Board of Directors

Ms. Launa Wilson is a seasoned nonprofit professional with two decades of documented success in improving organizational governance and fundraising outcomes. She is CEO of Launa Wilson Consulting LLC, providing strategic guidance to nonprofits focused on strengthening governance, fund development, and organizational sustainability. Prior to establishing her consultancy, Ms. Wilson held a variety of positions in the nonprofit sector, including program manager, fundraising professional, and executive director. She has built programs from the ground up, raised millions in charitable dollars, and led systemic changes resulting in stronger, more efficient, and more diverse nonprofits.

In addition to her professional service to the nonprofit sector, Ms. Wilson is an active community servant and advocate, volunteering her expertise as a member for several municipal bodies and nonprofit boards. She currently serves on the Riverside County Behavioral Health Commission and the City of Riverside Planning Commission. She also serves as Chairman of the Board for affordable housing developer Wakeland Housing Development Corporation, and as Vice President for the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California.

She also serves as chairman of the board for affordable housing developer Wakeland Housing Development Corporation, and as vice president for the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California.

Ms. Wilson graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work, and is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

Neil Okazaki is an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Corona, where he specializes in employment law, constitutional policing, and civil rights. A seasoned litigator, he has tried 18 jury trials in both state and federal courts. Neil’s public-sector experience includes serving as the Inland Empire’s first Constitutional Policing Advisor and as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Riverside. Organizations such as the League of California Cities, the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and Legal Professionals, Inc. have invited him to speak on topics including employment law, civil rights, law enforcement technology, litigation, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. A graduate of UC Riverside and Loyola Law School — where he served as a Note and Comment Editor for the Loyola Law Review — Neil is actively engaged in community leadership. His service has included being President of the Riverside County Bar Association, a board member of the Harada House Foundation, a volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and a member of the UC Riverside Chancellor’s Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Committee. Through his professional work and community service, Neil remains committed to working with the community to advance outcomes in the public interest.

Damien O’Farrell joined Parkview Legacy Foundation to lead operations after five years as CEO of Path of Life Ministries, the largest non-profit homeless shelter and housing provider in Riverside County. There, he was instrumental in the development of organizational systems, staff development, community integration, and led the organization to double in size and service area. In addition to his role with Path of Life Ministries, Damien has also served as the director of community development at Today’s Urban Renewal Network (TURN), where he now serves as a board member. Damien is a certified facilitator and strategic planner with the Institute of Cultural Affairs, has served on the Riverside Neighborhood Partnership Board, and is a past member of the Charter Review Commission for the City of Riverside. He is the founding vice-president and a past president of The Pick Group (a Young Professionals Organization); a member of the original creation and steering committees for Seizing Our Destiny, Give BIG Riverside, Our Riverside, Our Neighborhoods (known as 26 in 26); and serves as the board chair for the International Social Benefit Business, CommonChange.com. As a lifetime resident of Riverside, he is husband to Jennifer (executive director, Healthy Valley Foundation), and father to Marleigh (RUSD student).

Carol K. Park is the author of Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism, and Riots (2017) and co-author of Korean Americans: A Concise History (2019, Korea University Press). Park holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a MA in Ethnic Studies. Currently she is an Ethnic Studies doctoral candidate at UC Riverside. Park is also a filmmaker and produced and wrote two short documentaries including “Footsteps of Korean Americans” (2018). Park is also a research assistant and administrator at the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at UCR. Park’s work at the center includes: a Korean American Oral Histories record, the successful designation of Pachappa Camp – the first Koreatown USA – as Riverside’s first Point of Cultural Interest, and more. Most recently, Park was part of a team of academics and staff at the YOK Center who received a three-year, $850,000 Mellon Foundation Humanities in Place Grant in December 2022.

