Our Board

Trella Walker, J.D., has a passion for working in the nonprofit sector, and focuses on advocating for equitable access to funding and other resources for organizations that have long been denied this access. She has dedicated her nearly thirty years of nonprofit experience/service to advancing equity in all ways across the sector; and to share knowledge and information on equity, strategy, and change management with those committed to service and leadership to contribute her part to information wealth building. Trella is currently the Interim CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), where she coalesces the team around serving community-centered organizations and realizing/fulfilling NFF’s unique role in the fight against economic inequity. Throughout her tenure at NFF, Trella continues to lead the organization’s strategic transformation to focus its efforts on advancing racial equity in nonprofit funding flows through its consulting, lending, and advocacy work. Formerly NFF’s Chief Strategy Officer, Trella was also the inaugural leader of NFF’s Social Innovation and Equity Council, a group of enterprise-wide staff members dedicated to supporting the organization and holding it accountable to its internal and external equity commitments. Trella’s experience spans many sectors, including arts and entertainment, youth and social services, education, healthcare, veteran affairs, and the law. She has worked for Health Net, Inc., United States Veterans Initiative, Inc., the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, and for the past twenty-plus years run her own consulting practice. Additionally, she serves as a coach and consultant to nonprofit leaders across the country and provides instruction in nonprofit organizational management and arts administration at California State University – Los Angeles and University of Southern California. She is frequently recognized by the philanthropic community for her efforts to create change. In 2019 The Chronicle of Philanthropy identified Trella, along with her colleagues, Claire Knowlton and Fred Ali (then-CEO, Weingart Foundation), as “Innovators in the Field” for their work on the Full Cost Project, which advocated for full cost support for organizations – particularly those led by people of color who have been denied access to large, flexible funding. In 2020, Trella was selected as a Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) Change Leader in Philanthropy Fellow and in 2021, Trella was selected to be a BMe Vanguard Fellow. Trella attended James Madison University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Secondary Education. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.

Gloria Romero-Medina is the controller for The California Wellness Foundation.  She brings more than 20 years of nonprofit financial management experience and is passionate about investing in others and providing communities with access to key resources.  At The California Wellness Foundation, Gloria oversees the accounting department to ensure accurate financial data, the completion of the audit, and tax filings, and works closely with the executive management team to develop the yearly operating budget.  Before joining Cal Wellness, Gloria served as controller/budget director at Mount Saint Mary’s University, where she developed the annual and multiyear budget models, supervised the accounting department, and oversaw the completion of federal and state audits.  She previously worked as director of finance for United Way of Greater LA and began her career at Community Partners. She finds the opportunity to return to Community Partners, this time in a governance capacity on the board, to be particularly meaningful.  Gloria has served as a mentor to first-generation students.  She is an alumna of the Coro Women in Leadership program and received her MBA and bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Southern California.

Kadar joined the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation as a Program Officer in 2019.  As an educator and organizational leader for nearly 20 years, Kadar began his career teaching South LA youth, which ultimately led to leadership positions with ICEF Public Schools, Magic Johnson Foundation, and the Fulfillment Fund.  He holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Loyola Marymount University, a master’s degree in Educational Technology Leadership from Cal State LA, and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Harvard.  He currently serves as the Chair of the LMU School of Education Alumni Association.

Mario spent over a decade in the national service movement with City Year, where he developed and oversaw civic leadership programs for youth in three cities. In 2014, he conceived of, designed, and launched Changeist, a statewide youth empowerment program.

Mario is currently a Board Member and Advisor to multiple community organizations in Los Angeles, a graduate of SCLN’s Leadership LA, recognized by the LA Empowerment Congress as one of the top 40 under 40 Civic Leaders, and serves as a Senior Fellow for USC Marshall School of Business, Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab. In 2019, he was chosen out of 40 thousand applicants from over 160 countries to be an Obama Foundation Fellow. The Obama Fellowship supports outstanding civic innovators from around the world to amplify the impact of their work and inspire a wave of civic innovation.

Mario lives with their partner and daughter in Signal Hill, spends his free time organizing parents in his community around education issues, and enjoys a good Disneyland outing with the family.

Oscar E. Cruz is a community leader with more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit field. He currently serves as Citizen Schools Chief Executive Officer.  Previously, Mr. Cruz served as Chief Operating Officer at United Way of Greater Los Angeles where he oversaw efforts to center racial equity at the core of UWGLA internal operations and programmatic work. Prior to that, Mr. Cruz was the President & CEO of Families In Schools (FIS), which is dedicated to involving parents in gaining the best possible education for their children. He also served as a Program Director for Community Partners, directing projects in community technology and civic engagement and as Senior Program Manager at the Center for Civic Education, where he managed an international network of civil society organizations, school districts, universities, and foundations working to implement civic engagement programs for students and youth throughout the United States and Latin America. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Latin American studies from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Latin America studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jim de Bree is a founding board member of Community Partners who served as Board Chair for three years. Professionally, Jim is a certified public accountant who was with Deloitte for 44 years, including 30 years as a tax partner specializing in real estate and not-for-profit clients. He is a co-author of a leading treatise on the taxation of real estate investment trusts. In semi-retirement, Jim continues to serve a few clients and is an adjunct professor in the Masters of Taxation Program at California State University, Northridge where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in 1975.  Jim’s professional interests include studying tax policy and technological changes.

