Founding Members:

Joyce Baron,  MPP 2000
Charles Gatchell,  MPP 2005
Jocelyn Guihama,  MPP 2003
Hiroshi Ishikawa, MPP 2000
Seth Jacobson, MPP 2003, MBA 2005
Teresa Magula, MPP 2004
Veronica Melvin,  MPP 2001
Nathalie Rayes, MPP 1999
Adam Sonenshein, MPP 2005
Laurie Spivak,  MPP 1998
Andrew Von Ah,  MPP 2000
Emily Williams, MPP 1998

Joyce Baron,  MPP 2000
Director of Research, Directors Guild of America
Joyce Baron currently serves as the Director of Research & Policy Analysis at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles, a national labor union which represents over twelve-thousand film and television directors and their teams.  In her role, Joyce manages a full range of research services for the DGA, focusing on issues related to collective bargaining, government and international affairs, strategic planning, communications and member services. First and foremost among her responsibilities is identifying and analyzing trends that impact the entertainment industry.  While at UCLA, her research focus centered on “runaway production” to Canada and other countries, which has remained an area of interest vital to the DGA and the industry as a whole.  Recently, new media issues, including Internet streaming and electronic sell-through of film and television content, as well as issues related to mobile entertainment have become of vital importance.
“Joyce’s work in the recent negotiations for a new contract between the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers was vital in our institution’s understanding of the issues which will shape our industry for years to come,” said Jay D. Roth, National Executive Director of the DGA. “Her efforts working with our outside consultants truly created a well informed platform from which to negotiate.”
Before enrolling in UCLA’s School of Public Affairs, Joyce worked as a television producer and writer. She specialized in health and medical programming, working on a broad-range of television projects at Lifetime Medical Television and Hospital Satellite Network.
She also produced commercials for various local and national broadcast networks. Joyce received her MPP in 2000. Her thesis, The Motion Picture Production Industry: Impact of Runaway Production to Canada, was presented at and published in the UCLA Anderson Forecast, June 2000, California.

Charles Gatchell,  MPP 2005
Strategic Planning Manager, Nike, Inc.
Charles (“Chuck”) F. Gatchell is a strategic planner for Nike, Inc., the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear and apparel for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities.
Chuck’s expertise and background includes corporate strategy, business development, corporate finance, and sustainability.  He has helped lead strategy development and business planning at both the Nike brand and Nike’s affiliate businesses (Converse, Cole Haan, Umbro, Hurley) and has managed and developed strategies for Nike’s sustainable product innovation, climate neutrality, labor compliance, and community affairs initiatives.  He has also managed Nike’s public reporting activities in these areas.
Prior to joining Nike, Chuck was a senior consultant in the strategic finance and business valuation practice at Ernst & Young LLP in Los Angeles.  He also founded a non-profit, community based educational counseling center in the Los Angeles area in 2002.
Chuck holds a management degree from the University of California, Berkeley (Haas School of Business) as well as advanced degrees in financial accounting (University of Virginia) and public policy (UCLA).
Born and raised in Whittier/La Habra, California, Chuck now lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Melissa, and two boys, Nate, 4, and Dylan, 2.

Jocelyn Guihama,  MPP 2003
Managing Editor, UCLA Center for Civil Society
Jocelyn Guihama is managing editor of research projects of the UCLA Center for Civil Society, including the State of the Los Angeles Nonprofit Sector Annual Reports.  She oversees the Center’s community engagement activities, including the Annual Conference and the Nonprofit Leadership Training Program.   Prior to her work at UCLA, she held positions in several nonprofit organizations focusing on youth and immigrant populations, including the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House and the Breakthrough Collaborative.  While at Breakthrough, she directed the Learn and Serve America Grant Program.  She has served on the board of the International Institute of the East Bay and as a committee member of several political and fundraising campaigns.  She received her B.A. with distinction from UC Berkeley and studied Mandarin Chinese at the Taipei Language Institute.  She currently serves on the P.T.A. of Balboa Magnet Elementary School and is a member of the Alumni Council of the UCLA Department of Public Policy, where she received her Master of Public Policy in 2003.

Hiroshi Ishikawa, MPP 2000         
Program Manager, Policy and Legislation Team, Los Angeles City Ethics Commission
Hiroshi Ishikawa received his Master of Public Policy from the UCLA School of Public Affairs in 2000.  Prior to coming to the UCLA Department of Public Policy, Hiroshi worked as a facilities manager in a domestic violence shelter and an assistant program coordinator for tobacco education/prevention at a youth center. While in the UCLA public policy program, he worked as a diversity outreach recruiter, research assistant for Professor Michael Dukakis, counselor for the Career Based Opportunity Program, and interned with the Little Tokyo Service Center on a community development internship sponsored by the National Congress of Community Economic Development. After graduation, he worked for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) in the Los Angeles Field Office from 2001 to 2005. While at GAO, he worked on justice, homeland security and surface transportation issues. Hiroshi was the UCLA recruiter for the GAO.  After spending a year with the UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research working in strategic planning, Hiroshi accepted a position as Program Manager with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission (CEC) Policy and Legislation division. The CEC Policy and Legislation division analyzes city, state and federal ethics policy. Born in Buffalo, NY and raised in South Pasadena, CA, Hiroshi also holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from UC Irvine and a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA.

