Social Entrepreneurship and Change Advisory Board

Christine Maginn, PhD

CHAIR, SEC ADVISORY BOARD

Psychologist and Organizational Consultant 

Newport Beach, CA

Christine Maginn is an organizational psychologist and consultant. Her work focuses on providing executive coaching and leadership training to small business owners and entrepreneurs. As an associate with Harris Rothenberg International and in her own consulting business, she worked with individuals and organizations to provide employee assistance program services, as well as offer executive coaching and leadership development training. Over the course of her professional career, she has provided services to many prominent law firms, insurance companies, banking institutions, and wealth management firms, as well as small businesses owners and entrepreneurs. She has served on non-profit boards including Hidden Harvest and the Los Angeles Free Clinic. She is a founding member of the Friends of Hidden Harvest, an organization that provides fresh produce to over sixty agencies and over 44,000 low income people each month in the Coachella Valley. She is a former board member of Division III (industrial organization) of the California Psychological Association. She earned her PhD in psychology, was a post doctoral fellow at the Wright Institute Los Angeles, and received her MBA from USC. Today, her focus is on social entrepreneurship and developing innovative solutions that create widespread social change in order to improve an individual's quality of life and standard of living, as well as helping business owners and entrepreneurs create, innovate, and succeed.

Jeff Fouchey

VICE CHAIR, SEC ADVISORY BOARD

Los Angeles, CA

Jeff Fouchey is the founder and CEO of Faid, a college readiness platform dedicated to fostering transparency in college access and affordability for students and their families.

With over 15 years of invaluable experience in the education sector, Jeff brings a profound passion for enhancing student accessibility to vital resources. Jeff's commitment to educational equity extends beyond his role at Faid. He serves as a dedicated mentor to graduate students in Pepperdine University's prestigious Master of Arts in Social Entrepreneurship and Change (SEC) program. His insights and leadership also contribute significantly as Vice Chair of the SEC Advisory Board at Pepperdine University. 
Driven by a mission to empower students through knowledge and transparency, Jeff continues to innovate within the education landscape, ensuring that every student has the tools and information needed to pursue their educational dreams.

Sarita Bahl

Vice President, Group Corporate Social Opportunities, MCX India

Mumbai, India

Sarita Bahl is vice president and head of Group Corporate Social Opportunities at MCX India (Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd), overseeing external as well as internal CSR projects. She has more than 22 years of experience in the field of communications, crisis management, training, and advocacy, having been fortunate to work in almost all sectors: government, NGO, private, and MNC. Within that, her focus has been developing inclusive business models, strategizing, setting in place pre-requisite policies to complement business objectives through corporate social responsibility and sustainability projects. Prior to MCX, she was general manager of public affairs for Monsanto Holdings Private Limited (biotechnology) and manager of communications for Agrochemicals Policy Group. On the basis of her projects and work, she was chosen to represent MCX and the country of India for the first CSR Leadership Management Program in Sweden. Bahl received her BS in genetics and immunology from the University of Mumbai, an MA in medical and psychiatric social work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and an MBA from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Denise Berger

Los Angeles, CA

Denise Berger focuses on the development of leaders in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. She is a partner at Social Venture Partners. Denise has also been a TedX coach and an Annenberg/CNN Hero Fast Pitch coach. She teaches in the MA in Social Entrepreneurship & Change Program at Pepperdine University, and she has been a mentor in Colgate University's Thought in Action program for college-level entrepreneurship initiatives.

Denise holds an EdD in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University and completed her dissertation on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Gabriel Bey

Principal Partner, PHXMF, LLC

Chief Creative Officer, Moorish Manor Management LLC

Phoenix, AZ

Gabriel Bey is a professional musician, composer, publisher, and event producer. He is the Principal Partner of PHXMF, LLC and Chief Creative Officer at Moorish Manor Management LLC. A member of the ASU Distinguished Innovation Fellows Program, Gabriel focuses on advancing Arizona’s music and film industries through innovation, workforce development, and cultural leadership. He serves on the boards of Desert Soul Media, the Scottsdale Community College Music Advisory Board, the Arizona Presenters Alliance, and Roots Life Unity in the Community. 