Dr. Kimberly Freeman is an experienced corporate, community and educational leader. With nearly 30 years of experience, she has treated her career as a journey of self-discovery. In doing so, Dr. Freeman brings to the table a unique mix of formal and experiential education drawn from her interests at the intersection of business, government, and higher education policies affecting California’s most vulnerable communities. She earned her first of four degrees in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley and holds a Master of Public Policy from USC. She also earned an MBA and a doctorate in educational leadership from UCLA. Dr. Freeman currently serves as the associate dean and chief diversity officer for the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Her vision is to achieve representational diversity and to create an inclusive culture for faculty, students, and staff by leveraging social connectedness and the wisdom of multiple perspectives. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling internationally, reading nonfiction, and eating good food with even better company drawn from her vast network of family, community allies, and close friends. Her greatest joy is in being an aunt and spending quality time with her four nieces, two nephews, and two great-nephews!

Drew Furedi is the President and CEO of Para Los Niños, a comprehensive education and family service nonprofit working with LA’s most vulnerable families to implement a vision of thriving children and youth through excellent education, powerful families, and strong communities. PLN serves children, youth, families and communities in its head start and early head start programs, K-8 schools and youth workforce and college access programs with a model that integrates education, comprehensive family support services and community transformation programs, with a focus on the working poor and homeless families. PLN also provides mental health and case management support to families throughout the Los Angeles area.

Prior to PLN, Drew served in leadership roles with LAUSD, led the LMU Family of Schools, and was a Partner with TNTP, leading efforts nationally to attract teachers to urban and rural school districts. He began his career as a teacher in Baltimore Public Schools with Teach for America and has focused on equity and access to education for all youth throughout his career.

Drew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCSB, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from USC and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice from Loyola Marymount University. He is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow (Cohort XVI) and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a past member of the All Children Thrive – CA Equity Advisory Group. Drew lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.

Charles (“Chas”) Hamilton serves as an Of Counsel at DLA Piper, based in the firm’s Century City office. As a member of the firm’s Business and Commercial Disputes practice, Chas represents clients across a range of high-stakes matters including civil litigation in state and federal court, internal investigations, and government-initiated investigations.

Chas maintains an active pro bono practice, with particular experience in asylum proceedings before EOIR Immigration Courts and landlord-tenant disputes in state courts. In 2017, Chas was selected as a recipient of the American Bar Association’s “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers” award, recognizing his achievement, innovation and service. He is licensed to practice in California and New York.

Marla is the Partner in Charge of the Southern California Not-for-Profit Practice of Grant Thornton LLP, as well as a member of the Firm’s National Not-for-Profit Leadership team.

Marla’s nearly 30 years of experience has been dedicated to serving the not-for-profit, higher education, and govenrmental sectors. She has been responsible for client service relationships across the country with organizations of various sizes and complexity, including foundations, museums, public and private universities, and others.

Marla has been a speaker at industry conferences, both nationally and locally.  She is a contributor to Grant Thornton’s thought leadership publications, as well as courses offered by Grant Thornton for internal staff and clients.

A Certified Public Accountant in CA, NY, AZ, and NV, Marla is also a member of the AICPA State and Local Government Expert Panel.

Marla holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration, with an Accounting emphasis, from California State University at Hayward.

Gabi Loeb has spent the last two decades as an executive in finance and operating roles, primarily in media and technology companies in the Greater Los Angeles area.  Gabi is currently the Chief Financial Officer at Greenfly, a sports-focused technology infrastructure company based in Santa Monica.  Previously, he acted as CFO for several LA-based startups including PlayVS (software platform for amateur esports, NationBuilder (software focused on powering organizations, movements, and campaigns), and Zefr (a video data and advertising technology platform).

Earlier in his career, Gabi served as a finance executive at MySpace (News Corp), where he led a global team and helped sell the company to Specific Media.  He also worked in the corporate finance group at Gemstar-TV Guide (now Xperi), held finance and planning roles at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and spent the early part of his career as a research assistant at The Brookings Institution and as a management consultant at LEK Consulting.

Gabi spent nine years on the board of directors for the Larchmont Charter Schools, where he served as Treasurer for over six years, and he’s been on the finance committee since its creation in 2008. He also held a finance committee role at City Charter School, where he and his wife, Jolie, were founding parents.

