California Board of Directors

Kevin Reed is the Vice President and General Counsel for the University of Oregon, and was formerly the Vice Chancellor of Legal Affairs at UCLA. A civil rights lawyer by training, prior to UCLA he served as general counsel of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest school district. Prior to joining LAUSD, Reed spent nearly eight years in a boutique litigation firm, which followed six years as the managing attorney for the western regional office of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., in Los Angeles. Reed received his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his B.A. with distinction, from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the California, New York and Massachusetts state bars.

Jon Goodman, past President of Town Hall Los Angeles, has occupied several leadership positions in projects designed to strengthen the Los Angeles region, as well as in academia and business outside of California. Under her leadership, Town Hall Los Angeles became the venue of choice for world leaders in business, politics and culture. Prior to Town Hall, as Director of the EC2 Incubator at University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center, Goodman built and led the nation’s first new media incubator. Before founding EC2, she was the Director of the Entrepreneur Program at USC where she led it to the top-five national rankings. Before relocation to Los Angeles, Goodman served as research professor and founder/Director of the University of Houston/Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center at the Bauer College of Business Administration. She received her PhD in Strategy and Microeconomics from the University of Georgia, and her MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Peter Scranton has been developing early-stage venture companies including an entrepreneurial venture partnership in retail marketing and a business service company dedicated to building employee engagement and productivity. Prior to developing venture opportunities, Mr. Scranton worked on client strategy, capital development, community assessment and feasibility and development planning for healthcare and science projects focusing on university and research institutions for Jensen + Partners, a project and construction management firm. Mr. Scranton was a principal in the Atlantic Advisory Group concentrating on strategic alliances, process management and raising capital for high tech and internet companies. Previously, Mr. Scranton developed a company that provided policy analysis via the Web and advised edutainment companies. He earned an M.A.O.M from Antioch University and a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University.

Louis Gomez is Department Chair of Education at UCLA. He is also Professor of Urban Schooling and Information Studies, and holds the MacArthur Chair in Digital Media and Learning, in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gomez is also a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His research interests encompass Improvement Science in Education, the application of computing and networking technology to teaching and learning, applied cognitive science and human-computer interaction. Gomez holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the SUNY-Stony Brook and the doctorate in cognitive psychology from UC Berkeley.

Ivette Peña is Court Counsel/Chief Deputy, Legal Services for the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.  In that capacity, she advises the Court on employment, labor and personnel matters involving the Court’s 4,500 employees and other legal issues pertaining to the operation of the court. She also manages the Court’s attorney workforce. Prior to joining the Court, Ms. Peña worked with a law firm where she represented school districts and community colleges.  In 2013, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye appointed Ms. Peña to serve as an advisor to the Court Interpreter Advisory Panel. In 2015, she was appointed to serve as a member of the Language Access Plan Implementation Task Force. Ms. Peña received her J.D. from Harvard Law School where she was Assistant Editor of the International Law Journal, Research Assistant to Professor Phillip Heyman, and President of La Alianza.  She received her undergraduate degrees in Economics and Urban Studies from Brown University.

Claudio Chavez has over 20 years of experience in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions and related investments and is currently a Principal of CWG Capital.  Mr. Chavez was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Arch Bay Capital, LLC, an investment and asset management company.  Arch Bay managed over $3.5 billion of distressed residential mortgage and real estate assets resolved over 14,000 assets across the country. Mr. Chavez was responsible for restructuring management of the company and the strategic direction of the company, including investment and disposition strategy and management of operations and asset management functions.  Mr. Chavez was in private law practice for over 15 years with a focus representing investors and lenders in commercial real estate transactions involving a broad array of asset classes.  Mr. Chavez was a partner in the international law firms of DLA Piper US LLP and Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP. Mr. Chavez holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pitzer College.

