers to the outdoors, ensuring an equitable, greener, healthier future for every resident. 

On September 19, 2019, Jason L. Rondou, Power Engineering Manager B, was appointed as Director of Power Resource Planning, Development, and Programs.

Jason has worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the City of Los Angeles for over 18 years. Most recently, Jason was responsible for the Power Planning, Development, and Engineering Division’s (PPDED) Strategic Development and Programs Section, which included LADWP’s Energy Imbalance Market implementation team, as well as its Distributed Energy Resource programs, including demand response, local solar development, and community solar programs. Prior to this role, Jason was responsible for PPDED’s Distributed Energy Resource Program Office. Before joining Power Planning Development, Jason also worked in the Integrated Support Services Division’s Project Management and Controls group, supporting General and Electrical Construction. Prior to joining the LADWP, Jason worked for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation on advanced transportation initiatives.

Kirsten Schwarz is an urban ecologist working at the interface of environment, equity, and health. Her research focuses on environmental hazards and amenities in cities and how their distribution impacts minoritized communities. Her work on lead-contaminated soils documents how biogeophysical and social variables relate to the spatial patterning of soil lead. Her research on urban tree canopy has revealed large-scale patterns related to income and tree canopy as well as historical legacies that impact this relationship. Most recently, Dr. Schwarz led an interdisciplinary team working on a community-engaged green infrastructure design that integrated participatory design and place-based solutions to realizing desired ecosystem services.

Her expertise in science communication and engaging communities in the co-production of science was recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) naming her a Fellow in the Leshner Leadership Institute in the Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology. Dr. Schwarz’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, AAAS, and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Dr. Schwarz has a BA in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Rutgers University. Prior to joining UCLA, she was an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Northern Kentucky University where she directed their Ecological Stewardship Institute.

Allison “Alli” Simon (She/Her) is a certified yoga and meditation facilitator from South LA. She commits her energy to the field of philanthropy where she works with nonprofits dedicated to systems change and racial + healing justice.

Her meditation journey began as a way to restore from loss and trauma. What began as just a personal journey and practice, led to her sharing with friends and family and eventually throughout communities. She is devoted to increasing access to self-care practices for people of color. She believes that tools, like meditation and yoga, can help foster a more compassionate, resilient and heart-centered community.

Allison regularly leads classes at Op e n, The Underground Museum, and Compound LB.

Ayako Utsumi, MPH

Founder of Valon Consulting, Affordable Homes Development

Ayako prides herself in being the only full-time, affordable housing real estate developer with a public health background. She founded her consultancy in 2008 after 17 years in healthcare business development in inner city hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC), venture capital backed national medical groups; and management consulting for companies like Deloitte Consulting in health systems strategy and operations. Ms. Utsumi pursued her dreams of entrepreneurship and set out to expand the intersection of health and the built environment. Building safe, healthy, affordable, and accessible housing is the foundation of creating vibrant communities. Valon Consulting provides small, non-profit clients with business development and project management services to build affordable homes. Ayako has a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine.

Specifically, Ayako is engaging the real estate community in developing a sustainable population health model called California Integrated Care at Home (CICH) based on a system in Vermont. CICH involves true systems integration to help our most vulnerable adults navigate housing, health care, social programs, caregiving, health insurance and other services by for-profit, non-profit and government entities. The aim is rational implementation of local resources – not simply program coordination -- flexible and comprehensive enough to empower each individual to practice wellness. Ayako can be reached at autsumi@valonconsulting.com.

Bhavna Sivanand is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Impact at UCLA Anderson School of Management. In this role, Bhavna is responsible for growing the Center’s vision and strategy, garnering financial resources, managing the Center’s evolving board, creating innovative programs and engaging with students, alumni, faculty and impact professionals in the community. The goal of the Center for Impact is to shift mindsets about the role of business in addressing the world's greatest challenges by integrating social impact and sustainability across the core curriculum, curating global projects to expose students to international challenges, and providing rigorous training for students committed to being change agents throughout their careers. Bhavna's interest in social innovation grew out of her background in public health and her experience establishing public-private partnerships to address chronic diseases through the social determinants of health. Prior to this role, Bhavna spent over 15 years in the field of public health, starting her career in international development in Ghana, and continuing her experience working across all three levels of the Canadian government to further national health goals. She holds an MPH from the University of Michigan and an MBA from UCLA Anderson. Her undergraduate degree in Biology and Psychology is from the University of Toronto.

