Andrea Cockrum, Board President

Andrea Cockrum has over 30 years of nonprofit management experience, including major fundraising, and over 40 years of management experience. She started her professional career in 1964 in flight services management working for United Airlines for 13 years based in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles. In 1978 she was hired by UCLA as the Volunteer Coordinator of its Rehabilitation Center and then the Executive Director of the UCLA Program for Developmentally Handicapped Children and it’s S.P.R.I.N.T. (Special Preventive Research and New Technology) Program for infants.

Andrea became the founding CEO of The Fulfillment Fund in Los Angeles in 1988, an organization which provides mentoring, college preparation classes, college counseling and college scholarships for over 2,000 traditionally underserved students annually in Southern California. Andrea retired from the Fulfillment Fund in 2008 after 20 years of tremendous growth and success for young people, their families and communities. She joined the board of New Designs Charter School in 2003 and became board president in 2005.

Lloyd T. McKinney, Board Vice President

Mr. McKinney has over 25 years experience in Global Supply Chain Management. He is a leader with a proven track record in the ability to lead high performance teams. His skills include special projects management; proposal planning and preparation; administrative and financial management and project planning and control. Mr. McKinney is a skilled negotiator and customer/supplier interface manager.

He is currently responsible for all aspects of the subcontract management activities for Advanced Mission Programs in the Payloads and Sensors Subcontracts organization for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. In that capacity he develops acquisition strategies and proactively manages the surveillance over cost, subcontractor interfaces, technical, schedule and contractual performance of an approximate $200M portfolio.

Mr. McKinney currently serves on the Advisory Boards of the, New Designs Charter School, and the Finance Committee for the WATTSTAR Theatre Project. In these capacities he advises on strategic planning, fundraising, marketing, finance and program development.

Mr. McKinney has served on the boards of Los Angeles Urban Youth Golf, the Su Casa Family Crisis and Support Center, the WATTSTAR Theatre, and the Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Academy. Other interests include music, golf, billiards, and tennis.

Lloyd is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and currently is a mentor in its Career Advantage Program (CAP). He has successfully completed the following programs: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduate School of Business and Management’s African American Leadership Institute; the UCLA - Professional Designation in Government Contract Management and the UCLA Professional Certification in Accounting.

Laura Wallace, M.A., Board Development Chair

Laura Wallace is a community advocate with 25 years of experience and dedication to business development and community investment. Ms. Wallace is the Principle of The Wallace Group, LLC a management service consultancy whose mission is to support corporations’ and foundations in planning and public affairs. Laura maintains affinity networks in energy, biomedicine, investment banking, technology, media and telecommunications. Laura currently services companies’ in the energy, oil and gas industries with current and former clients’ that include ConocoPhillips Company (COP), Hovensa LLC (Hess Corporation subsidiary) and BP.

Laura served as a Consultant to BP’ CA Government and Public Affairs leadership. In this capacity, Ms. Wallace was responsible for The California Governor & First Lady’s Conference on Women & Families, BP’ ‘A+ for Energy program - a $5 million community grant initiative and held an Advisory Committee post to the ‘A+ for Energy’ program. Laura provided management support to BP’ Community Relations team with oversight of national sponsorships including BP Amoco Marketers Association, The Enterprise Community Network Conference, The US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Conference and The National Urban League Conference to name a few. Laura contracted with The Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Inc. in 2006 for regional management of fund development, donor solicitation, volunteerism and planning of a fundraiser, culminating into a Celebrity Golf Tournament and formal affair with Mayor Villaraigosa, corporate and community leaders.

Laura has held managerial positions in education, product marketing and advertising with Entrepreneur Magazine/Media, Irvine, CA, Apollo Group, Northern & Southern California and AT&T, Product Marketing, New Jersey (1980-1988). Ms. Wallace’ holds a Masters degree in Organizational & Strategic Management, a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and post strategic management education at the University of California Los Angeles, (UCLA). Laura has served on the Board of Directors with New Designs Charter School since June 2005.

Sheldon Zaslansky, Finance Committee Chair

• Sheldon Zaslansky is an accomplished business leader and marketer with experience in Direct Marketing and business development. Mr. Zaslansky is the founder and current President of YellowBrickRoad, a consulting firm specializing in external and internal business development. Founded in 1999, YellowBrickRoad has a variety of clients ranging from cataloguers, retail marketers, on line marketers, and private service providers.
  
