Shizuko Akasaki, Secretary

Shizuko Akasaki served as a board member of the Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services. Ms. Akasaki was Assistant Superintendent of the Child Development Division in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and served as a board member of both the National and California Associations for the Education of Young Children. She is a representative of the early childhood education community on LAUP's Board.

Nestor Barrero

Nestor Barrero serves on the LAUP Board as a representative of the corporate sector. A resident of Monrovia, he is currently the Vice President of Employment Law for NBC Universal in Universal City. At NBC Universal, Barrero provides preventive legal advice and training for managers, and provides advice on internal policies and procedures affecting the NBC Universal workforce in the corporate, broadcast and network operations, film, NBC and Telemundo television stations, as well as worldwide theme park businesses. He is also responsible for counseling management on all employment law matters. Barrero is a member of the California State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section. He also serves on the Board of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Barrero has served as President of the California Employment Law Council. He is also active in professional and community organizations such as the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts and the UCLA Academic Advancement Program.

Jean Bixby Smith, Board Chair

Jean Bixby Smith is a long-time business leader, volunteer and community activist. Currently she is a board member of the Bixby Land Company, where she previously served as chair and president and is president and chair of (the Alamitos Land Company) Luckey Ranch, LLC. She has been a trustee of Scripps College since 1980, where she served as chair of the board for eight years. Ms. Smith also served on the board of the Long Beach Day Nursery for nine years, including two years as president and two years as treasurer. Her current community boards include: the (Greater) Long Beach Community Foundation, UniHealth Foundation, International City Bank, Family Service of Long Beach Foundation, American Red Cross (Greater Long Beach Chapter), Rancho Los Cerritos Foundation and Public Corporation for the Arts. She was elected to the LAUP Board in 2004

David Crippens

David Crippens is a consultant specializing in non-profit management, fundraising and interim management. His experience includes 32 years of non-profit management, fundraising and media development with a major focus of providing interim leadership and management for non-profit agencies facing transitional challenges. He formerly served as Senior Vice President of Foundations and Education for KCET-TV. In that capacity, he was responsible for raising more than $70 million for programs and educational services. He is also the beneficiary of many awards for his service to education, broadcasting and non-profit organizations. Crippens currently serves as Chairman of Unite-LA Board of Directors, as well as the Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board Youth Council and the School Construction Bond Citizens Oversight Committee. He is a graduate of Antioch College and San Diego State University. Crippens is a tremendous asset to the LAUP Board of Directors, as it seeks to chart the course in providing high-quality early care and education to the children of Los Angeles County.

Dr. Arturo Delgado (ex-officio)

Dr. Arturo Delgado is the Superintendent of Schools at the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). He has been working in the education field for nearly 30 years. 

His commitment to higher expectations for his community has resulted in many innovative programs. As Superintendent of the San Bernardino City Unified School District prior to joining LACOE, the district experienced an increase of preschools from two to twenty-seven; the transformation of the "Middle College High School" that was made up of potential dropout students and became a National Blue Ribbon school; and the recognition of more than 12 California Golden Bell Awards. He also established ASAP, the Accelerate Student Achievement Plan, for traditionally lower performing student populations.

Dr. Delgado was recognized as one of the 50 most influential Latinos by Hispanic Heritage Magazine in 1998. He was also presented with the Education Service Award by the Inland Empire Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he was honored as an  Educator and Great Achiever by the Ecclesia Christian Fellowship. He also received the Portrait of a Great Achiever Award in 2006.

Bishop Henry W. Hearns, Sr.

Bishop Henry W. Hearns, Sr., serves on the LAUP Board as a representative of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. A resident of Lancaster, he has been actively involved in civic and other community activities for much of his life. A retired Chief of the Environmental Branch at Edwards Air Force Base in the Antelope Valley, Bishop Hearns is the only African American minister ever elected in the City of Lancaster's history to its City Council. He also served for 10 years as Vice Mayor and two terms as Mayor of Lancaster. Bishop Hearns continues to serve on numerous boards and committees, including the United Way, NAACP, the Housing Urban Development Community Development Act Board, the American Cancer Society, the Advisory Board for the Boys & Girls Club and as Program Sponsor for the Antelope Valley Black Infant Health Program. In 1965, he was selected as Senior Pastor for the Living Stone Cathedral of Worship Church in Sun Village, Calif.

Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., Ph.D.

