UNITE-LA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director, Postsecondary Strategy & Policy
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- Director
- Executive Director, Orange County Regional Consortium
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- Director
- Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District ( LAUSD )
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- Senior Coordinator, Programs
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- President
- President of the Board
- President of UNITE - LA
Alysia Bell serves as President of UNITE-LA. After pursuing UNITE-LA for two years, Bell joined the organization in 2011. In her years with the organization, she has led our national work in partnership with the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). This partnership has raised more than $13 million, which resulted in sub-granting more than $700 thousand to chambers across the country. This led to promising practices in higher education attainment and graduated nearly 200 business organization leaders from the Fellowship for Education Attainment. Together, UNITE-LA and ACCE designed and engaged more than 600 chamber professionals in the Education and Talent Development Division, which UNITE-LA and ACCE co-launched in 2011.
At the state level, Bell has staffed the Education and Workforce Development Committee of the Regional Association of Economic Leaders (R.E.A.L.) Coalition of California and is now engaged in the California Stewardship Network. Regionally, Bell works closely with UNITE-LA's programs, policy and systems teams, plays a key role in the organization's Anti-Racism and Race Equity learning journey and leads organization-wide efforts, including CRM implementation and strategic planning.
Before joining UNITE-LA, Bell served as an executive for the Greater-Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, held positions with Los Angeles Unified School District's Personnel Selection Branch and Southern California Edison's Performance Assessment Services Division, and served as an Adjunct Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Pepperdine University.
Bell graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California and earned her master's degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from California State University, Long Beach.
Born and raised in Santa Cruz and an avid sports fan, she remains dedicated to her San Francisco Giants, although she has adopted the Lakers and Rams since moving to Los Angeles. In her spare time, she does high intensity interval training (HIIT), enjoys kombucha and builds tall towers of magnet tiles with her husband Matt and their four-year-old son Maddox.
Job Titles:
- Director, Workforce Systems & Policy
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- Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships
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- Associate Director, Business Engagement
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- Member of the Board
- Secretary
- Treasurer
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- Director
- Wealth Management Banking Regional Sales Director, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Banking, Bank of America, N.a.
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- Senior Vice President, Programs and Talent Development
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- Vice President, Systems Change Strategy
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- Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships
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- Vice President, Marketing and Communications
In her role as Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Claudine Battisti heads UNITE-LA's marketing and communications team. She is responsible for setting the strategic direction for all marketing and communication of programs and events and overseeing the development of marketing plans and tools to uplift the impact of the organization's partnerships, as well as the organization's policy, programs and systems' change initiatives.
With more than 22 years of marketing and communications experience in government and non-profit work, Battisti is proud to lend her expertise to UNITE-LA work that impacts youth in unserved and underserved communities in the Los Angeles area and beyond.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Marketing & Communications
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- Director
- Retired, DLC & Associates
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- Director
- Retired, UNITE - LA
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- Director
- Chief Executive Officer, Big Energy Group
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- Senior Director of Education Business Coalitions for UNITE - LA
- Senior Director, Education Business Coalitions
Dexter Freeman serves as Senior Director of Education Business Coalitions for UNITE-LA where he develops, leads and executes education and talent development strategies across the country.
Freeman previously served as Vice President of Operations and Administration for the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) where he oversaw the operations, administration, human resources and financial management of the organization. Prior to joining the Chamber, he was Manager of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Data for the Dallas Regional Chamber and Project Assistant for APD Urban Planning & Management. He is a previous Association of Chamber of Commerce of Executives (ACCE) Education and Talent Development Division Fellow and participant in the ACCE Scholarship for Leadership Diversity program.
Freeman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Arkansas and a Master of Business degree in Administration from the University of Dallas. He is active in many civic and philanthropic activities including The Graduate! Network Board of Directors, Out Teach, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and many more. Additionally, Freeman has collaborated with passionate leaders throughout the community in initiatives such as Dallas's Mayor's Star Council and IRON Dallas, a nonprofit that exists to provide recently relocated African Americans to Dallas a sense of community through personal and professional development programs and connections to seasoned professionals.
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- Program Assistant, Workforce Development
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- Senior Coordinator, Research & Evaluation
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- Vice President of Research and Evaluation, Oversees Research, Evaluation and Strategic Learning Activities in Addition to Co - Leading Our Anti - Racism Work
- Vice President, Research and Evaluation
Dr. Lisa Catanzarite, Vice President of Research and Evaluation, oversees research, evaluation and strategic learning activities in addition to co-leading our anti-racism work.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Workforce Development Policy and Systems
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- Manager, Research & Evaluation
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- Senior Manager, Business - Education Partnerships and Youth Engagement Team
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- Senior Coordinator, Design & Marketing
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- Senior Manager, Inclusion and Community Partnerships
- UNITE - LA in 2022 As Senior Manager of Inclusion and Community Partnerships
Ilia Lopez joined UNITE-LA in 2022 as Senior Manager of Inclusion and Community Partnerships where she supports the development of programs and partnerships with key stakeholders to expand UNITE-LA's workforce programs. These programs support marginalized populations including disconnected, justice-involved, home-insecure and foster involved youth.
