Filling the CRA commission

Bruce Ackerman brings 30 years of executive leadership experience to the economic development and business fields. Under his leadership, the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley has increased total revenue by 135% in just 3 years. Prior to that, at the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, in just 2 years, he increased revenues by 285%. Bruce is a nationally known innovator of unique programs that enhance revenues and control costs; and, he shares this expertise in his book, The Management Bible, as well as various courses at the U.S. Chamber Institutes for Organization Management.

William H. Jackson III is a partner with Pircher, Nicols & Meeks, a major national real estate law firm with over 16 years of experience representing clients in complex commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Jackson’s public service credits include his work since 2002 on the City of LA Department of Fire & Police Pensions Commission, where he is the fiduciary of a $12 billion public safety benefit plan. His undergraduate and JD degrees are from Stanford University.

Madeline Janis-Aparicio, an attorney, is co-founder and executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE). Under Madeline’s stewardship, LAANE has spearheaded numerous campaigns to improve wages, benefits and working conditions in Los Angeles. Ms. Janis-Aparicio led the historic campaign to pass L.A.'s living wage ordinance, which has since become a national model. She was first appointed to the CRA Board of Commissioners in 2002 and also serves on the boards of directors of Good Jobs First, the California Partnership for Working Families, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, and the Phoenix Fund for Workers and Communities, a project of the New World Foundation.

Joan Ling has been the Executive Director of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, a non-profit affordable housing company, since 1991. Ms. Ling led efforts to grow the company from 300 to 1,200 units on 75 properties, and from controlling $20 million to $210 million in real estate assets. Her expertise in the affordable housing arena has earned her directorships with other prominent organizations, including the California Community Reinvestment Corporation, Southern CA Association of Non-Profit Housing, Livable Places, Venice Community Housing Corporation and the UCLA School of Architecture & Urban Planning Alumni Association.

John A. Pérez has spent a decade and a half as a union organizer and political operative, most recently in his current capacity as Political Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union Local 324. The UFCW represents roughly 24,000 workers in Orange County and Southern Los Angeles and represents 1.4 million workers nationwide. John also serves as a Board member of the California League of Conservation Voters, AIDS Project LA and CORO Southern California, among others. John grew up in the working class community of Highland Park, just north of downtown Los Angeles and went on to study at the University of California at Berkeley.

Mark Rios is a renowned architect who founded his firm in 1985. Rios's design has been nationally recognized with more than 20 design awards, including national design awards from the AIA (American Institute of Architects) and the American Society of Landscape Architects; and his work has been widely published. He has largely set the national standard for designing building types for children, as reflected in projects like Warner Bros., Disney, Universal, Fox, Mattel and others. Mark is also the Director of USC’s Architecture Program in the School of Architecture, and has held faculty positions at UCLA and Harvard University.

Brenda Shockley is the President of Community Building Inc., a California non-profit community development corporation that was founded as a response to the Los Angeles Civil Unrest of 1992. Under her leadership, Community Build has administered over $30 million in education, employment and training programs, serving over eight thousand (8,000) youth and young adults. Community Build has also developed a 24,000 sq. ft. commercial mixed-use development and pocket park; and a 9,000 sq. ft. Youth and Community Center. An attorney by training, Ms. Schockley is also on the Boards of Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, W.O.R.K.S (Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge and Services), the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, and the Black Women’s Forum.