Leticia Rhi Buckley is a civic strategist and executive leader with more than two decades advancing public sector and community initiatives across Los Angeles County. A lifelong Angeleno and daughter of Mexican immigrants, she brings a grounded, systems aware perspective on community, opportunity, and regional stewardship. She strengthens institutions through periods of transition, aligns diverse stakeholders, and navigates political complexity with clarity and integrity. Her leadership has shaped major regional civic efforts, supported by service on high level boards and advisory groups – including her role as Arts Commissioner for LA County’s First District, and board positions with the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board and The Music Man Foundation, where she contributes to long-term resilience, public sector investment, and community-defined impact across the region. She holds a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University with executive training from Harvard Kennedy School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jeff Harris is a distinguished executive, strategist, and board leader dedicated to expanding equity, arts education, and civic engagement. He possesses a powerful legacy of board governance, serving on the Board of Directors for  Food Forward (which fights hunger by connecting fresh produce with communities experiencing food insecurity) Represent Justice (which uses the power of media to engage audiences in reimagining the justice system) and formerly the Golden Globe Foundation, where he championed diverse storytelling, film preservation, and global free speech protections.

A passionate advocate for youth empowerment, Jeff recently served as the Director of School and Community Partnerships for the Compton Unified School District. In this role, he elevated the district’s co-curricular landscape, securing critical funding, programs, and premier arts education resources for over 20,000 K–12 students. His strategic partnerships successfully bridged the gap between the creative industries and the classroom, ensuring equitable access to technology, literacy, athletics, and the arts.

Today, Jeff leverages this deep institutional expertise as the founder of JB Harris Consulting, a premier practice specializing in strategic planning, executive coaching, and organizational development for the nonprofit sector. His foundational commitment to leadership development stems from a 25-year legacy with The Junior State of America (JSA) Foundation, where he rose from a high school student leader to Chief Executive Officer, pioneering initiatives that expanded civic education to low-income and underrepresented communities nationwide.

Gustavo was appointed as Arts for LA’s Executive Director in December 2018.  Prior to working with us, he was the Western Regional Director for Young Invincibles (YI), where he was responsible for leading YI’s California offices, including its West Coast expansion. As director, he set strategic direction and advanced YI’s policy priorities on health care, higher education, jobs, and civic engagement for the region.

Before starting at Young Invincibles, Gustavo was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of L.A. Plaza de Cultura y Artes (LAPCA), overseeing the day-to-day operation of a county museum, including the oversight of a master plan committee responsible for strategically developing three acres of additional museum campus. From 2010-2012, Gustavo led the Maestro Foundation, a classical music and performance arts foundation, as the Director of Organizational Development. Between 2007-2010, he assessed and recommended business growth strategies in the US marketplace for the global Fortune 500 Company, American Honda Motors, Co.

Gustavo holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from American Jewish University and a dual Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies with an emphasis in socio-politics and economics and Art History from the University of California Santa Barbara. Gustavo served on the Board of Directors of the Create: Fixate Arts Organization (2006-2010). He is a current Strong Workforce Implementation Advisory Board Member for the California Community Colleges, Advisory Board Member for the California Physician’s Alliance and founding Board Member of Silverlake Forward.

Quetzal Flores (he/him) is a Chican@ musician, producer, cultural strategist, and organizer raised in East Los Angeles. He is the founder and musical director of the Grammy Award–winning Chican@ band, Quetzal. Shaped by his family, mentors, and the vibrant Chican@ arts and cultural community—as well as his work in prison education—Quetzal has been part of transformative cultural movements on local, transnational, and international levels.

Through his work with Community Power Collective and across broader movement networks, Quetzal helps reconnect communities with ancestral and diasporic cultural practices that foster interdependence, joyful embodiment, accountability, and resistance to systems of oppression.

He is deeply committed to cultivating strong, trust-based relationships within and beyond his professional circles as a foundation for collective healing and transformation.

Hataya Tubtim (she/her) is an arts leader, educator, and social practice artist committed to equity, access, and community-rooted cultural work. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation, where she supports the museum’s strategic initiatives to expand arts access across historically underrepresented communities, particularly those within communities of East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. 

Her earlier work as an educator and public and socially engaged artist centered on public pedagogy, creative collaboration, and social empowerment in various contexts including business districts, public schools, public health, and other community-based settings. Drawing from a career that bridges nonprofit work, teaching, and community practice, Hataya brings an artist-informed perspective to arts advocacy and policy. Her work reflects a deep belief in the power of the arts to transform institutions and advance cultural equity in Los Angeles.

