Advisory Board
Advisory Board >


Corie Brown Corie Brown is a journalist. Previously, she was an editor and a writer at the Los Angeles Times; the West Coast entertainment correspondent for Newsweek; the author of the "California Suite" column in Premiere; and served on the editorial staffs of BusinessWeek and other McGraw-Hill publications in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. Brown is a graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas.
Judy Ivie Burton Judy Burton is President and CEO of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools. She has extensive expertise in successfully leading and operating public schools, with an emphasis on improving student achievement in impoverished communities. Ms. Burton has successfully impacted students at risk through best practices in leadership development, teacher professional development, and parent community engagement. Under her leadership over the past four years, the Alliance has created and is successfully operating ten secondary charter schools in Los Angeles, all of which are performing significantly better than neighboring schools in student achievement.
Laura Castañeda Laura Castañeda is an Associate Professor of Professional Practice at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. She has been a writer and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Dallas Morning News, an editor for the Associated Press in San Francisco, New York and Mexico; and a freelance journalist for numerous publications. Castañeda’s scholarly articles have appeared in Journalism and Mass Communication Educator and Media Studies. She is co-editor of "News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity," and the co-author of "The Latino Guide to Personal Money Management." Castañeda earned a B.A. in journalism from USC, and an M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University.
Christina A. Christie Christina A. Christie is Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. She co-founded the Southern California Evaluation Association, a local affiliate of the American Evaluation Association, and is the Chair of its Research on Evaluation Division. In 2004, Dr. Christie received the AEA’s Marcia Guttentag Early Career Achievement Award. She is the editor of two recent books, What Counts as Credible Evidence in Evaluation and Evidence-based Practice? and Exemplars of Evaluation Practice.
Janet Clayton Janet Clayton, an award-winning journalist and newspaper executive, is the President of ThinkCure, a partnership of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the City of Hope, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. A native of LA, Clayton had a distinguished 30-year career at the Los Angeles Times, serving as a reporter; Editor of the Editorial Pages; California Editor; and as a key member of the paper’s leadership team. Clayton won numerous accolades for excellence in her profession, including recognition as the editor of two Pulitzer-prize winning series. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of USC.
Jack Dvorak Dr. Dvorak is a Professor at the Indiana University School of Journalism and the Director of the High School Journalism Institute. He is a leading researcher in the field of scholastic journalism, and co-author of the book Journalism Kids Do Better. Dr. Dvorak did his master's study at the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Patricia Gándara Patricia Gándara is a Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences at UCLA; Co-director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles; Associate Director of the UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute; and Director of its Education Policy Center. She previously served as Commissioner for Post-secondary Education for the state of California, and Director of Education Research for the California State Assembly. Prof. Gándara's work focuses on educational equity and access for low income and ethnic minority students, language policy, and the education of Mexican origin youth. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including the forthcoming Understanding the Latino Education Gap: Why Latinos Don't Go to College. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from UCLA.
Paul Gillen Paul brings a background in finance and accounting to the Student Voice Project Advisory Board having worked as an investment banking analyst from 2004 to 2008, most recently with Bank of America's Gaming and Leisure Group in Los Angeles. Currently, Paul works in the business development group of Live Nation, a publicly traded entertainment company headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA. Paul graduated from Wake Forest University in 2004.
Linda Johannesen Linda Johannesen is a national expert in writing instruction, and a leader in arts education and non-profit management. She serves as the Director of Broad Reach Advisors; Advisor to Art Works for Kids, and board member of the Los Feliz Arts Charter School and the Los Angeles Art Association. Johannesen was formerly president of the Galef Institute, and co-founded Art Worlds, Inc., a foundation focused on national museum exhibitions of emerging artists; and Acamedia, Inc., which develops multi-media school programs in collaboration with television networks, newspapers and universities.
Gina Keating Gina Keating is an award-winning correspondent for the Reuters News Service, covering the entertainment industry. Previously, Keating reported on appellate court matters for the Los Angeles Daily Journal; on state and federal government for the Pasadena Star-News; on the Los Angeles criminal courts for the City News Service; and served as a general assignment reporter for United Press International. She has won multiple awards from the Greater Los Angeles Press Club, including Print Journalist of the Year. Keating is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
Patrick McCabe Pat is the Director of New Roads Elementary School in Santa Monica. Before New Roads, he was Head of School/CEO at Newbridge, a K-8 school that was folded into New Roads. Prior to Newbridge, Pat had a 23-year career in Advertising and Sports Marketing, mostly at Cablevision, a large media company based in New York. He sits on ten non-profit boards, including Student Voice, Shane's Inspiration (Pres.), Santa Monica College Foundation (Pres.), Fraternity of Friends/The Music Center(EVP), and New Visions, the foundation around New Roads School. He lives in Santa Monica with his wife and two children.
Matt Miller Matt Miller is an author, columnist, radio host and consultant. He is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress; a columnist for Fortune; a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company; and the host of the popular NPR show Left, Right & Center. Miller's first book, The Two Percent Solution: Fixing America's Problems In Ways Liberals And Conservatives Can Love, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. From 1993 to 1995, Miller served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and prior to that was a White House Fellow. He received a B.A. in economics from Brown University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He lives with his family in Los Angeles.
Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is a Professor of Religion at Princeton University, and one of America's most gifted and provocative public intellectuals. Dr. West's writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the American traditions of the Baptist Church, transcendentalism, socialism, and pragmatism. His best-selling book Race Matters changed the course of America's dialogue on race, justice and democracy. Other influential works include Restoring Hope, Race and Democracy, and Democracy Matters. He is the recipient of the American Book Award, and more than twenty honorary degrees. He received his B.A. from Harvard University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Daniel Wu Daniel Wu is a corporate attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles. While at the UCLA School of Law, he clerked for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. From 1999-2002, he was an associate at O'Melveny & Myers LLP. After finishing the international MBA program at INSEAD in Paris and Singapore, he was also an investment banker with HSBC in London and New York. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Claremont McKenna College and a loyal Bruin basketball fan.