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Retired Project Manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech
Founder, Fig Leaf Development
Vice President, Corporate Secretary, State Bank of India (California)
Retired Attorney
Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer, Southern CA Public Radio
Principal, WRH Advisors LLC
Principal, GGLO
SVP, Administration, Pennymac
Community Member, LAEP Early Head Start Parent Policy Council Board
Director of Instruction, Para Los Niños
Senior Consultant, Raya Cooper Impact Consulting
Senior Portfolio Advisor, Aksia, LLC
Business Development, Northleaf Capital Partners
Founder and President, PEONY Talent
Vice President of Education, Children's Academy
Managing Director, Angeles Investments
Chief Financial Officer, LifeMoves
Amber Hamilton is the founder of Fig Leaf Development, a firm that partners with senior leaders, social impact organizations, and the foundations that support them to build their capacity to fundraise effectively. She specializes in creating community and counsel for BIPOC leaders who crave support and guidance to navigate the predominately white field of philanthropy.
Amber was the founding Chief External Officer at Beyond100K where she led the organization’s rebrand in addition to a multi-year giving campaign aligned to the launch of their new 10-year strategic plan. Amber has fifteen years of experience leading development, strategy, and communications at education and equity-focused organizations including, OneGoal and Teach For America.
Amber is a Los Angeles native, daughter of educators, and a mom to three girls who she shares with her husband. She holds a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University. She is also a member of the Archer Alumni Board.
Daniele Johnson is a Vice President at State Bank of India (California) in Los Angeles and has worked in the banking industry for over 25 years with a focus on governance, compliance, and strategic planning. With an MBA, her attention continues to be on the overall health of the financial organization. Outside of banking, Daniele is enthusiastic and enjoys volunteering for local non-profits in a variety of areas including financial planning and college readiness.
Marcia Gonzales-Kimbrough retired in 2019 after a distinguished career as an attorney with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. She served as a prosecutor for the first 14 years and then for 25 years served as general counsel to a variety of City departments, programs, and elected officials.
Marcia has served on the governing boards of several education and social service organizations, professional associations, and alumni organizations. As a volunteer, Marcia has recruited and interviewed many students from local high schools who have applied to Princeton University.
Marcia was born and raised in Taos, New Mexico. She graduated from Princeton University in 1975 as the first Mexican-American woman to attend Princeton. Marcia received her law degree in 1979 from the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Gio Aliano has more than 30 years of architectural design experience. His expertise in community-based design has served a wealth of nonprofit clients including educational institutions, childcare centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and affordable housing developers. His current work is highlighted by the planning and design of The SEED School of Los Angeles, a 120,000-square-foot educational boarding campus in South LA that will serve resilient youth. Gio has served as studio guest critic for University of California Los Angeles, Woodbury University, and California State University Fullerton. He has been on LAEP’s board for over seven years.
Amy Bernardino has worked for Pennymac since 2011 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President, Administration. In her role, she oversees the Emergency Management, Travel, & Reimbursement department, which includes critical areas such as safety, security, and business continuity. Prior to this role, Amy worked in Pennymac’s Legal department as a corporate and securities paralegal. Beyond her professional endeavors, Amy is deeply committed to philanthropy. She volunteers as the co-chair of RaiseAChild, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding loving homes for foster children. This reflects her compassion and dedication to making a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families. Amy also serves as the Advisor to Pennymac’s Pride business resource group, which focuses on supporting LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the workplace. More important than her work or philanthropic interests, Amy is a mother and a birthmother.
Janett Casillas Reynoso is originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She has been with her husband for 10 years, and her son is in LAEP’s Early Head Start program. She enjoys listening to music, social networks, going to the park and to the beach. Above all, she enjoys her son, who is the most important person in her life, and enjoys every day with her family. She likes and looks forward to working on the LAEP Board and LAEP Early Head Start Parent Council to provide ideas that help the program grow and continue helping children and families in her community.
Katie Clark is a leader in education deeply committed to serving historically underserved, diverse communities. With extensive experience as a teacher, administrator, and instructional coach, she has consistently used data to drive decisions that lead to the best outcomes for students. Currently, Katie oversees teacher development and instructional programming at two charter schools under the nonprofit Para Los Niños.
Passionate about improving educational equity and empowering students to advocate for a better world, Katie is also a devoted mother to a son and two daughters, whom she raises with her husband. She enjoys the outdoors, running, and reading over a nice cup of coffee. Katie holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a Master of Education from Concordia University.
Gautam Doshi was a Senior Managing Director at Kennedy Wilson up until February 2024, responsible for deal execution and corporate financial analysis, as well as being actively involved in the company’s equity and debt issuance process.
