BEN HUNSAKER (Co-Chair)
Ben Hunsaker is the Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Products for Beach Point Capital Management, and alternative credit investor based in Los Angeles. Mr. Hunsaker has been in the industry since 2006, most recently as a Portfolio Manager at Western Asset Management where he was responsible for structured products. Prior to Western Asset, he was a Senior Analyst at Countrywide Securities Corporation in the structured finance and banking group responsible for securitizing ABS and MBS. Mr. Hunsaker is also a CFA charterholder and GARP certified Financial Risk Manager. Mr. Hunsaker serves on the Advisory Board for the Financial Economics Institute at Claremont McKenna College and serves on the Board of Directors for Visio Financial Services. Mr. Hunsaker received a bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont University.
DOUGLAS LIPPOLDT, PH.D. (Co-Chair)
Douglas Lippoldt is a non-resident senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada. He served as chief trade economist at HSBC Global Research in London from 2014 to 2020. Previously, he served as a senior economist at the Organization for Economic Co‑operation and Development in Paris during a tenure of 22 years and at the US Department of Labor for 7 years. He has published extensively on international trade, economic development, labor market adjustment, innovation and protection of intellectual property. Doug holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), an M.A. from the University of Denver, and a B.A. from Washington College in Maryland. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cologne, Germany, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso. His service with non-profit organizations has included roles at the American Church in Paris, the France Fulbright Alumni Association, and Pilgrim Place in Claremont, among others.
EMMA LORD LEWIS, J.D. (Treasurer)
Emma is a Claremont native and attorney. She attended Scripps College and graduated cum laude. After college, Emma attended Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, where she wrote for the Law Review and competed on the Moot Court team. Emma’s law review article about combating sex trafficking was published in 2015. Emma also wrote about bankruptcy reform and the vicious cycle of debt impacting low-income women. After graduating law school, Emma worked as a corporate attorney at Blackstone in New York City, and then as a judicial clerk for the federal courts in Los Angeles until her son was born. Emma appreciates the opportunity to serve Uncommon Good.
JANET EVANS (Corporate Secretary)
Janet Evans is a retired social worker whose practice focused on families and children whose lives were impacted by developmental disabilities, abuse and neglect, homelessness and poverty. Working primarily in New England, Janet had responsibility for administering many programs and services. For 17 years she was Executive Director of Person to Person in Darien, CT., a private non-profit organization which became the ‘safety net’ for over 14,000 low-income residents of Stamford and Norwalk, CT. She and her husband retired to Pilgrim Place retirement community in Claremont ten years ago. At Pilgrim Place, Janet administers the resident initiated Napier Initiative, coordinates volunteers for the annual Pilgrim Place Festival, and serves on the Board of the Friends of the Petterson Museum of Intercultural Art. During her term as Moderator of the Pilgrim Place Town Meeting ( the residents’ council), Janet was a member of the Pilgrim Place Board of Directors. She continues her affiliation with the Board as a member of the Advancement Committee. At Pomona Valley Hospital, Janet is a member of the Patient and Family Advisory Council. Janet graduated with a BA from Connecticut College and from Case Western Reserve University with a Master of Science in Social Administration.
VICTOR DE LA CRUZ
Victor De la Cruz is the co-chair of the land use practice group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. He counsels a variety of clients on matters at the nexus of law and government, including real estate development and land use entitlements, bid protests and government contracts. He works with clients and consultant teams to craft successful legal, political and community-relations strategies on various high-profile land use projects and appears before agencies, boards, commissions and legislative bodies to advocate for their approval. He also defends land use entitlements in litigation as necessary. In 2016 the Daily Journal named him one of the top 40 attorneys under the age of 40 in California and the Los Angeles Business Journal named him one of the 40 most influential minority lawyers in Los Angeles. Victor serves as the Co-Chair of the Housing, Land Use & Development Committee of the Central City Association of Los Angeles and is on the Board of Directors of Community Partners and the Mexican American Bar Foundation. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School
JESUS GOMEZ, M.D.
Jesus Gomez is an Emergency Attending Physician at the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Fontana, CA. He completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center and earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine. He earned a B.A. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and did post graduate work at UCLA. He is the son of immigrant parents from Mexico.
NORMA GRANNIS
Norma Grannis is a retired teacher and a native of Argentina. Together with her husband Scott, she co-founded the first micro-credit organization for the poor of Argentina. Called Isla Del Cerrito Micro Credit Project, it is a Grameen-type methodology which is applied to the administration of funds through micro-credit lending and the education of individual borrowers to productively utilize the money, repay it, and borrow again to continue developing their project towards self-sustainability. The goal is to jump-start a path to a cycle of progress. The project’s particular focus is the poor women of the town of Lapacho, supporting them to start small home-based businesses to provide a decent life for themselves and their families.
WALTER D. JOHNSON, MD, MBA, MPH, FACS, FAANS
Neurosurgeon Walter Johnson, MD, MBA, MPH, FACS, FAANS, is the Domestic and International Advocacy Manager for Mercy Ships, a medical mission organization. Prior to this, he was the founder and Lead for the Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Programme of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Johnson created this program to be the first medical surgical mission program in the world, bringing essential surgical care to the planet’s poorest people. His current academic appointments include Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Loma Linda University, Adjunct Professor in the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard University, and Adjunct Professor in the Program in Global Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine..
MARGARET LEVY, J.D.
Maggie Levy is a mediator and arbitrator at ADR Services, Inc. Her areas of expertise include insurance and ERISA litigation, with an emphasis on life, health, disability, and long term care insurance and ERISA class actions. Before becoming a full-time mediator, she was a litigation partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Maggie also serves on the Boards of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Women & Philanthropy at UCLA, and UCLA Law Women LEAD, the Board of Advisors of Inner City Law Center, and the Los Angeles County Beach Commission. She received her B.A. from Michigan State University and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law.
ALEJANDRA VELAZQUEZ, J.D.
Alejandra Velazquez is Head of Regional and Governmental Affairs for the southwest region with Doordash and is a founder and principal of Cali Translations, a professional Spanish language service. Prior to starting the company, she worked for seven years as the Senior Director of Public Affairs for Oportun, a fair lending company serving the low-income Spanish language community. Other roles have included serving as the Director of Government Affairs for Teach for America, the Manager of Public Policy and Government Relations for Children’s Health, the Education Policy and Public Affairs Manager for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, and a Field Representative for CA State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. Alejandra grew up in East LA, attended public schools, and graduated from Yale University and UCLA School of Law.
COLLEEN COXE
Colleen Coxe moved to Claremont in 2018 to join Harvey Mudd College. As assistant vice president for sponsored research and projects, she manages relationships and recruiting for 45-50 projects for the college’s corporate-sponsored capstone program, (“Clinic”), and supervises government grants program management to support faculty research. Before moving to California, she lived in Maine where she was senior associate director of employer and alumni relations at Bates College. Her career has spanned fundraising, communications, and relationship management in higher education, healthcare, and environmental organizations. Colleen holds a Master of Science in Mass Communication from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and French from Dickinson College.