Jeanne Bray

Los Angeles, CA

Jeanne Bray is a global health advocate and social entrepreneur dedicated to advancing education, innovation, and capacity building in low-resource settings. She has extensive experience implementing programs in remote surgical mentorship, AR/VR technology integration, global fellowship training, and biomedical innovation that strengthens the entire spectrum of Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma, and Anesthesia (SOTA) care. Her career also reflects a deep commitment to youth education and grassroots nonprofits, where she has built pathways that empower young leaders, expand access to learning, and create opportunities for sustainable community impact.

With a strong background in philanthropy, nonprofit growth, and international partnerships, she has helped scale initiatives that support surgical and medical teams worldwide. She brings proven expertise in cross-sector collaborations, donor engagement, data analytics, impact measurement, forward-thinking data collection, and advanced evaluation methodologies, blending strategic vision with impact-driven fundraising and technology adoption. Holding an MA in Social Entrepreneurship & Change, she is committed to bridging critical gaps in global health systems while investing in the next generation of both medical and community leaders worldwide. 

John Brown

Associate, The Bedford Group

Los Angeles, CA

John Brown has over 35 years of professional experience in real estate, finance, and accounting. As an associate, he negotiates acquisitions and arranges joint ventures with landowners and developers in need of additional capacity. He also actively seeks relationships with financial resources, provides advice and counsel to senior management, and assists in the training and development of Bedford's junior level staff. He received his Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Cal State University.

Jeffrey Chernick

Los Angeles, CA

Jeffrey Chernick is a serial entrepreneur, author, startup mentor, and angel investor who believes impact happens when people, ideas, and energy align. A former Wall Street wealth manager turned 3x founder, he is an inventor of 21 U.S. Patents, 3x Emory Goizueta Business School Alumni Luminary, a guest lecturer at Pepperdine University’s Entrepreneurship MBA Program, and a member of Pepperdine’s Social Entrepreneurship and Change Advisory Board. He has advised and invested in startups across sectors including mobility, AI, wellness, and media, CPG, and collaborates with both early-stage founders and institutional VCs. He founded RideAmigos, the leading commuter management platform used by major employers, universities, and government agencies to reduce traffic congestion, parking demand, and environmental impact—removing millions of cars from the road annually and earning recognition from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Fortune 500 partners. With over 20 million downloads and $12 million raised, his visual caller ID app, Vyng, boasts 5 billion videos played across 170 countries (acquired by Siprocal). His debut book, High Five Energy: A Different Kind of Founder, offers mindset shifts and stories—drawn from his own journey and interviews with billion-dollar founders—to help creators unlock their flow state and build with authenticity, purpose, and bold action. Across ventures, community initiatives, and teaching, Jeffrey’s work reflects a core belief: creativity and connection are key to driving both enterprise success and meaningful social impact. Jeffrey's spoken at SXSW, startup accelerators, and entrepreneurship summits on topics ranging from flow-state leadership to building companies. He has been featured in over 30 media outlets including TechCrunch, Forbes, and the LA Times. When he’s not building companies, you’ll find him DJing on beaches around the world—neon drumsticks in hand.

Veronica Colondam

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, YCAB

Jakarta, Indonesia

Veronica Colondam established YCAB Foundation in August 1999. This organization focuses on the area of youth development by promoting healthy lifestyles, including the prevention of drugs and HIV; providing access to education; and giving economic assistance (micro-loans) and employment to its graduates. She was honored as a young global leader by the World Economic Forum in 2006. This is a prestigious accolade awarded to the top 200 young leaders around the world. She was also the 2007 Fellow of Asia Society 21 Young Leaders and was selected as the global social innovator in 2008. She studied mass communication and public relations as an undergraduate, then received an MS from the Imperial College, University of London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines. She is a graduate of Harvard's executive education in global leadership and public policy in the 21st Century and INSEAD's social entrepreneurship program. She now serves as the Residence Fellow of INSEAD's mentoring program for social entrepreneurs. Her published books include Raising Drug Free Children (2007) and Ten Myths and One Truth about Drugs (2010). She also writes a media column. Colondam serves as the expert advisor to the Indonesian government on the National Narcotic Board and received the National Gold Award from the Indonesian president in 2003. At 29, she was the youngest recipient of the United Nations' Vienna Civil Society Award (2001). She lives in Jakarta with her husband and their three teenage children.

