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Mark H. Dalzell, Chairman
Mark Dalzell is a senior vice president of Capital Research Company and a fixed income portfolio manager for The Capital Group Companies, a large Los Angeles-based investment management firm. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Dalzell received an undergraduate degree in international affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Mr. Dalzell has a strong interest in public and international affairs. Since coming to Los Angeles in 1997, he has been active in Camino Nuevo Charter Academy.
Philip Lance, Co-founder & President
Philip Lance is a nationally recognized leader in the field of community development with extensive experience in community organizing, fundraising, and nonprofit management. Mr. Lance serves as the President and Executive Director of Pueblo Nuevo Development, a non-profit community development corporation dedicated to serving the residents of the MacArthur Park neighborhood. In this capacity he had raised $15 million from private philanthropy to help build the Camino Nuevo facilities. Mr. Lance began his career as a minister in the Episcopal Church. He has a B.A. from Wheaton College and a Master of Divinity degree from the General Theological Seminary. He is currently a doctoral student studying clinical psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.
Paul Cummins, Co-founder and Vice-Chairman
Dr. Paul Cummins is also the co-founder of Crossroads School in Santa Monica, a comprehensive K-12 program on several sites. Mr. Cummins is the executive director and a founder of New Visions Foundation/New Roads School and the executive director and a founder of Crossroads Community Foundation/P.S. Arts, a program that brings arts programs to low income elementary schools. His first book, “Dachau Song,” has been translated into Chinese and German and his most recent book, “For Mortal Stakes: Solutions for Schools and Society,” was published in 1998. Mr. Cummins earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, a M.A. from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Elliot Ponchick, Treasurer
Dr. Elliot Ponchick is the president of the William C. Bannerman Foundation. He is responsible for the Foundation’s grant making activities in education, the environment, and strategic social programs. In the past Mr. Ponchick has worked as an economic consultant with clients that included federal and state agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and small businesses. As a corporate economist he formulated national and international economic models and made forecasts of worldwide supply and demand performance. As an economics professor he has taught courses in Economics at three southern California universities. He has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Southern California. Mr. Ponchick serves on the board of several nonprofit organizations including the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, one of the nation's leading public forums for global issues. He and his wife enjoy international travel. They have two teenage children.
Shiho Ito, Secretary
Shiho Ito has served as secretary and founding board member of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy since 1999. From 1993-1999 she served as an officer and founding board member for Pueblo Nuevo Development, the nonprofit community development corporation which initiated the grassroots effort that launched the CNCA charter schools. Ms. Ito’s work with at-risk youth though various community organizations includes minority recruitment for the Yale Alumni Schools committee, mentoring and tutoring though the CATCH program at Community Magnet School, chairing the Language and Diversity Advisory Committee and Bilingual Task Force at Larchmont Charter School, teaching after-school yoga classes on the K-5 level, and serving on the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools.
Ms. Ito was born in Japan and has lived in the Hollywood area since immigrating to the U.S. She worked in film and commercial production and acquisitions for the Japanese market before her two children were born. Ms. Ito has a B.A. from Yale University where she majored in both English and East Asian Studies.
Samar Bloomingdale
Samar Bloomingdale is a Palestinian-Israeli who studied International Relations at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. She is fluent in four languages and has lived in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. Ms. Bloomingdale also serves on the board of directors of the Hand in Hand School in Israel. Hand in Hand's mission is to catalyze the creation of a network of integrated, bilingual schools in Israel, providing Jewish and Arab parents the option to send their children to schools where they can learn and interact with all their neighbors. Before becoming a mother in 2003, she served as the deputy director of Pueblo Nuevo Development, the nonprofit community development corporation that founded Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, where she was able to practice her belief that community development is the most effective and sustainable way to achieve social justice on the local and international level. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her daughter and husband.
Georgia Eisner
Georgia Eisner is a director and editor of multimedia entertainment content. She recently started her own production company, SugarFixFilms; clients have included Paramount Studios, Bravo, NBC, MCA Records, MTV, and Conde Nast. In 2006, she founded Project A.I.M. ("art inspires and motivates"), an arts and community activism educational initiative. This program uses thought provoking feature films, as well as other art forms, to inspire high school students to make a positive impact on their communities and to consider jobs in the media as a career path. She sits on the board of The Eisner Foundation and she is a graduate of Georgetown University.
