Board of Directors

ADVOCATES CEO

Kenneth Bentley retired after 31 years as Vice President of community affairs and workforce diversity for Nestle USA in 2013. He is currently Vice Chairman of the board of governors of Farmers Insurance Company’s Fire Exchange. Bentley received his B.A. in Comparative Cultures from the University of California, Irvine and a Masters of Arts in Management from the University of Redlands. Bentley serves on the board of the Tiger Woods Foundation, Harold and Carole Pump Foundation, Arthur Ashe Learning Center and is a member of the World Golf Foundation Diversity Committee.

ADVOCATES FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Coleridge (Cole) Smith is President and CEO of Sinclair Property Investments. He has held senior level management positions at Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon Company and most recently served as consulting CFO for PRS Credentialing Services LLC. Cole has served on the board for the Lincoln Family Life Center (Los Angeles), Academy of Science and Engineering (Los Angeles) as well as Chairman of the Youth Motivation Task Force (Los Angeles/ Long Beach). He earned his B.S. in business administration and MBA (Finance) from Pepperdine University Graziado School of Business and Management.

ADVOCATES FOUNDATION PRESIDENT

Eugene J. Boykins is President of the Boykins Business Consulting Group. He has held senior executive positions at Nestle USA, and owned or managed entrepreneurial ventures in both the U.S. and Caribbean countries. Boykins has served on the boards of Business Development Center, Program Advisory for KCET-TV, Big Brothers of Los Angeles, LifeSteps and UCLA Foundations and is a co-founder ofthe African American Board Leadership Institute. The marketing executive earned his B.S. in business administration from San Diego State University and his M.B.A. from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management.

DIRECTOR

George Weaver attended UCLA and today works as a trauma‐informed youth development consultant with the Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade. Mr. Weaver helped develop and implement Brotherhood Crusade’s trauma‐informed sports‐based youth development programs (including Soccer for Success), the Brother to Brother: Male by Birth, Man by Choice Boys and Young Men of Color Leadership Initiative, Brotherhood Crusade Self Actualization Curriculum, Weaver Continuum of Youth Development, Wildflower Girls and Young Women Leadership Program, Jr. Executive Program and the Brotherhood Crusade Ten‐Year Plan as well as bringing Brotherhood Crusade’s Healthy Kids Zones: Schools as Community Hubs of Health Initiative to fruition. Mr. Weaver was honored with the 2014 James Irvine Leadership Award, widely recognized as the Nobel Prize for non‐profit organizations. His work was also recognized through Brotherhood Crusade’s selection as one of the inaugural seven Institute for Black Male Achievement 2014 National Social Innovators.

DIRECTOR

Charles Alexander is currently the director of the Academic Advancement Program (AAP) at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Alexander also serves as the associate vice provost for student diversity in the Division of Undergraduate Education, and as an associate adjunct professor in the Division of Public Health, School of Dentistry. Alexander oversees AAP programs, including academic advising, peer learning, mentoring, research opportunities and scholarships. A past president of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, Alexander received UCSF’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for leadership and inspiration in advancing social and economic justice goals. He has also served as chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Dental Pipeline Project II Advisory Committee. He is a member of many organizations, including the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Alexander received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the State University of New York College at Cortland, a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and a doctorate in sociological foundations of education from Marquette University.

DIRECTOR

Spencer is the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Partnerships for Plan, Inc, a productivity software company based in San Francisco, California. Prior to Plan, spent five years as part of the TCW Emerging Markets Group investment team and most recently led the Group’s research and investment strategy in Central American & the Caribbean beginning in 2017. Spencer is a long-time supporter of KCRW and of the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach, where he volunteered in his youth. He was also a volunteer with the Los Angeles Public Library Adult Literacy Program from 2015 to 2017. Spencer graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in History and is a proud Princeton alumni interviewer for the Los Angeles South Bay region.

DIRECTOR

Michael is the co-founder and president of Palazzo Concessions, as an airport concession services firm in 2009. Their company manages joint venture agreements with several national prime concession entities, including The Hudson Group, Norm Nixon, Magic Johnson Enterprises, and HMS Host International. Palazzo Concessions’ ownership interest is currently located in four airports; Los Angeles International Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Portland International Airport. Michael has also served as the General Manager of the Le Meridien San Francisco, The Sheraton Gateway Hotel Los Angeles and the Westin Long Beach. Michael is a graduate of Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School, earning the prestigious President and Key Executive, M.B.A. He also graduated from Columbus State Community College and The Ohio State University.