  
• From 1981 to 1999 Mr. Zaslansky was President and owner of the leading Direct Marketing Services firm, The Walter Karl Companies. As the President of Walter Karl, he earned a reputation as a pioneer in his field. He has a proven track record in new business development, senior level client relations, business turnarounds, product development of advance database, and direct marketing techniques and general business. He sold The Walter Karl Companies, Inc and it’s subsidiaries to InfoUSA in 1999.
  
  
• From 1971 to 1981 Mr. Zaslansky built Consumers Bargain, a direct mail marketing company. As CEO he developed the company into a multi-million dollar organization.
  
  
• Target Magazine recognized him as one of the Top 100 Marketers in the country. He has been a featured speaker at many industry conferences. In addition, he has written featured articles for several industry publications and is regularly invited to participate in the DMA Leadership forum with the top marketers in the country.
  
  
• Sheldon is actively involved with a number of companies. He serves on the Board of Directors for, Direct Ventures and Nola3. He is a director of numerous companies for which he has holds ownership positions. An advisor to The Kahn Gauthier Law group for their web business, which is one of the most visited legal sites in the country.
  
  
• In addition, he is an active member of the Direct Marketing Association. Since moving to California in 2000, Sheldon has assumed the position of Treasurer and is on The Board of Directors for the New Designs Charter School. Also and is often involved in fundraising for local charities. His primary concerns are for children’s organizations and international political policies.
  
  
• Mr. Zaslansky graduated from Long Island University with a B.S. in Business Administration. He served in the US Army Reserves. He is the father of five children and resides in Manhattan Beach, California.

Jeff Miller, PhD, Board Affairs Chair

Dr. Jeff Miller is currently an assistant professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills where he teaches educational psychology. Prior to that, he designed and taught courses in academic success at Santa Monica College and taught middle school for Los Angeles Unified School District for eight years. He is the author of two books, one on the psychology of coaching youth sports and has a book currently in press with Corwin Press titled Understanding and Engaging Adolescents. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in 2001. He is also the director of Jeff Miller Consulting. JMC designs and delivers professional development on a variety of topics and facilitates organizational restructuring efforts in public schools. He has consulted with over eight school districts across the state as well as providing coaching and support for corporations.

Kojoe S. Essien, Board Member

In 1976, K. Sam Essien enrolled in the Department of Russian Language and Literature, Voronezh State University in central Russia, in the former Soviet Union. Five years later, he graduated from Rostov-on-Don Technical University, excelling in water treatment and sewage engineering.

After holding various job positions in the former West Germany and West Africa, Mr. Essien accepted an engineering position from Tri-Valley Construction in Covina, California, initially as a Cost Estimator and later as a construction supervisor.

In 1986-87, Mr. Essien worked as a substitute teacher in both the West Covina and Compton, California Unified School Districts.

Driven by an unflinching desire to offer his services to those who seek them, Mr. Essien answered President Bill Clinton’s call for the private sector to assist in providing housing for the needy in our society. The Clinton Administration’s GORE (Government Owned Real Estate) program had just been unveiled and Mr. Essien was among the first respondents in California. Using private and government resources, Mr. Essien built or completely renovated a total of 405 (four hundred five) homes and apartments and resold them to needy families throughout Southern California.

True to his vision, Mr. Essien sold those homes and apartments and structured the resale transactions that resulted in several millions of dollars donated to deserving buyers as gifts for down payment or closing expenses, making homeownership a dream-come-true for hundreds of families who otherwise would probably rent perpetually.

Beginning in 2001, Mr. Essien has taught real estate evening classes to some 600 students. Of those, about half went on to pass their California State license and are now actively promoting lending and real estate development in their communities. One thing to note: Mr. Essien has not charged a penny for his teaching services.

Currently, K. Sam Essien is the Broker and President of American Federal Funding, Inc. and CasaHome Realty Corp. He is also the president of Casa Por Menos (Home for Less), still working tirelessly in the provision of affordable housing to the Spanish community in Southern California.