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Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction at California Department of EducationTony Thurmond was sworn in as the twenty-eighth California State Superintendent of Public Instruction on January 7, 2019.
Superintendent Thurmond is an educator, social worker, and public school parent who has served Californians for more than 15 years in elected office. Previously, he served on the Richmond City Council, the West Contra Costa Unified School Board, and in the California State Assembly representing District 15.
Like many of California’s public school students, Superintendent Thurmond came from humble beginnings. His mother was an immigrant from Panama who came to San Jose, California, to be a teacher. His father was a soldier who did not return to his family after the Vietnam War. After his mother died when he was six, Thurmond and his brother were raised by a cousin whom they had never met.
Superintendent Thurmond’s family relied on public assistance programs and great public schools to get out of poverty. Public school education allowed him to attend Temple University, where he became student body president. He went on to earn dual master’s degrees in law and social policy and social work (MSW) from Bryn Mawr College and began a career dedicated to service.
Much of Superintendent Thurmond’s social service work has focused on improving the services provided to foster youth and directing programs that provide job training to at-risk youth. He also led programs that provide help for individuals with developmental disabilities. He has 12 years of direct experience in education, teaching life skills classes, after school programs, and career training.
Over the course of Thurmond’s tenure since being sworn in as California’s State Superintendent, he has championed and created many historic initiatives on behalf of California’s students, and his efforts to transform California schools include seven key areas of support.
Dr. Angelo Farooq
Chairman at California Workforce Development BoardDr. Angelo Farooq is appointed as the Chairman of the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) under Governor Newsom administration. CWDB develops a common policy framework for the +$6 billion statewide workforce system that is the largest in the country. He is appointed by CA Treasurer Fiona Ma as co-chair of her Housing, Economic Development, Job Creation Advisory Council and appointed by Controller Betty Yee on her Council of Economic Advisors. Angelov is an entrepreneur in sustainable development. He is elected on the Board or Education for Riverside Unified School District. Angelov earned his Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley, Executive Master and Doctorate of Policy, Planning & Development degrees from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Scott Price
Chief Business Official at Riverside Countty Office of EducationExperienced Chief Financial Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, K-12 Education, Strategic Planning, Educational Technology, and Instructional Design. Strong finance professional with a Ph.D. focused in Education Administration from University of Southern California.
Dr. Carol Tsushima
Administrator of Workforce SBCSS at San Bernardino County Superintendent of SchoolsExperienced Administrator with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Skilled in Career Technical Education, World of Work Transitions, Collective Impact, Organizational Development, Training, and Adult Education. Strong CTE professional with a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) focused in Organizational Leadership from Brandman University, Part of the Chapman University System.
Connie Leyva
Executive Director of KVCR & FNXConnie Leyva is currently the Executive Director at KVCR Public Radio and Television. KVCR is located on the campus of San Bernardino Valley College serving the Inland Empire on Channel 24 and FM 91.9. She oversees all aspects of KVCR including increasing community and student engagement, raising money and content.
Prior to joining KVCR in December of 2022, Leyva was the Senator serving the 20th Senate District in the Inland Empire from 2014 to 2022 representing almost a million constituents. During her tenue in the California State Senate, Senator Leyva was the chair of the Democratic Caucus, chair of Senate Education Committee and chair of the Mobile and Manufactured Homes Select Committee, as well as serving on numerous other key committees. She authored more than 50 bills signed into law including landmark legislation on statute of limitation on sexual assault and Clean Truck Heavy-Duty Registration.
Leyva has always had a heart for people and the communities they live in, she went to work for UFCW Local 1428 in 1994 and helped workers find their voice on the job. Starting in the benefits department and ultimately becoming the first woman president of that local. From 2004-2014 while serving as president she was also the first woman president of the California Labor Federation representing over 2.1 million workers though out California.
Leyva lives in Chino with her husband Al where they raised their twin daughters who are grown and have their own families.
Dr. Douglas Mack
Chief of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Specialist at Kaiser PermanenteDr. Douglas Mack is a product of our local public schools. He was raised in South Los Angeles,
attended Los Angeles area K-12 schools, and realized he was one of only a few from his high
school who matriculated to college. He was a first-generation college student earning a Bachelor
of Science degree in Zoology as an undergraduate at California State University Long Beach. He
then went on to attend the University of California Irvine Medical School, before completing
four years of residency training at Loma Linda University Medical Center and eventually
becoming a board-certified doctor in the specialty of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He
joined Kaiser Permanente San Bernardino Service Area in 2000.
Upon joining Kaiser, he volunteered to be a mentor in Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program.
This program was founded in 2000 by Dr. Ricardo Sistos and others with the primary goal being
to increase the diversity of future generations of our physician population by creating a pathway
program to expose young, diverse middle school students, especially those from underprivileged,
underrepresented groups of our communities to physician careers. Dr. Mack became the San
Bernardino County Services Area Physician Champion in 2006 and has been serving the students
in the communities that Kaiser cares for in this same role ever since. Over 8,000 students have
graduated from the program since its inception, hundreds have been inspired to become first-
generation college students, and dozens have gone on to become physicians. Dr. Mack received
the Physician Exceptional Contribution Award in 2016 for his community service work.
Dr. Mack’s passion lies in the patients whose lives he tries to affect every day and, in his efforts,
to extend his reach into local communities to help inspire the young people within them. Dr.
Mack has found that if a patient feels they are heard, understood, and cared for, they will heed
the advice of the doctor and care for themselves. If the young people in the community feel
heard, seen, and cared for, they too will strive to be their very best. Who better to relate to some
of the patients and families of our local communities than someone who has experienced
them firsthand.
Randy Barth
CEO of Think TogetherRandy Barth is the Founder and CEO of THINK Together and the Executive Chairman of Orenda Education (formerly Principal's Exchange). THINK Together is a nonprofit organization that partners with schools to change the odds for underserved students. They provide Early Learning Programs for 0-5 year old's and Expanded Learning Programs for students K-12. THINK Together serves more than 200,000 students across more than 600 programs at more than 50 school districts, and 50 charter schools statewide in California.
Orenda Education is a benefit corporation (B-Corp) that for more than 20 years has provided systems change for schools and school districts to drive performance in student achievement. Using its Response to Intervention for Systems (RtI4S) methodology, a research-validated school and district-strengthening model, Orenda provides professional development and coaching for teachers and administrators and develops software tools that enable the use of data to help drive performance. Some of the top performing low-income schools and school district's in California are Orenda schools & districts.
Before embarking on his work as an educational entrepreneur, Randy had a successful business career for more than twenty years, first as an investment advisor with various major Wall Street firms (E.F. Hutton, Drexel Burnham, Smith Barney) and later as a corporate CEO (National Management). Randy holds a B.A. in Economics from UCLA and did graduate work at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University. Along with former LA Times reporter Jennifer Delson, he is the co-author of the best selling book "Think Together: How YOU can play a role in improving education in America." Randy serves on several boards and as a Senior Fellow at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Edward Ornelas, Jr.
CEO of IE Regional Chamber of CommerceTo learn about membership engagement opportunities with the Inland Empire Regional Chamber of Commerce schedule a call with Edward directly at https://calendly.com/edwardornelasjr/meeting
Connect with Edward on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardornelasjr/