Alternativer Handel Klasser Los Angeles

R Brukerkonferansen 2014 Siste nyheter Om konferansen Viktige datoer Registrering Registreringssiden gjør det mulig for både å kjøpe konferansebilletter og (valgfritt) boliger på boligen i en enkelt bestilling. Opplæringsprogrammer er inkludert i konferanse billett Campus bolig UCLA har laget et begrenset antall sovesaler på campus tilgjengelig for konferanse gjester å bo. Disse rommene kan kjøpes hver natt sammen med konferanse billetten. To alternativer er tilgjengelige: et enkeltrom (privat) koster 134,00 per natt, mens et dobbeltrom (delt) er 87,00 per natt. Når du velger et dobbeltrom, vil registreringsskjemaet be om å nevne en annen konferanseserver som du vil dele rommet med. Vi forventer at gjester som ønsker å dele et rom, vil ta initiativ til å finne en romkompis, men organisasjonsutvalget kan gi litt assistanse om nødvendig. Når du kjøper boliger på campus, må du dobbeltkjekke at verdien i Antall netter-rullegardinmenyen stemmer overens med antall valgte bokser. Dessverre ser ikke skjemaet til leverandøren ut til å verifisere dette og bare kostnader for antall netter som ble valgt i rullegardinmenyen. Dette er litt forvirrende, men utenfor vår kontroll. Åpenbart kan du bare holde så mange netter som du kjøpte :-) Betaling ved forretningskontroll Hvis din institusjon eller bedrift tillater deg å betale med sine midler, så send den institusjonelle eller forretningsmessige kontrollen omgående for å sikre at registreringen din er fullført. Hvis vårt kontor ikke mottar en gyldig kontroll for betaling i sin helhet før 6114, eller hvis den er uærlig på noen måte, kanselleres registreringen uten varsel. Full betaling av alle kostnader er nødvendig betaling av noen avgifter, men ikke andre som bruker denne metoden er ikke tillatt. Tjekken må kun utføres i amerikanske dollar til Regents of University of California med notatfelt som angir UseR2014-registrering for ditt navn og kvitteringsnummer. Postadressen er UCLA Department of Statistics attn. J Valenzuela, Box 951554, 8125 Math Sciences Building, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1554 USA. Ved å velge alternativet Betal med institusjonelle kontroller, godtar du å følge de ovennevnte kravene i sin helhet. Inviterte samtaler John Chambers - Grensesnitt, effektivitet og store data Bruken av R fortsetter å vokse, spesielt i antall og mangfold av pakker som gjelder R for et bredt spekter av datakilder og analytiske teknikker. Samtidig er statistikken for tiden varm, spesielt ved implikasjon i datavitenskap og store data. I sammenheng har disse fenomenene stimulert interessen for å forbedre bruken av R for applikasjoner med store krav til beregning og datastørrelse. Å respondere fornuftig krever at du forstår den essensielle modellen i R for beregning og data faktisk. Nøkkelbegrepene går helt tilbake til begynnelsen av S. Utfordringene har vokst enormt, men så har alternativene og potensielle verktøy. Denne diskusjonen diskuterer ulike tilnærminger, og bruker som eksempler noen lovende nåværende prosjekter. slides Martin Mchler - God praksis i R Programmering Ved første brukR-møte i Wien i 2004 hadde jeg presentert syv retningslinjer for god R programmeringspraksis jeg ringte til regler. Revisiting, jeg vil spørre hvor mye har endret seg - eller ikke. Navnegrupper har gitt enda mer begrunnelse for å understreke funksjoner som hovedrediensene i mye av god R-kode. Vi har flere og bedre verktøy for reproduserbar forskning og data analyse i dag, og jeg berører noen konsekvenser jeg ser for brukRs kode organisasjon. Som noen av det har vært min spesialitet innen R Core, vel også se nærmere på noen aspekter av en generalisert FAQ 7.31 og hva hvert program skal vite om dataregning. Dirk Eddelbuettel - R, C og Rcpp I løpet av de siste årene har Rcpp blitt et nøkkelverktøy for å utvide R med kompilert kode. I denne snakk begynner vi å se på konteksten for bruk av C i R. Deretter illustrerer vi kort både brukervennlighet, samt kraften til Rcpp. Vi vurderer deretter veksten av Rcpp før vi gir noen kommentarer om CRAN-pakkeøkosystemet som er hentet fra både vår erfaring med Rcpp og vår erfaring med å levere komponenter av Debian Ubuntu-pakkesystemet. slides David Diez - lærebøker kamp hvor programvaren lykkes Bruken av åpen kilde lærebøker i klasserommet har slitt seg for å holde tritt med adopsjon av åpen kildekode programvare i forskning som R. Det er stor etterspørsel etter kursressurser som lærebøker, men adopsjon av open source-alternativer av instruktører har vært sakte. OpenIntro (openintro. org) har vært et av lagene som utvikler et økosystem med gratis kursressurser for innledende statistikk. Jeg diskuterer hvorfor åpen kilde i klasserommet er annerledes enn åpen kildekode. Jeg gir det aller første offentlige titt på harde tall på OpenIntros fremgang (inkludert) og jeg diskuterer hvordan jeg skal delta i den åpne utdanningsbevegelsen. lysbilder Karline Soetaert - Løsning av differensialligninger i R R er blitt det mest brukte systemet for statistisk dataanalyse, men den passer også til andre fag innen vitenskapelig databehandling. Et av feltene hvor det er gjort betydelige framskritt, er den numeriske løsningen av differensialligninger. Differensialekvasjoner er den matematiske formalismen som uttrykker bevaringslover av f. eks. energi, momentum, masse, og brukes ofte i mange tekniske og vitenskapelige disipliner. Flere R-pakker som jeg (co-) forfatter: deSolve, rootSolve, bvpSolve og ReacTran, tillater effektivt å løse og analysere et stort utvalg av deterministiske differensiallikninger. De består av vanlige differensialligninger, initialverdier og grenseværdighetsproblemer, differensielle algebraiske ligninger, partielle differensialligninger og forsinkelsesforskjellekvasjoner. I min tale vil jeg vise hvordan differensialligningsproblemer kan løses i R, hvordan man håndterer numerisk utfordrende problemer, hvordan eksterne data kan håndteres, hvordan resultatene kan plottes, sammenlignet forskjellige scenarier. Jan de Leeuw og Katharine Mullen - Journal of Statistical Software: Tidligere, Present, Future JSS ble etablert i 1996. Blant de opprinnelige formålene var å fremme åpen tilgang publisering, fremme åpen kildekode programvare og fremme den nye UCLA Department of Statistics. I tillegg ønsket vi å gjøre det mulig for programvareforfattere å motta akademisk kreditt for deres arbeid. Fra starten bestemte vi oss for en rent frivillig modell, uten økonomiske kostnader for både forfattere eller lesere, og ingen økonomiske fordeler for redaktører eller anmeldere. I denne presentasjonen vurderer vi JSS historie, utviklingen i form og innhold, samspillet med R-prosjektet og de virkelige og forventede problemene i ledelsen. lysbilder Dette året er det ingen egen registreringsprosess eller ekstra gebyr for å delta i opplæringen. Tutorials er inkludert i en konferanse billett. Ingen datamaskiner vil bli gitt for opplæringsprogrammer. Hvis du vil følge med og kjøre kode, anbefaler vi at du tar med din egen datamaskin. Det viser seg at konferansesalene har svært få strømforsyninger. Hvis du ønsker å lade opp enhetene dine hele dagen, bør du vurdere å ta med en skjøteledning eller strimler for å dele et stikkontakt med andre brukere. Vi beklager denne ulempen. Morgen Tutorials Mandag 9:15 Sosialt Program Konferansens åpningsavdeling, 30. juni, vil inneholde en utendørs vin og hors mottakelse. Dette er muligheten til å blande seg sammen med en svært bred internasjonal representasjon av R-brukere av alle striper og størrelser, og å møte konferansens høyttalere og medlemmer av programkomiteen og organisasjonsutvalget for en-mot-en samtale. Det er ingen ekstra kostnad for denne resepsjonen, selv om du må være registrert for å bli tatt opp. Konferansesaletten er planlagt til kvelden 2. juli. Det vil være en uteservering innen gangavstand fra konferansesenteret. Denne hendelsen har en tilleggsavgift for hver deltaker i tillegg til konferansegebyrets avgifter, men er åpen for familiemedlemmer og barn. Flere detaljer om denne banketten, og menyen, vil bli lagt ut her snart. Hvis du er interessert i å holde en bestemt sosial begivenhet under konferansen, vennligst kontakt organiseringskomiteen med detaljer på dmcaatucla. edu så snart som mulig. Vi vil forsøke å imøtekomme alle forespørsler, selv om visse restriksjoner gjelder. Hver hendelse vil bli beskrevet i dette rommet som de er bekreftet. Se på denne plassen nøye. LA R møtet: Rs sted i produksjonsmiljøet En felles hendelse av LA R møtet og brukR 2014 konferansen vil bli avholdt 1. juli i Palisades Ballroom kveld med mat, nettverk, en snakk og et panel. Vi liker å samle LA og verdensomspennende R-fellesskapet i dette tilfellet gratis for alle å delta. De som ikke er på konferansen, må registrere seg her. (Lokal - og parkeringsinformasjon for ikke-konferansedeltakere er også inkludert der.) Takket være den økende forretningsmessige betydningen av dataanalyse, finner R en nisje i programvareproduksjonsmiljøet. Men denne rollen er ikke uten sine utfordringer. Vi er et panel av industrieksperter som bruker R i produksjon. Vi gir en oversikt over hvordan R passer inn i selskapene våre, fremhever viktige verktøy og identifiserer hullene i plattformen. Formatet vil bli en 20 minutters oversiktsprat etterfulgt av et moderert panel QampA. Tidslinje: 6: 30-7: 30 pm: mat og nettverk 7: 30-9: 00 pm: introduksjon, åpningssamtale, panel LA R møtes og brukR 2014 vert: Szilrd Pafka. Chief Scientist, Epok Åpningsanbefalinger: Yasmin Lucero, Senior statistiker, Gravity-AOL Panel moderator: Tareef Kawaf, President, RStudio Panelists: Pete Meyer, Seniorannonser Kvalitetsstatistiker, Google Alex Toth, Operasjonsingeniør, Gravity-AOL Ajay Gopal, Direktør for Datavitenskap og Analytics, CARD Vladimir Ryzhov, Spillanalytiker, Activision Hilary Parker, Dataanalytiker, Etsy Målgruppemodatør: Irina Kukuyeva, Senior Biostatistiker, Virtual PICU Systems En samtale om Rs Gender Gap: Bruk hennes paneloppsummering av: Stephanie A. Kovalchik , skovalchrand. org På dette året brukerR R konferanse på den vakre Los Angeles campus for Universitetet i California, for første gang i konferansearrangementet, ble det arrangert en begivenhet med fokus på mangel på kvinner i R-samfunnet. Hennes panel ble organisert av meg selv og Gabriela de Quieroz, grunnlegger av R-damer. og inkluderte en imponerende gruppe av 5 kvinnelige utviklere: Heather Turner. Statistisk konsulent og medforfatter av gnm - og gslcca-pakkene Karline Soetaert. Institutt for økosystemstudier, Institutt for havforskning og Forfatter av pakker deSolve og FME Amelia Mcnamara. Doktorand i statistikk, UCLA Vivian Shangxuan Zhang. CTOCo-grunnlegger av SupStat Inc, grunnlegger av NYC Data Science Academy Gabriela Queiroz. Grunnlegger av R-damer amp Data Scientist ved Alpine Data Labs Panel Diskusjoner (fra venstre til høyre): Karline Soetaert, Heather Turner, Vivian Zhang, Amelia Mcnamara, Gabriela Queiroz Panelet diskuterte en rekke utfordrende spørsmål før et pakket publikum av mannlige og kvinnelig bruk Flere visninger fra panelet og publikum ble delt. Hvis du savnet samtalen, ville jeg oppsummere noen av de store opptakene. Rs kjønnsforskjell. Panelet åpnet med en diskusjon av forsøk Karline og jeg selvstendig har gjort for å forstå prosentandelen kvinner som aktivt forfatter R-pakker. Våre estimater tyder på at 10-15 av dagens pakker på CRAN har blitt skrevet av kvinner (se figuren under). Det var mindre klart hvor mange kvinner er brukere av R, og det var en generell oppfordring til forskning for å få mer nøyaktig statistikk om Rs kjønnsforskjell. Tim Hesterberg beskrev en undersøkelse som Google gjennomførte for å forstå mulige barrierer for kvinner som skriver programvare. Resultatene ble nylig publisert som en rapport med tittelen kvinner som velger datavitenskap, som virkelig betyr at den rapporten identifiseres 1) sosial oppmuntring, 2) selvoppfattelse, 3) faglig eksponering og 4) karriereoppfattelse som de viktigste kontrollerbare faktorene som påvirker kvinners valg av karriere i datavitenskap. Det ville være viktig å avgjøre om og hvordan disse samme faktorene påvirker kvinnens bidrag til R. Hvilke disipliner fyller R-fellesskapet Panelet diskuterte skillet mellom representasjon av kvinner i statistiskbiostatistiske felt hvor kvinner er omtrent like representert i kandidatprogrammer, for eksempel og R samfunnet. Noen argumenterte imidlertid for at mange R-brukere kommer fra datavitenskap, næringsliv og fysikk, hvor kjønets ubalanse kan være sammenlignbar med ubalansen i R-fellesskapet. For bedre å forstå hvilke områder kvinnelige R-brukere kan være underrepresentert, er det behov for statistikk om alder og disipliner for brukRs. Samfunnet. Alle panelistene ble enige om at Rs lidenskapelige og dedikerte samfunn er en av de tingene de elsker om språket. Å ha mer innsats for å få kontakt med andre R-brukere kan derfor være en viktig måte å oppmuntre til kvinners større engasjement i samfunnet. Smalere kjønnsforskjellen. Det var to hovedstrategier som panelistene og deltakerne identifiserte for å begrense Rs kjønnsforskjell. Først blir reklame og reklame for R-programvaren utviklet av kvinner. For det andre, mer innsats for å få kvinner til å utvikle R-pakker. For det andre opprettelsen av flere muligheter for kvinner til å lære, bruke og utvikle R. Paneldeltakerne nevnte eksempler som R-ladies og rOpenSci hackathons rekrutteringstiltak som eksempler på tiltak som har hjulpet kvinnelige programmerere til å bli mer involvert i R-samfunnet. Vi håper at panelet hennes er en katalysator for ytterligere fellesskapsløs innsats for å oppmuntre flere kvinner til å bidra med høykvalitetsutviklingen i R. Vekst på CRAN har historisk fulgt en eksponensiell frekvens på rundt 40 per år. Vi tror at kvinner programmerere kan gjøre det bedre, og vi vil gjøre det til vårt mål å se kvinnelige forfatterpakker vokse 50 ved bruk 2015. Spise i Los Angeles Antall restauranter i Los Angeles-området er nær 10 000, som representerer mange hundre forskjellige matstiler. Dessverre har du sannsynligvis ikke nok tid til å smake dem alle. Hvis du er interessert i prøvetaking noe du aldri har hatt anledning til å prøve før eller bare savner favorittretten din, er det høyst sannsynlig at en bestemt gastronomisk pris vil være tilgjengelig et sted i området. Det er mange internettressurser som gir detaljert råd om denne saken, ofte med eksakte menyer, priser og bilder: Søk etter søkeordsetningen Los Angeles restaurantguide for startere. Store attraksjoner for familien Los Angeles er verdenskjent for sin vell av underholdning. Dette nettstedet kan ikke begynne å gjøre rettferdighet til det ekstraordinære spekteret av gode ting som er tilgjengelige i dette området. Lesere oppfordres til å søke på de mange internettressursene som er viet til dette emnet: For eksempel, prøv søkeordsetningene som Los Angeles attraksjoner og Los Angeles gratis arrangementer Bare en kort spasertur fra konferansesenteret, er UCLA hjemmet til det berømte Fowler Museum. utforske globale kunst og kulturer med vekt på verk fra Afrika, Asia, Stillehavet og Americaspast og stede. Opptak er gratis, selv om museet er stengt mandager og tirsdager. Noen få minutters gange videre inn i tilstøtende samfunnet av Westwood er Hammer Museum. en verdensklasse unik, banebrytende kunstinstitusjon som forbinder klassikerne og samtidene gjennom sine varierte samlinger, brede utstillinger og provoserende programmer. Opptak er gratis, selv om museet er stengt på mandager. I nærheten av UCLA-campus er det verdensberømte J. Paul Getty-museet på Getty Center, som huser europeiske malerier, tegninger, skulptur, opplyste manuskripter, dekorative kunst og europeiske og amerikanske fotografier i en spektakulær arkitektonisk setting. Opptak er gratis, selv om museet er stengt på mandager. Konferansepersonell vil gjerne gi kart på campus, kart og råd om attraksjoner i umiddelbar nærhet og over det større Los Angeles-bassenget. Vårt konferanseservice-skrivebord vil bli bemannet på heltid under konferansen, i hovedfeltet til Carnesale Commons. Abstrakt bok Boken med medfølgende abstrakte er tilgjengelig her. OECD Data Contest Data Visualization Contest useR 2014. OECD, er designet for å vise potensialet til R for analyse og visualisering av store og komplekse datasett. Programmet for International Student Assessment (PISA) er en verdensomspennende studie utviklet av Organisasjonen for økonomisk samarbeid og utvikling (OECD) for å undersøke ferdighetene til 15-årige skoleelever over hele verden. Studiet vurderer studentene matematikk, vitenskap og leseferdigheter og inneholder et vell av informasjon om studentens bakgrunn, skole og organisering av utdanningssystemet. For de fleste land er prøven rundt 5000 studenter, men i noen land er tallet enda høyere. Totalt inneholder PISA 2012 datasettet data på 485 490 elever. Denne konkurransen illustrerer det brede spekteret av mulige analyse - og visualiseringsverktøy som kan brukes med PISA og hvordan deltakerne kunne kreativt bruke styrken i PISA datasettet i to brede områder: Spor 1: Skoleemne: betydningen av skolefaktorer i å forklare akademisk ytelse. Spor 2: Ulikheter i akademisk prestasjon. Alle innsendinger er tilgjengelige her. I spor 1 var det tre uavgjort: 1. Dianne Cook (rektor), Luke Fostvedt, Ian Lyttle, Alex Shum fra Iowa State University. 