Cynthia Grayson Board Chair
Cynthia Grayson was the co-founder of Family Connections, NW and now serves as the President of the Board of Directors and as Executive Director of ICCFS Intercultural Community Family Services. She received her Masters Degree from USC in 1978. She began her career as a mental health professional and an adoption worker with the Los Angeles County Department of Adoption. As a social worker she has expertise in the areas of adoption, child welfare, and child protective services. She as over 25 years of educational, administrative, and clinical supervisory experience. She has provided culturally relevant training and consultation services and continues to develop and maintain positive community, educational, and institutional relationships. UC Santa Barbara, BA and earned her Master’s from USC. https://www.iccfs.org/
Lawrence Edmond, Jr. has over 35- Years of extensive business and financial management expertise. Currently with “JAMKO Investment, Inc.” a small international financial and consulting management company. His focus over the past 5-years has been in the field of international finance for the sole purpose of funding “public interest and community development projects.” His experience includes analysis and development of overall corporate financial strategies and models. Mr. Edmond is a former AVP with Bank of America San Francisco, CA. He has extensive experiences an accountant and in full charge bookkeeping, Non-Profit Experience includes Marin City Project, Marin City,; Visitation Valley Community Center- San Francisco CA, and as consultant to The Health Nutrition Education Foundation HNEF, Marin County.
Paula Hawthorn, Phd. A tireless advocate for social progress, Paula Hawthorn was working on her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1979 when she co-founded the student group Women in Computer Science and Engineering (WiCSE) and helped to create the CS Reentry Program, which encouraged women who had degrees in other fields to come back to school and study computer science. In 1996, She earned her doctorate from Berkeley and went on to work at Hewlett-Packard, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a number of influential start-up companies. Although she is now retired, Hawthorn is still a dedicated social activist. She was the President of Soldiers Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Oakland, the Co-Chair of the Oakland/Alameda County Chapter of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence, and a member of the Coalition for Police Accountability. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Hawthorn
Patricia Ramos is a dynamic and creative senior PR specialist with extensive world event broadcast and non-traditional press experience. She serves as a Media Specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2020 Census. Her assigned area encompasses seven states in the Western U.S. that includes California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Alaska and Hawaii. Prior to becoming a public servant, Ramos has worked in the news industry for the last 29 years in various communications, strategic planning and public affairs/community relations capacities. Emphasis on results-driven total market, multi-tiered, multi-language campaigns. USC, BA, Journalism and International Relations.
Robert Readhas been an innovator of Sales and Marketing Strategy for more than 20 years. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, International Marketing, at NBC Universal, where he drove commercial strategies across technology and entertainment sectors for 14 years. Prior to his role at NBC Universal, Robert held executive sales and marketing roles at Warner Bros., Mattel Toys and Paramount Pictures. Robert holds a Bachelor’s degree from the prestigious UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, and an MBA in Marketing from USC’s Marshall School of Business.
John McDowell, aka “Burley Pie”, established Mother McDowell’s Sugar Free Bakery in 1999. Mother McDowell’s Sugar Free Bakery came alive because of the tragic deaths of his mother and only son. Burley Pie grew up in the food industry. His mother had two restaurants and his father was an executive chef for 44 years with Amtrak. From them he learned the essentials of making good food for everybody. After the sudden and tragic loss of his mother and son, he went into a deep depression. His father pulled him out and helped turned him back onto cooking. Now he is dedicated to turning Mother McDowell’s into a bakery for young, old, and spreading happiness and joy across the world.
John McClendon was blessed with 30 year career with AT&T. He cut his teeth creating and running two entertainment companies; JAM Entertainment and Club 510 Entertainment before establishing AMACK Records and Entertainment under Ichiban/EMI. His entertainment companies did recordings, artist development, events, seminars in Los Angeles, and much more. John established Metropolitan Music Group, working with Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and City Manager Robert Bob.
