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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.
Fiona Ma
CA State Treasurer at California State Treasurer's OfficeFiona Ma is California’s 34th State Treasurer. She was elected on November 6, 2018 with more votes (7,825,587) than any other candidate for treasurer in the state's history. She is the first woman of color and the first woman Certified Public Accountant (CPA) elected to the position. The State Treasurer’s Office was created in the California Constitution in 1849. It provides financing for schools, roads, housing, recycling and waste management, hospitals, public facilities, and other crucial infrastructure projects that better the lives of residents. California is the world’s fifth-largest economy and Treasurer Ma is the state’s primary banker. Her office processes more than $2 trillion in payments within a typical year. She provides transparency and oversight for the government’s investment portfolio and accounts, as well as for the state’s surplus funds. Treasurer Ma oversees an investment portfolio of more than $102 billion, approximately $20 billion of which are local government funds. She serves as agent for sale for all State bonds, and is trustee on over $100 billion of outstanding debt.
Ted Alejandre
County Superintendent at San Bernardino County Superintendent of SchoolsSan Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ Ted Alejandre began his four-year term as the county’s 34th superintendent after being elected to office in June 2014. He ran for the county’s lead educational seat unopposed in 2018 and began his second four-year term in January 2019.
With more than three decades of experience in public education, Mr. Alejandre has served in several positions at the school site and district levels including assistant superintendent of Business Services in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. He joined County Schools in 2008 as the assistant superintendent of Business Services, and later was appointed deputy superintendent, overseeing all operations of the organization.
As county superintendent, Mr. Alejandre works collaboratively with educators, families, other agencies and stakeholders to provide advocacy, leadership and services for and on behalf of more than 406,000 K-12 students attending public schools in San Bernardino County.
Mr. Alejandre is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel serving since 1984. He received his associate degree in Administrative Management from the Community College of the Air Force, his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and master’s in Educational Administration from Cal State University, San Bernardino.
Dr. Ruth Pérez
Deputy Superintendent of Schools at Riverside County, Office of EducationDr. Ruth Perez currently serves as the Deputy Superintendent of Schools for the Riverside County Office of Education. Dr. Pérez previously served the communities of Paramount, Long Beach, Lakewood and Bellflower. She has led a Paramount Partners in Education initiative to raise $250,000 in student scholarships and a successful school bond initiate of $106 million dollars to improve facilities and provide one-to-one technology for students in the district. She has held numerous leadership positions across the country including Superintendent of the Paramount Unified School District, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Superintendent for the Norwalk-La Miranda Unified School District, Chief Academic Officer in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, and Area Superintendent in Orange County Public Schools in Florida.
Dr. Pérez has also served as a Governing Board Member of the National Association of Administrators (AASA), the Superintendents Council of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the Southern Superintendent’s Association in California. She is currently on the Board of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS).
She received her Doctorate and Master’s degrees from the Nova Southeastern University in Florida and her Bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University of the City University of New York.
As an English Language Learner from Puerto Rico and educated in the New York City Public School system, Dr. Perez is a passionate advocate for improving student achievement and outcomes for all students, especially the underserved and English language learners. Additionally, Dr. Perez is strongly committed to serving as a role model and mentor for Latinx leaders to help them achieve higher leadership positions and guide them through the challenging but rewarding journey of the superintendent position.
Randy Barth
Found & 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.
Cathy Paredes
SVP, Inland Empire Market Executive at Bank of AmericaAs the Inland Empire Market Executive for Bank of America, Cathy is responsible for implementing the Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy that drives employee engagement and leverages community partnerships to realize brand favorability and revenue growth in the region.
Cathy joined Bank of America in 2010. In her role, she works with the market’s leadership teams – including executives from all Enterprise businesses – and her national business partners to deliver the bank’s brand in the two-county area of Riverside and San Bernardino in California. She is responsible for strategic local delivery of the bank’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, strategic community engagement, charitable giving and sponsorship activities.
Cathy serves on the board of the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council and is a trustee for the Riverside Art Museum. She is a member of the Inland Empire Funder’s Alliance and Women United of Arrowhead United Way. She is the current chair of the Business Education Partnership Council of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.
Edward Ornelas, Jr.
President & CEO of Inland Empire Regional Chamber of CommerceEdward has been spearheading the Inland Empire Regional Chamber of Commerce since 2015. Under his leadership, the IERCC has been looked to as a proactive, fast-moving business organization.
Currently, Edward sits on the board of:
-American Red Cross
-Inland Empire United Way
-CA Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Associate Director)
Additionally, he is a newly appointed member of the California Inland Empire District Export Council, appointed by the United States Secretary of Commerce.