Magali Delmas is a professor of management at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability. In 2020, she was appointed faculty director of Impact@Anderson. Her research interests lie primarily in the areas of business strategy, corporate sustainability and socially responsible investing. "Standing at the crossroads of policy, economics and management," she says, "I seek to understand the effectiveness of information strategies to promote conservation behavior."

Delmas has written more than 90 articles, book chapters and case studies on business and sustainability. She works on developing effective information strategies to promote conservation and the development of green markets. "Dark green consumers represent as small a segment of the population as do 'brown' consumers," she says. "Research tells us that consumers buy green products when they benefit not just the environment, but the consumer." Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, and Delmas calls that segment the "convenient environmentalists."

In her award winning book The Green Bundle: Pairing the Market with the Planet, she argues that successful information strategies require a holistic approach that accounts for both the altruistic and egoistic motivations of consumers. With insight from sustainable business and from behavioral economics, she describes the elements of effective information strategies that will help managers guide consumers along the difficult path from knowledge to consumption. With what she calls the "green bundle" — natural or implicit co-benefits of environmental goods and services — companies can strategically appeal to both the altruistic and egoistic values of consumers. Broadly, green bundle co-benefits include the following: quality, status, health, money, and emotion. Products that pair sustainability with these private benefits create a win-win for consumers.

Her current research also includes the investigation of the barriers and incentives to the adoption of energy-efficient solutions. Using insights from behavioral science, she developed the UCLA Engage program to determine whether real-time, appliance-level energy consumption feedback in 120 university apartments could be used as an effective tool to promote energy conservation among rate payers. "We wanted to understand what motivates people to save energy, and figure out how to most effectively frame information about energy usage so people are encouraged to conserve," Delmas says. Whereas people usually say that cost savings will motivate them, Delmas' team found that it proves to be the least effective strategy in changing behavior. More compelling to most consumers is how their energy use affects their personal health.

Delmas is also engaged in refining current methodologies to measure and communicate firms' and products' environmental performance, receiving widespread media attention for studies involving eco-labeling of biodynamic wines and "natural" cleaning products. She has studied climate lobbying and how corporate "greenwashing" undermines consumer and investor confidence.

Delmas is the director of the UCLA Center for Corporate Environmental Performance. From 2014 to 2017, she was the president of the  Alliance for Research in Corporate Sustainability (ARCS), an international organization that serves as a vehicle for advancing rigorous academic research on corporate sustainability concerns. She received the Academy of Management/ Organization and the Natural Environment Distinguished Scholar Award.

A foremost scholar of global supply chain management, Chris Tang focuses his current research on social innovation in developing countries, identifying how companies operate in the environment to do good while doing well at the same time — “where corporate responsibility, social justice and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand,” as he says.

Tang’s interest in his field began in the private sector when he worked for IBM to solve internal production planning problems. Exposure to real-life industry projects motivated his academic research, where he developed teaching cases on a variety of concerns such as microfinancing for the poor, mobile platforms for developing economies, creating shared values and direct procurement of agricultural products, response management in disasters and new business models in the age of the Internet. These cases exceeded the traditional topics of operations management, addressing the trendy and pressing issues faced by supply chain executives, as well as innovations that industry leaders use to create higher values in the global market.

World-renowned in the field of global supply chain management, Tang has been a consultant to numerous corporations such as Amazon, HP (California, Singapore, South Korea), IBM (New York, San Jose), Nestlé (USA), GKN (UK) and Accenture. He has taught courses at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, National University of Singapore, MIT (Zaragoza) and London Business School, and served as a visiting professor at Cambridge University (UK) and the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) at HKUST. He has delivered more than 200 keynote speeches and seminars at conferences and universities worldwide; chaired numerous advisory committees at various universities in the United States, Europe and Asia; been interviewed and quoted by international press over 100 times; and served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations.

Tang’s research contribution to global supply chain management is recognized by all three major academic societies in the fields of operations research, management science and operations management. He was recently distinguished for research exploring the impact of regulatory policies on the welfare of different stakeholders in on-demand ride service platforms. He has published six books, 30 book chapters, over 100 online blogs and over 160 research articles in various leading academic journals. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s,Financial Times (UK), China Daily, Fortune, Bloomberg Law,Los Angeles Times, SanFrancisco Chronicle, Business Times (Singapore) and The Guardian (UK).

