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Dear Reader
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 comes to a close, there is cause for optimism as evidenced by increased investments in the community and local businesses as well as improvements to Orange County’s infrastructure, healthcare and education.

UCI’s Forthcoming Medical Complex
Irvine hospital will serve the entire county and beyond with next-generation care model

Fly Friendly Program Takes Flight at John Wayne Airport
New initiative seeks to quiet communities surrounding airport using advanced technology

O.C. Small Business Development Corporation Announces
The funds will aid entrepreneurs, small business leaders and O.C. businesses in low- to moderateincome communities

Community Action Partnership of Orange County Provides Hope
The OC Food Bank, a program of Community Action Partnership of Orange County, supports thousands of families facing food insecurity, but inflation and other rising costs are only making matters worse.

SR-55 Improvement Project Gets Underway in Orange County
Nearly one-third of the project’s $475-million budget comes from SB1 funding

Orange County Business Council Hosts Diverse Panel
Health experts in O.C. agree that collaboration is the key to serving county’s growing population and creating positive health outcomes

Orange County Chamber of Commerce
Since 1921, the Orange Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit voluntary membership organization, has served as the voice of business in the community.

Multi-year Cybersecurity Roadmap to Protect Californians’
Late last year, Governor Gavin Newsom’s Administration released Cal-Secure, the State of California’s first multi-year cybersecurity roadmap.

City of Hope Opens Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center
City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, has opened its visionary comprehensive cancer center in Orange County, creating a national model for delivering breakthrough research and pioneering treatments.

SBDC-OC Receives State Treasurer’s Green Light
In today’s difficult economy, small businesses need all the help they can get. And with the recent nod from the state treasurer’s office, the Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County is able to provide further assistance with new resources for business owners.

Medical, Life Science and Multifamily Building
A recent report from the NAIOP Research Foundation predicts that as the pandemic has increased office vacancy rates, a rising need for medical, life science and multifamily spaces offers a solution.

O.C. Health Officials Urge Locals to Stay Safe
Three years into the pandemic, county leaders urge safety, prevention and vigilance

California State Bar Adopts New Meeting Rules
At its meeting in late July, the California State Bar Board of Trustees adopted a streamlined set of parliamentary rules and discussed changes to expand and standardize public comment procedures as ways to improve both public access to meetings and overall accountability.

OC VISIONARIES
Orange County, with its coast-hugging geography, hotbed of corporate sectors and diverse population of almost 3.2 million residents, is instantly distinct from other Southern California regions.

Ben Alvarado
As executive vice president and director of core banking at California Bank & Trust (CB&T), Ben Alvarado oversees small business banking and the branch banking network across California.

Randall Allen
Randy Allen jumped into his career in finance in 1998 right out of college. After several successful roles in leading firms, in 2014 he made the move to join Kayne Anderson Rudnick Wealth Advisors (KAR) after an introduction to the firm by a client.

BANKING AND FINANCE
With 2022 entering its final quarter and businesses and individuals throughout the Southland focused intently on fiscal planning and protecting the bottom line,...

Douglas J. Bystry
Douglas J. Bystry has been providing financial services to low-income communities for over 30 years. In his professional career, Bystry has successfully raised and deployed over $2 billion for low-income and distressed communities.

Tom Calahan
Tom Calahan serves as senior vice president, client advisor for Partners Bank of California. During his time at Partners Bank of California, he headed the bank’s regional footprint into Los Angeles, where he launched a new branch office location in Beverly Hills in 2018.

Steven G. Check
When Steve Check graduated as an engineer from UCI, he started working for a division of Hughes Aircraft. He always had a passion was investments and started writing a monthly investment newsletter that he would share with his colleagues at Hughes.

Scott Connella
Scott Connella is managing director and head of commercial banking for MUFG Union Bank. The Commercial Banking group is an origination and portfolio management unit serving middle-market companies with revenues of $50 million to $2 billion across a range of industries with credit and non-credit ancillary products.

Danijella Dragas
Born and raised in Oxford, England, Danijella Dragas earned a B.S. in economics/international trade and banking from the prestigious University of London. Dragas was employed by Bear Stearns Investment Banking firm for over 18 years.

Michael Chambers
Michael Chambers serves as president and chief banking officer for Partners Bank of California, which has recently surged to over $430 million in assets.

Brian Chang
At a young age, Brian Chang became passionate about financial services and decided he wanted to help immigrant families who were finding it difficult to establish their livelihoods in the U.S. by working as a liaison between the family households and investments.

