BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Robin M. Kramer, President
Robin currently is Managing Director of The Smidt Foundation, which supports courageous people building, repairing, and keeping our communities safe. In Los Angeles City Hall, she was Chief of Staff to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and to Mayor Richard Riordan, the first woman to serve in this leadership post, and as Chief Deputy to Councilmembers Bob Ronka and Richard Alatorre. Robin previously was executive director of Coro, the nonpartisan civic affairs leadership organization, and has held senior posts at the California Community Foundation, Broad Foundation, and the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands. She served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Pitzer College, her alma mater. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Rebecca Ávila, Secretary
Rebecca is the Assistant Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Social Sciences. As the school’s senior-ranking staff member, she oversees planning, operations and management for one of the top 50-ranked social sciences schools in the nation. Avila’s professional experience crosses into the public and nonprofit sectors and includes stints as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, Chief Operating Officer for the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, Assistant Dean for the UCI School of Law, and Senior Associate Dean for Administration and Finance at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Active in the community, Ávila currently also serves on the boards of Democracy 21, and the USC Center for Communication Leadership and Policy. In the past her board service has included the National Governing Board of Common Cause, the Southern California ACLU, the Los Angeles League of Women Voters, and the Public Law Center of Orange County. Ávila is a University of California alumna who earned her bachelor’s in political science and emphasis in international relations at the Santa Barbara campus. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington where she was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.
Robert A. Eckert, Treasurer
Bob Eckert has spent four decades in leadership roles at consumer goods companies in the food and toy industries. Currently, he is an Operating Partner at Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, and serves on the boards of Amgen, Levi Strauss, Uber Technologies, and Quinn Group. In May 2023, Bob retired after 20 years on McDonald’s Board. He is also a member of the University of Arizona’s Eller College National Board and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School Global Advisory Board. Bob chairs Levi Strauss’ board and is Chairman Emeritus of Mattel, Inc., where he served as CEO from 2000 –2011. Under his leadership, Mattel earned recognition on FORTUNE’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For and 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Prior to Mattel, Bob was President and CEO of Kraft Foods, where he worked for 23 years, also serving as President of Oscar Mayer Foods and General Manager of Kraft’s cheese division. Bob holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Northwestern University. He has received several honors, including the School of American Ballet “Corporate Leadership Award” and the University of Arizona, Eller College “Lifetime Achievement Award,” and frequently lectures at universities on the topics of trust, leadership, and ethics.
John Frank
John Frank is Oaktree’s Vice Chairman and works closely with Howard Marks, Bruce Karsh, Robert O’Leary, Armen Panossian and Todd Molz in managing the firm. Mr. Frank joined in 2001 as General Counsel and was named Oaktree’s Managing Principal in early 2006, a position which he held for about nine years. As Managing Principal, Mr. Frank was the firm’s principal executive officer, and responsible for all aspects of the firm’s management. Before joining Oaktree, Mr. Frank was a partner of the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP where he managed a number of notable merger and acquisition transactions. While at that firm, he served as primary outside counsel to public- and privately held corporations and as special counsel to various boards of directors and special board committees. Prior to joining Munger Tolles in 1984, Mr. Frank served as a law clerk to the Honorable Frank M. Coffin of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Frank served as a Legislative Assistant to the Honorable Robert F. Drinan, Member of Congress. Mr. Frank holds a B.A. degree with honors in history from Wesleyan University and a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Michigan Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He is a member of the State Bar of California and, while in private practice, was listed in Woodward & White’s Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Frank is a member of the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation and Daily Journal Corporation and a Trustee of Wesleyan University, The James Irvine Foundation, and the XPRIZE Foundation.
Enrique Hernandez, Jr.
Rick Hernandez, a native of Los Angeles, is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He began his career as a lawyer with a San Francisco law firm in 1980, then in1985 joined Inter-Con Security, a firm founded by his father Hank after his retirement from the LAPD. Rick served as president and CEO of the firm for over 30 years and is now Executive Chairman of Inter-Con, which has grown to be the world’s fourth-largest security firm, with operations across the Americas, Africa, and Europe. In the late 1980’s he and his brother Roland launched a Spanish-language station in Dallas, which evolved into Telemundo, now part of NBC. Rick has served on several NYSE boards, currently a member of Chevron and Macerich. He recently retired as Chairman of McDonald’s Corporation after nine years. Rick is a former Trustee of Global Ronald McDonald House Children’s Charities, and a member of the Board of Directors of Catalyst, Inc. He previously served as Chairman at Nordstrom for 10 years and The Board of Regents of Loyola High School, Los Angeles. Rick has also served on the boards of Wells Fargo and Tribune corporations, was President of the Los Angeles Police Commission, and a Trustee and Fellow of the University of Notre Dame.
