Made In LA: A Small Business Perspective
A Personal Reflection on “Made in LA” and Small Business in Manufacturing On June 25, 2025, I had the privilege of participating in an insightful…
Category: Member Spotlight
Member Spotlight: Thomas A. Parham, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D., is a family man who resides in the Southern California area with his wife, Davida. Dr. Parham is the 11th president…
Member Spotlight: Yvette Estrada, NBCUniversal
Yvette Estrada leads NBCUniversal’s public policy and advocacy efforts in California. As Director of Government Affairs, she develops and executes substantive strategies involving legislative, government…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Zach Sokoloff, Hackman Capital Partners
Zach Sokoloff is a Senior Vice President at Hackman Capital Partners, serving as Asset Manager of the firm’s Television City and Radford Studio Center projects. In…
Member Spotlight: Monica Banken, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger
This month’s member spotlight is Monica Banken. Ms. Banken is a policy deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Fifth District.…
Member Spotlight: Patrick Gittisriboongul, Lynwood Unified School District
This month’s member spotlight is Dr. Patrick Gittisriboongul, Assistant Superintendent of Technology & Innovation for Lynwood Unified School District. Dr. Patrick Gittisriboongul has been involved…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Ron Frierson, Amazon
Ron Frierson serves as Director of Economic Development of the U.S. West Region at Amazon. In his role, Ron leads the team that supports and…
Member Spotlight: Dr. Narineh Makijan, LARC
The Los Angeles Regional Consortium (LARC) is the collective voice of LA County’s 19 community colleges with the goal of bridging the gap between LAC’s…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Art Bilger, WorkingNation
WorkingNation's mission is to create and distribute powerful stories about the nation’s current and future state of work that educates, inspires, and connects people, thereby driving…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Brett Howroyd, ActOne Group
Brett Howroyd is President of the ActOne Group. As a leader of a multi-billion dollar (USA$), award-winning, international workforce management, and technology enterprise, Brett serves…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Alejandra Santamaria, Univision
Alejandra Santamaria is the interim President, General Manager and Vice President, Director of Sales for Univision Los Angeles, part of TelevisaUnivision, the leading Hispanic media…
Member Spotlight: Justin Erbacci, Los Angeles World Airports
[image_with_animation image_url="66578" alignment="" animation="Fade In" box_shadow="none" max_width="100%"] The transformation of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is bringing forth a reimagined, state-of-the-art experience for the tens…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Punita Patel, Npower
[image_with_animation image_url="65806" alignment="" animation="Fade In" box_shadow="none" max_width="100%"] Punita Patel is a Business and Talent Development Leader with 10+ years of strategic partnership, career coaching, and…
Member Spotlight: Travis Kiyota, East West Bank
Travis Kiyota is the Senior Vice President, Head of Global Corporate Affairs for East West Bank. As a member of the Bank’s senior leadership team, Mr.…
Member Spotlight: Winston Damarillo, Talino Labs
Winston Damarillo is the Founder and CEO of Talino Venture Labs, a global venture studio of inclusive fintech startups that bridge the financial inclusion gap…
Member Spotlight: Justin X. Thompson, Nixon Peabody
Justin X. Thompson is a partner at Nixon Peabody who represents clients across the spectrum of the real estate industry, from acquisition, financing and development…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Ellie Casson, Waymo
Ellie Casson is Waymo’s Head of City Policy and Government Affairs. Waymo began as the Google self-driving car in 2009, and is designing the Waymo…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Linda Oubré
Linda Oubré, Ed.D., M.B.A., an accomplished leader in higher education and highly successful businesswoman, took office as Whittier College’s 15th president on July 1, 2018.…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Gene Hale
Gene Hale is the CEO of G&C Equipment Corporation one of the nation’s largest Black owned businesses. The company is engaged in the sale and…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Mayra Vazquez, Meta
Mayra was born and raised in National City, CA, a low income, predominantly Latino community located 12 miles north of the US-Mexico border.
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Rudy Medina, U.S. Bank
Rudy Medina serves as the Southern California Market President for U.S. Bank and is also currently the Chair of the Board for the LAEDC.
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Jeff Wilson, Chevron
Jeff Wilson is the Manager of Corporate Affairs for Chevron Corporation representing Chevron’s subsidiary companies in the Los Angeles basin. In this role, Jeff leads…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Maria Luisa Camacho, Los Angeles Rams
In her capacity as Director of Government Affairs, Ms. Camacho establishes working relationships with public officials and public agencies throughout the Los Angeles region to…
LAEDC Member Spotlight: Lilly Rocha, Latino Restaurant Association
Lilly Rocha is the current CEO of the Latino Restaurant Association, an 800+ member national organization based in Los Angeles, California. Rocha is also the…