Brandon Ferrera
Brandon Ferrera is an established middle-market banker in Southern California who joined Fifth Third Bank in early 2018.

Celeste McDeavitt Gladych
Over the past 38 years Celeste Gladych has been involved both in the lending and workout side of commercial real estate. For the past nine years, she has managed the Real Estate Industries Group (REIG) at Farmers & Merchants Bank.

Todd Hollander
Todd Hollander serves as head of business and small business banking for MUFG Union Bank, N.A. In this role, he has overall responsibility for the bank’s business banking segment, setting the strategic direction for how the bank serves businesses with up to $50 million in revenue throughout all markets.

Dwight Flenniken
Dwight Flenniken is an entrepreneurial minded executive, focused on consumer centric digital innovation and transformation. Over the course of his career, Flenniken has worked in the financial sector, including banking and fintech startups.

Matt Hoffman
Matt Hoffman is an audit partner in Deloitte’s Investment Management group, leading the Pacific Southwest practice for the industry. He has more than 23 years of experience leading services to both public and private firms and worked with numerous registered mutual fund complexes, exchange traded funds and alternative funds.

Michael Janett
Mike Janett is a senior vice president and Orange County commercial banking leader for Wells Fargo. He manages a team of relationship managers that serve middle-market and prospective clients, advising them on financing and treasury management strategies.

John Keisler
John P. Keisler is currently the CEO & managing partner for Sunstone Management, Inc., a venture capital firm that invests in diverse early-stage technology start-ups through innovative public-private-partnerships that blend unique expertise across government, education and private sectors.

Jennifer Eun Joo Kim
Jennifer Kim is the first female chief risk officer (CRO) after serving two years as deputy CRO at Hyundai Capital America (HCA).

Nathan Kowarsky
Nathan Kowarsky’s philosophy is straightforward: professionalism and competency require integrity and honesty. Those principles infuse the leadership he brings to Irvine-based Clear Mortgage Capital (CMC).

Carson Lappetito
In his role as president, Carson Lappetito manages the day-to-day operations of Sunwest Bank, a $2.1 billion entrepreneurial business bank headquartered in Sandy, UT with operations across the Western U.S.

Manishi Parikh
Manishi Parikh is Wells Fargo’s commercial banking market executive for Orange County. She leads a team of 30 commercial banking relationship managers,...

Joe F. Martinez
Joe F. Martinez is a Vietnam-era infantry platoon leader and disabled veteran and a senior operating and financial executive in the high technology, real estate and media sectors.

Christopher M. Naghibi
Christopher M. Naghibi, a licensed attorney, real estate broker and general contractor, serves as executive vice president, chief credit officer of First Foundation Bank with an expertise in large volume institutional operations.

Robbin Narike- Preciado
Robbin Narike-Preciado is a managing director and regional president for the Regional Bank at MUFG Union Bank, N.A. She oversees community banking in Southern California, which includes Orange County and the Inland Empire.

Maria Moskver
Prior to joining Cloudvirga, Maria Moskver established and built strong legal frameworks at a number of start-up companies. Her focus on a “culture of compliance” has contributed to her reputation as one of the most notable general counsels in the mortgage industry and across the nation.

Stephen R. Perry
Stephen R. Perry founded Janes Capital Partners in 1997, which is an investment bank focused on the aerospace and defense industry. Under Perry’s leadership, the firm has completed over 80 merger and acquisition transactions since its inception.

Jennifer Povlitz
As a wealth management executive with experience at three world-leading financial institutions, Jennifer Povlitz has created strategies executed by field leaders and financial advisor teams to help advise affluent families in making informed financial decisions.

Vincent Rice
Vincent Rice has been the chief operations officer at Hyundai Capital America for five years. Prior to HCA, Rice worked at Bank of the West for more than three years, where he was executive vice president and head of the National Consumer Finance Division.

Carly Whitney
At Business Finance Capital, Carly Whitney is responsible for working directly with a variety of clients and small businesses throughout Southern California, helping each to achieve their dreams of property ownership and/or property upgrades via attainable financing that otherwise might be impossible through traditional financing.

Ivo Tjan
Ivo Tjan is committed to making a difference in the lives of his clients, helping businesses achieve their goals and supporting his community. At age 27, he founded CommerceWest Bank at age 27 on September 24, 2001 in Newport Beach after completing one of the fastest IPOs in banking, raising nearly $11 million in less than 60 days.

Cesar Rosas
Cesar Rosas has more than 20 years of executive experience in the areas of banking, fintech and corporate finance coupled with chairman and board of directors for profit and nonprofit companies.