Morenike (Nike) Irvin
Nike Irvin leads the Civil Society Fellowship of The Aspen Institute which engages next-gen leaders to build civil discourse across ideological differences through text-based seminars in Aspen, Amsterdam/The Hague, the Middle East (pre-war), South Africa, and American South. Nike is an Aspen-trained Moderator. Through her consultancy, ZWN, Inc, Nike has been a coach and facilitator to charitable foundations, nonprofits, and corporations. Nike previously served for six years as Vice President of Programs leading California Community Foundation’s (CCF) grantmaking to arts, education, health, juvenile justice. Before CCF, Nike served as president of The Riordan Foundation for seven years, appointed by former Mayor Richard Riordan. Prior to her nonprofit career, she was a brand manager for Nestlé and Pepsi Cola. She is a trustee for HR&A Advisors, The John Randolph Haynes & Dora Haynes Foundation, Nonprofit Finance Fund, PICO California, and Procure Impact. Mayor Karen Bass appointed Nike to the City of Los Angeles Ethics Commission in October 2025. She received a BA in Economics & Political Science from Yale and was named one of the “100 Most Inspirational Alumni” by UCLA Anderson School, where she earned her MBA. Nike is a Marshall Memorial Fellow and Henry Crown Fellow within the Aspen Institute.
Joseph Tomás Mckellar
Joseph Tomás Mckellar is Executive Director of PICO California, the largest faith-based organizing network in the state, whose mission is to catalyze faith-based and spiritually-centered people power in Los Angeles and across California to create systemic change for the most vulnerable so that all Californians can belong and thrive. In his role, Joseph provides strategic leadership to 10 multi-faith, multi-racial community organizations representing 450,000 Californians, and accompanies a talented staff team running power building and leadership programs for 2,500 grassroots volunteers. Previously, Joseph founded and directed Faith in New York and Faith in the Valley, and worked as a teacher in Boston with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Joseph was born in Whittier, California and is a first-generation college graduate from the University of San Diego.
Natalie Samarjian
Natalie Samarjian is the President and CEO of Coro California, the newly unified statewide organization formed through the historic merger of Coro Northern and Southern California. For nearly a decade, she served as President and CEO of Coro Southern California, where she advanced a new strategic vision, expanded programs and partnerships, increased revenue, and built a dynamic alumni community driving impact across the region. Building on that foundation, Natalie led the complex integration of the two Coro organizations, creating Coro California and positioning it to develop ethical and effective leaders statewide with greater scale, alignment, and transformational impact. Prior to Coro, Natalie served at the California Women’s Law Center, advancing the rights of women and girls through impact litigation, public policy advocacy, and legal education. She previously worked as a Staff Attorney and Dickran Tevrizian Fellow at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, where she represented survivors of domestic violence, supported impact litigation – including a successful appeal in Montagner v. Montagner—and led extensive community outreach and legal education efforts. Earlier in her career, Natalie was a Labor and Employment litigator at Rutan & Tucker, LLP, where she also engaged deeply in pro bono advocacy, successfully representing an asylum seeker before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Before entering the legal profession, she worked as a Human Capital Consultant in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Public Sector practice. Natalie holds a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law, a Master of Science from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy & Management, and a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA. She serves on the Boards of Public Counsel and the UCLA Alumni Association.
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Shui Yan Tang
Shui Yan Tang’s research focuses on institutional analysis and design, common-pool resource governance, environmental politics and policy, collaborative governance, and governance reform. He is the author of Institutions and Collective Action: Self-Governance in Irrigation (ICS Press, 1992) and Ten Principles for a Rule-ordered Society: Enhancing China’s Governing Capacity (China Economic Publishing House, 2012). He has published in numerous journals, including Comparative Politics, Economic Development Quarterly, Environment and Planning A, Governance, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Land Economics, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Public Administration Review, The China Quarterly, and World Development. Professor Tang was associate editor of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.