Cindy Lee Smet
Cindy Lee Smet had a professional career in finance prior to having her family. She now has three sons and is an active volunteer at their public elementary school in Hermosa Beach. She is a founding trustee of the Vistamar School, an independent high school opening in the South Bay area of Los Angeles in September 2005, and sat on the board of the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation. Before her children entered school, Cindy was a volunteer and an occasional substitute teacher at the Venice Skills Center, an adult ed school in the Oakwood neighborhood. She has also taught ESL at the South Bay Adult School. Prior to becoming a mother, Cindy worked in banking and finance. With a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia she started her professional life as a commercial lender for a large bank in Georgia. She earned her MBA at UCLA and worked in securities sales in Citicorp's investment bank. She also worked for three years in corporate finance at PaineWebber.
Alicia Maldonado
Alicia Maldonado is president of Mockingbird Communications and brings over three decades of experience and expertise in strategic planning and communications, media relations, community outreach, organizational development and collaboration with coalitions on social reform issues. She also has a passion and commitment to advancing education reform through small learning communities, charter schools, effective parental engagement, and other reform measures to improve the quality of education students receive.
Prior to starting her own company, Ms. Maldonado served as deputy managing director for the public affairs advocacy firm GCG Rose & Kindel in Los Angeles. Before that, she worked as senior director of communications and public policy for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Ms. Maldonado is a member of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Development Committee and also sits on the board of the Los Angeles Trade Technical College Foundation. She received her master’s degree from the University of California’s Annenberg School for Communications.
Patti Phillips
Patti Phillips is a senior vice president at Wells Fargo responsible for strategic planning and development programs for the LA Metro Region. Ms. Phillips has been with Wells Fargo since 2005, focusing on issues and initiatives related to growth and distribution, customer experience and team member development. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Ms. Phillips spent several years as a practice manager and consultant to a variety of industries, specializing in business strategy, process effectiveness and organizational change. Born and raised in Canada, she obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and her MBA from the University of Western Ontario. Ms. Philips currently lives in Los Angeles with her son John.
L. Michael Russell
L. Michael Russell is a principal and chief legal officer of AquaNano, LLC, a start-up company employing newly developed nanotechnology to purify and filter water. He was formerly the deputy general counsel of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Prior to his employment with the LAUSD, Mr. Russell was the executive vice president, secretary and general counsel of International Rectifier Corporation. He also previously served as the general counsel of the Consumer & Industrial Segment of Teledyne, Inc. and as Teledyne’s chief international lawyer. Mr. Russell currently serves on the Board of Governors of the University of Southern California Institute for Corporate Counsel, is co-chair of the Board of Trustees of St. James’ Episcopal School, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Corporate Law Department Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and of the Legal Advisory Committee of the Legal Defense Fund of the California Charter School Association. He is also a vice chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Mr. Russell, who is a native of Los Angeles, received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his law degree from the Yale Law School.
Robert Ronus
Robert Ronus is an investment specialist and a senior vice-president of Capital Guardian Trust Company. Mr. Ronus joined the Capital Group Companies' Geneva office in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles in 1983. For many years he was a manager of non-U.S and global portfolios for Capital's institutional clients in North America and overseas. He has held a variety of positions within the Capital Group, including non-executive chairman of the Group from 2002-2004. He was born in London and educated at Oxford University.
William E. B. Siart
Bill Siart is the chairman of the board of Excellent Education Development (ExED), a nonprofit corporation which he founded in 1997 that develops and manages charter public schools. He is vice chairman and a trustee of the J. Paul Getty Trust. He is a member of the board of directors of the California Community Foundation, and serves as a trustee and chairman of the finance committee of the University of Southern California. He is also on the board of the Catholic Education Foundation. He is the chairman and director of Western Asset Funds, Inc. Mr. Siart is the former chairman and chief executive officer of First Interstate Bancorp, a $60 billion banking company with offices in 13 western states and more than 40,000 employees. A native of Los Angeles, he earned a B.S. degree in economics from Santa Clara University, and an MBA in finance from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Siart is active in K-12 education reform in Los Angeles and nationally.
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