John Shen
John Shen grew up in China and came to the U.S. in 1993 as a foreign student. He earned his undergraduate degree from Peking University in 1992 and a master’s degree in Statistics and Decision Sciences from Duke University in 1996.

Tom Bak
To say that Tom Bak kicked off his commercial real estate career with a bang would be no understatement. Just four years after taking on a role as a leasing agent with Trammell Crow Co. in 1985, he became one of the firm’s youngest partners.

Jeff Chiate
Jeff Chiate leads Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group – West team. The team, which also includes other members in the firm’s Orange County office, has been a preeminent industrial capital markets group in the western U.S.

Anne Bretaña
As co-managing director of the Gensler Newport Beach office, Anne Bretaña has more than 30 years of experience in the architectural design industry and is recognized for her leadership ability to create thoughtful, innovative workplace environments.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
The commercial real estate world was evolving and changing at a steady clip before the pandemic hit. Now it is morphing faster than ever.

Mike D. Dunn
In 1998, Mike Dunn was introduced to the real estate business and quickly fell in love with it. That year he was the “rookie of the year” for Fred Sands Platinum Properties, a company founded by Fred Sands in Los Angeles, known as the realtor to the stars.

Anthony F. DeLorenzo
Anthony DeLorenzo is a vice chairman with CBRE Capital Markets based in Newport Beach. With over 17 years of experience in the sale of commercial real estate, DeLorenzo co-leads an Investment Properties team responsible for the sale of office, industrial and medical office properties in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Brandon Dekker
Brandon Dekker is a principal for CannonDesign, a living-centered global design firm committed to empowering all people to flourish. He serves as the Irvine/San Diego office leader and has held a leadership role in the firm for more than a dozen years.

John Drachman
John Drachman is co-founder and head of Capital Markets for Waterford. Since starting his predecessor firm, Stillwater Investment Group, in 2014, Drachman has acquired and been a partner in over $2.8 billion of office, retail and apartment assets in Southern California.

John Combs
Since founding RiverRock Real Estate Group (RREG) in 2003, John Combs has built the firm into one of the most respected commercial real estate firms on the West Coast.

Christopher J. Cumella
Christopher Cumella and Jeffrey Johnson cofounded Cypress West Partners, LLC to acquire, develop and manage healthcare properties across the United States. Cumella directs all aspects of Cypress West’s strategic development, including property investments and acquisitions.

Kris Hoffman
As the chief revenue officer for Green Street, Kris Hoffman is responsible for revenue-generating activities in the U.S. and Europe.

Jeff Ingham
As senior managing director and markets lead for the JLL Orange County office, Jeff Ingham had several notable accomplishments in the past two years. In 2021, he led a team that increased revenue by approximately 33 percent over 2019.

Ed Hanley
Ed Hanley is president and founder of Orange County-based Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a real estate brokerage and advisory services company that specializes in the sale of retail properties nationwide – ranging from single-tenant properties to multi-tenant retail properties, and anchored-shopping centers.

Debora Leighton Favaretto
Debora Favaretto is a senior associate and a healthcare sustainable design lead for CannonDesign. She is highly motivated, ambitious and ever-focused on influencing the creation of climate positive environments.

Kim Gros
Kim Gros’ unique vision for outdoor urban eateries built sustainably within shipping containers began on her long daily commute to Disney in Burbank and came to life — thanks to her creativity, resourcefulness and sheer tenacity — in the SteelCraft concept.

Jeffrey Johnson
Jeff Johnson is responsible for oversight of Cypress West’s corporate and property operations, including accounting, property management, leasing, construction management and investor services.

Brian Malliet
Newport Beach-based BKM Capital Partners’ CEO Brian Malliet is a strong, dynamic and respected executive in the commercial real estate sector who exemplifies the type of leader who stepped up and persevered during one of the most challenging times facing the industry over the past two years.

Matthew Mousavi
Under the direction of Matthew Mousavi and co-founder Patrick Luther, SRS Real Estate Partners’ National Net Lease Group (NNLG) closed 2021 with 830 transactions in nearly 40 states,...

Gleb Lvovich
Gleb Lvovich is a managing director for JLL Capital Markets in Orange County. Despite a challenging capital markets environment, he completed nearly $500 million in retail sales in the last year in Southern California,...

Grant Keene
WJK Development Co., led by its president and CEO Grant Keene, continues to grow and flourish as a real estate development and investment company.

Arturo Nunez
Arturo Nunez joined Meridian in the summer of 2021 as a project manager responsible for the execution and implementation of buildto-suit, value add and ground up projects across the company portfolio.