Gabi holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  He and Jolie live in Los Angeles and have two awesome teenage daughters.

Perry C. Parks, III, retired, formerly served as vice president of government affairs in the Southern California market for Comcast Cable Company. Perry is a seasoned executive with a proven track record managing challenging government affairs, regulatory policy and franchise renewal programs. Among his many roles, he initiates and maintains strong business and professional relationships, strategically positions issues and persistently uses interpersonal skills to engage policy-makers, and interacts effectively with people at all levels from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Perry has served as a board member for Community Partners since 1992, and was the board chair from 2000 – 2002. He currently serves on the board of directors at Community Development Technologies Center, and was formerly on the boards of the Apple Academy Charter School, Challengers Boys Club and Homeboy Industries. He received his Bachelor of Arts in education at California State University, Los Angeles and his MA in public administration at Pepperdine University.

Lisa Cleri Reale is principal of Lisa Cleri Reale & Associates. She provides consulting to multiple sectors including nonprofits, philanthropy, corporations, foundations, government and academia. Cleri Reale spent 11 years with The Times Mirror Corporation and the Los Angeles Times directing their community affairs efforts and launching several initiatives, including the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. During her 20 plus years of consulting, she has served as an advisor to a diverse group of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders assisting them on a range of programs and operations from grant making policies and community engagement, to internal staffing, operational structures, executive and board coaching and interface across other sectors of the philanthropic community. Cleri Reale is an active, passionate community leader.  She returns to the Board of Community Partners having previously served for over fifteen years, three of them as the organization’s first woman Board Chair.  She serves as a member of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ corporate board, chairing its Community Impact Cabinet. In addition, she was appointed by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl to the LA County Library Commission. Cleri Reale has championed a number of events and community initiatives and served on a number of nonprofit boards. In 2014, Lisa received an award from SBCC Thrive LA for her work in the community. In 2012, State Senator Curren Price named Lisa a “SHero” and in 2009 she was one of 30 nonprofit leaders in LA to be honored by the Center for Nonprofit Management with its Nonprofit Excellence Award on the occasion of the Center’s 30th Anniversary. A 30-year resident of Los Angeles, she remains proudly connected across generations through her son, age 30, who is a graphic designer and daughter, age 26, who is an actress.

Leisa Wu also has over 30 years of global finance and strategy leadership experience with Warner Bros. Entertainment Group. She retired from her last role as Corporate Senior Vice President of International Finance & Strategy and previously served in divisional and other corporate executive leadership roles. Before joining Warner Bros., Ms. Wu was an Ernst & Young Audit Manager serving clients in the government, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries.

Ms. Wu has been committed to board leadership and community service for over 25 years. In addition to Community Partners, she serves on the Board of Directors at Forest Lawn, Venice Family Clinic Advisory Board, Television Academy Investment Committee, and Providence Health & Services Foundation Audit Committee.

Ms. Wu is a California CPA who holds an MBA degree from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and a BS Business Administration degree from USC’s Marshall School of Business.

Ani Zonneveld is a writer, singer/songwriter, founder and President of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), an international human rights organization that advocates for social justice and equality for all, a strong supporter of freedom of expression and of conscience, women’s rights and as an ally, LGBTQ rights. Ani promotes these values at the United Nations by challenging human rights abuses in the name of Islam, and by offering an inclusive understanding based on universal human rights and justice. Since its inception, Ani has presided over MPV’s expansion to include chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Columbus, and Chicago, and spearheaded the founding of Alliance Of Inclusive Muslims, made of members spanning five continents.

Ani is on the U.N. Inter-agency’s Faith Advisory Council, and was commissioned by the U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect to create an anti-hate speech workshop for Muslim societies. She has organized numerous interfaith arts and music festivals, is the co-editor of MPV’s first book, an anthology titled “Progressive Muslim Identities – Personal Stories from the U.S. and Canada”; executive producer of a video series “LGBTQI Rights in Islam”; has contributed to many forewords and anthologies, including HuffingtonPost, OpenDemocracy and al-Jazeera. She has a TEDx talk titled – Islam: As American As Apple Pie, and is the subject of a documentary title “al-imam” featuring Ani’s activism works, screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. As an award-winning songwriter, she utilizes the power of music and the arts in countering radicalism as she speaks-sings her message of social justice and peace from a progressive Muslim woman’s perspective. She is the first woman to release an English Islamic pop album in the U.S. in 2004 and continues to create spiritual worship songs for the purpose of creating a new culture for Western-born Muslims.

Born in Malaysia, Ani, a Muslim since birth, spent a good portion of her formative years raised in Germany, Egypt and India as an Ambassador’s daughter. Her exposure to different politics, religions, and cultures has shaped her inclusive worldview.