Mike Costache

Executive Officer, Chargeback Armor

Los Angeles, CA

Mike never liked being put in a box so he spent the last 20 years as an entrepreneur, investment banker, author, professor, motivational speaker, angel investor and fundraiser for various charities. His latest venture, Chargeback Armor, is an intelligently automated credit card chargeback re-presentment and analytics platform for merchants and processors. Since 2011, Mike is a member of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), a Southern California based network of 300 angel investors. Established in 1997, TCA members have invested $185 million in 300 deals and raised over $1.5 billion from VCs. From 2006 to 2011, Mike was the President of Leo & Leo, which represented brands such as Maserati, Segway, NetJets, PrivatSea, Sunseeker Yachts, NetSuite, Marsh, Orgil Greenhouses, Miss Universe, and Rockstar Energy Drink. Total revenues amounted to €60 million. From 2000 to 2006, Mike served as CEO of Pioneer TeleCare, an e-commerce firm with total revenues of $4 million. From 1998 to 2003, Mike was an Associate at WestPark Capital, The Interlink Group, Millennium Capital Partners, all Los Angeles-based investment banking firms.

Mike holds a degree in Economics (1999) from Pepperdine University (Malibu, California), a Certificate in Negotiations, Arbitration, and Mediation (2003) from Pepperdine's School of Law and has completed the Program on Negotiations for Senior Executives (2008) at Harvard. From 2003 to 2016, Mike served on the Board of Directors for Blue Heron Foundation, a charitable organization which invested $1.5 million in college scholarships and helped 3,000 Romanian and Moldovan orphaned and abandoned teenagers live a better life. Born in Bucharest in 1977, Mike migrated to Israel in 1988 and in 1992 to the United States. Mike is fluent in English, Hebrew, Romanian and has basic knowledge of French. Mike was featured by numerous media outlets including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, CCTV, Business Week, Men's Health, Top Gear among others.

Susan Cotton

Senior Executive and Chief Marketing Officer, WellPoint, Cal Fed and SeeChange Health

Los Angeles, CA

Susan Cotton earned a Master of Arts in Social Entrepreneurship and Change from Pepperdine University, which added to her MBA and 25 years of business experience the skills and knowledge to drive social change through market-based solutions. As a senior executive and chief marketing officer for WellPoint, Cal Fed and start-up SeeChange Health, she is recognized for building successful brands. She is a strong, positive leader, adept at transforming organizations and leading people through change. Cotton is also a social impact consultant, helping organizations create and demonstrate value by effectively serving the interests of all stakeholders critical to its success: employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and society in general. She is a co-founder and executive chairman of The Lily Project and is building this social enterprise with a mission to be the most trusted provider of 'whole' health services for women and girls in rural villages of Nicaragua.

Scott Dudelson

Entrepreneur, Co-Founder, Prodege / Swagbucks.com

Malibu, CA

Scott Dudelson is an internet entrepreneur and is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Prodege, LLC. As COO of Prodege, Dudelson spearheads the operations and business development of Prodege-owned properties, including the web's premier online rewards destination, Swagbucks.com. In both 2011 and 2012, Prodege was on the Inc 500 fastest growing company list; ranked two years in a row as a top 10 fastest growing private company in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal; and named a finalist for the Colloquy award for excellence in loyalty marketing. Prior to co-founding Prodege, Dudelson founded Music for Charity Productions, which is a non-profit consulting firm, specializing in the marriage of entertainment brands and charitable causes. In 2005, Music for Charity Productions became one of the first firms to introduce SMS (text message) fundraising in the United States with the launch of the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund's text for charity campaign, featuring Pearl Jam, OK Go, and other artists. While leading Music for Charity productions, the firm produced and promoted over a dozen benefit events featuring a wide variety of artists, including Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Sara Bareilles, Garbage, Crowded House, Jerry Cantrell (of Alice in Chains), and George Clinton.

Dudelson is also a writer, guest speaker, and concert photographer. He currently writes a business blog for Inc Magazine and has served as both a moderator and/or panelist at SXSW, and guest speaker at the Musicians Institute. Dudelson's award winning concert photography, which is represented by RockPaperPhoto.com, has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, KROQ.com, Flavorpill, AOL's Spinner.com, Los Angeles and Orange County Weekly, and Classic Rock Magazine. He is currently based in Malibu, California.