2. Luke Fostvedt (rektor), Dianne Cook, Ian Lyttle, Alex Shum fra Iowa State University. Vinneren i spor 2 er PhD student Denis Willett. Klikk på bildet for å navigere til et google kart med interessante steder. På mobiltelefoner, sørg for å åpne med Google Maps Engine-appen (i stedet for Google Maps eller nettleser). UCLA Campus I 2014 vil konferansen bli avholdt i Los Angeles, ved University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). Los Angeles er den nest mest befolkede byen i USA, etter New York City. UCLA var et av to opprinnelige offentlige universiteter i California, etter UC Berkeley. Det er en stor universitetscampus med rundt 40 000 studenter (30 000 studenter, 10 000 studenter) og 4 000 fakultetsledere. På grunn av sin beliggenhet i Los Angeles, har UCLA blitt omtalt mange ganger i filmer og TV-programmer. UCLA ligger omtrent syv miles fra Stillehavet og åtte miles fra Hollywood. Weve har lært at GoogleEarth har en fryktelig forvrengt syn på Carnasale Commons møtesal, og at både GoogleStreetView og Bing Maps tilbyr grundig utdaterte visninger som viser massiv konstruksjon. Vi kan forsikre deg uten forbehold om at den nesten helt nye salen er komplett og i veldig fin strukturell stand. Det ble bygget på en ganske bratt bakke, så inngangen på østsiden av bygningen, på Charles Young Drive, er faktisk 3 nivåer under hovedhallen, og toppetasjen er på gatenivå på DeNeve Drive og Sunset Commons. Alle konferanses aktiviteter vil foregå i og umiddelbart rundt denne innstillingen. Se den opp på det interaktive campuskartet og søk etter Carnasale. Værmelding Prognoserte temperaturer under konferansen vises på målet for å være komfortabelt på 80-tallet F i løpet av dagen og midten av 60-tallet F om natten (f. eks. 27 ° C. 18 ° C) med lav luftfuktighet. Nedbør er ikke forutsatt nå, kanskje sporadisk kystnære tåke. Den gjennomsnittlige temperaturen i umiddelbar nærhet under konferansen forventes å være en veldig behagelig 73 grader Fahrenheit (23 grader Celsius). Andre steder over større Los Angeles i samme periode forventer vi 79 grader Fahrenheit (26 grader Celsius). Dagslyset varer 14,5 timer (solskjerm anbefales når du er ute av døren). Kvelder vil kjøle seg til ca 63 F (17 C). Lysjakker eller gensere bør være mer enn tilstrekkelig om natten. Selv om været over hele verden i det siste har vært ubemannet, kan vi opplyse at gjennomsnittlig sannsynlighet for nedbør under konferansen er estimert til å være bare 4. Relativ fuktighet er typisk mildt, sjelden faller under 48 (behagelig) eller over 95 ( veldig fuktig). Typiske vindhastigheter varierer fra 0 mph til 14 mph (rolig til moderat bris). Rekreasjon Inkludert med din betalt Konferanse registrering er opptak på individuell basis til alle UCLA campus rekreasjonsfasiliteter. John Wooden Center og Sunset Canyon Recreation Center inkluderer svømmebassenger, vektrom, tennisbaner, racquetballbaner og håndballbaner. Parkeringstillatelser kreves til enhver tid for alle biler parkert på campus. Avgiften er USD 12,00 per kjøretøy per dag. Kjøretøy uten tillatelser er underlagt billett og tauing. Du kan kjøpe parkeringstillatelser ved en campus parkeringskiosk ved ankomst, eller ved interaktive kiosker i de fleste parkeringshus. For å se alle garasjer med interaktive kiosker, se dette kartet. Hovedparkeringskiosken ligger på Westwood Blvd nær Strathmore Pl. og nærmeste parkeringshus til konferansefasiliteten er merket SV og og RC på hovedkampuskartet. For mer informasjon om parkering, se parkeringsplassen for campus. Røykepolitikk UCLA er et røykfritt miljø. Bruk av sigaretter, sigarer, tyggetobak og alle andre tobakksprodukter, inkludert elektroniske sigaretter, er forbudt på UCLAs campus og på steder eid eller leid av universitetet. Tobakkbruk og eksponering for bruksrøyk forblir de viktigste årsakene til forebygges sykdom og død over hele verden, har UCLA kansler notert i et åpent brev om denne siste politiske endringen. UCLA går med hundrevis av høgskoler og universiteter landsomfattende som har vedtatt tobakkfrie eller røykfrie retningslinjer. Alkoholpolitikk Alle deltakere skal overholde universitetslover og retningslinjer for besittelse og forbruk av alkoholholdige drikkevarer. Besittelse av åpne eller synlige beholdere hvor som helst, bortsett fra innenfor et tildelt rom hvor døren er stengt (for gjester som er eldre enn 21 år) eller ved et UCLA-arrangement er strengt forbudt. Alle regler som regulerer kontrollerte stoffer og besittelse av utstyr for tiltenkt eller underforstått bruk av kontrollerte stoffer, observeres i sin helhet. Trakasseringspolitikk BrukR2014 ved UCLA er dedikert til å gi en konferanse fri for trakassering for alle, uansett kjønn, kjønnsidentitet og uttrykk, seksuell orientering, funksjonshemning, fysisk utseende, kroppsstørrelse, rase, alder eller religion. Vi tolererer ikke trakassering av konferansedeltakere i noen form. Trakassering omfatter offensive verbale kommentarer relatert til kjønn, kjønnsidentitet og uttrykk, seksuell orientering, funksjonshemning, fysisk utseende, kroppsstørrelse, rase, religion, seksuelle bilder i offentlige rom, bevisst trusler, stalking, etterfølging, plagsom fotografering eller opptak, vedvarende forstyrrelse av samtaler eller andre hendelser, upassende fysisk kontakt og uvelkommen seksuell oppmerksomhet. Seksuelt språk eller bilder er ikke egnet for samtaler, plakater, utstillere, eller sosiale og spisesteder. Violatorer kan bli sanksjonert, inkludert å bli utvist fra konferansen uten refusjon, etter eget skjønn av konferanseorganiseringskomiteen. For mer informasjon, ressurser og offisiell politikk angående dette emnet, se UCLAs nettsted. Sunset Commons-området vil ha innkvarteringsmuligheter og tilgang til de viktigste spisesalene. Overnattingstjenester er åpne 24 timer i døgnet Innsjekking er når som helst etter 16:00. Hvis du har registrert deg for konferansen, men ikke har sikret din innkvartering, er det nå på tide å besøke hovedkonferansens nettside på user2014.stat. ucla. edu. gå tilbake til samme registreringsinnlegg hyperkobling du først besøkte, hopp over registrering og gå direkte til ditt valg av rom og datoer. Bruk vennligst identisk navn og e-postadresse som når du først registrerte deg. Rommene er sitert på en per person basis. (Vi beklager å si at de spesielle konferansene på lokale deltakende hoteller utenfor campus ikke lenger er tilgjengelig for nykommere.) For de av dere som har valgt å ikke bli på campus, er spisebutikker tilgjengelig for kjøp på logistikkstasjonene. En gang til, en rask påminnelse: Det er ingen ledig parkering hvor som helst på campus, og siden parkeringsrestriksjoner blir strenuously håndhevet på alle nærliggende gater, kan du planlegge å parkere på campus mye bare med en skikkelig UCLA-parkeringstillatelse som kan kjøpes fra en parkering kiosk daglig. Det nærmeste partiet til konferansesenteret er Lot SV. Vær oppmerksom på at konferansearrangørene har liten eller ingen kontroll over Los Angeles-trafikken, selv om vi har prøvd. Mens du vurderer å overnatte, kan du også tenke på konferansebarnetten om kvelden 2. juli. Den er tilgjengelig for kjøp gjennom samme registreringsinnkvartering hyperkobling, og vil kun være åpen for de som har kjøpt en bankettbillett på forhånd. Sitteplass er fortsatt tilgjengelig for øyeblikket. Campusboliger UCLA tilbyr moderne rom med klimaanlegg, kabel-TV, gratis trådløs høyhastighets Internett-tilkobling, telefon på rommet, to enkeltsenger, eget eller felles bad mellom to rom og daglig rengjøring. Overnattingsstedene er beleilig plassert ved siden av møterom og store spisesteder. Det er døgnåpen resepsjonstjenester for innsjekking, meldinger og informasjon. Alle rommene er røykfrie. Et utpekt antall soverom møter også amerikanere med funksjonshemmingskrav (ADA) krav. Akseptable rom for funksjonshemmede vil bli tilbudt til samme pris som de rommene som avtales av konferansen. For å sikre at spesifikke rom er oppgitt, vennligst send en epost før 6914 til dmcaatucla. edu som beskriver behovene til noen funksjonshemmede, slik at UCLA Conference Services kan informeres. Konferansearrangørens forpliktelse er å sikre at programmet utføres på en slik måte at det er tilgjengelig for alle funksjonshemmede. Gjester som tar med seg egen PC-laptop, kan få tilgang til Internett direkte via Ethernet-porten i soverommene. For å få tilgang til Internett må gjestene ha Ethernet-kortet på sin dataprogramvare. Hvis gjestene ikke har sitt eget Ethernet-kort, kan de kjøpe en gjennom Covel Business Center som ligger rett overfor Sunset Village. Hvert soverom er utstyrt med en telefon som gir gratis tilgang til UCLA campus-utvidelser, med gratis tilgang til lokale samtaler innenfor en bestemt radius på campus. For å foreta lokale og langdistanse samtaler, må gjestene bruke et forhåndsbetalt telefonkort. Telefonkort er tilgjengelig for salg i resepsjonen til hvert boliganlegg. Alle overnattingssteder er solgt på pakkeplan og inkluderer rom, daglige måltider og bruk av UCLAs rekreasjonsfasiliteter av olympisk kvalitet. Måltider er alt du trenger å spise. Universitetet i California Los Angeles er et røykfritt anlegg. Nærliggende Hoteller Rabatterte konferansesatser har blitt forhandlet med flere høykvalitets hoteller i Westwood-området, inkludert følgende: Westwood (W Hotels). Spesiell konferansepris på 199 for en spektakulær dronningssuite. I midten av Westwood Village, nærliggende lokale restauranter, butikker og barer. Parkering 38.50. Ingen pendelbuss. Gangavstand fra konferanse 2,1 miles over campus, moderat anstrengende for fotgjengere på grunn av noen åser. Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel. Spesiell konferansepris på 185 for et superior rom, 229 for en suite. Parkering er 18 pendelbuss vil være tilgjengelig. Avstand fra konferanse 1.2 miles, vanskelig for fotgjengere på grunn av åser og gaten trafikk. Hotel Angeleno. Spesiell konferanseprising på 159 enkeltrom eller dobbeltrom. Gratis parkering og transport. Avstand fra konferanse 2,1 miles, vanskelig for fotgjengere på grunn av åser og gaten trafikk. Royal Palace Westwood Spesiell konferansepris på 159 for enkeltseng, 169 for enkeltseng, 179 for to senger. Gratis parkering, ingen pendelservice. Avstand fra konferanse 2,2 km, moderat anstrengende for fotgjengere på grunn av åser og konstruksjon. Hvis du velger å reservere et rom på en av disse fine fasilitetene, må du ringe sine kontorer direkte, ettersom internettprisene kan eller ikke reflekterer den nedsatte konferansefrekvensen. Alle de ovennevnte prisene er underlagt en 14 hotellrom skatt, som er alle hoteller og moteller i dette området. Skulle du velge å bo på et av disse etablissementene eller noen av flere dusin andre i Westwood, Santa Monica, Culver City eller Beverly Hills-områdene som omgir UCLA-campus, vær så snill å trene når du kartlegger din generelle reiserute som trafikkmønstre i dette kupert område kan være kjærlig krevende. Dette gjelder spesielt i løpet av rushtid som skjer i løpet av et par flere timers perioder hver dag. Det som kan oppstå som en enkel jakt på et kart over området i to dimensjoner, kan utgjøre uventede utfordringer for uønsket. UCLA-campusen gjennomgår for tiden betydelig konstruksjon, og selv de nyeste kartene viser kanskje ikke nødvendig gang - og kjøreveier. Vær oppmerksom på at dagtidsparkering på konferansen vil bli belastet, at måltider er tilgjengelige for kjøp på konferansesenteret gjennom deres måltidskortssystem (alle måltidsbilletter kjøpt på individuelt basis er underlagt 9 California Sales Tax). Tallrike restauranter kan finnes i hele regionen, og mange andre fasiliteter er tilgjengelige i både umiddelbar nærhet og over større Los Angeles-området. Hvis dette er ditt første besøk til Los Angeles, kan du utforske lokale reisebyråer i din hjemby samt internett for å få mer informasjon. Reiseinformasjon Den mest praktiske flyplassen for å få tilgang til UCLA er Los Angeles internasjonale flyplass (LAX). Fra LAX finnes en rekke transittalternativer. For 10 kan vi anbefale Flyaway Non-Stop Bus Service til og fra LAX. En skyttelbussen er tilgjengelig hver time, med avslag på kanten av UCLA campus, ca 20 minutters gange til konferansesenteret. For å se hvor FlyAway faller av, se det interaktive campus-kartet. Søk etter Carnesale Commons (konferansefasilitetet) og Parkeringsstruktur 32 (der FlyAway faller av) for mer informasjon. Når du tar FlyAway, vær forsiktig med å velge skyttelnavnet Westwood, da det er flere andre destinasjoner betjent av andre Flyway-busser. I tillegg til flytur, mange andre kommersielle skyttelbusser, taxi og bilutleie er tilgjengelig døgnet rundt på LAX. Den omtrentlige prisen fra LAX til Carnasale Commons ved UCLA er 50. Når du ankommer den internasjonale delen av ankomstflyplassen din, må du være oppmerksom på at du kan bli utsatt for forsinkelser ved å rydde United States Customs. We are informed that the average time required by Customs and Immigration is between 1 to 2 hours (and this process often may be longer) before you are permitted to leave the secure area. While the principal airport serving this area is LAX, one can also enter the area conveniently by way of Bob Hope International Airport (BUR) located in Burbank, approximately a half-hour drive from UCLA. An additional airport is Long Beach Airport (LGB). a little over a half-hour drive from UCLA. Both are serviced by numerous shuttles and taxis. If you are arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, or Long Beach Airport, taxi drivers all know how to get to the UCLA Medical Center, which is located a bit south of the Conference location. Your best bet is to study the interactive campus map before your arrival so you can direct your driver up to the Sunset Commons area if needed. Note that commercial shuttle buses go towards UCLA, but the drop-off point will require a several minutes up-hill walk to the Conference location. If you are arriving by car, be sure to take the Wilshire East exit from the 405 Freeway. Studying your map in advance of coming upon this exit can prove very helpful Those arriving through international customs should prepare themselves for a wait that can extend several hours. We understand that you will be requested to submit the customs declaration form even if you have nothing to declare. Only one customs declaration form is required per family. The paper form I-94W(arrivaldeparture record) for authorized travelers from nations participating in the Visa Waiver Program(VWP), with an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization(ESTA), has been eliminated, according to our sources. Requirements for Talks Abstracts accepted for talks will take place during oral sessions. Each talk is allowed 15 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes for questions and answers. If your talk has been accepted, please register as soon as possible, and contact us if you will not be able to attend. If the first author of the talk cannot attend, but another co-author or someone else can present on the first authors behalf, that is fine. If you like, you can contact us to let us know, or simply present the talk and note at the beginning of your presentation that you are not the first author but are presenting the talk. Regrettably, the Conference Organizing Committee is not in position of supplying any personal computers at any time, so if you choose to attend with computer in hand, do bring your own fully-charged portable. Do please recognize that the number of available power outlets in any given meeting room is very limited, so we will not be able to supply you 110 volts while in talks and sessions your own lodgings are the best source for that battery recharge overnight each night. As a precaution do kindly place some clear form of ID on both your machine and your charging brick there will be lots of look-alikes. We and UCLA cannot be responsible for loss or theft. Each Conference meeting room will be equipped with a Mac desktop running OS10.6 and linked to a projector. Each of those will be pre-loaded with the most recent release of R and with a pdf viewer. Those among you who are presenting will need to know that while Microsofts Powerpoint may once have been considered the epitome of fine conference software, selected upgrades and so forth have rendered many such files only partially compatible with existing installations. So Powerpoint will not be offered. Instead, kindly make sure that you have your materials on a pdf file, loadable directly from your own USB 2.0 thumb drive. Note too that not every thumb drive is recognized by a Mac, especially encrypted or password-protected files or materials on USB 3.0. You would do well to establish full compatibility with a Mac before you leave for the conference. Some of you may already have OS10.7 or Mavericks experience but we have not seen fit to upgrade as of yet for many reasons. Windows users: know that we indeed share your pain but cannot automatically say that your Windows materials will display perfectly in the Mac environment so you too will need to provide an unencrypted unpassworded pdf file that we strongly recommend you try it out on a Mac locally before traveling. For those presenters whose materials absolutely must include stunning visuals andor videos andor sound, youre best to prepare thoroughly in advance with a fully-charged portable that you can personally hook directly to the rooms projector. We cannot promise to have sufficient staff on hand to troubleshoot at the time of actual need. For presenters who need to download additional R packages for your materials to work properly, we are counting on you to have made all those arrangements in advance of the moment you stand up to present (. and that youll be explicit about use of those packages with your audience). Speaking of audiences, do please keep your jokes clean and your acronyms spelled out at all times we will have people in attendance from 32 different countries Requirements for Posters Abstracts accepted for posters will take place during one of two evening poster sessions. Poster sessions are a social event. There are no parallel talks or events happening, so everyone can talk and stop by posters they are interested in. The dimensions of each poster should not exceed 4 x 4 or 120cm x 120cm. Instructor Biographies Dr. Lawrence Harris, CFA, holds the Fred V. Keenan Chair in Finance at the USC Marshall School of Business. His research, teaching, and consulting address regulatory and practitioner issues in trading and in investment management. He has written extensively about trading rules, transaction costs, index markets, and market regulation. His introduction to the economics of trading, Trading and Exchanges: Market Microstructure for Practitioners (Oxford University Press: 2003), is widely regarded as a quotmust readquot for entrants into the securities industry. Chairman Harvey Pitt appointed Dr. Harris to serve as Chief Economist of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2002 where he continued to serve under Chairman William Donaldson through June 2004. As Chief Economist, Harris was the primary advisor to the Commission on all economic issues. He contributed extensively to the development of regulations implementing Sarbanes-Oxley, the resolution of the mutual fund timing crisis, the specification of Regulation NMS (National Market System), the promotion of bond price transparency, and numerous legal cases. Harris also directed the SEC Office of Economic Analysis in which 35 economists, analysts, and support staff engage in regulatory analysis, litigation support, and basic economic research. Professor Harris currently serves as an independent director of Interactive Brokers, Inc. (IBKR) and of Clipper Fund, Inc. (CFIMX), and as the research coordinator of the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (the Q-Group). In the past, he has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Other professional service has included year-long assignments to the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission and to the New York Stock Exchange immediately following the Stock Market Crash of 1987. Dr. Harris has also worked at UNX, Inc. an electronic pure agency institutional equity broker, and at Madison Tyler, LLC, a broker-dealer engaged in electronic proprietary trading in various markets. Dr. Harris teaches at Level I. Dr. Harris received his Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1982. William L. Krantz, CFA, assumed his position as Co-Director on September 1, 2007. Prior to his retirement in 2005, he was involved in the CFA Review Program from 1987 through 2004. He has taught the portfolio management curriculum at all three levels and was a Level III co-coordinator for twelve years. Bill has been an active member of CFALA since 1970, serving as president in 1985-86. He was honored with the quotMember of the Yearquot award in 1996 and the quotOutstanding Lifetime Contributionquot award in 2005. From 1969 through 2005 Bill worked for four investment advisory firms in downtown Los Angeles as a portfolio manager for individuals, institutions, foundations and endowment funds. His responsibilities included the management of client portfolios along with related client service and marketing activities. The last eleven years of his career were spent with Boston Partners Asset Management, a partnership he helped establish in 1995 after leaving The Boston Company. Bill has volunteered his time extensively in the non-profit sector. Among many board positions, he served two terms as a trustee of the National Endowment Fund of the American Red Cross and six years as a trustee of the Educational Foundation of California Lutheran University. He is currently a member of the Board of Regents of Cal Lutheran where he chairs the investment committee responsible for the school39s endowment and planned giving assets. He holds BS and MBA degrees from the University of Southern California and received the CFA designation in 1976. Carolyn S. Barber, CFA, CIPM . joined Clifford Swan Investment Counsel in 1996. She is a portfolio manager and the firmrsquos Chief Compliance Officer. Carolyn is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles and the CFA Institute. She also holds a Certificate in Investment Performance Management (CIPM). She received her BS from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1985. Ms. Barber teaches at Level III. Dr. Andrew L. Berkin joined Bridgeway Capital Management39s investment management team in 2013 in the newly created position of Director of Research. Dr. Berkin drives statistical and economic research on financial data to further develop Bridgeway39s investment strategies. He has an extensive technical background in theoretical physics and computer science, and has spent the last 16 years applying his analytical capabilities to a variety of investment management considerations. Prior to joining Bridgeway, Dr. Berkin was co-chief investment officer and director of research for Vericimetry Advisors, LLC. He previously was a senior member and director in the research group at quantitative investment manager First Quadrant. Dr. Berkin received his B. S. with honors in physics from the California Institute of Technology, and his Ph. D. in general relativity from the University of Texas at Austin. He subsequently was a postdoctoral research fellow in astrophysics at Waseda University in Japan for two years. Dr. Berkin then worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory pursuing research into the visualization and analysis of large scientific data sets. The software that resulted, LinkWinds, was selected as winner of the 1996 NASA Software of the Year Award. He has published numerous articles in taxable investing, as well as scientific visualization and general relativity. Dr. Berkin is on the Editorial Board of the Financial Analysts Journal and teaches a Level III review course for CFALA. David Cary, PhD, CFA. is a Professor Emeritus of Finance at California State University, Northridge where he taught for over 25 years. He has also been a visiting instructor at USC, UCLA, LSU and the University of Auckland, NZ, and taught twice in the CSU London (UK) Business Semester. During his academic career he published many papers in academic journals, served as Chair of the Department twice, and received his department39s Outstanding Teaching Award. For ten years he taught a course titled quotCurrent Topics in Investments and Capital Marketsquot in a Masters of Finance program in Hong Kong. He was elected twice to the CFALA Board of Governors and was co-director of the CFALA Review Program for two years. He served on the CFA Institute Technology Advisory Committee for six years. He has also been honored with the CFALA Outstanding Committee Member award and as a Volunteer of the Month. He has been teaching CFA review classes for almost twenty years. Before obtaining his PhD in Finance, he received his CPA (now inactive) working for Arthur Young and Company (now Ernst and Young). Dr. Cary will be teaching at Levels I and II. Rishin Doshi, CFA is a Principal and Senior Financial Consultant at Affluencer Financial. His work with Private Clients involves strategic planning to produce unique financial outcomes by crafting bespoke solutions that utilize an array of alternative vehicles. He earned his B. A. in Applied Mathematics and B. S. in Bioengineering from UCSD. He is a CFA Charterholder and teaches at Level II. Erik Einertson, CFA is a Vice President Sr. Product Strategist at Franklin Templeton leading strategy for the firm39s Solutions Business. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Erik was with Wilshire Associates, where he was Vice President of Client Service, working with Institutions, Broker Dealers, and HNW clients in the distribution of multi-asset, liquid alternatives and hedge fund of fund products. Prior to Wilshire, Erik spent 5 years as a product specialist and in consultant relations with First Quadrant, a 40 billion investment management firm specializing in GTAA, currency and quantitative equity strategies. Erik also worked on Capitol Hill, in Washington DC, as a Legislative Director and Chief Policy Advisor for a member of Congress. Erik is a CFA and a CAIA Charterholder and has previously been Chairman of the CFA Los Angeles Alternative Investment Community of Interest for the past five years. Mr. Einertson teaches Level III. Roger L. Gewecke Jr. CFA joined Clifford Swan in 2005 and has more than 30 years investment industry experience as a trader, equity analyst, and portfolio manager. His clients include individuals, institutions, and non-profit organizations. Prior to Clifford Swan, Roger was a partner at Van Deventer amp Hoch, and a Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at its successor company, Mellon. He also was a specialist at the Pacific Stock Exchange in Los Angeles. Roger enjoys all facets of the investment counseling practice, from research and portfolio management to client service. He is a former President of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of Los Angeles and greatly enjoys teaching the review program for those aspiring to earn the CFA designation. Milton Hadinoto, CFA joined Standard amp Poorrsquos Capital IQ in 2011. Previously, he was a Curriculum Editor for Stalla Review, a company specializing in CFA exam preparation. During his time there, he specialized in Level I material. He holds a Master39s degree in Finance as well as Engineering from Texas AampM University and received the CFA designation in 2014. Mr. Hadinoto teaches Level I. Benjamin Hodges, CFA, FRM, started his career in the Corporate Restructuring group of Arthur Andersen. He joined Southern California Edison in 2002 in their Treasurerrsquos department. Mr. Hodges currently manages the corporate financial analysis function for SCE. His responsibilities include managing the review of large capital projects, liquidity forecasting, lease vs buy decisions, and serving as an expert financial witness in regulatory proceedings. Mr. Hodges received both his BS and MBA from the University of Southern California. Mr. Hodges teaches Level II. Lou Holtz, CFA is a Portfolio Manager for Rice Hall James in Pasadena, CA. At Rice Hall James, Mr. Holtz co-manages both small-cap growth and micro-cap growth investment strategies. Prior to joining Rice Hall James in 2008, Mr. Holtz spent 12 years at Engemann Asset Management in Pasadena serving as a portfolio manager of small-cap growth, micro-cap growth, all-cap growth and balanced investment strategies. Mr. Holtz also spent three years as a business valuation analyst at Marshall and Stevens and one year as an analyst for a regional real estate appraisal firm. Mr. Holtz holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business economics with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M. B.A. with an emphasis in finance from the University of Southern California, where he was on the Dean39s List. Mr. Holtz teaches at Level III. Christopher Jones, Ph. D conducts research on empirical asset pricing and financial econometrics. He is an expert on volatility modeling and its application to option pricing and fixed income. He currently teaches courses on investment management. Prior to USC, Professor Jones was on the faculty at the University of Rochester. Dr. Jones teaches at Level III. John E. Karayan, JD, Ph. D Formerly Director of Taxes of a New York Stock Exchange-listed high tech multinational which was then one of the worldrsquos largest software concerns, John Karayan is a tax attorney with a quotBig 8quot CPA firm background who retired from practice to become a Visiting Assistant Professor at USCrsquos School of Accounting. He then earned his PhD in Executive Management from the Claremont Graduate School while teaching in the CSU system. In 2001-02, Dr. Karayan was a Visiting Full Professor of Accounting at U. C. Riverside. He is a Professor Emeritus at Cal Poly Pomona, where he earned a number of teaching, research, and service awards, and served as its first Director of Planned Giving, as the Faculty Fellow in its Office of Research amp Sponsored Programs, and as the Associate Chair of a 1200 major Department. Professor Karayan currently teaches at the University of Southern California. John has remained active outside academia with service on public and private Boards, such as the Board of Directors for Delta Scientific Corporation (deltascientific ). Delta is the worldrsquos foremost manufacturer of anti-terrorist vehicle barricades, and was featured on the History Channelrsquos ldquoTerror Techrdquo Series, in Tom Petersrsquo quotThriving on Chaosquot Series on PBS, and Peter Druckerrsquos quotInnovation on the West Coastquot video series. He also has co-authored books on taxation ndash notably Strategic Business Tax Planning (Wiley) with USC Professor Charles Swenson -- and published articles in journals ranging from The Tax Advisor to the Marquette Sports Law Review. John has often spoken before professional groups such as the World Trade Institute, the Tax Executives Institute, the California Continuing Education of the Bar, the California Society of CPAs, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and the Jonathan Club Breakfasteers, and is a Past President of the American Accounting Association Western Region. David Krider, CFA is a Portfolio Manager covering global equities with Analytic Investors, Inc. a Los Angeles-based quantitative investment firm. Prior to joining Analytic, David founded Visualize, Inc. a provider of data visualization and analytic software solutions to the financial services industry. Before starting Visualize, he was a member of the equity management team at First Quadrant. David has a B. S. in Economics and Computer Science from the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Krider recently passed Level III of the CFA Exams. Mr. Krider teaches at Level II. John M. Lacey, Ph. D. is Ernst amp Young Research Fellow and Professor of Accountancy at California State University - Long Beach. He previously taught at the School of Accounting at the University of Southern California (USC) and at Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. He earned his Ph. D. at UCLA and earned his MBA and BS degrees at USC. Professor Lacey is a CPA and has served on several committees and tasks forces for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), including the Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC). Professor Lacey has also served as Chair of the California Society of CPAs Accounting Principles and Auditing Standards Committee and Chairs its Special Committee on the future of the accounting profession. He also teaches regularly for a large investment management firm, banks, and for various judicial organizations. Professor Lacey is the author of a research study on auditor independence commissioned by the Chief Accountant of the Securities amp Exchange Commission. Professor Lacey is widely published and also serves as an expert witness in major legal cases involving accounting and financial issues. Prior to his academic career, Professor Lacey was a supervisor in the national office of a major CPA firm and served as corporate officer and controller of a manufacturing company. Professor Lacey teaches at Level I and Level II. Christopher G. Luck, CFA is Partner at First Quadrant, L. P. in Pasadena, CA. Mr. Luck joined First Quadrant in 1995 and currently manages the Equity Portfolio Management group, which is responsible for 6 billion in U. S. and international equities. Prior to joining First Quadrant, Chris spent eight years at BARRA, most recently as Director of Sponsor Services. He has published a number of articles in various journals, including research on socially responsible investing, international diversification, style management, and tax-efficient investing. Chris received his MBA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988 with an emphasis in Finance and graduated summa cum laude with a B. A. in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mr. Luck teaches at Level III. Rama Malladi, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FRM during the last 22 years of his career spanning USA, Europe and Asia, has led groups focusing on the financial analytics, risk management and business analytics. Rama has served in several leadership positions, including President, Vice President, Secretary amp Board of Governor of CFA Society Los Angeles. He currently chairs the Education Committee and serves as President. He is a director of the 10-week long annual fixed income series and alternative investments series. Rama holds Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst, Financial Risk Manager, and Project Management Professional designations. Rama received academic degrees from three continents - PhD in Finance from EDHEC Business School in France with Frank Fabozzi as his dissertation chair, MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras in India. In addition, he has a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering with a first class distinction. Rama is a subject matter expert in financial analytics. He has hands-on and managerial experience in this area and provided consultancy services to firms such as Wachovia, Starbucks, National Stock Exchange, Toyota Financial Services, Deloitte Consulting, British Telecom, British Gas, IBM UK, Hewlett-Packard, Lockheed Martin, Tata Consultancy Services etc. James R. Mulally is a senior vice president of Capital Research and Management Company and a portfolio manager with global fixed-income portfolio responsibilities. Within CRMC, Jim has portfolio counselor responsibilities in Capital World Bond Fund, American Balanced Fund, The Income Fund of America, and the American Funds Insurance Series Asset Allocation Fund. He is also a senior vice president of Capital International Limited. Prior to joining Capital in 1980, Jim was a research associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He received a BA from Dartmouth College (Phi Beta Kappa) and an MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business. Jim is based in Los Angeles. Mr. Mulally teaches at Level III. Dan Pomerantz, CFA, CFP is a Senior Portfolio Manager at City National Rochdale. Prior to joining the firm he was a Principal and Senior Client Advisor at Bessemer Trust where he managed ultra-high net worth client portfolios. Services included investment management, trust, tax and estate planning. Prior to Bessemer, Mr. Pomerantz worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Northern Trust Company and managed over 800 million in assets. He also worked as a Civil Engineer for eight years and holds a professional engineer license in the state of California. Mr. Pomerantz is currently an Officer for CFA Los Angeles. From 2010 to 2012, he was the President of the Applied Behavioral Finance Group, an affiliated organization to CFA Los Angeles. Mr. Pomerantz is a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Financial Planner, CFP reg. He has an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and bachelorrsquos and masterrsquos degrees in civil engineering from UCLA. Mr. Pomerantz teaches at Level I. Herbert Y. Poon is a Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, Fund Business Management Group, of Capital Research and Management Company, investment adviser to the American Funds and part of Capital Group. Mr. Poon is also a Vice President of AMCAP Fund, American Mutual Fund, The Investment Company of America and American Funds Global Balanced Fund. In addition, he serves as co-chair of the Fair Valuation Committee for Capital Group. Prior to joining Capital as an attorney in 2001, Mr. Poon was a financial analyst in the investment banking division of Smith Barney Inc. focusing on financial institutions. Herb received his JD from UCLA School of Law and his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Harvard University. Mr. Poon teaches Level II. Justin Regus, CFA is the President of Agility Economics, LLC, and a specialist in financial and economic analysis for parties in litigation, transactions, or other disruptive events. For more than 15 years he has supported clients involved in complex disputes, including both civil and criminal litigation. His project experience includes disputes related to white collar fraud, insider trading, valuation, antitrust issues, commercial damages and intellectual property. He has been qualified as an expert and testified in deposition and at trial in the state of California. He has also presented at mediation and has supported numerous expert testimonies in state and federal courts. Justin received his Bachelor of the Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College, where he majored in Economics and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Mr. Regus teaches at Level III. Mohammad R. Safarzadeh, PhD is in the FBE, Marshall School of Business at USC. Professor Safarzadeh received his B. S. in economics from Tehran University and M. S. og ph. d. in economics from Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of a book in Mathematical Economics using Mathematica and has published several articles on exchange rate, trade, and finance in refereed journals. He teaches courses in econometrics, macroeconomics, risk analysis and forecasting. Dr. Safarzadeh teaches in Level I. Atul Sharma, CFA is a Manager with Ernst amp Young and focuses on transaction due diligence on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and value creation for private equity (PE) clients. Atul has diverse deal experience and works closely with PE portfolio companies to improve business processes, technology, and innovation. Atul has worked on more than 40 transactions including buyouts, carve-outs, and joint ventures (JV). Prior to joining Ernst amp Young, Atul worked in financial services industry specializing in IT strategy and transformation. Mr. Sharma teaches Level II. Chen Song, Ph. D. CFA, is a Principal Economist at Nathan Associatesrsquo Orange County office. She was an adjunct assistant professor with the California State University, Los Angeles, where she taught a course on financial institutions which covered topics on derivatives, mortgage and securitized asset markets. Chen has provided consulting services and authored expert reports related to liability, class certification, and damages in class action, multiple - and single-plaintiff disputes. She has supported academic experts in financial litigations such as options backdating and economic analyses of materiality and loss causation. Chen is well-versed with financial econometric modeling tools. She routinely implements statistical techniques to analyze complex data. Chen received her Ph. D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. She teaches Level III Risk Management. Peter Stutz, CFA . is a Director in the Portfolio Construction Group at Guggenheim Partners in Santa Monica, CA, and has over 20 years of institutional investment industry experience as a fixed income analyst, trader, and portfolio manager. At Guggenheim he is responsible for creating model portfolios for the firmrsquos core fixed income, multi-credit, multi-asset, and insurance strategies. In this role he works closely with the research, sector, and portfolio management teams to analyze the relative value and determine allocations to each fixed income market sector. He is also involved in new product development as well as marketing Guggenheimrsquos investment process to prospective clients. Prior to joining Guggenheim in 2014, Mr. Stutz was a Portfolio Manager at Western Asset Management where he was part of the generalist fixed income portfolio management team as well as a member of the firmrsquos Investment Advisory Committee. Mr. Stutz specialized in global interest rate and derivative strategies and was responsible for over 5 billion in inflation-linked bond portfolios. Before Western Asset Mr. Stutz was a Portfolio Manager at Pacific Telesis Group and prior to that was an Equity Trader at Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors. Mr. Stutz received his BS in computer science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, his MBA from the University of Chicagorsquos Booth School of Business and received the CFAreg designation in 1996. He teaches at Level II. H arla n H. Thompson, CFA is a Senior Vice President with the Family Advisory Group at The Northern Trust Company and serves as the Senior Investment Officer for the Los Angeles region. In that capacity, Harlan is a Senior Portfolio Manager focused on providing clients with core investment management and asset allocation consulting services for their complex investment and wealth transfer objectives. The investment solutions are part of a broader comprehensive wealth management approach to manage a familyrsquos assets in a coordinated manner while integrating private banking solutions as well as fiduciary services for multi-generational families. He has over 25 years of experience in the Investment Management industry. Prior to joining Northern, Harlan was a Senior Vice President and Investment Counselor with the Private Client Services Division of Capital Guardian Trust Company. Before that he spent 3 years as West Coast Chief Investment Officer for US Trust Company. Prior to that he spent 11 years with Provident Investment Counsel as portfolio manager, Managing Director of the retail business group and member of the management committee. Harlan began his finance career as an investment banker for eight years with Wedbush Morgan Securities. Prior to attending graduate business school, he worked for Borg Warner Corp. Harlan earned an MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business with an emphasis in Finance and was the valedictory speaker. He attended Oregon State University and graduated with a BS in Industrial Engineering. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He continues to teach in the CFA Review program at University of Southern California as a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles. Mr. Thompson teaches Level III. Xiaoxiao Wang grew up in China and got her MBA from Northeastern University in Boston. In 2014, right before the biggest winter in history hit Boston, Xiaoxiao decided to give up snow shoveling on the East Coast and pursue her dream on the West Coast. Following her passion for cars and finance, she currently works in the Treasury department of Toyota Financial Services. Karyn Williams, Ph. D, joined Farmers Insurance Group in February 2013 as Head of Insurance Investments, and in that role manages Farmersrsquo insurance investments and processes. Over the past 13 years, Karyn has worked with all types of institutional investors to develop, implement and advise on strategic investment decisions within a risk management framework. Karyn has expertise in institutional portfolio investment and risk management risk management governance and analytical frameworks investment operations and research, development, and implementation of applied portfolio risk analytics and systems. Prior to Farmers, Karyn worked at Wilshire Associates for over 12 years, most recently as a senior investment consultant for pension, foundation, endowment and other institutional clients, where she advised on investment decisions and risk management frameworks, including policy and governance. Prior to her role as a consultant, Karyn contributed to the development of Wilshirersquos total fund analytical tools as head the Total Fund Analytics division. Before Wilshire, Karyn taught graduate level finance courses and co-directed the Financial Engineering program at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. Karyn is a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the University of California at Los Angelesrsquos Master of Financial Engineering Degree Program and a Board member and Vice Chair of the Finance Committee at of the KCRW Foundation. She is a graduate of Arizona State University where she earned a B. S. in Economics and a Ph. D. in Finance. Karyn teaches Level III of the Review Program. She also teaches CFA level III preparation courses with CFALA. Ken Yee, CFA, CPA, is the president of an investment advisory company specializing in commercial real estate capital sourcing and asset-backed securities. He has completed over 1 billion in commercial mortgage sales, originations, and asset-backed transactions on behalf of private and public institutions. Mr. Yee is currently serving a second elected term as the Western U. S. Region Presidents Council Representative (PCR) for the CFA Institute. He is a California Certified Public Accountant, a California-licensed attorney, and a California real estate broker. Mr. Yee graduated from the University of Southern California (BSBA, MBA and MBT), University of California at Los Angeles (JD), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MSRED). He teaches Ethics at Level I of the CFA Review Program. Leadership Mike Lewis, President of Lewis Associates LLC, and Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition and the Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality Mike Lewis is President of Lewis Associates LLC, a Southern California government relations consulting firm, and Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition and the Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality. In those capacities he has spearheaded the industrys efforts statewide to achieve reasonable and affordable state and local regulations. Previously Mike served on Supervisor Pete Schabarums staff from 1973-1989 as a deputy specializing in transportation, air pollution, planning and zoning, economic development and privatization of government services. In July 1980, he was appointed Chief Deputy responsible for all policy and organizational matters. He served as a member of the Southern California Rapid Transit District Board of Directors, completing an eight-and-one-half year term in February 1985 served as President of the Board of Directors in 1982 and 1983 and, authored a laymans guide to improving public transportation called MOVING PEOPLE. Mike served as a member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission until March of 1991. In 1983, he was selected by Urban Mass Transportation Administrator Art Teele as one of 20 individuals nationwide to receive UMTAs outstanding Public Service Award. Another UMTA Administrator, Ralph Stanley, named him to serve on the Advisory Board of Rice Universitys Joint Center for Urban Mobility Research. Mike Lewis spearheaded Supervisor Schabarums efforts to privatize nearly 13 of the bus service operated by RTD in the San Gabriel Valley and served on the Executive Board of the Foothill Transit Zone for five years. Los Angeles Magazine named Mike one of the ten transportation power players in Los Angeles and the most knowledgeable person in Los Angeles on the subject of transportation finance. Mike served on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board until August 1978, and served as a member of the City of San Dimas Planning Commission. He served as an Adjunct Professor teaching transportation policy and planning at California State University in Long Beach. Mike is a past chairman of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce Civic and Government Affairs Committee and past president of the San Gabriel Valley Eagle Scout Association. He is currently a Board Member of the Foothill AIDS Project serving the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire and served 8 years as a member of the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV Health Services. He is past president of the Los Angeles County East Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California. Mike is a resident of Hacienda Heights. Tracy Hernandez was instrumental in BizFeds organizational founding, early-warning, advocacy and outreach efforts, as well as boosted civic engagement among the elusive business-owner market segment. Since its launch in January 2008, BizFed has nearly doubled its number of members and is extremely proud of its dynamic Board of Directors comprised of 180 Los Angeles County market-leading executives. Today, BizFed, a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization, serves over 130 business organizations representing a diverse cross-section of well over 268,000 businesses across the county and works to advocate for positive public policy, legislation, and civic engagement across Los Angeles County8217s diverse business community. Recently BizFed formed a foundation arm, BizFed Institute, and a political action committee, BizFed PAC, to extend research, education, and campaign work to complement BizFeds core advocacy efforts. Mrs. Hernandez also is the owner of the business advisory firm IMPOWER, Inc. which leads the strategy and execution of 8220communications transformations8221 for clients such as national trade associations, municipal agencies, and healthcare industries that seek cutting-edge media and public relations in which content is king. Services include powerful coalition and alliance building and critical convenings relevant market, organization asset, and brand focus comprehensive website development and social media integration in which relevant timely content creation and delivery makes a difference. Formerly, Mrs. Hernandez served as the first female publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News in the paper8217s nearly 100-year history. As a 20-year veteran of the daily newspaper business, she has held chief executive positions in a variety of major markets across the country, including over a decade with the Journal Register Company (JRC) of Trenton, New Jersey, where she served as Publisher and CEO of four award-winning newspapers in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Ms. Rafter formerly owned and operated a group of newspapers and websites in Walla Walla, Washington. During the past eight years in California, Mrs. Hernandez has given back to the Los Angeles community by contributing her time and talents to a broad range of local civic and charity organizations, hospitals, and businesses. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of LAs Best after school program, the Valley Economic Alliance, Valley Presbyterian Hospital, and Project Grad. In 2005, she was named Business Woman of The Year by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal 8220in recognition of her entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to excellence and leadership within the community.8221 In 2006, she was named the Woman of the Honor for Haven Hills, a battered women8217s and children8217s shelter. A native of Twin Falls, Idaho, Mrs. Hernandez began her media career while still in high school at the Times News . She is a graduate of the College of Southern Idaho. Mrs. Hernandez resides in Seal Beach, CA, with her husband Randal, stepson Garrett, and two young daughters, Hailey and Hannah. David W. Fleming, an attorney with Latham amp Watkins, was the instigator of the successful charter reform movement in the City of Los Angeles. In 1997, he and then LA Mayor Richard Riordan co-chaired a voters8217 initiative to reform LA City government, culminating in creation of an elected citizens8217 Charter Reform Commission that drafted a new charter adopted by voters in 1999. He currently serves on the board of the Southern California Metropolitan Water District, covering all of Southern California, representing the City of Los Angeles. In 2003 he was appointed by President George W. Bush as a trustee of the James Madison Foundation, which bestows scholarships on high school teachers to promote teaching the founding of our nation. In 2005, he was appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to represent the city of Los Angeles as a director of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (the MTA). Fleming chaired the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce in 2007 and in 2008 and was the creator and founding chair of the Los Angeles County Business Federation. In 2009, he, along with former California Governor Pete Wilson, served as co-chairs of the Southern California Leadership Council. In 2005-07, he served as the Chairman of the California Regional Leadership Foundation, a statewide organization of civic entrepreneurs addressing regional problems. He is the current Chair of L. A. Project Grad, an intensive K-12 educational program helping minority public school students achieve excellence. Fleming was Vice-Chairman of the California Transportation Commission (the CTC) on which he served from 1996 through 1999, and chaired the CTCs Public Transit Committee, overseeing major public transit projects throughout California. He recently served as one of five commissioners of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. From 1993 to 2001 he served as President of the Los Angeles City Board of Fire Commissioners. He has served on the Los Angeles County Business Licensing Commission, the Los Angeles County Judicial Procedures Commission and the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. He is a past chairman and currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). He served as chair of Valley Industry amp Commerce Association (VICA) from 1988 through 1990. Since 1996 he has chaired the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. He is past Chairman of the Board of Valley Presbyterian Hospital, a 380-bed nonprofit, non-sectarian, community-owned heath center, a position he held for the past 21 years. He serves on the national Board of Trustees of the Reason Foundation and is Vice-Chair of the Childrens Planning Council of Los Angeles County, an organization he was instrumental in creating and that coordinates over 5 billion in federal and state money annually to aid children and families in need throughout Los Angeles County. He is a member of the board of directors of the California Community Foundation, an 80-year-old philanthropic organization overseeing a fund of over 1 billion dedicated to charities. He is a board member of the Keston Institute at the University of Southern California. In addition, Fleming is, or has been, a director of: The Los Angeles Police Foundation, the Childrens Bureau of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Childrens Planning Council Foundation, the Civic Alliance, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Foundation, the New Majority, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, The California Assembly Speakers Commission on State Government The LA Mayors Economy amp Jobs Committee and the Fernando Award Foundation. He is Vice-Chair of the 125 million campaign to build the new Performing Arts Center at CSUN. He serves on the board of the Advisors to the Dean of UCLA Law School. A member of the California State Bar since 1959, he is of counsel to Latham amp Watkins, the third-largest law firm in the U. S. and fifth largest in the world. He is a past recipient of the prestigious Fernando Award, bestowed annually on a San Fernando Valley resident in honor of a lifetime of volunteer service. In 2000, he was given the Nellie Reagan Award for volunteerism, named after the late President Reagans mother. Over the past 40 years, he has devoted over 70,000 hours of service to civic, community, charitable and government organizations. He has been honored by the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith, the Jewish National Fund, the American Jewish Committee, the LA Family Housing Foundation, the Southern California Biotech Institute, the California Jaycees, the Los Angeles County League of Woman Voters, various bar associations, the United Chambers of Commerce, the Valley Interfaith Council and many other philanthropic and civic organizations. He is the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from CSUN and Augustana College, his alma mater and was named alumni of the year by UCLA Law School. Born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, he moved to the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles in 1956 and graduated from UCLA Law School in 1959. A member of the Southern California Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, he and his wife, Jean, have two adult sons residing in Southern California. Over the years they have personally donated over 5 million to a wide array of charities including Valley Presbyterian Hospital, CSUN and UCLA Law School. Recent Past Chair Gilbert F. Ivey is the former Assistant General Manager Chief Administrative Officer of The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, having served as interim Chief Executive Officer during the agencys five-month search for a permanent replacement in 2005. He is responsible for managing the administrative functions of the district, human resources, management of Metropolitans real property portfolio, information technology, an award-winning business outreach program and Metropolitans headquarters at Union Station. Mr. Ivey joined Metropolitan more than 40 years ago as a summer trainee in the District8217s Engineering Division. He has held various positions in Finance, Right-of-Way and Land, Operations, Human Resources and Executive Offices. Additionally, he negotiated several major transactions such as the lease for the District8217s former headquarters at California Plaza for below-market rates, and favorable above-market sale transactions for the District8217s former Sunset Boulevard headquarters and its Bolsa Chica property. As part of managing Metropolitans 190,000 acres of property, he often works closely with Native American tribes. As interim CEO, he represented Metropolitan at the historic signing of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation program. He was also involved with the Quantification Settlement Agreement, one of the largest water transfers from agriculture to urban use. He was the project director in charge of development and construction of Metropolitan8217s headquarters at Union Station. At 535,000 square feet above ground and another 317,000 square feet below ground, he delivered this 135 million facility two months ahead of schedule and under budget. Since the official opening December 11, 1998, his team and the project have won several awards and accolades. The Building Operators and Managers Association recently recognized Metropolitan8217s headquarters building as an outstanding government building in Los Angeles. He is also dedicated to the community and serves in leadership positions on numerous boards and commissions. Ivey was honored in 2009 as the Southern California Leadership Networks Visionary for Public Sector Leader of the Year and received the Patriots Award from the Department of Defense. He currently serves on the city of La Vernes Planning Commission, on the executive boards of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Central City Association, California State University Dominguez Hills Foundation Board, American Association of Blacks in Energy, the Infrastructure Academy, Think Together Board and Los Angeles County Fairplex Advisory Board. Hilary Norton, Executive Director, Fixing Angelenos Stuck In Traffic (FAST) Hilary Nortons career spans more than 22 years in the fields of public policy, community development, land use, and transportation planning. In 2008, Ms. Norton was appointed Executive Director of FAST by founder Jim Thomas, Chairman and President of Thomas Properties Group (TPG). A community initiative fund of the non-profit California Community Foundation(CCF), FAST was created to advocate for and implement near-term solutions to address LosAngeles regional traffic crisis, based on the findings of the RAND Corporation report Moving Los Angeles: Short Term Policy Options for Improving Transportation, which was co-sponsored by Jim Thomas, Metro and the Music Center. Since 2008, Ms. Norton has mobilized a diverse coalition of business, labor, civic groups, educational institutions and transit organizations to support FASTs recommended improvements to regional mobility, livability and economic prosperity. FAST is a partner with the innovative LosAngelesLongBeach Mobility Hub Program funded by the federal JARC (Jobs Access Reverse Commute) grant awarded in 