Gail Lopes is a retired lawyer with specialties in corporate, employment, technology, and nonprofit law. She has served as Chair of the Boards of Directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) in New York City, and Students Rising Above in the California Bay Area. She is also a member of Theatre Communications Group’s (TCG) National Advisory Council and former Chair of its Governance Task Force. After earning a JD at Harvard Law School, she spent ten years at the law firm of Morrison & Forester. Gail was also Vice President of Product Development for two start-up software companies serving legal and HR professionals. Through a consulting firm she co-founded, she has led numerous strategic planning and business development initiatives at both profit and nonprofit organizations. Gail is prioritizing equity and social justice through her nonprofit work and has participated in equity and anti-racism trainings from TCG’s EDI Institute, artEquity, The Interaction Institute for Social Change, and The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (Undoing Racism). As the Chair of three nonprofits’ Governance & Nominating Committees, she has designed equity-based Board recruitment strategies, EDI Committees, codes of conduct, and governance structures. Gail and her husband Jim have two daughters: one a theatrical director in Los Angeles and the other a sommelier.

Cary J. Lefton is Chief Executive Officer of Agora Realty & Management, which he founded in 1986. Agora Realty is a full service commercial real estate company holding income producing assets in California, Hawaii and Nevada. Since 2001, Agora has been listed as the 3rd largest private developer in the San Fernando Valley and been listed in the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the top 25 developers in Los Angeles County.  His firm has joint ventured with private and publicly traded companies such as Kimco Realty and Alexander and Baldwin. Agora is a family-owned business that has an investment strategy that especially benefits small businesses, assisting them in navigating the complexities of starting a new business.  Agora’s team prides itself on developing socially responsible projects with the objective to add value to communities in which it invests in. Agora currently owns and operates a commercial real estate portfolio of approximately 1.9 million square feet.

Lefton began his career in 1980 as a real estate broker, specializing in commercial real estate, with Arthur Rubloff and Company of Southern California. He earned the “Rookie of the Year” award during his first year with the company, representing such companies as Westinghouse and Huffy Bicycles, and leased more than 1,500,000 square feet during his two-year tenure. In 1982, Lefton joined Westwood Properties as vice president of acquisitions, where he successfully negotiated for commercial and industrial real estate throughout the Southern California region. His responsibilities also included project analysis, loan packaging and general office administration.

Lefton attended the University of Southern California where he majored in Political Science.  He has been married to his wife Marla for over 40 years. Marla is an artist who enjoys painting with oils on canvass. Cary and his wife have two sons Ryan and Aaron who also work for Agora.

Hobbies include, collecting wine, tennis, skiing, traveling, sailing and playing with his grandchildren…….not necessarily in that order.

Annette Johnson has more than 30 years of experience in the cultural arts field specializing in project design/management, marketing, grant writing and event planning. She has curated contemporary art exhibits, initiated arts education programs, produced festivals, music and dance performances, public humanities programs, and large scale fundraising and community events. Museum exhibition experience includes the Wignall Museum in Rancho Cucamonga; as a Senior Manager with the City of Pico Rivera she directed six divisions. She has developed marketing materials, special events and education programs that have earned state and national awards. Annette has served as a grant reviewer for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and was a District Co-Chair for the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies. She is an activist, has been an active volunteer in K-12 education and community organizations, is a performing musician, and previously served on the Board of the Museum of Neon Art. Annette holds a BA in Art History from CSU Fullerton and an MPA from CSU San Bernardino. She also earned certificates in Non-Profit Management from Cal-Poly Pomona and Marketing Management from UC Riverside. Since 2005 she has worked as an independent consultant for marketing and development in southern California.

Fabian Fuertes (he/him), holds the position of Senior Manager, YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a board member with Arts for LA, and is a Delegate for Assembly District 53 with the CA Democratic Party. His passion for equitable education, the arts, and social justice inspires his work in creating a profound societal renewal in our generation and the next. As a native Angeleno and first-generation Latinx, he is proud to be a part of an organization that engages more than 1,300 young people from historically marginalized communities across LA County through free music experiences and creative youth development to inspire belonging and membership, autonomy, civic and social abilities, and stronger lifelong learners. Fabian is excited to continuously explore personal blind spots, enable transformation, and continue his pursuit in creating a world in which access to equitable education, for all, inspires any person to fulfill their greatest potential.

Jennifer M. Cuevas (she/her/ella) is a Los Angeles-based arts executive,
entrepreneur, arts advocate and cultural producer with a passion for
storytelling, connecting people, and a 20+ year history of advancing the arts in
Los Angeles. For more than two decades she has been dedicated to
supporting visual and performing artists, developing campaigns for social
impact and amplifying the missions, artists and programmatic work of non-
profit institutions.

She recently served as Executive Director of Self Help Graphics & Art and
prior to her role as ED, contributed since 2017 as a consulting strategic
advisor, cultural producer, and communications executive, bolstering the
organization’s visibility locally and nationally. Jennifer is a multifaceted leader
who brings with her diverse experiences in the non-profit sector and has
previously worked with the Vincent Price Art Museum, LA Commons in
collaboration with the City of LA’s Department of Arts and Culture (DCA),
Academia Avance Charter School (Avance), California Native Vote Project
(CNVP), Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge and Services (WORKS),
Metro Arts, Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA), and many others.

Jennifer received a B.A. in Communications, with a concentration in Public
Affairs/Information, from the University of La Verne. She currently serves on
the Board of Arts of LA.