Kevin Nyhoff
Since joining the firm in 2021, he has strengthened collaboration across all of CannonDesign’s California offices as they elevate design excellence.

Jennifer Lynn Whittington
Jennifer Whittington joined CBRE in 2015 to focus on office agency leasing assignments in Orange County, utilizing her 22 years of commercial real estate experience to develop and implement creative and strategic real estate solutions for clients.

Rachel Skiba
Rachel Skiba leads business development and client relations in Southern California for DPR Construction, a self-performing general contractor and construction manager specializing in technically complex and sustainable projects.

Sean Rawson
Waterford Property Company was founded in 2019 by Sean Rawson and John Drachman through a merger of Stillwater Investment Group and The Waterford Group. Rawson is a recognized leader in the multi-family development and investment industry. An expert in affordable housing, he has a deep understanding of tax credit financing and housing policy.

R.J. Sommerdyke
R.J. Sommerdyke joined Meridian in 2016 to augment its emerging Southern California expansion and has played a pivotal role in the firm’s growth. He works directly with new and existing healthcare clients and leads our acquisitions efforts throughout the region.

Sean Ward
Sean Ward has been with CBRE since 2004, virtually his entire career. He started as a sales assistant making over 100 marketing calls per day.

Randy Barth
Randy Barth is a longtime Santa Ana resident, educational entrepreneur and author, as well as the founder and CEO of Think Together, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization and California’s largest provider of afterschool education, expanded...

Antoinette Balta
Antoinette Balta is executive director and cofounder of the Veterans Legal Institute where she oversees and has responsibility for the overall management of the firm including business development, outreach, public relations, marketing, strategic planning and a light legal caseload.

EDUCATION AND NONPROFIT
During the last two years, and during a time of collective health and economic uncertainty, the education and nonprofit sectors have both played essential and future-focused roles in terms of keeping society prepared, protected and moving toward a better future.

Ramin Baschshi, M.D.
Since 2018, Dr. Ramin Baschshi has served as the CEO and president of Unlimited Possibilities (UP), an Orange County nonprofit providing disability services to over 5,000 children and families every year.

Michael J. Beals, Ph.D.
As president of Vanguard University, Orange County’s first four-year university, Dr. Michael Beals has brought something entirely new to the university in the form of unprecedented strategic growth.

Ali Borowsky
A remarkable example of resilience, compassion and inspiration, Ali Borowsky serves as founder and CEO of Find Your Anchor.

Dr. Lorry Leigh Belhumeur
Dr. Lorry Leigh Belhumeur, with nearly 40 years of professional experience in the mental health field, has been serving as chief executive officer at Orange County nonprofit Western Youth Services (WYS) for over 20 years.

William Bracken
Bill Bracken, founder and culinary director of Bracken’s Kitchen, is a nationally renowned chef who has accrued numerous awards and critical acclaim during his 35-year culinary career.

Wendy Kay Dailey
Wendy Dailey’s entrepreneurial spirit, determination and focus has led her to a career dedicated to seeing girls and women around the world achieve true joy and freedom. Her ultimate desire is to contribute to something greater than herself that has a lasting impact 100 years from now.

Logan Crow
A life-long cinema enthusiast, Crow has a 20+ year history working in and around film, from his early days volunteering at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater to his formation of bygone L.A.-based cult cinema site MondoCelluloid.com.

LaVal Brewer
As president and CEO of South County Outreach, it is LaVal Brewer’s goal to transform the organization’s Food Pantry into a place where people who are in short-term crisis situations can feel like they are shopping for nutritious, healthy food in a normal grocery store environment without having to pay.

Kristin Byrnes
Kristin Byrnes is chief executive officer and president of Project Access, one of the country’s most successful providers of vital on-site health, education and employment services, resulting in over 80 thriving affordable housing communities in 13 states nationwide and growing.

Gloria Jetter Crocket
Gloria Jetter Crockett serves as president and chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire. When presented with the opportunity to take the lead of the organization, she could not pass on the once-in-a-lifetime chance to advance the vision of the foundation.

Pamela Estes
As the stay-at-home orders came down in March 2020, Pam Estes led the team of over 50 staff and 20 board members with an uncompromising conviction to staying connected with the children and families they serve.

Diana Kimberly Farrell
Diana Farrell is an arts entrepreneur who has worked tirelessly to establish Lyric Opera of Orange County as the resident opera organization in Orange County.

