In what may be unique to the Greater Los Angeles area, a Corporate Council comprised of seven business leaders has been established by LAUP to champion the cause of preschool education to help secure a more educated future workforce.

With a mission to bring together executive leadership from corporate America, the Corporate Council will strive to cultivate support within the Los Angeles area business community to support investment in early education. This will be part of a strategy to achieve a future competitive workforce in Los Angeles County to succeed in a global economy.

“Our main objective is to inform the business community about the important role that early childhood education plays in the development of a stable, future workforce in Los Angeles County,” said Rob Gilmore, president of L.A. Plan, who chairs LAUP’s Corporate Council. “There’s little doubt that the business community in Los Angeles and vicinity has much to gain from future generations of children who are better prepared for school and life as a result of a quality and affordable preschool education.”

LAUP’s Corporate Council is comprised of the following members: Chair, Rob Gilmore, president of L.A. Plan; Francie Alexander, senior vice president, Scholastic Education and chief academic officer, Scholastic, Inc.; Marcela Bailey, Divisional CIO, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; Kevin Carnes, president of the educational division, Lakeshore Learning Materials; Wes Wooten, vice president of sales and marketing, Kaplan Early Learning Company; Nick Zappia, senior vice president, U.S. Bank; and Bob Zukis, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“These individuals are highly regarded in corporate America, and will play an important role in securing the support of the business community to expand accessibility to quality early childhood education throughout Los Angeles County,” said Gary Mangiofico, CEO of LAUP. “The support of the business community is critical to our efforts to secure a better future of our children. That, in turn, will result in a much more productive workforce.”

Corporate Council members are volunteers, and are not employees or consultants for LAUP, which currently makes it possible for about 10,000 children to attend quality preschool in Los Angeles County.