Daniel Gatica 

Daniel Gatica was born and raised in the City of Los Angeles and currently reside in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. He attended Cal State University Northridge and earned a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology. He then received an AA in Liberal Arts from LA Mission Community College.

Daniel worked in the nonprofit sector for over nine years. Most recently, he was Site Director of Chrysalis in Pacoima, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals become self-sufficient through employment opportunities. Prior to Chrysalis, Daniel served for two years as Assistant Director of Pacoima Graffiti Busters. During this time, he helped put together numerous community cleanups utilizing community stakeholders and was responsible for all community outrach efforts.

Daniel has sat on numerous Executives Boards for community organizations some of which dealt directly with economic development, community development and business development.  

Carlene A Davis 

Carlene A. Davis is the founder and director of ABRAZAR, a project that provides accessible community-based Spanish-language learning and cultural exchange experiences for African- American children and youth in greater South Los Angeles and Inglewood.

Ms. Davis is an experienced policy and management professional in the public and non-profit sectors. She served as the Deputy Neighborhood Officer of Education for the Los Angeles Urban League Neighborhoods@Work Initiative. In the early care and education arena, Ms. Davis was the Director of Child Care Policy for the City of Los Angeles Commission for Children Youth and Their Families; she worked for Crystal Stairs, Inc. first as the agency’s Public Policy Associate coordinating the organization’s advocacy and legislative agenda and subsequently becoming the start-up manager for one of the largest welfare-to-work child care programs in the State of California.

Ms. Davis also has a diverse background in health care and public administration. She was a Fiscal Policy Analyst for Cal OPTIMA, the Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan for Orange County.

During her tenure with the County of Los Angeles Chief Administrative Office, Ms. Davis conducted analysis for the Countywide Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, organized public-private agency networks to implement action plans for abating graffiti, gang violence and drug abuse and developed the start-up business plan and capital requirement analysis for the creation of a local health authority (now known as LA Care).

A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Davis earned a B.A. in Political Science from University of California at Berkeley and an M.P.A from the LBJ School of Public Affairs (University of Texas at Austin). Ms. Davis provides consulting services in strategic planning, facilitation, community engagement, collaborative building and project design and implementation.

Linda Lucks

Linda Lucks is a former elementary school teacher working in Pacoima, where she was raised. Principal in her own consulting firm for many years, she was host/producer of a radio show on Los Angeles public radio station, KCRW-FM from 1978-1980. She has also worked as a U.S. Senate campaign aide and as a Los Angeles City Council Deputy. During the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Ms. Lucks was the manager of public relations for the Olympic Torch Relay and directed the post Olympics Job Opportunity Program for 800 full time employees.

Ms. Lucks’ public service on behalf of the State of California includes appointments to the Health Professions Education Foundation Board of Trustees in 2006-2010, Medical Board of California 2006-2009, Board of Psychology 1985-1994 and the Legal Service Trust Fund Commission of the State Bar of California 1997-2000. She served as the first woman president of the Los Angeles County Beach Commission appointed by Supervisors Edelman and Yaroslavsky.

A community activist and 40 year Venice resident, Ms. Lucks was elected president of the Venice Neighborhood Council in April 2010 where she has also served as Vice President and Community Officer since 2005. She served as Chair of the Venice Beach Area Police Advisory Committee and is a founder of the annual Venice Garden & Home Tour, a fundraiser for the non-profit Neighborhood Youth Association’s Las Doradas Children’s Center. She received the annual “Spirit of Venice” award in 1998 and a Women Leaders Award given by the National Women’s Political Caucus, Westside in 2008.

Ms. Lucks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a graduate of John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, California.

Karen Mack

Karen Mack is founder and Executive Director of LA Commons, an organization dedicated to promoting Los Angeles' diverse neighborhoods through locally based, interactive, artistic and cultural programming. LA Commons has implemented community art projects, tours and classes in communities throughout LA and in partnership with organizations such as the Central American Resource Center, the South Asian Network, Thai Community Development Center and UCLA. Prior to her work with LA Commons, she served as a Public Service Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where she researched the role of culture in community building. Karen's appointment at Harvard followed work as the Vice President of Program Development and Planning at Community Partners, an organization that provides developmental support to start-up nonprofits throughout Los Angeles County. While on staff at Community Partners, she developed a wide-range of initiatives including the incubator services program and organizational partnerships with institutions such as the California Wellness Foundation and the California Endowment. She holds an MPA from Harvard University and an MBA from the John Anderson School of Management at UCLA. She is currently president of the board of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative and an appointed member to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Cultural Plan for the City of Los Angeles.

Paul S. Parks  President

Paul S. Park is the General Counsel and Secretary of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, where he oversees and directs all legal matters pertaining to the Chavez Foundation’s operations including litigation, corporate transactions, and all compliance matters involving tax, labor and employment, and nonprofit laws. The Chavez Foundation houses over 16,000 low-income residents at its affordable housing facilities throughout the Southwest, inspires over 500,000 daily listeners through its nine nonprofit radio stations, educates thousands of students through its after-school tutoring programs, and preserves its National Historic landmarks and properties such as the 40 acres in Delano, California, and the National Chavez Center. Since 2002, Paul has also served in an array of executive management roles at the Chavez Foundation, including Acting President and Chief Operations Officer.

Prior to working at the Chavez Foundation, Paul practiced law in the San Francisco offices of O'Melveny & Myers LLP, on secured lending transactions, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, as well as civil and criminal litigation matters. Clients included Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, Fremont Ventures, Pacific Gas & Electric and Advanced Micro Devices.

Paul is a board member and past president of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California. During his tenure, he established the KABA Foundation, a subsidiary charitable organization that provides free legal services, community workshops, and law student scholarships.

Paul is admitted to practice in the State of California, and holds a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, where he served as an editor for the UCLA Law Review. He also received an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was awarded a Global Access Program Fellowship. Paul earned an AB with distinction from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.