Janet Fohrman
Janet Fohrman has been serving nonprofits in the areas of accounting and financial management for over 20 years. As founder and CEO of Fohrman & Fohrman, Inc., she has supported hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Southern California and beyond in pursuit of their missions.

Sue Grant
Sue Grant built an impactful career in cause marketing within the nonprofit industry. At the height of her career, equipped with 25 years of invaluable experience, she followed her heart’s calling and founded The Literacy Project to serve struggling, under-resourced children from low-income families.

Holly Hagler
As a passionate leader and advocate for seniors, Holly Hagler has remained a key pillar in bringing services to seniors in need across the county. At the height of the pandemic, food needs among the elderly in Orange County had increased by 600%.

Bo Glover
Bo Glover started at the Environmental Nature Center as a volunteer back in 1991. One thing led to another, and he found himself in the position of executive director of the ENC, holding that position since 1995.

Madelynn Hirneise
Madelynn Hirneise began her career at Families Forward in 2012 as a housing resource specialist, where she then served as the director of property acquisition and management and senior director.

Howard Gillman
Howard Gillman was appointed as the sixth chancellor of the University of California, Irvine (the only research university in Orange County and one of its most important anchoring institutions) by the University of California Board of Regents on September 18, 2014.

Jennifer Friend
Jennifer Friend’s personal experience as a homeless child in Orange County fuels her leadership at Project Hope Alliance to ensure that no child in the county is limited by their parent’s economic circumstances. Data shows that a student without a high school diploma is almost 400% more likely to be homeless as an adult.

Hannah Hollander
Frustrated at the lack of education and awareness surrounding domestic violence and abuse, something she had experienced firsthand, Hannah Hollander decided to share her story on Facebook,...

Meymuna Hussein-Cattan
Meymuna Hussein-Cattan’s remarkable journey began in an Ethiopian refugee camp in Somalia. Due to conflict, her parents both fled their birth countries at 12 and 15 years old, later met at the camp, married and started their family there.

Mara James
Mara James is the driving force behind Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF), the Orange County-based nonprofit organization she founded. ELF promotes children’s mental health and wellness while supporting families with awareness, education and resources.

April Josephson
April Josephson has been an animal welfare advocate for the past 27 years. She saw a need for an animal rescue and adoption facility in South County where residents would not have to travel as far to the main county shelter, originally in the city of Orange, to adopt a rescue pet.

Nithin Jilla
Nithin Jilla is the founder and executive director of Dreams for Schools. He is an educator, social entrepreneur and philanthropist following his passion to give back and help make an impact by combining his interests in education, technology and helping others.

Andi Kay
Bloom was created out of a need Andi Kay saw and a gap she wanted to fill. When she personally went through bullying, she researched available resources and found a ton of information and statistics,...

Maureen Maloof
Maureen Maloof comes from a financial background with a degree in accounting and an MBA. Starting as a bank manager at age 25, she has been working as a consultant for over 30 years in the financial and natural health care industries.

Adrienne Kessler
CEO Adrienne Kessler joined Buena Park’s Speech and Language Development Center in 2016 with the goal of revitalizing and expanding the 60-year-old legacy center.

Jodi Levine
Jodi Levine has been designing, living and teaching experientially-based environmental education professionally since 1999. Her teaching style incorporates outdoor, hands-on activities that awaken a sense of connection and stewardship between children and the natural world.

Lee Ann Kline
Lee Ann Kline is president and founder of STEM Advantage, a nonprofit organization celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022. She left her corporate role at Ernst & Young in October 2020 and is focused on STEM Advantage full-time, providing in-kind professional services.

Kate Marr
Kate Marr has devoted her entire 22-year career to working in legal services, first as a staff attorney working primarily with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

Mike Learakos
Mike Learakos has a 30+ year career across all spectrums of the food industry. In addition to being the president of Abound Food Care since 1993, Learakos also has extensive experience in food processing, procurement, facility design and distribution.

Danny Mendoza
Danny Mendoza is the founder and CEO of Together We Rise, an innovative Orange County nonprofit dedicated to transforming the way youth navigate the foster care system in America. Despite being only 19 at the time, he founded TWR in 2008 after he discovered that his nine-year-old cousin was living in a car.

Rochelle Mills
Since 2018, Rochelle Mills has served as president and CEO of Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO), an award-winning Orange Countybased nonprofit developer of high-quality, affordable housing.

Meghan Medlin
Meghan Medlin has been a leader in the workforce development and reentry community for over 16 years, providing direct service to individuals through skills building, employment, mentorship and advocacy.

