J. SHAWN LANDRES, Ph.D.
Connecting people, ideas, and resources, Shawn Landres, PhD, has earned international recognition for his leadership in social innovation. A widely published essayist and editor whose work has been featured by the White House and covered by TIME, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, he is co-founder and Board co-chair of Jumpstart Labs, a philanthropic research and design consultancy
A Senior Fellow at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Landres is a City of Santa Monica Planning Commissioner and an appointee to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Financial Oversight Committee. He is a former chair of the City of Santa Monica Social Services Commission.
Landres brings to the Commission more than two decades of experience in academic, nonprofit, and philanthropic leadership, social entrepreneurship, network building, and organizational development, including the Clinton Administration's Reinventing Government initiative and projects funded by the U.S. State Department and the British government
In 2015, Landres led the Commission’s Strategic Plan Update and shepherded its “Digital by Default” report; he also chaired the Santa Monica Public Library's Innovation Technology Task Force. In 2016, he co-authored the UCLA/California Community Foundation report, “The Generosity Gap: Donating Less in Post-Recession Los Angeles County.” In 2017, he co-authored co-authored the Future of Cities LA/USC Huntington Institute report, “Space to Lead: A Century of Civic Leadership in Los Angeles."
A Los Angeles native who grew up in Santa Monica, where he now lives with his wife and two young daughters, Landres holds degrees from Columbia University (BA cum laude, religion), the University of Oxford (MSt with distinction, social anthropology), and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a PhD in religious studies. He has co-edited four books and published award-winning articles and essays that advance intergroup understanding.
In 2013, the Liberty Hill Foundation honored him with its NextGen Leadership Award. He was a 2015-16 California Connections Fellow of the Southern California Leadership Network, which in 2017 selected him as a 30th anniversary “30-in-30” alumni honoree.
Landres has served a non-executive manager for and/or advised numerous early-stage ventures and social enterprises. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Human Relations Council - Santa Monica Bay Area. Other advisory commitments include the Southern California Grantmakers Public Policy Committee, NEXUS, and the Liberty Hill Foundation. Landres, whom the Forward recognized in 2009 as one of America's 50 most influential Jewish leaders in 2009, also serves on the Jewish Federation's ChangeMaker Challenge Steering Committee.
WILLIAM B. PARENT
William “Bill” Parent is a recently-retired lecturer in public policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, where he worked as an administrator and teacher for 20 years. He taught courses on Leadership and Management of Nonprofit Organizations, Leadership in the Public Interest, and Urban Homelessness Policy. He served as Associate Dean for Administration, Associate Dean for Advancement, and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives. He was Acting Director of the former UCLA Luskin Center for Civil Society from 2009 to 2016.
In Santa Monica, Bill has served on the Social Services Commission since 2015, including a term as Chair, with a focus on homelessness. He was also Co-Chair of the Santa Monica Homelessness Steering Committee, 2017-2018. Before joining UCLA in 2000, Bill was on the senior staff of the Harvard Kennedy School from 1986 to 1999, including five years as Executive Director of the Harvard University-Ford Foundation Innovations in American Government Program.
He is a former newspaper reporter who has published articles in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and California Policy Options. He also worked previously for the Paterson New Jersey Board of Education, New York City Board of Education, the California Governor’s Office of Appropriate Technology during Governor Jerry Brown’s second term, and for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he also received his B.A and Ed.D.
In retirement, he recently completed a full-length screenplay based on a true story, The White Hibiscus.
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JACKI BACHARACH
Jacki Bacharach served for 14 years as Mayor and Councilmember in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (a predecessor agency to the LACMTA) for 12 years. On the Commission, she chaired the overall Planning Committee, the Rail Construction and Planning Committees as well as the full Commission. She led the committees through the development of the overall rail plan for L.A. County and oversaw the construction of the Metro Blue and Green Lines.
Since 1985 she has been a member of the Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency overseeing and improving L.A.-San Diego Amtrak service representing LACMTA serving as the Vice Chair which she remained until the end of 2012 when her appointment ended.
Jacki Bacharach was a charter member of the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority dealing with landside access to the Ports of LA and Long Beach and served as Founding Chair of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority - the five-county agency that operates the Metrolink commuter rail system.
She served on the State Commission on Local Governance for the 21st Century and as a member of the National Commission on Intermodal Transportation as well as serving as a member of President Clinton’s Transition Team Transportation Cluster Group. In both of these positions, she was the only member from California.
Her first job after graduating from UCLA was as a social worker for L.A. County Department of Social Services.
MAXWELL BILLIEON
Maxwell Billieon is the CEO of The Billieon Group. His professional experience includes executive business development of branded intellectual properties with an emphasis on the specialty markets of commercial land development, residential real estate development, entertainment multi-media, textile manufacturing, crypto-currency mining and luxury lifestyle goods development, manufacturing and distribution.
He is a best-selling author and globally requested professional speaker with expertise in Generation X, socio-politics and business entrepreneurship. He is the recipient of a Gold Seal commendation from the City of Los Angeles and is a respected national television and radio host and multi-media personality.
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VIGGO BUTLER
Viggo Butler brings many successful years of experience as an airport executive, where he was President of Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc. and Corporate Vice President of Lockheed Corporation. He was formerly Chairman of United Airports, Limited, Inc., a privately held company specializing in privatization of businesses and airport operations and security. He also previously he held the position of Chairman of Avicom International.
He is known internationally for his expertise in privatization of government enterprises, international financing transactions, airport operations, security, finance, and airline services. Mr. Butler has testified before the U.S. Congress and British Parliament, and has spoken at forums around the world, including the World Economic Forum.
Also active in the community, he serves on the Boards of Pepperdine University, the Business Advisory of the Reason Foundation, and formerly on the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Butler was honored as the distinguished graduate of the Pepperdine Business School as well as California Polytechnic University. He earned his undergraduate BA in Business from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and his MBA at Pepperdine University.
E. SCOTT PALMER
Scott Palmer is an experienced business litigator and a founder of Palmer Hunter, Attorneys at Law. Previously, he was a partner with the law firms of Keesal, Young & Logan and Palmer, Lombardi & Donohue. Mr. Palmer has received Martindale Hubbel’s AV rating, a testament to the fact that his peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence. He has also been identified as a Southern California Super Lawyer every year since 2009.
Mr. Palmer was appointed to the Quality and Productivity Commission by the Board of Supervisors on October 30, 2018, as an appointee of Supervisor Kathryn Barger. He also serves as the Los Angeles Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and a board member of the Pacific Battleship Foundation which operates the USS IOWA in the port of Los Angeles.
Mr. Palmer is a graduate of the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley (B.S.), and the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California (J.D.).
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BLAINE MEEK
Blaine Meek was appointed to the Quality and Productivity Commission on May 19, 2017. Since 2006, he has served as Chair of the Coalition of County Unions. He also serves as General Counsel for the California Association of Professional Employees and has represented other County Unions. He has a juris doctorate from the Pepperdine University School of Law and earned a Master of Law in Dispute Resolution from the same university. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelors in Political Science. He is a member of the State Bar of California.
NICHELLE HENDERSON
Nichelle Henderson is an educator and union activist committed to grassroots capacity-building around the issues of education, labor and women’s rights. She is an alumnus of California State University, Los Angeles, where she is employed as a Lecturer with the Cal State Teach teacher preparation program and a member of the California Faculty Association - Los Angeles Chapter Executive Board and Statewide Representation Committee. Nichelle was born and raised in Los Angeles County. She is very active in local politics; holding the position of 1st Vice President of the Los Angeles African American Women’s Political Action Committee (LAAAWPAC) and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
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