Jennifer Tilton is a professor of Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of Redlands, with a Ph.D. in American Culture and Anthropology from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on understanding the history of racial segregation in the U.S. and its impact on the criminal justice system, local politics, and children’s lives. She helps coordinate The Bridges That Carried Us Over Project: Documenting Black History in the IE and is one of the co-directors of A People’s History of the IE, a community based archiving and mapping project. Tilton’s StoryMaps are displayed at the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Black Voice News, and on A People’s History website www.peopleshistoryie.org. She has taught college courses in a local juvenile hall and at a California Rehabilitation Center and facilitates the IE Fair Chance Coalition which advocates to take down barriers for people living with criminal convictions.

Q’Vinc Asberry (Q) has lived in Riverside for the past 55 years. Mr. Asberry has a long history serving the housing needs of Riverside County residents, first as a manager of hundreds of units in the Riverside County Housing Authority Section 8 program, where he worked for five years.

He then went on to supervise the Community Development Block Grant Housing Rehabilitation Program for the City of Riverside’s Redevelopment Agency, where he became an expert in all facets of housing rehabilitation and in homeowner-contractor arbitrations.

While there Q also facilitated the relocation of several historic houses and other structures from the former Press-Enterprise property, managed the demolition of several substandard and dilapidated structures and conducted numerous single housing property inspections. He was involved with the management of the restoration of the Mission Inn prior to its being sold to a private developer.

Q left the Redevelopment Agency after 17 years and began working at a local religious organization in Riverside, where he served for 25 years before retiring. He also served as a Board member in that organization.

He and his wife, Irma, have one child, a daughter, and two grandchildren.

Ken Gutierrez was planning director for the City of Riverside from 2003 to 2011, when he retired. During his almost 30 year tenure with the City of Riverside, Ken was responsible for a number of planning projects, including the award-winning Magnolia/Market Corridor Study and the innovative Downtown Specific Plan.

He led the preparation of a comprehensive update to the Riverside General Plan 2025, a visionary document built on smart growth principles, and was recognized in 2008 by the Southern California Association of Governments with a Compass Blueprint Distinguished Leadership Award. The same year, he was recognized with the Award of Merit for Comprehensive Planning by the California Chapter of the American Planning Association (CCAPA). Under Ken’s guidance, the planning department was recognized in 2009 by the CCAPA with the Award of Merit for Distinguished Leadership by a Planning Firm or Agency.

Ken is a planning consultant, a member of AICP, and a speaker at numerous workshops and conferences. He teaches as part of a University of California, Riverside Extension Certificate Program.

Rosy Aranda, Cahuilla, Serrano, 5th Generation Riversider, has been an instructor at Riverside City College since 2018. She received an AA in Film Production and a BA in English with an emphasis on creative writing/screenwriting. She is a devoted wife to her husband of 18 years, mother of three, basket maker, filmmaker and co-director of Pá’Čapa: A Mt. Rubidoux Story. As a mother, her children are the driving force and she works hard to ensure they are culturally involved and grounded in their heritage.

As a basket maker, she understands the value and cultural significance of the gift of weaving in the traditional Cahuilla ways, something she never takes for granted and gives all gratitude to her teachers of the present and the women of the past that kept this art form alive. Currently, she has two baskets on display in the Fire Kinship exhibit at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. She assisted in bringing to fruition the “Still Here” mural located in downtown Riverside across from the historic courthouse, of Native American women, (her youngest daughter is depicted as the future). One of its kind not only because of its size, but because of the support from the Native community that came out to help paint and celebrate it. As a filmmaker, she hopes to continue the conversation about sacred spaces in urban areas, specifically Riverside, and the importance of telling the histories that predate colonial settlement. Rosy is proud to be from Riverside and enjoys learning from her community and helping in all ways possible.