Al Osborne is the Senior Associate Dean at UCLA Anderson School of Management and Professor of Global Economics and Management.  Dr. Osborne is the Founder and Faculty Director of the Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The Harold Price Center serves to organize all faculty research, student activities and curricula related to the study of entrepreneurship and new business development at the Anderson School. Dr. Osborne also serves as the Faculty Director of the Head Start/Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows Program conducted at UCLA and had led the development of several management training programs in the early childhood education field. An active corporate director for more than 25 years, Osborne has served on the boards of numerous corporations and is currently a director of Kaiser Aluminum, the Heckmann Corporation, Wedbush, Inc. and First Pacific Advisors' Capital, New Income and Crescent Funds. He is trustee of Harvard-Westlake School, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation.

Victor H. Palmieri

Victor H. Palmieri is the retired Chairman and Founder of The Palmieri Company, a general management consulting firm serving large scale financial enterprises. He was a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and president of the Lincoln Center Theater. He was also on the boards of directors of Phillips Petroleum, Arvida Corporation, Pennsylvania Company, Outlet Communications, the William Carter Company, and Broadcasting Partners. He is currently a director of Financial Holdings, Inc and Southern California Public Radio. Mr. Palmieri was Ambassador at Large and U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs in the Department of State during the Carter administration. He has taught courses on corporate crisis management at Stanford Law School and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  He was elected to the LAUP Board in 2004.

Matt Rezvani, Vice Chair

Matt Rezvani is the General Manager, West Coast External Affairs for BP America Inc. located in La Palma, California. Rezvani received a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Engineering from California State University in Long Beach and a Masters in Business Administration degree from University of La Verne.  He also attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management where he received a Business Management certificate. Rezvani joined ARCO Pipeline Company in 1985 as an engineer, and in 1987, he moved to the External Affairs group at ARCO Transportation Company, managing the policy issues and local government. He is a governor's appointee to the Technical Advisory Committee, Office of Spill Prevention and Response, Department of Fish and Game.  He is a member of the Los Angeles County Policy Roundtable on Childcare commission and is a member of the Board of Directors of KCET and Los Angeles Central City Association. Rezvani is married to his wife of 38 years, Debbi, and they have two sons and two granddaughters.

Maria S. Salinas

In her role on the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP), Maria S. Salinas is well prepared to keep children's early education needs and the interests of their parents well at hand, as she brings an important parent/consumer perspective to the Board.

Salinas, who is president and founder of Salinas Consulting, LLC, a finance and accounting project management firm, is a strong supporter of LAUP's goal to increase accessibility to high-quality preschool among families throughout Los Angeles County. She is also well aware of the difference a quality early education can make in a child's life.

Salinas' history of community involvement has been an integral part of her life. She has served on numerous community boards over the years, and has been recognized by civic leaders and organizations. These include former Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and the Los Angeles County Commission on the Status of Women.

Together with her husband, Raul, Salinas has assisted several community-based organizations to grow into mature entities that can provide a voice for the people they serve. In 2009, Salinas, along with her husband, were honored with KCET's Local Hero award for their community service.

Salinas lives in Pasadena with her husband, Raul, and their four sons.

John Schulman

John A. Schulman is a partner at the entertainment law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (MS&K) in Los Angeles. Prior to joining MS&K in January 2010, Schulman was the Executive Vice President & General Counsel of Warner Bros. Entertainment. He served the studio as General Counsel for 25 years. He currently serves on the board of directors of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, The Music Center and is a trustee of the Southwestern School of Law. In 2009, Schulman joined USC Law as the director of the Entertainment Law Program. He has also served as a lecturer at UCLA School of Law, and at his alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. Schulman represents Los Angeles County Supevisor Zev Yaroslavsky on the LAUP Board.

Ana Valdez

Ana Valdez has enjoyed an extraordinary career in various jobs spanning the private and public sectors, where she has had a great impact, especially in the underserved communities. Her career has also provided her with an uncanny ability to detect opportunities that have expanded nationwide business and political operations in growing multicultural markets, critical to all business and political campaigns. As a parent of two, Ms. Valdez has been deeply involved in children's issues. She is a past chair of the Center for Early Education's Multicultural Committee; Co-founder and Vice-Chair of FOCUS, a fundraising and volunteer group at Children's Hospital Los Angeles; and is a member of the Children's Bureau's newly created Public Policy Advocacy Planning Group. She is also a volunteer Ranger at Franklin Canyon State Park, where she leads nature walks for inner-city schools. A native of Mexico City, Ms. Valdez has held prestigious positions with the AC Nielsen Co., Banamex (the largest bank in Mexico), and the United Nations. She also held important assignments within the Clinton-Gore Administration, and has been involved in many other high-profile political campaigns. Ms. Valdez is currently a partner and senior vice president of business development of Valdez Productions, Inc., where she serves as the key strategist to identify new consumer trends.