Angie Rowe
Angie Rowe leads Beyond Blindness, a nonprofit with the mission of empowering children with visual impairments and other disabilities to achieve their fullest potential.

Dawn S. Reese
Dawn S. Reese leverages her unique blend of experience in business, technology, education and the arts to not only propel young people forward, but to also help the nonprofit sector remain innovative to better serve those in need.

Kelsey Rae Morgan
In 2015, Kelsey Rae Morgan founded Willow International to provide quality care and reintegration support for human trafficking survivors and transform global systems that fuel trafficking.

Maricela Rios-Faust
Maricela Rios-Faust is a leader in preventing and ending relationship violence through her work as CEO of nonprofit Human Options, one of the most comprehensive relationship violence service providers in Orange County, and her leadership on partnerships and collaboratives aimed at ending the cycle of violence.

James Palmer
For the last 36 years, Dr. James ‘Jim’ Palmer has been an extraordinary leader and a tireless champion for Orange County’s less fortunate individuals and families. Dr.

Cristol Barrett O’Loughlin
Cristol Barrett O’Loughlin is fiercely passionate about providing mental health services, emotional relief and personal connection to “Rare Mothers” – 350 million women globally who are caring for a loved one with a rare genetic disease.

Erin D. Runnion
Erin Runnion is the founding director of The Joyful Child Foundation - In Memory of Samantha Runnion, a nonprofit organization established in September 2002, which is dedicated to preventing crimes against children through programs that educate, empower, and unite families and communities.

Lucy Santana
Under Lucy Santana’s 20+ years of leadership, Girls Inc. of Orange County has grown into one of the strongest chapters of Girls Inc. nationally. Santana and her team directly impact more than 4,500 girls in O.C.

Gregory C. Scott
Gregory C. Scott serves as president & CEO of Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAP OC), part of a leading national network championing the war on poverty,...

Martha Nix Wade
Martha Nix Wade endured childhood molestation for at least six years and began the healing process after her perpetrator’s actions became public. She was determined to dedicate her life to crime prevention and trauma recovery for crime survivors.

Gary Taylor
Gary Taylor Jr. is a true believer in the prevention of child abuse and comes from a family rooted in the values of public service. He worked for Latino Health Access prior to starting with The Raise Foundation (TRF).

Zach Southall
Zach Southall leads Charity on Wheels, which is a homeless outreach dedicated to getting people off the street and back on the road to self-reliance. He runs several weekly outreaches focused on finding those individuals who are ready to make a change.

Shawna Smith
Hope Builders is a workforce development agency that moves young adults from poverty to prosperity.

Vikki Shepp
A collaborative trailblazer, lifelong Girl Scout and enduring champion of girls’ and women’s causes, Vikki Shepp brings deep understanding of the youth leadership market and evolving needs of today’s girls to her role as CEO of Girl Scouts of Orange County (GSOC), a position she has held since January 2018.

Ronald Arlen Sherman
Dr. Ronald Sherman started studying myiasis and maggot therapy during medical school and published his first paper on the topic in 1983. He started the first prospective studies of maggot therapy in 1990 as a post-doctoral student at University of California, Irvine.

Ian Williamson
Recent disruptions have challenged many industries. Ian Williamson is focused on teaching leaders how to prepare their organizations to withstand these challenges.

Agar Yanulaytis
A full-time employee of Disneyland at the time, she made time to take charge of collections, note-writing and packing gift bags. She also secured several grants of $5,000 each. Now retired from Disney, she serves as a full-time manager for OI Anaheim.

Patricia A. Wenskunas
Patricia Wenskunas is the survivor of an attempted murder. She took her own experience and became a force for good, helping victims of violent crime rebuild their life and sense of safety.

Alan H. Beyer
Dr. Alan Beyer is a self-proclaimed “sports nut” who also happens to be board-certified in orthopedic surgery.

James T. Caillouette
Dr. James Caillouette is the Joan and Andy Fimiano endowed chair in Orthopedic Surgery for Hoag Memorial Hospital. He is a boardcertified orthopedic surgeon and specializes in hip and knee replacements, performing roughly 600 joint replacements annually.

HEALTHCARE
As Southern California regains a semblance of normalcy, leaders in the healthcare, biotech and life sciences space are left with challenging questions regarding operational protocols, regulatory compliance, insurance considerations and finance.

Pierre Bergougnan
Pierre Bergougnan is the founder and CEO of Marque Medical, a medical services company specializing in delivering high-quality urgent care to Southern California.