Chani Beeman was born and raised in Riverside by parents George and Shirley Blatchford. She is the third daughter of five children. She retired from Riverside Community College District where she served as Director of Diversity, Equity and Compliance. She also worked 17 years at Cal State San Bernardino in instructional support technology and then served as the first University Ombudsman. As a long-time community servant, Chani has built a reputation as a sensitive, effective, and deliberate communicator and problem solver in areas involving police accountability and anti-racism. In addition to her involvement with numerous civic organizations including The Group, Latino Network, Riverside Coalition for Police Accountability and NAACP, Chani has served the City of Riverside as a member of the Charter Review Committee, the Chief of Police Citizens Advisory Committee, the Community Police Review Commission, and the Human Relation Commission. She currently serves on the Mayor’s MultiCultural Council and the Mayor’s Bipartisan Forum. Chani raised two sons in Riverside and has 8 grandchildren who are constant reminders of why these efforts are so vital. She resides in downtown Riverside, an active and enthused advocate for her community.

Malek Bendelhoum is a nonprofit executive, keynote speaker, and community leader with over 15 years of nonprofit experience. Currently, Malek is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sahaba Initiative, an award-winning nonprofit, a board member of the Inland Empire Community Collaborative (IECC), and a Steering Committee Member for the San Bernardino County Community Vital Signs commission.

Previously, Malek spent six years as the Executive Director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, an Umbrella of 97 nonprofit organizations. In his role, he provided executive training and strategic direction for members and represented the over half a million Muslims in Southern California. In addition, Malek led dozens of state-wide community initiatives and fundraising campaigns including the acquisition of a multi-million-dollar community investment center. Additionally, Malek served on the board of the United States Council of Muslim Organizations–An umbrella organization of all National Muslim nonprofits in North America, the co-chair Riverside University Health Systems Behavioral Health committee serving the Middle Eastern North African (MENA) community, and more.

Malek holds degrees in Political Science and Forensic Psychology from the University of California Riverside, a certificate in Nonprofit executive leadership from Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy.

Alejandro Gutierrez Chavez is a first-generation Chicano, social entrepreneur, and community development leader serving as Executive Director of Arts Connection – The Arts Council of San Bernardino County. He leads countywide and regional initiatives advancing cultural equity, creative workforce development, and community-led development, and has helped mobilize more than $4 million in public and philanthropic investment for the arts. At the state level, Alejandro served on California’s Creative Economy Workgroup, which developed the state’s first sector-specific Creative Economy Strategic Plan, and serves as Treasurer of California Arts Advocates and a board member of California for the Arts, contributing to statewide arts policy, advocacy, and creative economy investment.

Darrell Frye is a dedicated public servant with over four years of experience in the California State Assembly, where he focuses on a wide range of critical issues such as Housing, Human Services/Poverty, Mental Health, and Non-Profit issues. His time in the Assembly has given him a deeper understanding of how policy can impact communities and has strengthened his commitment to advocating for positive change. In addition to his role in the Assembly, Darrell is honored to serve as President of the Black Young Democrats of the Inland Empire. In this capacity, he works to encourage political engagement and cultivate leadership among young people, ages 13-35, in the Inland Empire. Darrell is deeply committed to empowering the next generation of leaders and ensuring they have the resources and opportunities to make an impact in their communities. Before joining the Assembly, Darrell served as Program Manager at the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC), where he worked to eliminate the effects of poverty through providing key resources including rental assistance, rapid-rehousing support, and oversaw an 8 bedroom transitional housing facility for Mothers with children. A proud graduate of Morehouse College with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing, Darrell combines his education and real-world experience to help others. Outside of his professional life, Darrell enjoys DJ’ing, a hobby that allows him to connect with others and express his creativity and love of music. He remains committed to advocating for marginalized communities and supporting efforts to create lasting change.

Luz Gallegos is the Executive Director of TODEC Legal Center, which offers legal and
civic services for immigrants and migrant workers in Southern California. As a native of
the Inland Empire, Gallegos has been a lifelong advocate for social justice, community
organizing, and civic engagement. She has led numerous community programs and
campaigns, including those focused on immigrant rights, and has mentored young
people to pursue education while staying connected to their cultural roots. Gallegos is
committed to continuing her family’s legacy of community service and leadership
through her work at TODEC Legal Center.