Michael Guillen, PhD

President, Spectacular Science Productions Inc. and Filmanthropy Media Incorporated, Chairman and President of Philanthropy Project

Malibu, CA

A native of East Los Angeles, Michael Guillen earned his BA from UCLA and his PhD in physics, mathematics and astronomy from Cornell University. For eight years thereafter, he distinguished himself as an award-winning physics instructor at Harvard University. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Maryland and Pepperdine University. A coveted public speaker, he is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and, in 2000, was elected to the renowned Explorers Club, a century-old professional society. He is president of Spectacular Science Productions Inc., and Filmanthropy Media Incorporated, as well as chairman and president of Philanthropy Project. He lives near Boston and Malibu Canyon, with his wife, son, and black Labrador retriever.

Erika Hanafin

Virginia Beach, VA

Erika Hanafin Austria is emerging as one of the leading voices in women’s reinvention, a guide for women navigating motherhood identity, divorce, blended families, ambition after 40, and the emotional transitions that shape who we become. Her work sits at the intersection of storytelling, reinvention leadership, and identity evolution, resonating deeply with women entering their next era. For nearly two decades, Erika has worked inside early-stage companies and high-growth startups — leading teams through five acquisitions, serving as the former CEO of HeyMama, a community for moms in business, co-founder NeonID, advising founders, developing culture and leadership frameworks, helping women raise millions in funding, and supporting founders and executives through complex transitions. These roles sharpened her strategic mind across scaling, growth, operations, fundraising, reinvention leadership, and building organizations rooted in purpose. But the work was never ultimately about the companies, it was always about the women inside them. At the same time, Erika was moving through profound personal seasons of her own. Pregnancy at 40. Motherhood identity shifts. Miscarriage. Early perimenopause. Divorce. Co-parenting. Leadership transitions. Blending a family of four boys. Each chapter revealed how deeply identity evolves across a woman’s life. Motherhood changes everything. Divorce changes everything. Identity changes everything. Erika’s work honors these transitions with truth, clarity, and emotional grounding — helping women reinvent privately, emerge publicly, and step into the next era of who they are becoming. She is the founder of MOMumental Moments™, a trademarked movement honoring the small and large moments that shape women’s lives and identities, and the creator of MOMumental Reinvention™, a storytelling-driven Substack community exploring motherhood, ambition, emotional leadership, and modern womanhood.

Bree Jensen

Pasadena, CA

Bree Jensen started The Social Impact Firm after working with leading organizations on their social missions. She has 20 years of experience working as an advocate for her core social issues, mainly youth well-being and helping those experiencing homelessness. Bree contributes to various media outlets, such as Family Circle, NBC Affiliates, CBS, and USA Today. Bree’s experience in Higher Ed, K-12 education, and corporate social responsibility for large companies provides expertise across many industries and categories. Bree has launched nonprofits and social enterprises of her own, and has a Master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Change from Pepperdine University. Her favorite things are going on adventures with her kiddos and working with change-makers on social impact projects. 

Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Macias

Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Macias is a senior executive with a proven track record in large public companies, start-ups, and non-profits, playing significant roles in strategy-setting, M&A, brand-building, and governance. With diverse experience and qualified expertise in accounting and finance, organizational leadership and governance, Jackie now provides C-level advisory services.  She also shares her talents as faculty for Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology Social Entrepreneurship and Change graduate program.

Dana Moldovan

President, Skills for Life, Inc.

Woodland Hills, CA

Dana Moldovan graduated from Pepperdine University in 2013 with her Master's in Dispute Resolution. She also has an Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from Romania, and a Certification in Business Management from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was a partner in a high-tech company that was acquired by a public company. After completing her contract with the buyer, she started her own 501c3 nonprofit, Children Skills for Life, Inc., and works full time on humanitarian projects. She has participated in polio immunization campaigns in Nigeria and India, humanitarian projects in Romania, Honduras, and El Salvador, and the Triumph Project–Peace and Conflict Resolution in Israel. She joined Rotary International in 2002 and is an active member of Thousand Oaks Sunrise, District 5240. She is past president of Rotary Club Newbury Park and currently serves as Inter Country Committee National Coordinator USA. She also is involved with Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, PACE Universal, and Blue Heron. Moldovan joined the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County (BBBS) in 2009. Active in the BBBS mentoring program at Manzanita School, she has seen firsthand the positive influence that BBBS mentors have on the aspects of children's lives.

Bonnie Nixon

Senior Sustainability Strategist, Sustainability Roundtable

Los Angeles, CA

As a relentless optimist and courageous catalyst for change, Bonnie Nixon has held many high profile positions. Sustainability strategy, large scale collaboration with member companies, and supply-chain ethical sourcing programs are what she knows best. Nixon possesses expertise in social and environmental sustainability for large, multi-national corporations, complex supply chains, academia, government, and non-government sectors.  She is currently a senior sustainability strategist for the Sustainability Roundtable; has served as executive director of The Sustainability Consortium, director of sustainability and ethical sourcing for Hewlett-Packard for more than a decade, driver for the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, and most recently led corporate social responsibility at Mattel. She earned her master's degree in Learning Technologies from Pepperdine University, and she has a bachelor's degree from Penn State.

Dr. Jenny Nuccio

CEO + founder, Imani Collective

Kenya

Dr. Jenny Nuccio is a writer, speaker, and CEO + founder of Imani Collective, a global social enterprise committed to dignified work and artisan empowerment. She’s spent over a decade in Kenya raising her family, championing women, and mentoring changemakers around the world. A strategic coach, podcast host, and storyteller at heart, Jenny is passionate about helping others live with bold faith, purpose, and wild courage.

Alison Pascola

Los Angeles, CA

Alison Pascola is a former international satellite communications executive, educator at heart and passionate philanthropist who cares most about causes that make our world a better place! Her extensive experience in building and maintaining successful teams has afforded her the opportunity to work around the world in many diverse situations.

Gratitude is a key value that Alison lives by every day. Following a successful career in business, she decided to return to school to pursue a master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Change. Alison currently sits on the board of a neuroscience research foundation, the Institute of Neuro Innovation.

Erin Rank

President and CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

Erin Rank is the president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. She began her service with Habitat as a volunteer in 1995 and later became its first and only staff member in 1998. Driven by the heartbreak of seeing so many families living in substandard housing, she set out to inspire others to join the cause, and with the help of a growing staff and more than ten thousand volunteers each year, Rank has built the organization into one of the top producing Habitat affiliates in the nation. Under her leadership, the organization has built nearly 1,000 homes for families in need, locally and internationally. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angles is a full-service agency that has eight divisions focusing on real estate acquisition and sale, property development, construction, property management, mortgage lending, homeowner relations, community development, and retail stores. In addition to her work in Los Angeles, she has personally built homes in Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. Her affiliate has actively raised over $3 million to help build homes in every continent served by Habitat for Humanity. Rank helped found "Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity" a program that engages celebrities and entertainment industry leaders in the work of Habitat for Humanity domestically and around the globe. Her affiliate has hosted the Jimmy Carter Work Project, an annual event where the former President and his wife, Rosalynn, blitz-build houses for a week with Habitat for Humanity, in 1995 and in 2007. The 2007 event drew over 4,000 volunteers from 30 countries and helped to build 100 homes throughout Los Angeles County. Under her leadership, the Greater Los Angeles affiliate has begin to build sustainable homes, boasting nearly 50 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified homes since 2007, significantly lowering costs for homeowners.

She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a master's degree in counseling psychology from Pepperdine University. She completed an executive leadership program at Harvard Business School. Irish American Magazine selected her as one of its "Top 100 Irish Americans." She was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Parkway Unified School District in St. Louis, MO and also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pepperdine University. She serves on several boards and advisory councils in the community. Currently, she is the chair for Housing California. Rank has been interviewed about her organization's work by CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight, The Today Show, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Chronicle of Philanthropy. She also has had numerous appearances on local TV and radio and has been featured in various publications. She has also appeared on TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Street Customs, and Ace of Cakes to highlight Habitat for Humanity's work. She lives with her husband and children in Seal Beach, California.

Susan F. Rice

Senior Consulting Associate, Brakeley Briscoe, Inc

Dr. Susan F. Rice taught "Managing the Philanthropic Enterprise" in Pepperdine's GSEP Program, Social Entrepreneurship and Change from 2012-2016. Since founding SFR Consulting in 1993 she has also been a senior consulting associate with Brakeley Briscoe, a management and fundraising consultant firm. Prior to consulting, she was a corporate officer at four major nonprofit organizations. (UCLA Anderson, Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, BENS (Business Executives for National Security) and Special Olympics International.