Morenike Dosu serves as Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) for DreamWorks Animation. In this role, she draws upon her 20+ years of Animation & VFX experience to develop and execute DEI initiatives aligned with DreamWorks’ goals to recruit, retain and cultivate their inclusive workforce.

With a love of animation and a genuine passion for the people that create this artform, Morenike is a key strategic partner to DreamWorks’ business leaders and HR. By diagnosing opportunities and analyzing data related to DEI, Morenike builds strong relationships within all levels of the studio’s workforce and partners with multiple DEI stakeholders across DreamWorks and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG) to foster collaboration, connection, and professional growth – nurturing a studio culture where storytellers can craft universal moments that make dreamers around the globe feel seen and welcomed.

Prior to DreamWorks, Morenike has worked across the world at top-tier global studios such as Animal Logic in Sydney, The Moving Picture Company in London, and Framestore in Los Angeles. She holds a Masters of Design Science at the University of Sydney and has been credited on a multitude of blockbusters such as ‘Prometheus’, ‘The Jungle Book’, and ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’.

Combining deep expertise in finance, marketing, and operations, Malindi is committed to advancing the missions of growing organizations. With over 15 years of experience in luxury ecommerce and media, Malindi has a proven track record of driving operational excellence and scaling businesses for sustainable growth. In leadership roles including GM, COO, and CFO, Malindi has led cross-functional teams, streamlined complex operations, and built scalable systems that fueled multi-year triple-digit growth. A lifelong supporter of artists, Malindi has also contributed to fostering creativity and innovation in the arts sector. Previous roles include GM/CFO at Saatchi Art, Advisor to Briony Raymond NYC, and COO/CFO at Tamara Mellon Brand.

Evonne Gallardo serves as Senior Program Director for Community Partners’ Intermediary team and leads arts and culture regranting efforts for foundation, government and corporate clients. Evonne is dedicated to advancing and resourcing artists and the entities that serve them and has over 20 years of leadership experience in multiple functional areas of arts and culture management. Specialties include approaches to cultural equity including funding and trust-based philanthropy, policies and strategies; community engagement strategies; and centering the artist/creative through mutual benefit practices and thought partnerships. In addition to her role at Community Partners, Evonne serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. Evonne received a B.A. in American History at Columbia University and an M.A. in the Sociology of Art from the New School for Social Research in New York City.

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Skirball Cultural Center
Pamela Kohanchi brings deep experience engaging both internal and external partners to move the arts and legal world forward. In her role as LACMA’s Deputy General Counsel, she advised on myriad strategic initiatives and complex projects, including large-scale public art installations, international partnerships, a planned $650 million new building, major acquisitions and gifts of art, and technology collaborations. Her expertise in a broad array of complex legal issues􏱒from corporate governance and copyright to employment and nonprofit matters􏱒coupled with a collaborative approach to policymakers and staff alike, facilitated iconic, wondrous works for Los Angeles such as Levitated Mass, the promised gift of the Sheats-Goldstein Residence, and Art + Technology Lab partnerships with innovation leaders such as Google and SpaceX.

Prior to LACMA, Kohanchi served as an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP in Los Angeles and worked for the American Bar Association’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities in Washington, DC. A member of the California State Bar, Kohanchi holds a JD degree from Stanford Law School and a BA in political science from University of California, Los Angeles.

Nahal Jalali is a visual artist, writer, and strategy consultant focused on advancing social change through the arts. She is a Manager within the Monitor Institute by Deloitte, a social change consultancy that provides strategic support and services to nonprofit organizations, corporate foundations, and other entities seeking to create social change. Currently, Nahal manages strategy and sourcing for Deloitte’s Purpose Office. In this role, she helps source equity-focused investment opportunities in the areas of education/workforce development, health equity, and financial inclusion to fulfill Deloitte’s 10-year, $1.5B social impact investment. Nahal also spent five years in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice where she supported dozens of public, private, and social sector organizations with strategic services focused on growth and innovation.

Nahal has been involved with Arts for LA since 2020 – including as a Laura Zucker fellow, ACTIVATE Delegate, and most recently, as a member of AFLA’s Policy Committee. Nahal earned her Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University where she wrote her graduate thesis on individual preferences for public funding of the arts in the United States. She also has a personal ceramic arts practice and is a member of the CLAY CA studio in Chinatown.