Seth Jacobson, MPP 2003, MBA 2005      
Vice President, Palmer Capital
Senior Research Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies on Terrorism
Seth Jacobson is a Vice President of Palmer Capital, a private equity firm that develops alternative fuel and renewable energy projects. He works with Palmer’s technology partners to identify, develop, and finance new projects.
Seth is also a Senior Research Fellow at the nonprofit Center for Advanced Studies on Terrorism (CAST), where he analyzes both port security and energy security issues. He has presented these analyses at events hosted by the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group, the Aspen Institute, and the RAND Corporation; and recently co-authored an op-ed on California’s energy security that the Sacramento Bee published in its Sunday Forum.
Seth earned both a Master of Public Policy degree with a concentration in Energy & Security and an MBA with emphasis in Corporate Environmental Management from the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds an undergraduate degree in Astronomy & Astrophysics from Harvard College.

Teresa Magula, MPP 2004 
Special Investigator,  Los Angeles Police Department, Office of the Inspector General
2nd Vice Chair and Zone 4 Representative, Mid City West Community Council
Teresa Magula currently works as a Special Investigator for the Police Commission's Office of the Inspector General, which provides civilian oversight of the Los Angeles Police Department. In this capacity, Teresa analyzes and recommends Department policies and procedures, reviews the Department disciplinary, audit, and complaint investigation process, and works on special projects as directed by the Police Commission.
In August of 2008, Teresa was elected to serve on the Mid City West Community Council, one of Los Angeles’ neighborhood councils, which acts as a link between the local community and the City Council.  Teresa currently serves as the Council’s 2nd Vice Chair and as the Representative for Zone 4, where she resides.
Prior to these positions, Teresa was an economist at the Milken Institute where she focused on emerging markets and international risk issues, such as terrorism and natural disasters. Teresa was also a Public Sector Consultant for Deloitte Consulting, LLP.  Her projects ranged from budget and fee assessments for county agencies to Business Process Reviews for large welfare eligibility systems. Teresa has worked as an independent consultant to the City of Santa Monica, an analyst for the political consulting firm Fairbank, Maslin, and Maullin and as a Project Manager for the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Culture and Health.  Teresa has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with Minors in Public Policy and Women's Studies and a Masters in Public Policy with concentrations in Drug and Crime Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Veronica Melvin,  MPP 2001
Executive Director, Alliance for a Better Community
Veronica Melvin serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance for a Better Community (ABC), a coalition of leading organizations and civic leaders promoting equity for Latinos in education, health, economic development and civic participation throughout the Los Angeles region.  As its founding Executive Director, Ms. Melvin has lead a community based campaign to ensure that sufficient new schools are built so all Los Angeles’ students attend a neighborhood school that offers 180 days of instruction per year.  The campaign includes ensuring the timely, safe and cost-effective development of the Belmont Learning Center and the former Ambassador Hotel—tow of the more controversial projects in Los Angeles.
In addition, Ms. Melvin has lead ABC’s quality education campaign that has focused on reforming our high schools—developing quality small learning environments, providing a rigorous education to all, and decreasing the awful drop-out rates—so that all students graduate prepared to succeed in universities, work and life. Ms. Melvin also coordinates the implementation of the Latino Scorecard, a document created to build awareness of how Latinos fare in Los Angeles and spur positive change in five critical areas: education, health, housing, economic development and public safety. 
Prior to her work in Los Angeles, Ms. Melvin worked as the Community and Government Liason for the San Diego Workforce Partnership.  Ms. Melvin earned her Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkeley and a Masters of Public Policy from UCLA’s School of Public Policy and Social Research. Veronica Melvin serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance for a Better Community (ABC), a coalition of leading organizations and civic leaders promoting equity for Latinos in education, health, economic development and civic participation throughout the Los Angeles region.
As its founding Executive Director, Ms. Melvin has lead a community based campaign to ensure that sufficient new schools are built so all Los Angeles’ students attend a neighborhood school that offers 180 days of instruction per year.  The campaign includes ensuring the timely, safe and cost-effective development of the Belmont Learning Center and the former Ambassador Hotel—tow of the more controversial projects in Los Angeles.  In addition, ms. Melvin has lead ABC’s quality education campaign that has focused on reforming our high schools—developing quality small learning environments, providing a rigorous education to all, and decreasing the awful drop-out rates—so that all students graduate prepared to succeed in universities, work and life.