Kimberly Chavalas Cripe
As the pandemic has continued to create turmoil across the globe over the past two years, CHOC president and CEO Kimberly Chavalas Cripe has remained focused on protecting the health and wellbeing of Orange County’s children and families,...

David S. Gazzaniga
Dr. David Gazzaniga is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, including sports injuries and performing surgery for injuries of the knee, shoulder, elbow and hip.

Burton L. Eisenberg, M.D.
Burton Eisenberg, M.D., has spent his career dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients. Since 2013, he has served as executive medical director of Hoag Family Cancer Institute and is the Grace E. Hoag executive medical director endowed chair.

Sunil Narkar
Sunil Narkar manages a group of physicians who specialize in workers’ compensation, urgent care and primary care. In an ongoing attempt to make a difference in low-income communities, he formed AME Medical Group Inc. in 1997.

Michael Hunn
Michael Hunn has been the chief executive officer of CalOptima Health since November 2021 and his impact as a leader has been immediate. He set a strategic course for dynamic changes and has overseen unprecedented membership growth.

Richard T. Pitts, D.O., Ph.D.
Richard T. Pitts, D.O., Ph.D., joined CalOptima Health in February 2022 as chief medical officer. Dr. Pitts is a physician and health care executive with a 39-year distinguished career spanning clinical practice in emergency medicine,...

Michael Niccole
Dr. Michael Niccole is a double board-certified plastic surgeon and ENT who has helped assist hundreds of thousands of patients on their journey to confidence.

Chad Lefteris
As CEO, Chad Lefteris has led UCI Health, Orange County’s only academic medical center, and all clinical and patient-serving operations through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while accomplishing and surpassing financial and operational goals.

John Kao
John Kao is founder and CEO of Alignment Healthcare, a consumer-centric platform delivering customized health care to seniors and those who need it most, the chronically ill and frail, through its Medicare Advantage plans.

Kevin Sadati
He is known for creating natural, subtle results for his patients who don’t appear they’ve had work done. This can be credited to his experience, as well as his surgical finesse and natural artistic talent.

Ali Saffari
Ali Saffari is currently the director of innovation and new product development at Experian Health. In this role, he is a leader of the full new product lifecycle, driving high-performing teams to prioritize high-priority market problems and deliver scaled bottom-line impact.

Dan Rodrigues
Dan Rodrigues is chief executive officer and co-founder of Tebra, a leading cloud-based healthcare technology platform formed in 2021 with the merger.

Erica Solis
Erica Solis is the founder of Poppy Life Care, born from her vision to create a healthcare company that would disrupt the industry and the way families and individuals living with brain health issues are served.

Annette M. Walker
Annette M. Walker, the visionary president of City of Hope Orange County, is transforming the delivery of cancer care in the community she has called home for more than 40 years.

Gary Ulaner
Gary A. Ulaner, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.N.M. is the director of molecular imaging and therapy at Hoag Family Cancer Institute and the James & Pamela Muzzy endowed chair in molecular imaging and therapy.

Louis A. VanderMolen, M.D.
Dr. VanderMolen joined Keck Medicine in July 2014 after practicing in Orange County for over 20 years. He specializes in breast cancer and is the driving force behind Keck Medicine’s Orange County footprint.

Bicvan Brown
Bicvan Brown is an experienced employment attorney at Tressler LLP in Irvine. As chair of the firm’s national Labor and Employment Practice Group, Brown leads a large group of attorneys throughout the country.

Michele Sabo Assayag
In 1996, Michele Assayag co-founded the West Coast commercial finance and creditors’ rights law firm, Assayag Mauss. As managing partner, she grew her practice into a top-tier boutique firm with lawyers admitted to practice in California, Oregon and Washington.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
With so many questions and unchartered territories for businesses and individuals to traverse over the last few years, the services of trusted advisors have never been more critical.

Clifton W. Albright
Clifton Albright, president of Albright, Yee & Schmit, APC, specializes in labor and employment law and was the first attorney to win a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regarding its Public Health Service Training Program.

Karla Dennis
Karla Dennis is CEO and founder of Karla Dennis and Associates Inc. Known as a leading tax strategist, Dennis has been featured many times in high-profile media interviews sharing her expertise.

Debashis Chowdhury
Debashis Chowdhury is the president of (and an investment consultant at) Canterbury, serves on the board of directors and a shareholder of the firm. In his role as president, Chowdhury is responsible for firm strategy, consulting, investment research and business development.

James F. Davidson
Jim Davidson has more than 35 years of experience in business and corporate management, public accounting, management consulting and corporate financial advisory. He is managing director, president and shareholder of Avant Advisory Group, Inc.

Filemon Carrillo
Filemon Carrillo litigates state and federal franchise laws, IP rights, unfair competition and other complex business issues. He is a commercial litigator and concentrates his practice on representing franchisors, distributors and manufacturers in state and federal courts and arbitration.

Rhonda L. Ducote
Prior to embarking on her career in the financial advice industry, her education in design led her to discover her unique ability to creatively approach her two main passions: helping people achieve their financial dreams and developing people and teams to be their best.

Chet Cramin
His broad experience in real estate development and contract law covers real property sales transactions, commercial lease negotiations and related construction contracts.

Bruce Fischer
One word sums up Bruce Fischer’s legal career: prolific. As co-managing shareholder of the Orange County office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP and chair of the firm’s west coast real estate practice,...

Martin Florman
Martin P. Florman sits on Buchalter’s Board of Directors and is managing shareholder of the Orange County office.

Shannon Eusey
Shannon Eusey is a highly experienced executive with leadership expertise in areas of talent management, operations, marketing, business development and fintech. Currently, she is chief executive officer of Beacon Pointe Advisors, which she founded in 2002.

James C. Madden
Jim Madden is an O.C. entrepreneur, investor and pioneer of the Human Resource Business Process outsourcing (BPO) sector. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Exult, Inc., the Irvine-based, pioneer of HRBPO for Global 500 corporations.

Julian Freeman
Julian Freeman is a partner at Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP and a leading transactional attorney who specializes in all aspects of commercial real estate.

Sean Matsler
Sean Matsler is a partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson and a leading land use and natural resources attorney focusing on real estate. He specializes in securing entitlements for controversial and complex real estate development projects.

Sharon R. Klein
Sharon R. Klein is a recognized leader in privacy and data security law, as well as in her Orange County and professional communities. She is a Blank Rome partner; chair of her firm’s Privacy, Security & Data Protection practice; and managing partner of its Orange County office.

Irene Pyun Kim
Irene Pyun Kim has been an essential member of global law firm Greenberg Traurig’s commercial real estate practice for more than a decade.

Hoda Hajirnia
Hoda Hajirnia is setting out to master every aspect of real estate with wisdom and knowledge that garners a charismatic sense of confidence in negotiating any type of real estate transaction.

Eric Morley
Less than a decade into his marketing and media career, Eric Morley joined forces with friend and co-founder Jeff Bentley to create Blue C, a strategic branding and marketing agency.

Michael Mortenson
Michael Mortenson is a founding partner of Mortenson Taggart Adams LLP, which he launched in 2019. He is an experienced trial lawyer who represents and advises Fortune 500 companies,...

Isidro Miramontes
Sid Miramontes owns an award-winning financial services company that serves in the family office space. He and his team help business owners with wealth management, commercial insurance, capital raise and tax strategies.

Gina L. Miller
Gina Miller is a labor and employment litigation partner at Snell & Wilmer, a full-service business law firm with more than 450 attorneys practicing in 16 locations throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

Grant Moulden
Baptized into the complex world of healthcare when his son was born with a serious health complication, Grant Moulden forced himself to understand the insurance complexities people face every day.

Elizabeth M. Weldon
Elizabeth Weldon is a certified specialist in Franchise and Distribution Law, the State Bar of California and the Board of Legal Specialization. She concentrates her practice on business and franchise litigation, trial, judicial reference and arbitration.

Craig Taggart
Craig Taggart is a partner at Mortenson Taggart Adams LLP. Prior to starting his own firm, Taggart was an equity partner at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth in Newport Beach. He is a trial attorney who has worked on high-profile litigation matters in California and throughout the country.

Grace D. Winters
Grace Winters’ deep knowledge of the real estate sector has established her as the goto advisor for a wide range of clients – from major investment fund managers to multi-family housing developers to universities – as they consider expanding their real estate holdings throughout the country and across California and Orange County.

Rosemary Nunn
Rosemary Nunn is a partner in Musick, Peeler & Garrett’s Orange County office. She has 24 years of experience as a construction lawyer, specializing in drafting and negotiating project contracts;...

Cayla Whitley
Cayla Whitley is an associate in Tressler’s Labor & Employment Practice Group in the firm’s Orange County office, where she is an active member of the national Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

J.P. Shelly
J.P. Shelly started with Crowe LLP in Nashville in 2008. From 2008-2015, he led and managed internal and external audit engagements with financial institutions, including commercial banks, mortgage companies and factoring companies.