Board of Directors

Certified Public Accountant

Adrian Stern is a founding member of Clumeck Stern Schenkelberg & Getzoff and has been engaged in public accounting since 1979, specializing in management consulting and the installation and evaluation of data processing systems. He is experienced in expert witness testimony regarding computer systems, damage calculations, loss of earnings and professional malpractice cases. Adrian provides consultation to CPA firms regarding valuations, mergers and acquisitions. Adrian is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is an active wine collector and is always looking for the next great find. Adrian is married with four daughters.

Supervisor

Michelle Torres currently works as a Supervisor for the Sales Planning & Product Inventory department of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. She has a strong background in communication, resource building, research and child advocacy, and television syndication and distribution. Michelle has worked in mediation and arbitration, collaborated on the production of a curriculum entitled “Power in Me” to be used with foster youth, and worked in business and legal affairs in production and domestic distribution in the entertainment industry. Michelle has more than ten years social services experience working with foster youth in Los Angeles County and has worked in the entertainment industry for over sixteen years. She studied Sociology at Cal State Los Angeles.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) Expert

Joannie Busillo-Aguayo is an expert in designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating new community-based programs serving young children and families in low-income communities. Her research interests include identifying ways to strengthen and support families of young children, promoting campus-community collaboration, and enhancing service-learning partnerships between students and early childhood programs in the community. For 12 years, she was the assistant coordinator of the CSUN’s Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences’ Transdisciplinary Early Intervention Program, serving infants and toddlers with development challenges and their families. Joannie has been a member of the CSUN community since 1991, earning her bachelor’s degree in Child Development and a master’s degree from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences/Family Relations-Child Development. She earned her doctorate in 2010 from Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology/Organizational Leadership.

Vice President, Contact Center

Shelia Jones has an impressive 30-year history of upper management work in banks across the San Fernando Valley. She brings to CCRC’s board a wealth of knowledge in the financial sector, as well as leadership, business planning and strategy skills. As Vice President of Premier America Credit Union’s Contact Center since 2018, Sheila oversees vision and strategy, operational process and budget, among other responsibilities.

Coming Soon

Community Advocate & Executive, Retired

Romalis Taylor, a community advocate involved in processes to strengthen and support families, has over 30 years’ experience working with government agencies, communities, children, youth, and families to improve services in schools, foster care, and clinical service programs. He has served as a Director of a Mental Health Center and a Director of Government & Community Relations for a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles County. Mr. Taylor implemented innovative services such as: Point of Engagement, Family Preservation, and Up Front Assessment. He has presented program development, prevention, field based and family support services at conferences and forums. Romalis chairs Compton/East Compton Best Start Leadership Group, which advocates, develops, and implements community activities to strengthen families with children 0-5 based on the First 5 Strengthening Families model. He is a representative for the advisory group for Under Representative Ethnic Populations Groups on the Department of Mental Health System Leadership Team and is a member of the Services Area Advisory Council 6 in South Los Angeles. Mr. Taylor received his BA degree from California State, University, Los Angeles.

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Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Senior Vice President

Anthony Peña has worked at Wells Fargo Bank since 2005 and is currently Vice President and Relationship Manager of Commercial Banking. He manages one of the largest relationships in the office, a construction rental company, with commitments of $70 million and annual bank profitability of $1.5 million. He has originated and structured $15 million in new real estate loans for the company. Anthony participates in the Board Leadership Institute at the Ventura County Charitable Foundation and volunteers at both UCLA Anderson Riordan Program and El Concilio del Condado de Ventura. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.S. degree in Latin American Studies with a concentration in Economics. He also spent time in Salvador, Brazil studying Intensive Portuguese and International Economics.

Connie Leyva is currently the Executive Director at KVCR Public Radio and Television. KVCR is located on the campus of San Bernardino Valley College serving the Inland Empire on Channel 24 and FM 91.9. She oversees all aspects of KVCR including increasing community and student engagement, raising money and content.

Prior to joining KVCR in December of 2022, Leyva was the Senator serving the 20^th Senate District in the Inland Empire from 2014 to 2022 representing almost a million constituents. . During her tenue in the California State Senate, Senator Leyva was the chair of the Democratic Caucus, chair of Senate Education Committee and chair of the Mobile and Manufactured Homes Select Committee, as well as serving on numerous other key committees. She authored more than 50 bills signed into law including landmark legislation on statute of limitation on sexual assault and Clean Truck Heavy-Duty Registration.

Leyva has always had a heart for people and the communities they live in, she went to work for UFCW Local 1428 in 1994 and helped workers find their voice on the job. Starting in the benefits department and ultimately becoming the first woman president of that local. From 2004-2014 while serving as president she was also the first woman president of the California Labor Federation representing over 2.1 million workers though out California. Leyva lives in Chino with her husband Al where they raised their twin daughters who are grown and have their own families.

Is Owner, Partner, and General Counsel for the law firm of Collins + Collins, with over 80 attorneys and 6 offices in California and Nevada, and has been practicing law for over 30 years. Has consistently been rated as Preeminent by both Judges and his Peers by Martindale-Hubbell, listed as a Top Lawyer by the California Bar Journal and the Pasadena Magazine, as well as, ranked as a SuperLawyer following a statewide nomination process by his Peers.