She has taught political science and fundraising, and has been a featured speaker with many educational associations. Originally an elementary school teacher in Indiana, having earned a BA from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, she became an active volunteer in the League of Women Voters in Indiana, Virginia, and California. After earning an MPA from UCLA in 1976, she began a career in higher education advancement while earning her EdD from Pepperdine in 1986.

In a philanthropic spirit, she has served on boards of the UCLA Foundation, the Catholic Education Foundation, the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Foundation; executive committees of boards of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Saint Mary's College Notre Dame, IN, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation; chaired the League of Women Voters of California and the professional fundraising certification agency board, CFRE International. In addition, she has been a founder or chair of seven advisory boards whose role is to provide financial support and professional advice. She has also served her three alma maters in Campaign leadership roles.

Her extensive travel, besides Canada, Mexico and Western Europe, includes visits to Indonesia, Australia (twice), Oman, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, Tibet, Nepal, Japan (three times), China (twice), Russia (three times), Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia (when it was one country), Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Greece and Turkey (three times), Korea, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. Her travel has been either on behalf of US business interests, or official government visits, or as a tourist.

She currently serves on the board of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education and on the board of Regents of Pepperdine University. On a business level, she has headed three start-up ventures and since 2009 has served on the board of Radlink, a medical digital imaging company.

Ira Ritter

Chairman, Ritter Pharmaceuticals and President/CEO, The Adela Group

Palm Desert, CA

Ira Ritter has over 40 years experience creating, building, and operating multi-faceted business enterprises. Currently he is CEO of Andela Group Inc., a company that provides strategic business management services with a specialization in healthcare. Formerly, he served as the president and chairman of the nation's largest wholesale distributor of healthcare products. Simultaneously, he worked as CEO of Rockwood, a company that created private label brands for GNC and provided high-end, in-house HBA products for other national retailers including K-Mart. His experience also includes over 15 years as CEO of RG Publishing where he published best-selling monthly national consumer magazines and books of publishing houses that included Pegasus, Front Row Center, Readers' Guild and Hampshire House, where he released over 200 book titles annually. Additionally, he was involved in telecommunications as chairman of Oak Media, a division of Oak Industries. While operating its ONTV channel, he obtained the first home team broadcast rights for professional Los Angeles and Chicago sporting events. Having been appointed by three governors, Ritter has served on several state of California commissions, and currently is a commissioner on the California State Commission on Prison Industry Authority. In 1981, he was honored with the City of Hope's Man of the Year award. 

Brandon F. Shamim

Strategist, Collaborator and Executive Coach

Los Angeles, CA

Brandon Shamim is an award-winning strategist, business coach and college lecturer. His career spans the globe for over two decades- working with leading Fortune 500s, diverse privately-owned businesses, public agencies, and nonprofits. Having honed his talents in government service and corporate settings, Brandon has managed multiple business advisory/talent development companies; conducted public affairs at a market leading Fortune 100 financial services company; advocated for policy reforms at a think tank and led the U.S. Department of Commerce initiative at the University of Southern California, where he was responsible for $50M in capital assistance and procurement for 2000 small businesses.

Alexa Steinberg

Los Angeles, CA

Alexa Steinberg is a corporate and M&A attorney who advises middle-market CPG companies and their founders on acquisitions, sales, and growth transactions. Acting as outside general counsel, Alexa supports founders on entity formation and structuring, governance and equity matters, and the corporate work that positions their business to raise, restructure or exit.

Alexa leads clients from early-stage deal strategy and LOI through due diligence, definitive documentation, and closing, negotiating key economics and risk allocation. She works closely with management teams and deal professionals to keep momentum, triage issues early, and move efficiently to signing on a business-driven timetable.

As outside general counsel, Alexa structures and negotiates the commercial agreements that drive value in consumer companies. She is a trusted advisor to her clients and draws on her consumer-industry relationships to help clients evaluate partnerships, opportunities and prepare for the company’s next stage of growth. She stays involved beyond a single transaction, providing practical guidance as businesses scale, professionalize, and navigate change.

Alexa is recognized by Chambers USA as an “Up and Coming” lawyer, serves on the board of Naturally Los Angeles and is active in Women of ACG, staying connected to founders, operators, and transaction professionals across the branded consumer ecosystem.