Nathalie Rayes, MPP 1999 
U.S. National Public Relations Director Grupo Salinas
Executive Director Fundación Azteca America
Nathalie Rayes is the U.S. National Public Relations Director for Grupo Salinas, a Mexican conglomerate with US$5 billion in annual sales and 50,000 employees in Mexico, the United States, and Central and South America, and with operations in the broadcasting, retail, banking and financial services, telecommunications and Internet industries.  Nathalie is also the Executive Director of Grupo Salinas’  philanthropic arm in the United States, Fundación Azteca America.  Previously, Nathalie served as Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn Deputy Chief of Staff, directing the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations, serving as chief liaison to federal, state and regional governments, and to the Los Angeles City Council. Prior to that, Nathalie was Senior Policy Advisor to Los Angeles Councilmember Mike Feuer, heading all aspects of Councilmember’ s activities with respect to citywide legislation and ordinances impacting the Fifth Council District.  Nathalie also served as a Department of State Fellow in the Economic/Political Section of the United States Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.  In 2007, Nathalie became a Fellow of the prestigious Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative, the leading cross-sectional leadership development program in the Asia-Pacific region.  Nathalie has a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology cum laude and Masters in Public Policy with concentrations in International Relations and Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  Nathalie is fluent in Spanish and conversational Arabic.  Nathalie and her husband, Dr. Tarek Samad, reside in Princeton, New Jersey.

Adam Sonenshein, MPP 2005
Director of Government Affairs and Policy,  Los Angeles Universal Preschool
Adam Sonenshein has ten years of experience successfully managing campaigns and creating good will for political candidates, public agencies, and non-profit organizations.  He currently serves as Director of Public Affairs for Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving access to high-quality preschool in Los Angeles County.  Adam is responsible for helping LAUP communicate its goals and progress to thousands of stakeholders including elected officials, community and business groups, education policy makers, preschool providers, and parents.  In that role he develops and leads the implementation of the organization’s legislative strategy and represents the organization at public events.
In June 2005, Adam completed the MPP program with concentrations in education and health care policies.  Upon graduation, he was honored with awards for MPP Student of the Year, Outstanding Academic Achievement, and Distinguished Teaching Assistant.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Tufts University in 1998.

Laurie Spivak, MPP 1998
Researcher/Writer, UCLA Center for Civil Society
Laurie Spivak:  Commissioner on the Los Angeles County Community Action Board, Researcher / Writer at the UCLA Center for Civil Society, and Fellow: The Commonweal Institute Laurie Spivak has a background in communications in the nonprofit sector. Ms. Spivak is currently a research associate examining nonprofit best practices for the UCLA Center for Civil Society, a research center devoted to the study of civil society, philanthropy, and nonprofit and grassroots organizations and movements. Ms. Spivak’s writing has been published by the on-line magazine AlterNet, and her articles have been featured on hundreds of web sites including Yahoo.news, Truthout.org, and TomPaine.com. She has a long history of progressive public service and is currently a commissioner on the Los Angeles County Community Action Board, which allocates federal funds to local nonprofit and grassroots organizations that provide vital services to low income individuals and families. She has also served on numerous nonprofit boards and commitees. Previously, Ms. Spivak served as a consultant with a strategic marketing firm working on public interest campaigns and the multi-million dollar Ford Foundation Corporate Involvement Initiative campaign. In this capacity, Ms. Spivak advised national nonprofit organizations on marketing, communications, and public relations. Throughout her career, she has created numerous marketing and communications strategies, plans, and materials for a variety of private, academic, and nonprofit entities.   
A 2000 - 2001 US-UK Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Spivak received the distinguished British American Chamber of Commerce Fulbright award to study public-private partnerships. She holds master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the UCLA School of Public Affairs.

Andrew Von Ah,  MPP 2000
Assistant Director, United States Government Accountability Office
Assistant Director, US GAO, Los Angeles Regional Office - I graduated the UCLA MPP program in 2000 and started working at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in August of that year. I am currently an Assistant Director at the GAO in the Los Angeles field office, working on transportation and telecommunications issues.

Emily Williams, MPP 1998 
Commander, Workforce Excellence Unit
Professional Standards Division, Los Angeles Fire Department
Emily is a native of Southern California and earned a B.A. in Political Science ('91) before entering the School of Public Affairs. She was a policy advisor with the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission before being recruited to start a new training section at LAFD. A skilled facilitator and teacher, Emily is an adjunct instructor at the Los Angeles Police Academy and was the recipient of the Los Angeles Police Department's "Outstanding Instructor of the Quarter" Award for Winter 2003. She was also the recipient of the 2004 Inter-Agency Gang Task Force award, given by the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, for her role in collaborative peacekeeping efforts to inspire and promote the reduction of gang violence and hate crimes in the Harbor Gateway community.  She is the 2005 UCLA MPP Alumna of the Year and the recipient of the YWCA-Harbor Area’s Racial Justice Award for 2008.