During his 25 years at UCLA Anderson, Dean Antonio “Tony” Bernardo estimates he’s taught more than 5,000 students. Bernardo says some of the best moments are when students walk into his office to dig deeper into a business issue — to learn beyond the classroom material. “Everyone on the faculty I know loves meeting with a hard-working, motivated student,” he says.

In 2019, Bernardo was appointed UCLA Anderson’s ninth dean, effective July 1.

Bernardo’s research spans various areas of corporate finance. His recent research on bailouts provided a set of policy recommendations to lawmakers looking to design bailouts for distressed firms. His current research looks at optimal capital structures, or how much debt and equity financing a firm should have. It suggests that capital structure decisions are determined, in part, by the debt choices other firms in the industry are making.

Another area Bernardo is exploring involves optimal compensation of doctors, and designing compensation systems for health providers. “I tend to work on topics that are very diverse,” Bernardo says. “I learn a lot that way.”

In addition to having an impressive list of published papers and working papers, as well as receiving numerous teaching awards, Bernardo serves as associate editor of the Critical Finance Review and Financial Management.

Erica is a passionate cook, educator and entrepreneur.  She cooked professionally at a few top-tier restaurants in Seattle. In 2017 she went on to co-found Seattle Cucina Cooking School. The Cucina team grew from 2 to 19 and ran classes at their own space as well as 40+ schools and community centers. She is currently in sunny Los Angeles pursuing her Masters in Business Administration with a focus on food and sustainability.

Clare Fox is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Everytable, a fast growing social enterprise with a mission to make healthy food accessible to everyone, everywhere. In this role, she leads on government, community and philanthropic partnerships, and strategic initiatives such as Social Equity Franchise and medically tailored meals. Previously, she worked in food systems, policy and advocacy for a decade. She served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC), where she built a collaborative network of over 400 partners across public, private, and non-profit sectors. First joining LAFPC in 2011, Clare led the organization toward several legislative wins, including universal food stamps at farmer’s markets, the first county urban agriculture program, first citywide food recovery program, decriminalizing street food, and expanding a local, sustainable, fair food procurement policy to impact over 11 million meals. She began her career in community development managing a food access investment program at the City of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA-LA). She also has worked as a radio producer at National Public Radio and Youth Radio, where she taught radio and media production to young people across LA's diverse neighborhoods. She has served on numerous boards and appointed committees, including Mayor Garcetti’s Los Angeles Promise Zone Leadership Council and the Los Angeles County Inmate Welfare Commission. Clare has a Bachelors of Arts in Critical Social Thought from Mount Holyoke College, and a Masters in Urban Planning from UCLA. All her work is informed by a lifelong commitment to social and racial justice. 

Derek is one of the leaders heading General Motors’ all-electric push. Through his 18+ years at GM, he has held numerous positions within manufacturing, engineering, quality and launch excellence. Prior to his current role he led corporate strategy for GM’s Canadian operations spearheading several high-profile projects improving operating efficiencies and driving new business. Derek is now directing GM’s efforts to ramp up its position as a leader in EV sales by providing the right charging solutions for every customer. He currently leads their new dealer community charging initiative which aims to bring up to 40,000 level 2 chargers to the US and Canada. These chargers will increase public charging access and be a key part of Ultium Charge 360 , a “holistic charging method” that integrates charging networks, products and services into a seamless mobile app experience for the customer

Etienne Maurice is a Los Angeles native, born to a Jamaican-American mother and an Afro-European father. Etienne is a filmmaker, actor, and activist, who is dedicated to using his creative passions for social change. Etienne‘s mission is to build his community in the virtual and physical space through the arts, health, and wellness. Outraged by the injustices against Black and Brown people, he initiated WalkGood LA. Recognizing the need for community healing, Etienne joined forces with his sister, Ivy Coco, lifestyle influencer, and cousin, Marley Ralph, yoga master, to create Breathegood and Rungood. WalkGood LA is a devoted homage to his Jamaican heritage and grandmother who always reminded him to “Walk Good,” a Jamaican euphemism, meaning good fortune, safe travels, and be well.

Ram Ambatipudi is a Co-Founder and Senior Vice President Energy and Utilities at EV Connect.  Ram is focused on business development activities with electric utilities and other strategic accounts to advance EV charging infrastructure and management and control of EV Charging stations. Ram has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry, including 15 years in the renewable energy and cleantech sector.  He has a B.A. in Economics from UCLA and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.

Eleanor Huntington is a member of the FEMBA class of 2022 and works as Program Manager, Special Projects, at Venice Family Clinic.