2010, a member of Metros First MileLast Mile Taskforce, and a member of the City of Los Angeles Mobility Element Task Force. Mobility Hubs will provide firstmilelast mile transportation accessibility including bikeshare, bike-rental, carshare, shuttles, carpools and vanpools at 13 full-service Hubs and19 bike-only Hubs. FAST is part of the outreach and Community Advisory Group teams for Metros ExpressLanes (high-occupancy toll lanes) program for the I-110 and I-10 Freeways, and co-created the innovative Metro ExpressLanes Business Roundtable. Ms. Norton leads the FAST-initiated Comprehensive Corridor Improvement and Reinvestment Plan for Los Angeles County (CCIRPLAC), to improve multi-modal travel options and connectivity to transit and freeways for some of LA Countys most traveled thoroughfares. Ms. Norton is Co-Chair of the BizFed Metro Measure R 2.0 Roundtable, Co-Chair of LABCs Legislative Committee, Co-Vice Chair of the Los Angeles Chambers Transportation and Goods Movement Committee. Ms. Norton is a member of the City of Los Angeles Mobility Element Task Force, VisionLAs Advisory Committee, Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) Livable Communities Advisory Committee, the Metro ExpressLanes Corridor Advisory Committee, SCAGMetros First-Mile Last-Mile Working Group, and SCAGs Express Travel Choices Steering Committee. Ms. Norton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from Wellesley College, and a Masters Degree in Public Policy, Housing and Community Development Concentration, from Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government. Ms. Norton is Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of Orthopaedic Institute for Children (OIC). Ms. Norton has two children, Xavier and Eva Orozco. Operations Javier Angulo, Director of Community Affairs, Walmart Javier Angulo joined Walmart in 2011 as Director of Community Affairs and is responsible for public affairs and government relations in Los Angeles County. He has over ten years of experience working in the non-profit and political sectors, with an emphasis on expanding opportunities for people in underserved communities. Angulo began his career as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Fellow in Washington, D. C. where he served as a constituent liaison for the Senate Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee. He returned to California to serve as Director of Development for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), where he managed the organizations corporate giving and special events programs across the country. Following his time at MALDEF, Angulo joined the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), where he directed the organizations national civic engagement and community participation program and was responsible for the day-to-day operations in the organizations Los Angeles, New York and Houston program offices. Most recently, Angulo served as a senior associate for Progressive Strategy Partners, a political and non-profit consulting firm. He was responsible for building support for local and statewide candidates and ballot initiatives, including Senator Barbara Boxers successful 2010 reelection campaign. A lifelong Angelino born and raised in Whittier, CA, Angulo earned a Bachelors Degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been recognized for his extraordinary public service, including for his leadership as an appointed City of Los Angeles commissioner and as an elected member of his local neighborhood council. He is continually involved with groups and organizations that seek to build a better and stronger Los Angeles community. Laura Yamanaka, President amp Co-Founder, TeamCFONAWBO-LA Laura Yamanaka is President and co-founder of teamCFO Inc. a financial and accounting firm offering onsite CFOController services to businesses and nonprofits. teamCFO was founded to improve performance and support the growth of the private business community. Today, teamCFO has a dynamic group of professionals focusing on both growth issues and turnaround operations for its clients and offers a wide variety of operational accounting services to their clients including remote office support as well as onsite services. Since its inception in 2000, Laura and teamCFO have received several regional and national awards including the Asian Business Leadership Award by Wells FargoUS Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the Women in Business and Accountant Advocate Award by the SBA. Lauras career began with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst amp Young where she managed a diverse portfolio of clients and provided services including audit, mergers amp acquisitions, litigation support, IPO and SEC projects and filings. Her extensive private industry experience includes tenures with GE Capital, Zenith Insurance, Quaker State Corporation and the Heritage Insurance Group where she served in various financial and operational capacities including Vice President-Controller, Vice President-Finance, Vice President-Operations and Manager of Quality Processes. Laura8217s participation with numerous acquisitions in various roles including responsibilities for the financial assessment and integration to company-wide integration of all operations has given her the opportunity to drive strategic planning, assess business risks, integrate and streamline systems and processes. A passion for education, helping others and serving the community locally as well as nationally has also lead to various volunteer efforts. Most recently, Laura was appointed to serve as a Council Member of the National Women8217s Business Council, a non-partisan advisory council to the President, Congress, and the U. S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners. Laura has also significant service with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) serving as Chair of the National Association of Women Business Owners National Board as well as Chair of the Los Angeles chapter for NAWBO. As a long-time champion of financial literacy for women business owners, Laura has lectured on the subject to diverse audiences, including young girls who are aspiring business women. Laura has also developed school-based programs to teach teamwork and facilitation skills to students bringing effective business skills to the classroom. Laura has been featured various national publications and locally in the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Los Angeles Times and is an expert for the Los Angeles Times Small Business makeover series. Brissa Sotelo-Vargas, Manager Public and Government Affairs, Tesoro As Manager of Public Affairs and Government Affairs for Tesoro, Brissa Sotelo-Vargas manages and coordinates the full range of communication and stakeholder management activities for the companys Los Angeles Refinery. She handles everything from government relations, community relations, media relations to crisis communications. A part of these duties involves remaining current on all salient industry-related issues occurring in the local area and on a global level. She monitors and analyzes the business, political, and regulatory environment to assess current or potential issues that could affect the companys reputation and license to operate. Sotelo-Vargas then develops strategies and implements tactics in response to these factors. She also manages the refinerys social investment activitiesempowering the community to work with private industry to achieve mutually beneficial results is not easy. Brissa serves on several boards in the community, including Board Member of the San Pedro, Peninsula amp Wilmington YMCA, Board Member of the Los Angeles Chamber Executive Board, BizFed Board, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation Board, the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality Advisory Board and Institute graduate, and past fellow of the Southern California Leadership Network. She holds two masters from the University of Southern California in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and another in Public Policy from the Sol Price School of Policy Planning and Development. Zanku Armenian, Director of Public Affairs, Southern California Edison Zanku Armenian is Director of Public Affairs for Southern California Edison, one of the nations largest electric utilities. He manages external outreach and public engagement efforts on major policy issues, working with local and regional governments and community stakeholders throughout SCEs service territory that includes 200 local cities and counties covering 50,000-square-miles within Central, Coastal and Southern California. He also is a senior member of the companys emergency preparedness and crisis response teams. He previously served in SCE8217s Corporate Communications department. Mr. Armenian has three decades of experience leading public affairs campaigns and communications strategies for major corporations and high-profile issues working out of Washington, DC, Silicon Valley and southern California. Prior to SCE, he worked at the Motion Picture Association of America driving communications programs. Before that, he was Senior Vice President and Western Region General Manager with Brodeur Worldwide, a global technology public relations firm, having established Brodeurs Washington, D. C. office earlier. In Washington, he has worked with many different industry sectors as a founding member of public affairs firm Powell Tate, established by President Jimmy Carters press secretary Jody Powell and First Lady Nancy Reagans press secretary Sheila Tate. He also has held positions with global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, ABC News, in the House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate, including the office of former Senator and now Vice President Joseph Biden. Armenian also has been very active in national, state, local and presidential political campaigns. Active with many community-based organizations, Armenian has served as President of the City of Glendales Water and Power Commission and currently serves as Chairman of Glendales Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee, which is responsible for allocating HUD funds to local non-profits supporting low income, senior and youth programs. He also serves on multiple boards including the board of the University of Southern Californias Price School of Public Policy Local Leaders Program and is Co-Vice Chair of the Advisory Council for BizFed (Los Angeles County Business Federation). Mr. Armenian is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia with a B. A. in mass communication and a secondary concentration in government and politics. He also has advanced certifications in the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the crisis management system sponsored and organized by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Steve Samuelian, Owner, California Consulting, LLC California Consulting, LLC owner Steve Samuelian has held various leadership posts during a career spanning over 25 years. He began as a volunteer for a political campaign and founded a political foundation where he served as president in high school and college. Steve graduated from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona with a degree in Political Science. In January 1995, he was appointed as Field Director for Congressional District 19. He was later promoted to District Director overseeing the 19th Congressional District Office staff and District operations for the Congressman, where he served in this capacity for 8 years. A tireless worker for Armenian-American issues nationwide, Steve has traveled twice to Armenia. He traveled as an international election observer as part of the Office Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) delegation to observe the adoption of Armenias first Constitution. His election observation report was later filed in the US Congress Congressional Record. Later, Steve traveled to Armenia as part of a U. S. Congressional Delegation. Steve has served on the Board of Directors of a County United Way and served on the Board of Directors of a Chamber Commerce. Additionally, he served as Chairman of a successful United Way county fundraising campaign. Steve has served as Board Member for a crime-stoppers organization. Steve was the recipient of the Armenian National Committee (ANC) Western U. S. Award for Outstanding Leadership. In 2002, Steve was elected to the California State Assembly representing the 29th Assembly District. He was appointed to the Assembly Appropriations Committee by the Speaker and served as the Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee. Steve Samuelian founded California Consulting, LLC in 2004. California Consulting quickly established a reputation for hard work and a commitment to success for its clients. Through that special hard work ethic, California Consulting, LLC is the largest grant writing company in California. With over 90 clients statewide California Consulting, LLC has secured over 138,000,000 for its clients through Federal, State and foundation grant funds. Steve is happily married with two children and resides in Southern California. Ambassadors M C Townsend serves as PresidentCEO-Regional Black Chamber San Fernando Valley, which serves over 35 cities, and nearly 350 small, minority, and women owned business owners. She clearly understands the meaning of Small Business Ownership, entrepreneurship and economic rewards. She is profoundly educated as a financial professional ranging from a banking service Operations Officer all the way to a National Director of Sales and Mediation. Ms. Townsend, being steadfast in her community service commitments, remains unwavering. She owned a successful certified MAI Appraisal firm in Beverly Hills in 1994 for many years, serving a large population of ownership values. She continued in the stock market industry, as a foreign currency analyst, is well-versed as a Realtor and Certified Financial Planner, and established ownership with three other prolific business persons in running one of the most successful mortgage firms. Her footprints have been engrained in communities from California to Washington DC. She served as Vice President for two concurrent terms on the local school site councils, served on the Build Workforce Small Business Advisory Council, the Los Angeles United School District Small Business Council, served as committee member with the Los Angeles Task Force for Community Awareness, under the direction of (Ex-Chief of Police), Chief Bernard Parks, served in 2006 as one of Founding memberDirector of the California Council of Chambers in Sacramento, appointed as Chair of Program for the Board of Library Commissioners (Woodland Hills Friends of Library Committee branch). She was a founding member of BizFed and served as BizFed 2014 Chair-Elect, BizFed 2013 Advocacy Co-Vice Chair, BizFed 2012 Nominating Committee Vice Chair, and BizFed 2011 SecretaryTreasurer. Currently, she serves as Board Member on the United Chambers of Commerce San Fernando Valley, a member of VICA and VITA. (Valley International Trade Association). She is a Board Director for the Fernando Awards, served on Los Angeles Grand Jury Community Advocacy Committee, serves as Board Director on National African American Drug Policy CouncilWash DC. She was elected in 2011 as the President of the California State Black Chambers Council of Chambers, a large group of minority chambers serving the entire southern and northern California regions. In 2012, she was appointed to serve as a National Western Region Spokeswoman 8211 jointly with Congresswoman Emeritus, Dr Diane Watson 8211 on the Women for America Business Issues and voter registration as an LA County represenative under the appointed post of So Cal. Regional Coordinator, DJ Blaker, jointly under the directions of Lena Kennedy, Southern Ca. Director for Women for Obama Campaign. In 2013, she was reappointed to complete an extended term of four years as President of the CBCCs Council of Chambers, Nominated as 2013 Mentor of the Year, Washington, DC, and recognized as International Woman of the YearPilipino Chamber of Commerce. She was voted and profiled by Business Life Magazine as one of the Top 25 most influential Women Professionals for 2014, and was recently appointed to the CBCCs Council of Chambers as 2015 Director-Elect of Advocacy for Legislative amp Community Affairs. Ms. Townsend is a widower, and has four adult children and one grandson. She loves the arts and great jazz music Steve Bullock, Chief Financial Officer, Cerrell Associates Inc. As Chief Financial Officer for Cerrell Associates, Steve Bullock has been associated with the firm for more than 27 years. He rejoined Cerrell in 1987 after leaving the company to work in the cable television industry for six years. Steve oversees the accounting, finance, legal, IT and government reporting activities of Cerrell and is a co-owner of the firm. He has worked on numerous projects within the company to build and refine its operations and systems for accounting and internal control. Steve8217s earlier involvement at Cerrell was as an account executive. In that capacity, he was responsible for providing advocacy services on behalf of clients and working on various political campaign and business related projects. He also served as business manager to a major Los Angeles area cable television systems owned by Century Southwest Cable Television Inc. Responsible for the management and coordination of all business operations for the 75,000 subscriber system, Steve helped operate one of the largest cable television systems in the United States at that time. In addition, Steve held several positions with Group W Cable Inc. a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric. These positions included manager of rate and regulatory reporting, senior financial analyst, and assistant area manager for new markets development. He also held the position of director of public affairs for Ecolo-Haul, Inc. at that time the largest independent provider of community-designated resource recovery (recycling) programs in the Los Angeles area. He was responsible for the creation and implementation of various publicity programs and events and targeting business development through news media exposure. Steve is a resident of the city of Glendale and active in the civic affairs of that city, including service with the Glendale Chamber of Commerce and the Glendale YMCA. Charles Gale, South Bay Association of Chambers Mr. Gale represents the Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and South Bay Association of Chambers and was most recently BizFeds Operations Co-Vice Chair. Since 2001, Charles has been a Principal Government and Regional Affairs Representative for the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California. Charles provides Metropolitan with over 20 years of government affairs experience with working with elected officials and regulatory state and federal agencies through Southern California. In addition to assisting with the successful implementation of Metropolitans state and federal legislative advocacy outreach programs, Charles is responsible for outreach to the Southern California Home Builders on Metropolitans Residential Conservation programs. Prior to Metropolitan Water District, Charles worked for the Building Industry Association of Southern California as the Director of Government Affairs and Political Action Committee for 8 years. Charles holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Southern California with an emphasis in urbanregional governments. Paul Little, President amp CEO, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce Paul Little was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce in December, 2007. Previously, he was a senior account executive with VMA Communications, Inc. a boutique public relations and communications firm and provided all manner of communication-related work for school districts, public agencies, colleges and universities and other clients. Mr. Little has served as Director of Communications for Claremont School of Theology and Pacific Asia Museum, as well. He has also written articles for newspapers and magazines. Prior to entering the public relations arena, Mr. Little worked in the entertainment industry where he was a production assistant, assistant to the producer, associate producer, assistant film editor, line producer, script doctor, development and production executive. Mr. Little served on the Pasadena City Council from 1995 to 2007. He chaired the citys Finance Committee and served on the Municipal Services Committee and the Economic Development and Technology Committee. He served on the Board of the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Construction Authority from its inception in 1998 through completion of the initial, 700 million construction phase of the Gold Line light rail project in 2006. He served as chair of that board three times. Paul Little currently serves as Vice President of the Rose Bowl Operating Company that oversees the stadium for the City of Pasadena. He is also on the Board of the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) and is a member of that groups Operations Committee. Mr. Little is married to Laurie Bollman-Little, a high school English teacher in Los Angeles. They have two children, Cameron (26) a graduate of New York University who lives in Brooklyn and Courtney (22) a recent graduate of Clark University who is working for a Broadway theatrical production company in New York. The Little family also includes two dogs and a chinchilla. Lou Baglietto, Partner, Butterfield CommunicationsHarbor CityHarbor Gateway Chamber Lou Baglietto is a longtime Board member of the Harbor CityHarbor Gateway Chamber, a founding member of BizFed. He also is senior vice president and partner at Butterfield Communications Mr. Bagliettos specialties include strategy, research and public policy formulation. A former political consultantstrategist, he has extensive experience in the development and implementation of communication strategies. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America. In the past, he has participated in the Harvard Law Schools Program on Negotiation by attending the seminar Dealing with an Angry Public and was a member of the Community Lobbying Team for the Boeing Corporations National Missile Defense Program and the Harbor Association of Industry amp Commerce, Washington D. C. Lobbying Team on behalf the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In 2005 he participated in the Republican National Committees Hispanic outreach program: La Nueva Generacion de Lideres. In 1998, He served as Headquarters Manager for the U. S. Senate campaign of California State Treasurer Matt Fong. Previously, he served in various capacities for dozens of state and local political contests. Mr. Bagliettos political career started in 1984, when he was hired as a Legislative Aide to Assemblyman Wayne Grisham of Norwalk. From 1986 to 1989, he served as an Army Officer with the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas and served as a platoon leader, company executive officer and war plans officer in a mechanized infantry battalion. A native of Long Beach, California, Mr. Baglietto attended California public schools throughout his education and received his baccalaureate in Political Science from the California State University, Fullerton. After his return from military service he undertook advanced course work in Economics. He currently serves as Treasurer of the Los Angeles Harbor College Foundation and as a Director of the South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce. He is the Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors for both the Boys and Girls Clubs of the South Bay and of the Harbor CityHarbor Gateway Chamber of Commerce. He resides in the Belmont Heights neighborhood of Long Beach. He is the proud father of an adult daughter, Kayla, who is the 3rd generation of their family to serve in the United States Army. Energy amp Environment Ken Chawkins, Ph. D. Manager of Public Policy, Southern California Gas Company. Responsible for shaping the public policy agenda for Southern California Gas Company at the Federal, State and Local governmental levels. Frame the public engagement strategy, working with various organizations and interests groups to build coalitions seeking the safe, clean and affordable use of natural gas as an energy source. Prior to that, managed the contractual relationship between the Morongo Indian Tribe and Southern California Edison to ensure that multi-phase build of 48-mile Transmission Line (West of DeversWOD) is completed on time and within budget. He also managed complete training offerings for Operations Business Support, which includes Supply Chain Management, Corporate Security, Facilities, Real Properties, Corporate EnvironmentHealthSafety, and Transportation Services. The group will provide overall training needs assessment services, training designdevelopdeliver and evaluate services and overall performance review consultation for Edison clients. Prior to that, he Lead staff in development and deployment of all external support programs for ERP including: Super User Program, Manager Engagement Project, Business Readiness Strategy. He also lead staff in development and application of Training Environment, including: Preparation of Training Trini Jimenez, Director Government Affairs, BNSF Railway Co. Mr. Jimenez is an accomplished GovernmentCommunityPublic Affairs Executive with a proven track record of government and community relations projects in both the private and public sector. Jimenez has served as Director of Government Affairs for the BNSF Railway Company in California since 2006. He works with elected officials and government agencies at all levels (federal, state, and local) in implementing government and community relations programs consistent with company goals and enhancing corporate citizen position. Previous to joining BNSF, Jimenez was Director of Government Affairs for Rio Hondo College and also served as Executive Director of the Rio Hondo College Foundation. Prior to working in the field of Government Affairs, Jimenez practiced law as an attorney with the firm of Burke, Williams and Sorensen in downtown Los Angeles. He practiced within the fields of Municipal and Education Law, representing various municipalities, school districts, and other local government entities assisting them with labor and employment issues. From 1999 2007, Mr. Jimenez served as a local elected official on the Board of Trustees of the Lennox School District. Jimenez has served on the Board of various prestigious organizations. In 2014, he was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as a Commissioner on the L. A. County Workforce Investment Board (WIB). Jimenez also serves on the Los Angeles Advisory Council for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Corporate Advisory Council of the CA Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, the Board of Directors of the L. A. County Business Federation (BizFed), and the Board of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. He also served one term as Board President of the UCLA Latino Alumni Association. In 2009, Jimenez was recognized by the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) with a Young Hispanic Corporate Achiever Award. He is also a 2013 BNSF Railway Employee of the Year. Jimenez received his B. A. in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach and his J. D. from the UCLA School of Law. Trini and his wife Maria are proud parents of two beautiful daughters.. Frances Keeler, FuturePorts As senior counsel at Clyde amp Co. Frances represents clients before various regulatory entities including local and regional air pollution contral agencies, the California Air Resource Board and U. S Environmental Protection Agency on rule development, compliance issues, and state and federal Clean Air Acts. She has substantial experience with respect to Title V compliance and equipment permitting, and closely follows and advises on emerging issues relating to credit trading and global climate change. Frances also advises on development projects regarding permitting and compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and defends legal challenges to the environmental analyses. Frances conducts facility environmental compliance audits in support of corporate safety and governance programs, due diligence and court imposed compliance programs. She has over 30 years of experience in the field of air quality management having worked previously as a field inspector, staff specialist and eventually as Senior Counsel to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Frances sits on the board of numerous organizations, including those of the California Maritime Academy Foundation, FuturePorts, Women8217s International Shipping and Trading Association USA, and the Harbor Association of Industry amp Commerce. She is a member of the California State Bar Environmental Law Section, WSPA Associates and the American Association of Blacks in Energy. Frances frequently presents at national and international seminars and client trade associations on various environmental topics. Frances received a BA in Chemistry from California State College, San Bernardino and a JD from the Western State University, College of Law. Joe Hower, Principal, Ramboll Environ Corp. Joseph Hower has over 30 years of experience in air quality management, including greenhouse gas (GHG) management, regulatory compliance, permitting, litigation support, expert witness work, risk management and pollution control engineering. Specific projects have ranged from Title V permit evaluations to managing the installation and startup of multi-million dollar air pollution control systems. Joe also leads Ramboll ENVIRON8217s work in the area of emissions trading. His service on the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Advisory Council for nearly five years has provided him with an excellent understanding of regulatory processes. He uses this expertise to negotiate complex technical agreements and permits with agencies, assist facilities with compliance programs and provide technical expertise to litigation teams. Joe teaches air quality permitting courses at the University of California, Los Angeles, and serves on the American Association of Port Authorities Environment Committee, and is a current Board Member and a past chair of the West Coast Section of the Air amp Waste Management Association and a member of the FuturePorts Board of Directors. He is a former member of the CleanTech Orange County Board of Directors. Healthcare Michael Sullivan, Vice PresidentChief Philanthropy Officer, Orthopaedic Institute for Children. Mr. Sullivan is Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer at Orthopaedic Institute for Children. He has an impressive record of fundraising for healthcare institutions in academic environments. Previously, as Chief Development Officer, he raised nearly 100 million at two specialty institutes affiliated with Harvard Medical School: Joslin Diabetes Center and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. He also developed innovative brand-building campaigns for these institutes and is experienced in all aspects of fundraising including major naming donations, capital campaigns, corporate and celebrity sponsorship and targeted campaigns for faculty recruitment and research. He is experienced working with hospital boards and support groups and stewarding high profile donors with a variety of events and programs including a donor concierge service. Jeff Keating, Executive Director, Public Affairs and Marketing, Western University of Health Sciences Jeff Keating has been Executive Director of Public Affairs and Marketing for Western University of Health Sciences since May 2008, joining WesternU after serving as managing editor of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin newspaper. His 20year newspaper journalism career also included stints as a reporter, business editor, city editor, senior editor for the community news division of the Los Angeles Times, and editor and general manager of the Ashland Daily Tidings newspaper in southern Oregon. As Executive Director of Public Affairs and Marketing, Jeff develops and implements the overall communications strategy for WesternU, including media outreach, electronic and print communications, and social media. He also supervises University Advancement employees in branding, publications and marketing, and oversees the main pages of the Universitys website. Jeff also serves on WesternUs Strategic Planning Oversight Committee and its Implementation Steering Committee, is a member of its Campus Master Planning committee, and is the chief spokesman for the university. He is a past two-term president of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce (2011-13), and currently is treasurer and Legislative Affairs chairman for that organization. He is a member of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnerships Healthcare Sector Council and the Mt. San Antonio College Community Facility Advisory Committee. He also served for six years (2010-16) on the San Bernardino County Regional Parks Advisory Board, and is a former board member (2013-16) of Pomona Rotary, for which he is the 2018-19 president-elect. Jeff holds a bachelors degree in Organizational Management from the University of La Verne, and a masters degree in history from Arizona State University. He and his wife Jessica, editor of the Redlands Daily Facts newspaper, are parents to daughter Halley, 11, and son Matthew, 9. The Keatings live in Redlands. Michael Tou, Director Government Relations, Providence Health amp Services SoCal Michael Tou is Director of Government Relations for Providence Health amp Services, Southern California the second largest healthcare provider in Los Angeles County and one of the largest private employers in the region. Mr. Tou directs legislative and regulatory advocacy for Providence across the state. He works with regional leaders and experts in analyzing the impact of policy proposals, leading related advocacy, and furthering strategic partnerships. Providence Southern California operates five award-winning acute-care medical centers in the Los Angeles area, providing a full continuum of healthcare services: Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Tarzana Medical Center, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. The region also has numerous ancillary facilities including Hospice care, long-term care, Providence Medical Institute (primary and specialty care clinics), Providence High School and an affiliation with Facey Medical Group. Before joining Providence, Mr. Tou served for nearly twelve years as the chief policy advisor to a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, specializing in environmental, healthcare and transportation policy issues. Mr. Tou also served as an aide to a former speaker of the California State Assembly and in the White House under the Clinton administration. A native of Los Angeles, he earned his Master in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from California State University, Northridge. Labor amp Employment Mark Wilbur, CEO, Employers Group Mark Wilbur is a founding member of BizFed. He has served as President amp CEO of Employers Group since 2007 as the youngest CEO in its118 year history. With BizFed, Mark and his team were instrumental in developing and delivering a vital member survey that took the pulse of LA County business owners and helped to frame BizFed8217s action plan and top priorities in 2008. In 2010 Mark served as the Vice Chair of BizFeds Operations Committee, in 2011 Chair of the Los Angeles Business Federation (BizFed), then in 2012 Chair of the BizFed Institute, in 2013 Co-Chair of BizFeds Healthcare Committee. He is presently serving as the Chair of the Nominating Committee for BizFed. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the world renowned Orthopaedic Institute for Children in Los Angeles. Before joining Employers Group, Mark was the Associate Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC) for three years, leading many efforts from external affairs, development and executive education, which included customized solutions for companies to help meet the critical needs of their employees and executives. Prior to USC, Mark was a Partner in Business Consulting at Arthur Andersen, developing solutions for clients across the U. S. Asia and Europe. Marks professional experience and expertise are in strategic planning, business process design, customer relationship management, organizational change, customer service design and enhancement, as well as global operations and service integration. Mark served as an instructor for the Arthur Anderson Center of Professional Education, and was honored with the Andersen Excellence in Education for his exceptional teaching skills four times. Mark earned his BA and MBA from the University of Southern California and continues to support his alma mater through coaching the USC Ice Hockey team. Ted Green, Owner, Green Public Affairs amp CampaignsWest Hollywood Chamber. After graduating from USC, where he was tellingly named Outstanding Freshman Debater, Ted immersed himself in politics. By the time he joined Woodward amp McDowell in 1990, hed already interned at the White House, managed a City Council race, and helped elect a governor in California. In addition to managing campaigns and community organizing efforts, Ted is especially adept at building diverse coalitions. Famous for his persistence and meticulous attention to detail, he has established working relationships in every county in California and has built broad-based, bi-partisan coalitions on just about every issue one can imagine. Hes also still a first rate debater, and continues to be the go-to guy for tough community forums and news media debates. Ted served as the President of the Board of Directors of the Junior Statesmen Foundation, an organization he first joined as a high school student. Mark Wilbur, CEO, Employers Group Mark Wilbur is a founding member of BizFed. He has served as President amp CEO of Employers Group since 2007 as the youngest CEO in its118 year history. With BizFed, Mark and his team were instrumental in developing and delivering a vital member survey that took the pulse of LA County business owners and helped to frame BizFed8217s action plan and top priorities in 2008. In 2010 Mark served as the Vice Chair of BizFeds Operations Committee, in 2011 Chair of the Los Angeles Business Federation (BizFed), then in 2012 Chair of the BizFed Institute, in 2013 Co-Chair of BizFeds Healthcare Committee. He is a a member of the Board of Trustees for the world renowned Orthopaedic Institute for Children in Los Angeles. Before joining Employers Group, Mark was the Associate Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC) for three years, leading many efforts from external affairs, development and executive education, which included customized solutions for companies to help meet the critical needs of their employees and executives. Prior to USC, Mark was a Partner in Business Consulting at Arthur Andersen, developing solutions for clients across the U. S. Asia and Europe. Marks professional experience and expertise are in strategic planning, business process design, customer relationship management, organizational change, customer service design and enhancement, as well as global operations and service integration. Mark served as an instructor for the Arthur Anderson Center of Professional Education, and was honored with the Andersen Excellence in Education for his exceptional teaching skills four times. Mark earned his BA and MBA from the University of Southern California and continues to support his alma mater through coaching the USC Ice Hockey team. Land Use, Housing, Development amp Real Estate Sandy Sanchez, Community Development Director, FivePoint. Ms. Sanchez is the Community Development Director for Newhall Land. In this position, she works to advance the development of the master-planned community of Newhall Ranch. Prior to joining FivePoint Sandy worked was the Director of Government Affairs where she worked to advocate for pro-development policies throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Her duties included monitoring and advocating on the governmental issues affecting the building industry, overseeing the Government Affairs Committee and chapter Political Action Committee. Her efforts have resulted in saving builders millions of dollars in construction related fees and eliminated policies that would dramatically imped development. Sandy is a seasoned real estate development professional. She has directly managed land-use planning, entitlements, and served as project manager for over 1,000 residential units in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange Counties as well acting as construction manager for various commercial buildings. Sandy also has additional expertise in residential lending and strategic positioning with stakeholder groups and public officials. Her specialties include forward planning of single family sub-divisions, and multi-family (podiums) development, as well as tilt-up buildings community infrastructure financing and installation, and construction management of big-box retail projects. Prior to joining the BIA, Ms. Sanchez was the Director of Pre-Development at OampS Holdings and also served as Project Manager for D. R. Horton for six years. She began her career at Bank of America where she served as a lending officer and managed a substantial portfolio of high net-worth clients. Sandy served as a co-Chair of BizFeds Land Use Committee this year. In her spare time Sandy is active in the community as a Volunteer in Policing with the Redondo Beach Police Department, Member of the College of Canyons Construction Advisory Board, and graduate of the LA Junior Chamber of Commerce Riordan Leadership Institute-Volunteer Leadership Development Program and volunteer with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Christine Aghassi is a Senior Vice President with Dolphin Group Public Affairs in Los Angeles. Christine Aghassi is a Senior Vice President with Dolphin Group Public Affairs in Los Angeles. With nearly two decades of experience in public affairs and campaign management, she is a seasoned strategist who tackles complex public policy issues for the firms diverse clients from Fortune 50 corporations to local community groups. She has overseen strategic communications programs in a variety of policy areas including business regulation, health care, entitlements, land use, gaming, and small business advocacy. In addition to her role with BizFed, she is also a board member of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA). Christine keeps active in her local community as a board member of the Clover Avenue Elementary School Booster Club and she previously served on the board of the South Robertson Neighborhoods Council (SORO NC). A longtime cupcake connoisseur, she is quick with recommendations for local selections. Christine is a native of the Boston area and continues to be a dedicated Sox and Patriots fan. She now lives in West Los Angeles with her husband Jeff and daughter Finley. Sam Freshman, Chairman amp President, Standard Management Samuel Freshman was admitted to the California State Bar in 1957 and became General Counsel of Jacob Sterns amp Sons, a real estate investment company. In 1959, he founded Freshman, Marantz, Orlanski, Cooper, and Klein Law Corporation of Beverly Hills, specializing in all areas of real estate. The firm now is the Century City office of KampL Gates. In 1961, he founded real estate investment and management firm Standard Management Company. As chairman, Sam oversees investment strategy and business development. Standard acquires, develops, and manages hundreds of millions of dollars worth of income property. During its history, Standard has managed property in 15 states and 25 cities, including 6,000 apartment units a mobile home park 2,500,000 sq. ft. gross rentable commercial space in 16 shopping centers 4 office buildings and 1,200,000 sq. ft. of industrial properties, totaling more than 700 million dollars of market value. Sam is an expert in real estate syndication and has been a general partner in over 100 real estate syndications. He has secured, negotiated, and documented more than 500 million dollars of real estate loans as a lender, borrower, attorney, banker, and property manager. His investors have included life insurance companies, pension funds, and high-net individuals and families. In addition, Sam is chairman of Water Techniques, a California water treatment company. He was also president of Standard Theaters managing member of Available Money, an ATM network director-secretary of Banner Gelatin Products Corporation, a pharmaceutical company chairman of Trans State Title Company and secretary and board member of Marina Mercy Hospital, a 200-bed hospital in Marina del Rey, California. In the banking arena, Sam was chairman of Bank of Los Angeles and advisory director of Imperial Bank of Los Angeles, American City Bank, and Banco Ponce, formerly Banco Popular. Chip Ahlswede, CEO, Beverly Hills Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors Chip joined the Beverly Hills Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors in late 2015 where he resides as its CEO. Mr. Ahlswede was formerly the government affairs director of the Arcadia Association of Realtors and helped co-found Government Affairs Strategies, LLC in 2010 a full-service public affairs firm dedicated to assisting businesses, organizations, and individuals in their political efforts. Drawing on an extensive background working on all levels of government and with associations across the country, he has helped to create and implement innovative strategies to accomplish legislative, elective, and PAC related goals for organizations on all levels. Mr. Ahlswede provides national presentations on Government Relations to organizations on Government Relations such as The American Society of Association Executives, Public Affairs Council, National Association of REALTORS(R), National Apartment Association, and others. He has worked with local, state and national organizations and individuals to help advance policies, raise funds, and identify opportunities for organizational development. He also served as Chair of the Government Affairs Directors for the National Association of REALTORS in 2007 Chip lives in Orange, CA with his wife Jenn and three boys Cooper, Donovan and Nixon. Nominating V. P. Public Affairs, Watson Land Company Pilar M. Hoyos, V. P. Public Affairs, Watson Land Company, serves the Company and its customers as an advocate and liaison to government and the communities in which the Company has its real estate holdings. A 30-year public affairs veteran, Hoyos is actively engaged on key issues which affect the areas competitiveness for business retention and attraction. She serves on a number of boards, including the California Taxpayers Association CalChamber Advocacy Council LAEDC Land Use Committee the LA Chamber Land Use, Housing and Transportation Committee CarsonDominguez Employers Alliance and for a number of years served as Chair of the Workforce Investment Network, an organization charged with regional job training and placement programs. Hoyos is a graduate of USC and a resident of the City of Los Angeles. Polling amp Research Dan Hoffman, Executive Director, Wilmington Chamber Mr. Hoffman has served as ED since April 2004, and has resided in Wilmington for more than thirty years. The Wilmington Chamber of Commerce has served businesses and the community since 1904. Many of the streets in Wilmington are named in honor of early Chamber Directors. Most recently, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce partnered with the San Pedro Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the Port of Los Angeles, in an effort to establish the worlds resource for green technologies in the Los Angeles Harbor Area. Dan has been a supporter of BizFed nearly since its founding and active in all areas including Advocacy and Polling. Jeremy Harris, Senior Vice President, Long Beach Chamber Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (LBACC) Senior Vice President Jeremy Harris was appointed president of the Southern California Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (SCACCE) in 2016. SCACCE seeks to advance Southern California chamber management professionals and is managed by the statewide California Chamber of Commerce, according to the announcement. Harris has served the LBACC since 2013 as its senior vice president, taking charge of its public policy program and political action committee (PAC), as well as communications. He is also the staff liasion for the Long Beach Young Professionals and the Government Affairs Council. He also has his own firm, Harris Consulting, which he started in 2011. Previous experience includes PresidentCEO of Garden Grove Chamber and Vice President Chamber Advocacy. Responsible Governance Mitchell Vieyra, Government Affairs Director, BOMA Greater LA. Mitchell Vieyra is the Government Affairs Manager for BOMA Greater Los Angeles, representing the commercial real estate industry in LA County. Mitchell oversees the associations six Regional Councils, Political Action Committee and Homeless and Community Awareness Committee. He is responsible for all legislative and municipal relationships and serves on a number of advisory groups including the Long Beach Area Chamber Government Affairs Committee and the Downtown Los Angeles Transportation Management Organization (TMO) Advisory Council. Mitchell is a member of the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) PAC Board and the BOMA California Board of Directors. He received his Masters of Public Administration and Bachelors of Science in Policy, Planning and Development from the University of Southern California. Outside of work, he is actively engaged in his community, promoting civic involvement and fostering the arts in local youth. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Playascape, a nonprofit organization bringing interactive art to Los Angeles. Kristine Guerrero, Legislative Director, LA County Division, League of California Cities As Legislative Director for the Los Angeles County Division League of California Cities, Ms. Guerrero is experienced in communicating political, legislative, and social issues to decision makers, media, and the public. She has a strong background in coalition building, advocacy, and grassroots organizing related to issue campaigns and policy education. In her role, Ms. Guerrero develops and maintains close communication and working relationships with city officials throughout the 88 cities in Los Angeles County to aggressively advocate key League priorities and positions with legislators, local media, and other key stakeholders. Previously, she was Press deputy, California State Senator Gloria Romero, 2002-2005 Account Executive, Millennium Services Inc. 2000-2002 Special Projects Coordinator, Los Angeles County Community Development Commission. Ms. Guerrero earned a Masters of Public Administration, USC and Bachelors, Political Science, UCLA. She is a Board member, USC School of Policy, Planning and Development Alumni Association and a Public Affairs Council, National Grassroots Council Delegate. Small Business Diversity Virginia Gomez, President, Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council. Virginia Gomez is president of Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council (SCMSDC), the largest nonprofit minority business advocacy organization in the region. She was appointed to this position in February 2012. As president, Gomez is responsible for leading council activities to strengthen its position as the the premiere organization strengthening economic ties between large, public-, private - and foreign-owned corporations and minority men - and women-owned business enterprises. This includes directing such activities as nationally recognized certification to minority-owned businesses, strategic networking between corporate members and certified firms, and education, information, and skills development to help minority businesses enhance their capacity. She previously served as SCMSDC vice president, where she assisted the council president in the organizations day-to-day operations, including information technology, certification, and annual major events functions and supported council board committees. Prior to joining the council in 2001, she held several management positions at the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), the nations largest municipally owned utility. Her experience at the utility included directing and overseeing contracting policies, budgetary, human resources, systems developmentautomation, and other administrative functions. As DWP contract compliance officer, she successfully led the development and implementation of the first supply chain management e-procurement system implemented among Los Angeles municipal agencies. Donna Duperron, President amp CEO, Torrance Area Chamber A dedicated and respected community leader, Donna Duperron consistently develops and advances personal and business relationships benefitting social, educational, civic and community realms. Her expertise in relationship based management and strategic team building experience has allowed for collaboration with notable community and business leaders in creating esteemed events and achieving mutually beneficial goals. Donna has been recipient for South Bay Woman of the Year named for her service, dedication, and commitment to the South Bay. Understandably so, she is an admirable person of impeccable character. On her desk are the words Be the change you want to see in the world by Ghandi. Her leadership in the community creates an indelible ripple effect for positive change. What she is most noted for is her sincerity and gratitude. As a visionary, she takes great pride in her works and outwardly shares appreciation for the contributions of others. She has been at the helm chairing professional and charitable events for organizations such as Pediatric Therapy Network, American Honda Motor Company, City of Torrance, and Torrance Unified School District. As President CEO for Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, Donna vigorously contributes efforts towards advancing Board directives. She has much success in revitalizing programs and securing financial vitality for non profit organizations for over 18 years. Her key achievements include the establishments of many partnerships such as TACC Foundation Adopt a School program, Business for a Day, Mentor Program, State of Education, as well as developing task forces to better serve the civic and business community. In addition to her chamber responsibilities, Donna remains an active committee executive for the Western Association of Chamber Executives, in which she has been recognized as the Hathaway Staff Person of the Year. She served on the executive committee for the City of Torrance Centennial. She holds board membership with South Bay Association of Chamber of Commerce and is immediate past Chairman of the Board. She, has served as President for the Torrance Kiwanis Club two times and is a member of Del Amo Rotary Club. She currently serves on the board for the Southern California Association of Chamber of Commerce executives. Her keen ability to develop successful long term relationships is evidenced by her 38 year marriage to Gary. They have three grown children and two grandchildren. Kish Rajan, Chief Evangelist, CALinnovates Kish Rajan has a 20-year track record of success in government and the private sector. After graduating from UC Berkeley, he began his public sector career on Capitol Hill as an aide to Senator Barbara Boxer and then later to Phil Angelides who went on to become California State Treasurer. Kish then built a 14 year career in the private sector as a business development executive in mobile technology managing vital business partnerships that created hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars of shareholder value. During this time, Kish earned a J. D. started a family, and served a term on the Walnut Creek City Council, becoming a Bay Area regional leader in economic development, transportation planning and advancing technology in government. In 2012, Kish was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to lead the newly formed Governors Office of Business and Economic Development (GO Biz). His directive from Governor Brown was to enhance Californias job creation effort by promoting statewide economic development, improving the business climate, and fostering greater international trade. During Kishs tenure at GO Biz, California grew substantially, once again becoming the worlds 7 th largest economy. In 2015, Kish returned to the private sector to lead advocacy efforts to modernize and grow Californias economy through his role at CALinnovates as its Chief Evangelist. Will Wright, Director, Government and Public Affairs, AIA-LA Will Wright currently serves as the Director of Government and Public Affairs for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIALA). As Los Angeles8217 chief advocate for better architecture and urban design, Wright helps bring together design thinkers and civic leaders to solve problems and set priorities. With more than a dozen years of experience lobbying for a healthier, more beautiful and better functioning city, Wright is responsible for a variety of roles including connecting architects and designers with civic leaders to help shape public policy and provide critical input on project delivery methods, procurement best-practices, infrastructure investments and environmental performance. Primarily, he serves the design profession and the community-at-large as a synthesizer and generalist that excels in knowing how to bring exactly the right people together in an effort to solve complex challenges that require highly nuanced and innovative solutions. By weighing environmental performance, cultural equity, social impact and economic sustainability in equal measures, Wright helps to deliver a stronger return on investment by highlighting a set of performance-based metrics for design excellence, livability and delight. In 2013, Mr. Wright became a founding Board Member of the non-profit From Lot To Spot, which helps underserved communities transform vacant lots into parks and open space. Wright also presently serves as a public board member of the BOMA-LA Political Action Committee and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) as a Vice Chair of the Land Use amp Development Committee. Past leadership also includes serving as a member of the statewide ClimatePlan Strategic Planning Steering Committee. Wright was honored as an AIALA Presidential Honoree in 2011, joining such distinguished honorees as Michael Woo, Merry Norris, Frances Anderton, Dan Rosenfeld, Julius Shulman, Dorothy Chandler, Tom Bradley and Ray and Charles Eames. In 2005, he won the prestigious AIGA 365 award as the Editor of the literary arts publication, FishWrap, Volume V. Prior to working for the AIALA, Wright was a script doctor for an independent film production company in Venice, CA. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1995. Wright has a BFA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and a Master in Fine Arts from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Joe Ahn, Manager, Regional Government and Public Affairs, Northrop Grumman Joe Ahn serves as division manager of government and public affairs for Northrop Grummans Aerospace Systems sector, which has operations in California, Florida, New York and other states that employ more than 20,000 people. His responsibilities include advising the organization on state and local public policy issues related to business development, management operations and public affairs. He has more than two decades of professional experience developing public policy in the areas of environmental management, land use, taxes, labor and regulatory compliance. Last year, Mr. Ahn was co-Vice Chair of BizFeds Polling amp Research Committee Mr. Ahn also was co-Vice Chair of BizFed8217s Advocacy Committee in 2012. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Mr. Ahn served in positions of increasing responsibility in California state and local government. He was appointed by then Governor Gray Davis as deputy director, then acting director, of the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency. Prior to the gubernatorial appointment, he served as deputy chief of staff to Vice Chair John Chiang on the California Board of Equalization. Joe began his public service career in the California Legislature as a legislative aide to the Vice Chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. He has also worked as a senior advisor to Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti and chief deputy to Los Angeles Board of Education Member George Kiriyama. Mr. Ahn received his masters degree in business administration at Claremont Graduate Universitys Peter F. Drucker School of Management. Previously, he completed the Mediation Program at Pepperdine University Law School, and received undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Ethnic Studies at California State University Fullerton. He also serves as a Leadership Fellow with the University of Southern Californias School of Social Work. Fran Inman, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Majestic Realty Co . Fran Inman directs all government relations and community affairs activities for Majestic Realty Co. one of the nation8217s largest privately-held, family-owned real estate development companies. With a real estate portfolio totaling approximately 70 million square feet of commercial properties, Majestic Realty has offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Bethlehem, Dallas, Denver and Las Vegas. Last year, Inman was co-Vice Chair of BizFeds Goods Movement Committee. Ms. Inman is recognized as a leader in the push to improve the nations failing transportation infrastructure. With Majestic properties playing a critical role in the supply chain, Inman is an outspoken advocate for transportation infrastructure funding in Los Angeles and beyond. Widely recognized for her leadership and ability to develop solutions and build consensus, Inman possesses a unique portfolio of skills that combine a profound understanding of the balance required to build sustainable communities. Inman was recently appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Transportation Commission. As immediate past chair of the board of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Inman has served on numerous statewide and regional goods movement committees and serves on the board of governors for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), the executive committee for the Central City Association (CCA), the executive committee for the California Business Properties Association (CBPA) and is the former chair of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership (SGVEP). She also is founding board member and executive committee member for FuturePorts. Also recognized as a leader in the philanthropic community, Inman is the founding president of the Majestic Realty Foundation. Inman further demonstrates her commitment to active community engagement through her service as a board member for Three Square, the Center for Nonprofit Management. Additionally, she is the board chair for THINK Together, one of the nations largest non-profit after-school learning programs serving more than 70,000 at-risk and low-income students across Southern California. Charley Wilson, Board Chair, Southern California Water Committee Charles Wilson has been a leading public affairs professional in Southern California for more than 30 years. Wilson has spent the past 25 years in the electric utility industry with SCE, where he coordinates the development and implementation of strategic planning and communication efforts to align company interests with local, state and federal government officials and agencies. Wilson began his carrier with SCE in 1990 as a local region manager in Orange County. He became a member of the original Government Education Resource Team when it was formed in 1996 in preparation for the deregulation of the electric utility industry. Recognized as an organizational leader, Wilson is a proven consensus builder and strategic communications specialist who can develop high performance teams, which produce results. An excellent communicator who possesses strong written and public speaking skills with the ability to convincingly present view points before public audiences and the news media. Wilson most recently was elected as Chairman of the Southern California Water Committee, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public education partnership between cities, counties, business, industry, agriculture and water agencies dedicated to securing reliable, affordable, quality water for Southern California. Wilson also serves as an elected board member of the Santa Margarita Water District where he currently serves as an active and dynamic force in providing leadership to the second largest and fastest growing retail water agency in Orange County. Mike Lewis, President of Lewis Associates LLC, and Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition and the Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality Mike Lewis is President of Lewis Associates LLC, a Southern California government relations consulting firm, and Senior Vice President of the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition and the Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality. In those capacities he has spearheaded the industrys efforts statewide to achieve reasonable and affordable state and local regulations. Previously Mike served on Supervisor Pete Schabarums staff from 1973-1989 as a deputy specializing in transportation, air pollution, planning and zoning, economic development and privatization of government services. In July 1980, he was appointed Chief Deputy responsible for all policy and organizational matters. He served as a member of the Southern California Rapid Transit District Board of Directors, completing an eight-and-one-half year term in February 1985 served as President of the Board of Directors in 1982 and 1983 and, authored a laymans guide to improving public transportation called MOVING PEOPLE. Mike served as a member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission until March of 1991. In 1983, he was selected by Urban Mass Transportation Administrator Art Teele as one of 20 individuals nationwide to receive UMTAs outstanding Public Service Award. Another UMTA Administrator, Ralph Stanley, named him to serve on the Advisory Board of Rice Universitys Joint Center for Urban Mobility Research. Mike Lewis spearheaded Supervisor Schabarums efforts to privatize nearly 13 of the bus service operated by RTD in the San Gabriel Valley and served on the Executive Board of the Foothill Transit Zone for five years. Los Angeles Magazine named Mike one of the ten transportation power players in Los Angeles and the most knowledgeable person in Los Angeles on the subject of transportation finance. Mike served on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board until August 1978, and served as a member of the City of San Dimas Planning Commission. He served as an Adjunct Professor teaching transportation policy and planning at California State University in Long Beach. Mike is a past chairman of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce Civic and Government Affairs Committee and past president of the San Gabriel Valley Eagle Scout Association. He is currently a Board Member of the Foothill AIDS Project serving the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire and served 8 years as a member of the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV Health Services. He is past president of the Los Angeles County East Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California. Mike is a resident of Hacienda Heights. SoCal 2017 Task Force Chair Dan Schnur is the BizFed SoCal 2017 Task Force Chair and Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, where he works to motivate students to become involved in politics, government, and public service and teaches popular classes in politics, communications, and leadership. He also is the Founder and Director of the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLos Angeles Times poll series. Dan has worked for years as a political reformer and has held several leadership positions in this field. In 2010, Dan was appointed Chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). During his tenure, he implemented groundbreaking campaign finance disclosure requirements for independent committees, appointed a bipartisan task force to update Californias 1978 Political Reform Act, and worked to assure the disclosure of campaign finance and spending practices, fair elections, and government transparency. Dan also was a founder and co-chairman of the Voices of Reform project, the bi-partisan statewide effort whose work laid the foundation for Californias landmark redistricting reform. After completing his FPPC term, Dan registered as a no-party preference voter and launched Fixing California, an organization dedicated to campaign finance and political reform. In 2014, Dan ran for statewide office as a non-partisan candidate for California Secretary of State. Dans campaign focused on rebuilding the political center, the need for campaign fundraising reform, and increasing civics education in California schools. Dan plans on continuing the discussion on how to fix a current broken system of politics in California to address the challenges facing the state. Throughout his teaching career, Dan has helped hundreds of students identify internship and professional opportunities in politics, government, issue advocacy and other forms of public service. As Director of the Unruh Institute, he has created and sponsored dozens of programs. In 2011, Dan was awarded the Steven B. Sample Teaching and Mentoring Award for his work with USC students. In addition to his work at the Unruh Institute and the classes he teaches, Dan serves as the Faculty Advisor for the SC Students for Israel organization. In addition to his position at USC, Dan is an Adjunct Instructor at the University of California at Berkeleys Institute of Governmental Studies. Dan also has held the post of Visiting Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Governments Institute of Politics at Harvard University and taught an advanced course in political campaign communications at George Washington Universitys Graduate School of Political Management. For years, Dan was one of Californias leading political and media strategists, whose record includes work on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns. He served as the national Director of Communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U. S. Senator John McCain and spent five years as chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson. Dan is a Trustee for Junior State of America, which works to prepare high school students for lifelong civic involvement and leadership. He also works regularly with organizations such as the Coro Public Affairs program, Hispaas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), the Los Angeles Jewish Federation Young Leaders program, the Leadership California Institute, the Teach for America Alumni Support Network and Leadership for Educational Equity. Dan has been an advisor to the William amp Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Broad Education Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the James Irvine Foundation, the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stuart Foundation on a variety of K-12 education and college and workforce preparedness efforts. Dans commentaries are featured in local, state, and national media including the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. In addition, he has been an analyst and political commentator for CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and National Public Radio. Dan is a graduate of the American University in Washington, D. C. He is married to Cecile Ablack, a communications and public affairs consultant, who is a former Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles, an Associate Dean at Yale University, and Director of International Communications and Public Affairs at the U. S. Department of Commerce. They have two children, Rob and Tessa. If you wish to contact Dan, please email dan. schnurbizfed. org. Lara L. Larramendi has been a public official in California for over 2 decades. She served as a Member of the Monrovia City Council for 15 years, including two years as the directly elected Mayor (the second woman in the Citys 120 year history). In addition, Larramendi has served as an appointee of the Governor and the Legislature to various State governing boards and was appointed as Executive Officer of the California School Finance Authority by the State Treasurer from 2002-2003. From 2004-2007 she served as Special Assistant to the California Attorney General, from 82007-12010 as Deputy Chief of Staff amp Special Assistant to two members of the California State Senate (Sen. Romero and Sen. Padilla), from 2011-2013 as public affairs representative to Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District and from 2014-2016 as District Director for Congresswoman Janice Hahn (CA 44). Lara was a gubernatorial appointee to the Gold Line Construction Authority from 2003-2014. As a council member, Lara was active in the League of California Cities (LCC), San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) and National League of Cities (NLC), serving as chair to several policy, legislative committees and task forces, and serving as President of the SGVCOG and as a Member of the Board of Directors of LCC and NLC. During her tenure as President of Women In Municipal Government (WIMG), an NLC affiliate comprised of local elected officials, Larramendi successfully implemented a series of workshops at the United Nations Beijing 5 Follow up Conference on women in New York (62000). With an M. S.W. degree in community organization and administration from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from California State University Los Angeles and her background as an elected and appointed public official, Larramendi has conducted training workshops in her native language of Spanish for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the United States Department of State. In addition to her employment with California elected officials, Larramendi has held positions in Los Angeles County as an eligibility worker, a welfare fraud investigator and childrens emergency response social worker program director for a Pasadena non-profit family service agency municipal program manager with the City of Pasadena adjunct field faculty and part-time faculty at the UCLA School of Social Welfare (now UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs) teaching legislative advocacy, USC School of Social Work and California State University Los Angeles, School of Social Work and as a public affairs region manager (San Gabriel Valley) for Southern California Edison. As an independent public affairs consultant, Larramendi works as a photographer and on many candidate and issue campaigns. She is also sought as a public speaker (bilingual, EnglishSpanish) on many topics including family issues, non-profit board development, local governance, land use, strategic planning, environmental issues, community economic development, community organizing, candidate training and issues campaigns in the United States and internationally, concentrating in Latin America. Tracy Hernandez was instrumental in BizFeds organizational founding, early-warning, advocacy and outreach efforts, as well as boosted civic engagement among the elusive business-owner market segment. Since its launch in January 2008, BizFed has nearly doubled its number of members and is extremely proud of its dynamic Board of Directors comprised of 180 Los Angeles County market-leading executives. Today, BizFed, a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization, serves over 130 business organizations representing a diverse cross-section of well over 268,000 businesses across the county and works to advocate for positive public policy, legislation, and civic engagement across Los Angeles County8217s diverse business community. Recently BizFed formed a foundation arm, BizFed Institute, and a political action committee, BizFed PAC, to extend research, education, and campaign work to complement BizFeds core advocacy efforts. Mrs. Hernandez also is the owner of the business advisory firm IMPOWER, Inc. which leads the strategy and execution of 8220communications transformations8221 for clients such as national trade associations, municipal agencies, and healthcare industries that seek cutting-edge media and public relations in which content is king. Services include powerful coalition and alliance building and critical convenings relevant market, organization asset, and brand focus comprehensive website development and social media integration in which relevant timely content creation and delivery makes a difference. Formerly, Mrs. Hernandez served as the first female publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News in the paper8217s nearly 100-year history. As a 20-year veteran of the daily newspaper business, she has held chief executive positions in a variety of major markets across the country, including over a decade with the Journal Register Company (JRC) of Trenton, New Jersey, where she served as Publisher and CEO of four award-winning newspapers in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Ms. Rafter formerly owned and operated a group of newspapers and websites in Walla Walla, Washington. During the past eight years in California, Mrs. Hernandez has given back to the Los Angeles community by contributing her time and talents to a broad range of local civic and charity organizations, hospitals, and businesses. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of LAs Best after school program, the Valley Economic Alliance, Valley Presbyterian Hospital, and Project Grad. In 2005, she was named Business Woman of The Year by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal 8220in recognition of her entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to excellence and leadership within the community.8221 In 2006, she was named the Woman of the Honor for Haven Hills, a battered women8217s and children8217s shelter. A native of Twin Falls, Idaho, Mrs. Hernandez began her media career while still in high school at the Times News . She is a graduate of the College of Southern Idaho. Mrs. Hernandez resides in Seal Beach, CA, with her husband Randal, stepson Garrett, and two young daughters, Hailey and Hannah.