Atul Tandon

Founder/CEO, Tandon Institute

Bellevue, WA

Atul Tandon is an entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, humanitarian and author with a 30-year track record of successfully birthing, building, scaling, and turning around some of the world's largest, best-known, and impactful for-profit and nonprofit enterprises. He has extensive expertise in consumer banking, e-commerce, consumer marketing, microfinance, humanitarian relief and development, and donor engagement worldwide. In 2011, Tandon launched Tandon Institute, a global advisory firm serving select nonprofit and social sector organizations worldwide to rapidly accelerate their impact, revenues, public engagement, and leadership effectiveness.

He currently serves on the boards of Wycliffe USA, CLA, Xealot and One4All. He has been named one of America's Most Influential and Effective FundRaisers by the Non-Profit Times and was a catalyst for the ONE campaign, which has brought more than 3 million people together to fight extreme poverty and disease. Tandon earlier served on United Way's worldwide leadership team and led the expansion to over 47 countries. Prior to that, he served on World Vision's executive team for nine years and led the organization through a period of unprecedented expansion and revenue growth and established a national presence in the process. Prior to his leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, he had a successful career in the global financial services industry, helped build modern retail banking in India, worked to restore banks in the US, and subsequently served as the global director of Citibank's worldwide branch network.

Brett Tattersall

Vice President, BackNine Insurance

Santa Monica, CA

Brett Tattersall is recognized as a life insurance innovator. He consistently provides creative solutions for unique scenarios of top tier advisors and clients. He graduated from Pepperdine University with a bachelor's degree in business administration, and worked with his father to launch BackNine Insurance Services.

He is an avid Lakers fan and international traveler. When he is not working, you can find him in Venice skateboarding with his dog, Winston, and doing yoga.

Dean Emerita Margaret Weber

Missouri

Dr. Margaret Weber has a strong background and belief in faculty development and program innovation. As part of her scholarly work, she has published articles on such topics as multicultural leadership and diversity; defining scholarship, mentoring, and socialization of graduate students; and the value of investment in faculty. Weber began her career as a junior high teacher in a small rural Illinois community. She then decided to complete her graduate education and earned a doctoral degree in education from the University of Missouri. She went on to teach Environmental Design at Oklahoma State University and then moved into administration for research and graduate education before coming to Pepperdine University. In addition to her academic work, one of Weber's great passions is working with underserved populations; currently, she serves as a Board member for the Union Rescue Mission, a nonprofit (homeless shelter) where GSEP has a mental health clinic. Her scholarly interests relate to gender equity; women and leadership; and work-family life balance issues. An enthusiastic traveler, she has been to several countries in Asia, and within the last year, she has twice visited India where she built a strong understanding of cultural dynamics influencing educational issues and issues of gender equity. Dr. Weber is one of the Founding Members of the SEC program at Pepperdine University.

Deepa B. Willingham

Founder/Chair, PACE Universal

Owner/Operator, Gitanjali Vineyard

VP-Finance, BBW Energy

Deepa Willingham was born in Calcutta, India where she obtained her primary secondary and undergraduate education, followed by graduate degrees at Miami University in Oxford, OH and the U of Wisconsin. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors in the energy sector, Deepa served as the Administrative Director of Ancillary Services in the hospital industry. Deepa is a Past District Governor (PDG) of Rotary International District 5240; a Past President of the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, being named Rotarian-of-the-Year during her year as President.

She founded the Piyali Learning Centre (PLC) outside of Kolkata, India to counter-act child trafficking, through education of the girl child and empowerment of women. She also founded a US non-profit organization called PACE Universal resulting in the creation of a sustainable village rehabilitation model supported by PACE and a $330,000 Health, Hunger and Humanity Grant from The Rotary Foundation. With this grant money and with the help of local Rotarians, who have become her partners, she is completely rehabilitating the village of Piyali Junction by bringing literacy (to children and adults), health and dental care, clean water, sanitation, vocational training, banking/micro-lending to help the change the face of trafficking and poverty in that corner of the world. PLC is now poised to serve a model for duplication. It is Deepa's goal to set up more PLCs wherever the vagaries of child trafficking, the societal abuses against children and women and the hopelessness arising out of extreme poverty are rampant around the globe.

Deepa and her Rotarian husband Richard, who is an independent contractor in the oil business in Houston, have been married for 34 years; their daughter Reena is an independent business owner and was instrumental in the formation of the community-based Rotaract Club of Santa Barbara, CA. The family lives by the principles of giving back to the society – a philosophy learned by Deepa from her parents and Sister Teresa, who was her teacher in Calcutta while she was little girl.

