Advisory Board California
Val is a former Apple executive, now working as a sales and marketing consultant. While at Apple, Val created the iTunes Gift Card program and turned it into a $5B business. Prior to joining Apple, he held leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard and several Silicon Valley start-ups.
Lawrence N. Gelb is the founder and former President and CEO of CareCounsel, LLC, a pioneer in employer-sponsored healthcare advocacy services headquartered in San Rafael, California. Lawrence N. Gelb founded CareCounsel in 1998 and was CEO until 2014, two years after the firm was acquired by Stanford Health Care. Before founding CareCounsel, Dr. Gelb held senior positions at Foundation Health Corporation, Occupational Health Services, Preferred Health Care and Kaiser Permanente's Total Health Care Program.
Alex Martin Johnson is a program director at The California Wellness Foundation where he manages grantmaking related to preventing violence and strengthening community clinics. He previously served as managing director of Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ) and as executive director of Children’s Defense Fund-California (CDF-CA), Alex is an accomplished policy shaper, skilled legal practitioner, and influential advocate.
Dan Martin, San Francisco, CA, is active in land conservation from the Pacific Ocean to Lake Tahoe.
Michael Parish, San Francisco, CA, is a partner at Lone Tree Properties, LLC a real estate investment firm, and a manager of Hellman Properties, LLC.
Desirée Portillo Rabinov is Senior Transportation Planning Manager for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Laura Shell, Beverly Hills, CA, has maintained a 20-year career working in local government and with environmental organizations.
Aaron Vermut is a member of the California Advisory Council.
Keith Weaver is Executive Vice President, Global Policy and External Affairs, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Mr. Weaver was elevated to this position in August 2011 and started as Vice President for the company in June 2002. Mr. Weaver oversees all of SPE's community affairs as well as its government and public policy activities across the globe. He works closely with SPE's operating units and corporate staff groups to develop a legislative and regulatory agenda that supports the business strategies and initiatives of the Company's motion picture, television, home entertainment and digital entertainment divisions.
Michelynn (Miki) Woodard, Los Angeles, CA is director of Good Robot at Bad Robot Productions, and executive director of the Katie McGrath & J. J. Abrams Family Foundation. At Bad Robot, she leads philanthropic campaigns, employee activations, and crosscutting initiatives that foster an inclusive and diverse company culture. Most recently, she has led the design and implementation of programs intended to immerse employees in histories of marginalization and discrimination, in an effort to bring these stories to the forefront of Bad Robot’s equity and inclusion work.