A Los Angeles native, Lopez most recently served as the Vice President of Programs and Communications for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In her role, she was responsible for membership development, events, marketing and managed the Hollywood Chamber's Community Foundation. Previously, Lopez has held leadership positions in education, arts, housing rights and youth organizations that focused on engaging, supporting and providing resources to communities throughout Los Angeles.
Lopez is also an attorney and holds a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern School of Law with a focus on Children and the Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with a Multi Subject Teaching Credential Option from California State University, Los Angeles. After graduating law school, Lopez founded and managed Fostering Imagination for nearly a decade, a nonprofit organization that provided enrichment, mentoring and wrap-around services to foster and recently emancipated youth.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Regional Business Engagement
Jasmin Sakai-Gonzalez joined the UNITE-LA team in March 2022. Due to her extensive experience in private and public sector business and partnership development, she is tasked with the activation and cultivation of a network of meaningfully engaged businesses and stewards for UNITE-LA throughout the state.
During her previous 15 year tenure with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Sakai-Gonzalez served as Director for Global Trade & Foreign Investment where she led program development, advocacy and business engagement strategies to support companies' expansion abroad. She has established and cultivated strong partnerships with corporations, government agencies and organizations across the globe. In 2017, she was awarded Global Trade Catalyst of the Year and recognized by the Mayor's Office of International Trade for her contributions.
Prior to international development, Sakai-Gonzalez worked as a pre-K-12 educator in under-served communities, where she developed a unique appreciation for the immense impact of strong education advocacy and the need for an equitable and collaborative approach to finding effective solutions. She is a 2004 recipient of the Southern California Edison Educators for Tomorrow Award, which continues to have a special place on her desk.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Design & Marketing
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- Assistant
- Program Assistant
Joe Ruano joined UNITE-LA as Program Assistant supporting the Workforce Programs team in 2022. He specifically supports UNITE-LA's 2022 by 2022, Hire-L.A.'s Youth campaign and STEAM employer engagement efforts. Additionally, Ruano supports the Metro TCAP Internship Program, taking role as team leader and assisting with the Tech Pathways program by informing students of open job opportunities and supporting them through the application process.
In his previous role at UNITE-LA, Ruano supported our Smart Justice and Policy efforts, where he updated and kept track of UNITE-LA focused legislation, arranged internal meetings and supervised interns that were part of the C.O.R.E. program.
Ruano is currently enrolled in college and working on his associate degree before transferring to a four-year university. Outside of the office, Ruano enjoys fishing, playing chess and taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes with his nephews and niece.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Coordinator, Youth Engagement
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- Accountant
- UNITE - LA in 2021 As a Member
Karon Grider joined UNITE-LA in 2021 as a member of the Accounting team. She works closely with the Senior Director of Accounting on a variety of special projects, in addition to helping ensure the accuracy and timely processing and reporting of UNITE-LA's daily accounting transactions.
Grider has devoted more than 20 years of her career to working for nonprofit educational establishments, including Turning Point School in Culver City, Westwood UMC Preschool in Los Angeles and STAR Education in Culver City. Previously, she served as joint staff auditor for the Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America and as staff auditor at various Fortune 500 corporations throughout the Los Angeles area.
Grider is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. She is also an avid sudoku and jigsaw puzzle solver, enjoys writing poems, designing her own clothes and staying active by taking long walks, biking and stair climbing.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Education Business Coalitions
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- Director
- President, Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation
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- Program Coordinator, Tech Pathways
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- Director
- President, Thompson Management Group
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- Director
- Partner, King & Spalding LLC
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- Director
- General Manager, Youth Development Department, City of Los Angeles
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- Manager, Equity Initiatives
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- Senior Director, Accounting
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- Manager, L.a. Cash for College
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- Director
- Partner, Ocean & Mountain
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- Manager, Postsecondary Initiatives
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- Director
- Retired, Division Chief, Employment Development Department
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- Director
- President & CEO, Child Care Resource Center
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- Director
- Owner / Strategic - Partner, PrideStaff
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- Vice President of Operations and Human Resources at UNITE - LA
- Vice President, Operations and Human Resources
As Vice President of Operations and Human Resources at UNITE-LA, Natalie Pitman oversees all matters relating to operations and Human Resources, including payroll, 401(k), insurance and office-related matters, as well as overseeing IT systems.
Since beginning with UNITE-LA in 2013, Pitman has played a critical support role to the President, as well as a liaison to the UNITE-LA Board of Directors. Pitman attended the University of Southern California, where she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology.
Pitman is a native Angeleno and an avid sports fan. In her free time, she volunteers as treasurer for her church and enjoys traveling, reading and spending time with friends and family, especially her two young nieces.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Retired Chancellor, Los Angeles Community College District
Job Titles:
- Director
- Senior Manager, Strategic Planning, Southern California Edison
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- Senior Vice President, Policy & Public Affairs
Job Titles:
- Director
- Senior Manager, State and Local Government Operations, California, the Boeing Company
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- Director
- Vice President, Business Development, Global Supplier Diversity, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Retired, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation