Christine Deschaine

Senior Vice President
KENNEDY WILSON BROKERAGE

With a prolific track record spanning nearly 30 years in commercial real estate brokerage, Christine Deschaine is senior vice president at Kennedy Wilson Brokerage, a division of Kennedy-Wilson Properties, Ltd., specializing in the leasing and sale of retail property. She has 30 years’ experience in tenant and landlord representation and has worked extensively in urban redevelopment with Los Angeles’ most prominent retail developers, including Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, Montana Avenue, Downtown Burbank, Hollywood Boulevard, Marina del Rey, and Culver City.

Bonnie E. Eskenazi

Partner
GREENBERG GLUSKER LLP

Bonnie Eskenazi, a partner in Greenberg Glusker’s Entertainment Litigation practice, regularly handles some of Hollywood’s most high profile and landmark entertainment disputes for some of the industry’s leading performers, directors, writers, producers, rights holders, studios and talent agents. Her passion for advancing the careers of women led her to join the board of Women In Film and create and launch its sexual harassment Help Line, which includes a pro bono legal aid panel in addition to therapeutic assistance for survivors of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.

Barbara Gadbois

Partner
GIBBS GIDEN LOCHER TURNER SENET & WITTBRODT

Barbara R. Gadbois is a senior partner at the Gibbs Giden Law Firm in Los Angeles, with over 35 years of experience in public and private construction law. She concentrates her practice in the development and management of construction projects, including drafting and negotiation of bid and contract documents, procurement issues, public works, competitive bidding requirements, bid protest issues, prequalification, project delivery methods, design-build projects, risk allocation in contracts, claims avoidance, and project closeout.

Gillian Hayes

Vice Provost for Graduate Education & Dean of the Graduate Division
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

Gillian R. Hayes was named the third vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate Division of UCI on September 1, 2019.A member of the UCI faculty since 2007, Hayes previously served as the Robert A. and Barbara L. Kleist Chair in Informatics, with additional appointments in the School of Education and School of Medicine. Her multidisciplinary research interests focused on leveraging innovative information technologies to support vulnerable populations.

Mari-Anne Kehler

Partner/Chief Strategy Officer
GHJ

Partner and chief strategy officer Mari-Anne Kehler, CDP, leads GHJ’s growth strategy for business development and marketing, including the client experience. With over 30 years of experience, she successfully expands business through action by applying an integrated, clientcentric approach. Kehler has been active in the community, especially for disability awareness, for almost two decades. She has produced thoughtware and presented at a number of conferences on topics such as DEI, growth, branding and marketing strategies.

Jo-E Lopez

Vice President
SNYDER LANGSTON

Jo-E Lopez is vice president and partner for Snyder Langston, the second female to achieve executive level at one of Southern California’s largest and most respected builders. She oversees market sector strategic planning, marketing, public relations, client relations and business development activities, helping lead a firm with more than $400 in million annual volume. She is also one of three company leaders chosen to carry out the future of the firm. Lopez has been a leader in creating and cultivating the company’s positive culture.

Laura K. McAvoy

Partner
MUSICK, PEELER & GARRETT

Laura K. McAvoy is a partner in the firm’s Ventura County office with specialized focus in the areas of corporate, limited liability company and partnership counsel; oil and gas, real estate, estate planning, long range family management planning and trust administration; purchases and sales of businesses and general business law. Her extensive experience includes general oil and gas leasing and other business matters, general contract negotiations, family wealth and estate planning, trust administration and real estate matters.

Felicia R. Meyers

Founding Partner
MEYER OLSON LOWY MEYERS

Felicia R. Meyers isa Los Angeles highasset divorce attorney who handles high conflict and custody matters. Meyers’ work with the firm focuses primarily on complex litigation and trials, leveraging her extensive experience asa civil litigator prior to MOLM. She has led successful legal efforts relating to cutting edge family law issues such as international move-away cases, custody cases and high-asset cases. Over the past several years, Meyers has been involved in diverse, complex trials in courtrooms across California.

Nicole Stan

Director
COHNREZNICK

After a number of years developing her career as an accountant, Nicole Stan decided to join CohnReznick as an audit director. She has become a leading voice of CohnReznick’s Los Angeles office, particularly when it comes to challenges that women face in the workplace. She has taken a leadership role in various firm committees, including the Executive Women’s Forum, which focuses on education, mentoring, support and advancement among the CohnReznick women as well as women in the community.

Fiona Tam

Chief Financial Reporting & Policy Officer
VELOCITY FINANCIAL, INC.

Fiona Tam is the chief financial reporting, policy & Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) officer for Velocity Financial, Inc., an NYSE-traded public, commercial mortgage company. Also, she coordinates Velocity’s Internal Audit function. Tam is a licensed CPA in the state of California and a member of the California Board of Accountancy Peer Review Oversight Committee. She brings over 20 years’ financial experience to Velocity, including as a Senior Audit Manager at KPMG and first VP of SOX at PennyMac, where she established a Sarbanes-Oxley program for two public financial institutions.

Ellia Thompson

Partner and Chair of the Land Use Department
ERVIN COHEN & JESSUP LLP

Ellia Thompson has spent the last 20 years working with the federal government, media outlets and in private practice as a land use attorney. She concentrates her practice on land use, planning and zoning regulations, governmental administrative law and local housing laws. Her clients come for her extensive experience in land use entitlements, with particular emphasis on zoning and subdivisions, governmental administrative law, community outreach, projects located in the hillside and historical areas and environmental compliance, especially in relation to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Natalie Tronkina

Partner
COHNREZNICK

Natalie Tronkina is a partner and member of CohnReznick’s Transactional Advisory Services practice, based in the Los Angeles office. She has 15 years of transactional advisory experience, focusing primarily on buy and sell-side due diligence for private equity funds, lenders, and strategic buyers and sellers. Her areas of focus include performing quality of earnings, net working capital assessments, preparing pro-forma financial statements, performing profitability and bridging analyses, evaluating financial reporting infrastructures, and recommending best practices for technology, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, consumer products and services, and business services.

Joan B. Velazquez

Partner/Chair of the Real Estate Department
ERVIN COHEN & JESSUP LLP

Joan B. Velazquez is a partner and chair of the Ervin Cohen & Jessup Real Estate Department. Too many lawyers spend time telling their clients what cannot be done. As the chair of Ervin Cohen & Jessup’s real estate practice, Velazquez isa creative problem solver and proven deal maker who never loses sight of her clients’ business goals. She understands that her job is to mitigate her client’s legal risks while letting them realize the business opportunity in every deal.

Alyssa Weinberger

Senior Managing Director
LIDO ADVISORS

Alyssa Weinberger is senior managing director and chief marketing officer of Lido Advisors, where she is part of the senior management team. She is a third generation CPA who started her career at Rothstein Kass & Co. (now KPMG). Weinberger joined Lido Advisors, LLC in 2004 and became a CFP in 2005. Working ina male dominated industry, she became the first female partner of Lido Advisors. Also, she successfully ran the Operations and Marketing team, leading to her current role as Senior Managing Director.

Ginger Wilson

Chief Operating Officer
WENDEL ROSEN LLP

With over 25 years of experience in operations and human resources, Wendel Rosen’s COO, Ginger Wilson, has led organizational development and culture change in law firms and healthcare systems throughout California. Her unique ability to develop leaders and invest in human capital is exemplary. Wilson is outcome-oriented and applies her business acumen to every project she undertakes. She routinely leads essential HR initiatives to align with the firm’s strategic goals. Wilson also oversees the firm’s finance, marketing, and IT departments, in addition to managing all vendor and third-party business relationships.