Mr. Stellwagen focuses his practice on the representation of professionals: design, construction, real estate and legal professionals, including architects, engineers, general contractors, trade contractors, suppliers, developers, real estate and insurance brokers and agents and attorneys. Robert has represented clients in hundreds of cases throughout his career resolved by settlements, arbitrations, private trials and reference proceedings, mediations, and both jury and nonjury trials involving professional liability, business tort, commercial, financial, contract, construction, defamation, liability and casualty insurance, intellectual property including patents, trademarks and trade secrets, personal injury, personal property security, products liability, real estate, real property security, and title insurance issues. He is also highly regarded for his ability to negotiate creative settlements of complex multi-party disputes.

Has also served on the Judicial Election Evaluation Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Board of the Southern California Defense Counsel, and is a member of the Lawyer’s Professional Liability Consortium.

Certified Public Accountant

Rita García is a Manager at Meloni Hribal Tratner LLP. She oversees annual financial statement audits and reviews. She also handles tax planning and preparation for clients in various industries such as manufacturing, wholesale/distribution and high net worth individuals. Rita has been in public accounting for over seven years. Before that, she was with Accenture Consulting, where she worked on SAP implementation projects for Exxon Mobil and Colgate-Palmolive. Rita is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California and a member of the AICPA. She holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of the Phillipines and an MBA from CSUN. She lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband and two sons.

Organizational Management Professional

Karen Wilson-Davis is an Organizational Management professional who partners with global entities, national institutions, state, city and local authorities, political leaders, corporate executives/management, business owners and community leadership to empower children and youth in communities that are underserved.  Her deepest passion is to empower youth to become our leaders of tomorrow by increasing their access to opportunities and reducing barriers to success.  In addition, Karen helped to raise corporate brand awareness and to expand their favorable public and personal recognition, relevance, and significance.

Karen’s professional experience includes senior-level management, strategic program management training development, human relations, program design and organizational development. Karen has been responsible for evaluating program outcomes to ensure benchmarks and program compliance is achieved.

After dedicating more than three decades to working in Organizational Management for businesses lead by their global renown to those who are only locally known, Karen is acutely sensitive to the pulse rhythms what deeply connects diverse levels and dynamics of industry to the heartbeat of those she is called to serve.  Karen is deeply rooted in the service-to-mankind as the whole belief: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

A vibrant community member, organizer, and servant, dedicated to caring for the needs of children in disenfranchised, underserved, and unprotected communities.  Karen continues to lead critical efforts to champion the missions of community-hearted organizations the likes of the YMCA, Multicultural Motion Picture Association, Mojave Assembly of GOD, Toys for Tots and Penny Lane Centers.  Karen is committed to cultivating, nourishing, and enriching the soils of community needed for the healthiest of relationships to root, grow, blossom and flourish.  This to uproot, unearth and supplant elements that are adversarial to the deepest, healthiest, and richest in diverse race relationships.   Relationships between organizations and the whole of humanity they are missioned to serve.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organizational Management from The Master’s College.

Born and raised in Southern California, LaQuenta Martin is a certified Educator, Motivator, and Mompreneur on a mission to help leaders plan their future, prepare to flourish and progress forward toward what’s next in their personal or professional life. Through her comedic positive personality and coaching programs she uses training and education to build a bridge from distressed & tired -to- driven & thriving. LaQuenta is the Executive Director for the premier Learning and Leadership Consulting Company, The P3 Life™ .

With a combined 15 years of educational and organizational management experience, LaQuenta is using the next stage of her business career dedicated to leadership improvement, advancement and strategic development coaching. She serves as AV Virtual Academy School Advisory Chairwoman and Committee Board Member for Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. She has grown from Teaching and Administrative roles at four Regionally Accredited Universities, three School Districts, and two Multi-million dollar Financial Firms to make one spectacular career defined by a passion to help leaders rise, define and align with their purpose in life. 

With 15 years of designing and implementing fundraising campaigns, Adam Simeon Pilder is an experienced fund development professional. His passion for fundraising has led him to work on campaigns from $400,000 to $17 million annually, including clients like the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. Adam’s passion for fundraising and community service was cultivated through years of volunteering in community service projects and local youth groups at a young age.

Employment Litigation Attorney

Dean Rocco is a Chair of Wilson Elser’s national Employment & Labor practice group. He represents employers of all types and sizes across the country as well as executives and members of management. He advises clients on issues such as managing employees with disabilities and medical leave rights, building sound personnel policies and complying with workplace regulations. Dean maintains a significant practice defending employers from lawsuits alleging workplace harassment, denials of disability or medical leave rights, unlawful termination of employment, and wage and hour violations.

A distinguished labor and employment law attorney, Dean lends his knowledge and perspective to proactive counseling and training measures as well as the efficient and effective litigation of employment law disputes. As a recognized authority in his field, Dean is often asked to lecture on evolving employment law topics. In 2015, Dean was appointed Chair of the Employment Practices Liability Committee for The Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, a national organization for claims and litigation professionals comprised of more than 30,000 members.

CCRC is a home away from home for Jeriel Smith, who has been serving on CCRC’s Board of Director for a number of years. After more than 45 years as an attorney, Jeriel is now retired but continues his philanthropy, giving back to the public and nonprofit sectors. Jeriel is interested in meditation, wisdom teaching, literature, history and current affairs. He is married to the love of his life and has three children.