Board of Directors Biographies
Melanie Neumann is a 1998 graduate of St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana where she received her B.A. in Communications, with a minor in marketing. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2001, she worked as a media buyer for DMB&B advertising agency in New York City. After making the move to the west coast, she spent four years working as a non-profit event planner for The Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Avon Foundation. Mrs. Neumann has led several successful fundraising campaigns for 10th Street Preschool in Santa Monica and volunteers her time as a board member of Project Cuddle, a non-profit organization that offers safe and legal alternatives to baby abandonment. She is a board member of Hero Theatre, and also supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation, The March of Dimes and the Phase One Foundation. She resides in Pacific Palisades, CA and is the proud mother of three children and wife of Michael Neumann.
Erica Fisher is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin where she received her B.A. in History. Mrs. Fisher continued her education receiving a Masters of Social Work from New York University in 2003. After graduate school she worked as an individual therapist & studied for a certificate in psychoanalysis at the Metropolitan Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in Manhattan. Mrs. Fisher and her husband moved to Los Angeles, California in 2006. In Los Angeles, Erica continued studying at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society, while also working as a trustee for the Dreiseszun Family Foundation. Through her foundation, Mrs. Fisher has been honored to work closely with many organizations, including Race to Erase MS, The CLARE Foundation, National Jewish Health of Denver and The Make It Right Foundation in New Orleans. Erica has three young children and lives in Pacific Palisades, California with her husband, Evan Fisher.
Wonnie Park is a lover of fashion, art and design, and began her career at Fred Segal in Santa Monica. As the co-owner, operator and buyer for Fred Segal Couture, Fred Segal Twilight and Fred Segal Tiara, she traveled the world as a curator of fashion brands for over fourteen years. Her buying trips to New York, London, Milan and Paris not only nurtured her appetite for culture, art, design and fashion, they also served to be opportunities for her to hone her skills as a focused and disciplined buyer. Wonnie has had the exclusive opportunity to watch brands grow and evolve, thereby, gaining a solid understanding of brand development and the variables that contribute to the failure and success of brands. Coupled with her experience as a successful entrepreneur, business owner and operator, Wonnie has earned her position as an industry expert. Wonnie is now a brand strategist and helps companies grow their brands by advising on various aspects of the business including, but not limited to, retail, wholesale, product development, web design, marketing, operations and management. Wonnie Park graduated from Boston University, Cum Laude, where she received a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science; she received a J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law.
Sarah Wetzstein teaches Legal Research and Writing and Pretrial Civil Litigation at the UCLA School of Law. Prior to joining the faculty of UCLA, she was an attorney at Hope4Families, a special education law firm, where she represented special needs students from low-income familes in connection with their educational rights. She spent the first eight years of her career as a litigator at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP. Ms. Wetzstein earned her B.S. from Cornell University and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she was a Senior Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Ms. Wetzstein served as the co-chair of the Board of Directors of Beverly Glen Playgroup from 2011 through 2015, and currently serves on the Beverly Glen Playgroup Advisory Council. She lives in Encino with her husband and two children.
Keith Sarkisian is a partner and agent at WME. His clients include a variety of artists and performers, such as Depeche Mode. Duran Duran, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Pitbull, Adam Sandler, Justin Timberlake, Sofia Carson and Grace VanderWaal. In addition, Keith represents actor Keanu Reeves, Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll, Quarterback Russell Wilson and high performance psychologist, Michael Gervais. Keith began his career as an agent trainee at Triad Artists, where he was quickly promoted to agent after only two years. He began at WME in 1992, with the William Morris Agency's acquisition of Triad Artists. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Keith resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters.
Farrah Louviere Cerf is a Brand and Marketing Strategist who helps founders, executives and entrepreneurs grow their personal and professional brands. Having spent two decades working in marketing and licensing for global brands and start-ups, Farrah knows what drives sales, consumer engagement, and press-and it's beyond implementing the marketing tactic of the week. Mastering the basics of planning, strategy, discipline, failing forward and an enduring, unrelenting desire to succeed has driven her success. She has learned that while talent is important, grit, tenacity, and a little charm are as much a determinant of success. Farrah has executed successful strategies for some of the largest brands in the world including Proctor & Gamble, Warner Brothers, Disney and Hallmark Cards. While she established herself at larger companies, Farrah's true passion is working alongside founders to scale, grow, manage operations and lead a team. Farrah holds a B.S. in Communications from Boston University and a MBA in Marketing, Strategy and Media Management from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.
Avigal Horrow has worked for over twenty-five years in various capacities as a licensed attorney. She first worked as a litigation associate for Fonda, Garrard, Hilberman & Davis and then Prestholt, Kleeger et.al, specializing in public entity and insurance defense litigation. Avigal subsequently served as General Counsel for Inter-Con Security Systems, litigating, arbitrating and mediating on behalf of the company in the United States and twelve other countries. Subsequent to serving as General Counsel for Inter-Con, Avigal served as Director of Human Resources and City Attorney II for the City of Vernon. Her current work is with AH Consulting Group, which has been assisting businesses with employment practices, human resources and vendor relationships from both a legal and business operation perspective for thirteen years. Ms. Horrow also performs non-legal work in furtherance of her commitment to social justice and human rights. Fo five-years, Ms. Horrow was the Outreach and Education provider for 1736 Family Crisis Center and has coordinated all community response and relations on behalf of the agency. In her capacity at 1736, she prepares and presents on educational on issues of domestic violence, youth homelessness and human trafficking to wide ranging audiences.
Shanna Brooks graduated from the University of Illinois with a BA in Psychology. After graduating, she was a project manager for a general contracting firm in Chicago for many years until 2001, when she moved to Los Angeles. Shanna served on the board for The Joyful Heart Foundation for three years as well as being closely involved for many years with the Michael J. Fox foundation alongside her husband. She lives in Holmby Hills with her husband Jon and their teenage daughter.