Previously, Gautam worked at Blackrock, where he was directly responsible for the firm’s Commercial Real Estate and Collateralised Debt Obligation portfolio. Prior to that he worked at Goldman Sachs. Gautam holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Eric Barela has worked as a measurement & evaluation professional for over 2 decades, helping organizations to better understand and act on their social impact. He’s currently a Senior Consultant with Raya Cooper Impact Consulting and previously worked at Salesforce, where he led efforts to measure the social impact of the company’s work with nonprofits and educational institutions across the globe. He began his career working with the Los Angeles Unified School District and with the nonprofit, Partners in School Innovation. Eric previously served on the Board of the American Evaluation Association and currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the American Journal of Evaluation.
Eric grew up in East LA and was educated in the Montebello Unified School District. He holds a Ph.D. in education from UCLA. He loves a good road trip, with his husband serving as trusty navigator.
Trevor Jackson is a Managing Director, Portfolio Advisory for alternatives investment consulting firm Aksia, LLC. He serves as lead consultant to several of Aksia’s institutional pension clients, including governmental city and county pension plans as well as other public and private investment entities. Trevor assists clients in the development of asset allocation strategies and investment manager implementation and oversight. Trevor has over 20 years of broad investment experience working in consulting, asset management, and market research at Summit Strategies Group, Wilshire Associates, Harris myCFO Inc., and former investment consulting firm Capital Resource Advisors (originally SEI Asset Consulting). Trevor is a graduate of UC Berkeley and has volunteered with several non-profit organizations towards the development and promotion of educational equity. Trevor has three children who have attended Southern California public schools and has been a strong supporter of LAEP’s mission.
Mallory Mahan works in Business Development for Northleaf Capital Partners, an alternative credit investment firm. She is responsible for developing the firm’s presence in the U.S. West across consultant, institutional, and retail investor bases. Mallory has held several roles across asset management, including at PIMCO, HG Vora Capital Management, and BlueMountain Capital Management. Mallory received a Master of Science in Finance from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Vanderbilt University. Mallory previously served on the Associates Board of City Year Los Angeles and has volunteered with several non-profits focused on promoting educational equity.
Mandana is Founder and President of PEONY Talent: an executive search and talent advisory firm servicing the media, advertising, entertainment and technology industries. Prior to PEONY, Mandana held leadership positions at some of the most iconic ad agencies in the world: Ogilvy, Fallon, Group M, and Kastner & Partners. Over the past two decades, she has been the strategic media force behind brands such as Activision, Red Bull, Porsche, Cisco, and Qualcomm.
Mandana holds an M.A. in Management from USC’s Annenberg School of Communications and has two B.A.s from UC Riverside in Sociology and Latin American Literature. Mother to two teens in the public school system, Mandana is passionate about public education and advancement. When she is not talking on the phone, she enjoys live music, a warm cup of tea, a great game of soccer, and spending time with her family.
Andrea Fernandez Mendoza brings more than three decades of experience in Early Education. Currently pursuing a doctoral candidacy for a PhD in Education, Andrea holds a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE) Leadership, a BA specializing in Human Development and Social Change, and an Associate of Science Degree in Infant Studies.
Since joining CA Children’s Academy in 1993, Andrea has progressed through various roles to her current position as Vice President of Education overseeing 15 full-day subsidized early education centers, for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Andrea is deeply involved in industry leadership as the EveryChild California Southern Region Chair, Lead Advocate for ECE Voices, Region 11, Vice-Chair for the LA County Child Development Planning Committee, and co-chair of the Joint Committee on Legislation.
Andrea happily brings this steadfast commitment to ECE, leadership, and her experience to LAEP.
Sapna Shah, CFA, CAIA is a Managing Director at Angeles Investments. She works with institutional investment funds on formulating and implementing strategic asset allocation and investment portfolio structure as well as policy development. Prior to joining Angeles in 2021, Sapna spent 13 years at PIMCO, where she served as a senior member of the U.S. institutional corporate client management team before leading a number of global initiatives as Head of Corporate Responsibility and through her role as Executive Director of the PIMCO Foundation. Prior to joining PIMCO, she was with the equity research group of JPMorgan Asset Management as well as the finance department of SKS Microfinance. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.
In addition to proudly serving as LAEP’s Board Chair, she is also a Board member of the West LA College Foundation, which seeks to provide equitable access to education and career pathways.
Paul is a seasoned financial strategist and entrepreneur who leverages his University of California, Santa Cruz Business Management Economics degree and Haas School of Business MBA to guide companies through critical decisions. For over 20 years, he has honed his leadership acumen, steering firms through complex strategic shifts, successful acquisitions, and seamless technology integrations. His entrepreneurial spirit has yielded three thriving ventures across the U.S. and India.
Beyond the boardroom, Paul champions social impact and diversity. As a venture capitalist, he empowers underrepresented founders through seed-stage investments, aligning with his deep commitment to fostering inclusivity and innovation. His dedication to community service is evident in his leadership roles with The Decade Project, UCSC Foundation, and POST.