Minda Wilson

Founder, Affordable Healthcare Review

Oak Park, CA

Minda Wilson holds a juris doctor from UCLA, an MBA from NYU, and a BS in systems engineering from UCLA. She was the founder and CEO of On-Site Health Management Services, Inc., a vaccination services company, providing wellness services. Established in 2004, she grew this business from startup to become the fifth largest private provider of flu shots in the state of California. In December 2012, this business was sold to a private company.

She continues to advise clients on legal matters and works with businesses to improve performance. Most recently, she is involved in assisting several companies, which includes Xovox Media, a technology startup in the payment facilitation field. She is extremely proud of the recent launch of the Affordable Healthcare Review, an organization providing free services designed to educate businesses and individuals about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will impact their lives. She is the founder and president of Wilson and Associates, a management consulting firm, specializing in offering litigation support, advising financially distressed companies and parties involved in commercial real estate ventures. For twenty years, she has worked with companies in the areas of productivity improvement, crisis management, corporate organization and structure, computerized systems development and implementation, credit and accounting control, business and financial planning, asset management, portfolio analysis, valuation and fraud detection, property development, and disposition activities. She held many impressive positions including vice president and manager of the New York office of Anglo American Financial. She was in charge of all trading, operations, marketing, and financial reporting for the parent, and its subsidiaries. At Chase Manhattan Bank, she managed the worldwide computer operations supporting the bank's real estate sector and was the first person in eight years chosen from the operations side to attend the prestigious Chase Manhattan Bank Credit Training Program.

Dr. Mike Wojciechowski

Chairman, M Square Trust-Family Trust and Affordable Housing Advisors

Pacific Palisades, CA

Dr. Mike Wojciechowski is a serial-entrepreneur who currently lives in Southern California, with over 30 years' experience in business. He is currently the chairman of M Square Trust-Family Trust and Affordable Housing Advisors. He is a board member of Castle Partners, Showcase Technologies, A.D.A.M. (a mobile application and development company), YouBar LLC., and DailyMedia. He is also the Board Chair of the University of Pennsylvania Volleyball Sports Board and a member of the Santa Monica Bay Chapter of YPO/WPO. He is a guest lecturer and adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University. He serves as a mentor to several Entrepreneurial Organization (EO) members and students at Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology's Social Entrepreneurship and Change program. Dr. Wojciechowski has a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and an MBA from University of South Alabama, and his Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University.

Mr. Alvin Yam

Senior Portfolio Manager, Westmount Asset Management

Pasadena, CA

Westmount Asset Management is a leading Los Angeles-based investment advisory firm, which manages over $1.2 billion for individuals, families, and institutions. Westmount has been recognized by Worth Magazine as one of Top 100 wealth advisors in the United States. Alvin Yam has more than 15 years of experience in the investment industry. Prior to joining Westmount, he was a Vice President and Financial Consultant with Charles Schwab, and a First Vice President with Far East National Bank Securities.

He was born in Hong Kong and received an MBA from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. His clientele includes international clients and overseas non-resident clients and off shore accounts, primarily in China and the Asia Pacific region. He has held the following industry licenses: Series 7, 9, 10, 24 63, 65, 66 and California life and health insurance license.

He is married to Amy Liang and has a six year old daughter. Amy and Alvin are both supporters of World Vision, a Christian world relief organization, and are sponsors to several World Vision children. Further, they are AWANA leaders at Chinese Evangelical Free Church in Monterey Park and teach 3rd to 5th graders. Yam is also a member of Mandarin Baptist Church of Pasadena, Pasadena Rotary Club, Hong Kong Association of Southern California, Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, and the Chinese Club of San Marino.

Ori Zohar

New York City

Ori is an experienced social entrepreneur and the co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, where he leads the company's domestic operations, eCommerce and finances. Ori's family moved to Baltimore, Maryland from Israel when he was 5 years old. He developed a love of all things food as a kid, learning to cook Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes from his parents. He co-founded Sindeo, a venture-backed mortgage company that provided home loans in an open and transparent way. Sindeo raised $32m and helped its customers secure more than $500m in home loans with record-setting customer satisfaction scores. Ori took the startup from idea through acquisition.