Pastor Sharon Green serves as the pastor of Higher Praise Tabernacle Church in the City of Hesperia, CA., under the leadership of Bishop Joe L. Ealy, Southern California Jurisdiction One. She is the founder and executive director of Victor Valley Family Resource Center, a multimillion dollar 501c3 nonprofit organization providing emergency, transitional, and shared permanent supportive housing for unhoused residents. She is working to prevent and end homelessness by providing rental and utility assistance, groceries, and other resources to the most under-served areas in the High Desert Region of San Bernardino County. She is the elected chair of San Bernardino Continuum of Care, the co-chair of the High Desert Regional Steering Committee, and a board member of the San Bernardino County Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness.

She worked alongside the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other nonprofit agencies on VVFRC vs.City of Hesperia, which successfully challenged discriminatory housing ordinances that targeted people of color, eliminating these ordinances in Hesperia, Victorville, and other cities in the Inland Empire. As of October 2023, these ordinances are now prohibited statewide in California.  Pastor Green’s lawsuit influenced the United States Department of Justice’s landmark agreement with the City of Hesperia, the police department, and the San Bernardino County sheriff’s department to end the discriminatory rental housing program. She is married, with six children and eleven grandchildren. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in business management. On November 8, 2023, in recognition of her community work, she was honored with an honorary doctorate in humanities and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Her life is governed by Matthew 25:36, “I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

Lissa D. Ramirez-Stapleton, Ph.D. (she/her) is an educator, author, and advocate. She serves as an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at California State University, Fullerton, where she also coordinates the Master of Science in Higher Education program. Her research focuses on equity and access, identity development, and the educational history of Deaf students, faculty, and staff, with particular attention to the intersections of race, gender, and disability. Her scholarship appears across a range of academic journals and public outlets.

Lissa is also the founder and Executive Director of The Black Deaf Project, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit and Black Deaf–hearing collaborative dedicated to honoring, celebrating, and centering Black Deaf communities. She has worked extensively with Deaf College Students of Color and remains deeply engaged in her local Deaf community. Under her leadership, The Black Deaf Project addresses audism, develops culturally inclusive educational materials, and advances pathways to joy, liberation, and belonging. The organization produces Black Deaf and BIPOC-centered curricula; facilitates equity-focused workshops and trainings; hosts an annual college tour for Black Deaf students in grades 8–12; organizes a professional development symposium for Black professionals in Deaf-related fields; and leads an annual international cultural trip highlighting Black Deaf experiences around the world.

Lissa loves the arts, museums, and traveling. She currently lives in Fontana with her wife, Marcela, and their daughter, Kalia.

Ariel Savage is the Director of Development & External Affairs at TruEvolution, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for health equity and racial justice to advance the quality of life and human dignity of LGBTQ+ people. She has spearheaded efforts to secure funding for key TruEvolution developments, including the 1-acre housing campus, Project Legacy, and the Inland Empire LGBTQ+ Center. Additionally, Ariel oversees the organization’s philanthropic and community sponsorship initiatives. Ariel is a proud alumna of Stanford University and John W. North High School. She serves on the California LGBTQ+ Unity Council, advising the California Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus. Ariel is recognized as a skilled public speaker and nonprofit strategist. Proudly born and raised in Riverside, CA, Ariel is deeply committed to serving the often-overlooked communities of Inland Southern California.

Lalit Acharya directed and managed the City of Riverside mayor’s efforts on international initiatives, economic development, and sustainability.

Lalit had a Bachelor of Science in Genetics from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, a Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a doctorate in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. He was also a 2004 Leadership Riverside graduate.

Rose Mayes is a community activist who has over 30 years of experience in business management, civil rights, and fair housing. She is involved in the community as a professional and community volunteer. Her work extends from grassroots community-based organizations, to public administrators, to local State and Federal elected officials.

Rose serves as executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, Inc., a position she has held since 1993. She is committed to promoting fair housing opportunities for all regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. Ms. Mayes is an influential community leader who has served on numerous boards and commissions at the local and regional levels. In 2015 she was named Woman of the Year for the 61st Assembly District.