Dr. Cherry was named Chief Medical and Quality Officer for the UCLA Health System in January 2014.  Reporting to the President of UCLA Health, the Chief Medical and Quality Officer (CMO/CQO) is responsible for system-wide quality improvement efforts. Dr. Cherry develops collaborative approaches to quality and value based care for populations across the continuum of care; coordinates innovative methods in the use of analytics, informatics, and advanced computational techniques that are designed to raise clinical quality, improve patient experience and provide value to our patients. Prior to joining UCLA Health, Dr. Cherry was the Director for Clinical & Operational Effectiveness at Navigant Consulting in Chicago.  Dr. Cherry also served as the Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of Clinical Effectiveness, and Professor of Surgery for Loyola University Medical Center.  Dr. Cherry received his medical degree from Columbia University in New York and his master’s degree in Health Care Management from the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Ricardo Barragan is a Managing Director and Banker in the Private Bank at J.P Morgan’s Los Angeles office.  He has over 29 years of experience in the financial industry and is responsible for advising clients on a range of personal wealth matters including:  investment management, portfolio construction, asset allocation, credit solutions, estate planning, and charitable giving.   Prior to joining the Private Bank, Mr.Barragan was a senior Delta 1 Sales manager at J.P. Morgan in New York.  Mr. Barragan joined the Equity Derivatives Group as an equity swaps trader on the Equity Finance desk, and then became Head of Sales for the Equity Finance desk in 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Barragan was responsible for client relationships in Latin America and South Africa for American Depositary Receipts at J.P. Morgan. In 1988, he joined the firm as a management trainee on the Global Credit Risk Management team.  Mr. Barragan Co-Chaired the Corporate & Investment Bank Black Leadership Forum at J.P. Morgan. He Co-Chaired the Sales & Trading Summer Internship Programs and has also worked with Diversity Recruiting at J.P. Morgan. Mr. Barragan was selected as one of Diversity MBA Magazine’s “Top 100 under 50” Executive Leaders. He is also a recipient of the Harlem YMCA’s “Black Achievers in Industry” award. Mr. Barragan is a graduate of Wesleyan University (1988) and received his MBA from Columbia Business School (1997).

Jason Feuerstein lives in Los Angeles and works as an investment banker in Bank of America’s TMT Group. Prior to his role in investment banking, Jason was a commercial banker, heading Bank of America’s Entertainment Finance Group and also working at MUFG Union Bank. Prior to his career in financial services, he worked in film, television and commercial production in New York. He earned a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Washington University in St Louis and an MBA from Columbia University.

Rita Ravindra is a start-up business executive with expertise in business development, finance, fundraising, strategy and global business operations. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer for FitPlan, which is a subscription-based fitness app. Prior to FitPlan, Rita founded MiaMia Beauty, which is a data-driven social beauty platform for Millennials and Gen Z. Previously, she was the VP of Operations and Business Development at two other seed-stage start-ups in Los Angeles. At MySpace, Rita served as both VP of International Strategy and VP of Business Development. She began her career in investment banking. Rita received her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and her undergraduate degree in Economics from UCLA.

La Tonia Lopez is the President of the Animo Classified Employees Association-ACEA, a partnership with GDPS Educational and Vocational employees. Mrs. Lopez has worked passionately doing “HEART work, that’s hard work” in the South Los Angeles private and public sectors of education. While working with disenfranchised populations within the Transformation of Alain Leroy Locke through Green Dot Public Schools. La Tonia’s collaborative efforts have given voice to the students, parents and employees that are the stakeholders of the organization. Her advocacy skills for GDPS Special Needs, future scholars and leaders of the Animo educational family speaks volumes to others. She is very resourceful to students, parents and community organizations within the South Los Angeles area, affiliated with other associations connected to higher education. Antioch University is where Mrs. Lopez completed great projects and received her MA. in Education and Leadership and finalized her Master’s in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding at California State University Dominguez Hills, she is committed to standing up for those with no voice thru educating and advocating.