Linda Grimes is currently the Executive Director of the San Pedro Waterfront Arts District; a non-profit she helped create from the ashes of the former Community Redevelopment Agency. Linda is passionate about creative placemaking and the power of public art. The Arts District’s accomplishments over the past 11 years, reflect this commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in San Pedro.

Linda is a recovering, retired AT&T marketing executive and has employed her marketing ‘superpowers’ as the former Executive Director of the Golden State Pops Orchestra, as a communications consultant to the Port of Los Angeles High School and for the Grand Vision Foundation. Since November 2022, she writes a monthly column for San Pedro Today Magazine about local arts and culture.

Under her guidance, the Arts District has commissioned over 25 DOT boxes, painted by professional artists, 8 storm drains and 3 large murals in downtown San Pedro. In the summer of 2019, the Arts District launched another new pilot program, “Adventures in Public Art”, aimed at giving students public art experiences. The second Adventures in Public Art mural will be painted on the Los Angeles Maritime Institute’s Building G in June of 2023, in collaboration with the San Pedro High School’s STEAM Magnet students, led by Teaching Artist Jay Davis.

In August 2021, Linda was part of a team that included the San Pedro Arts and Culture District Partners the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce and the San Pedro Property Owner’s Alliance to bring back the pandemic shuttered FirstThursday ArtWalk. In November 2023, the FirstThursday ArtWalk celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

In 2017, the Arts District launched a new arts appreciation series, called “Cuatro@Cabrillo”, hosted by the preeminent arts scholar, Gregorio Luke and in collaboration with one of the Arts and Cultural District Partners, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. Now it is called Culture TALKS! this series was relaunched in the fall of 2022 at the Aquarium and included an LA-ist, 89.3 Retake Live John Horn conversation with Culture Clash’s Richard Montoya.
In 2017, San Pedro was named as a California Cultural District by the Sacramento based California Arts Council. San Pedro is one of 14 initial Cultural Districts and has been recertified for another five years.

Linda’s past community involvement includes – Board President of the Palos Verdes Art Center, Arts for LA Advancement Committee, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Harbor Communications Committee, communications assistance for the Beacon House Men and served on the Board of the Little Italy of LA non-profit. Linda also served as the Arts for LA Advancement Committee co-chair and is now a proud member of the Arts for LA Board.

Mark brings serves as the Vice President of Government Relations for JVS SoCal where he advocates for the systems change that address the barriers to good paying jobs, including the creative sector. Much of the work is done in collaboration with other organizations.

Mark has an expertise in navigating complex bureaucratic systems that was first developed in the private sector while employed as an Associate for a leading land-use firm, where he specialized in land use entitlement issues and later serving as the Director of Government Relations for a premier boutique lobbying firm. In this capacity, Mark assisted clients with obtaining or maintaining nearly $250,000,000 in contracts with city and county governments.
In the public sector, Mark’s knowledge base was further developed as a Senior Field Deputy for former Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski. He was responsible for managing Brentwood, West Los Angeles and a portion of Palms serving the array of needs for approximately 50,000 constituents. Solving constituent issues involved working collaboratively with city, county, and state agencies, and with the community.

Mark worked for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as a Planner. In this capacity, he was an integral member of a team that brought to completion the Bring Los Angeles Home Plan, a blueprint to significantly reduce the number of people who are homeless within ten-years. The project was a successful public-private partnership that involved managing a broad and diverse coalition of stakeholders.

Mark is involved with and committed to community. He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and was honorably discharged. He was instrumental, as part of a team of community leaders, in the creation of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council. He completed a three-year stint as a Board Member of Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles, a dynamic, and progressive, not-for-profit agency that effectively works to improve the health of people who are homeless through direct services, education, and advocacy, working with fellow board members and the executive director to navigate us through a horrible economic downturn. Mark served on the board of Barnsdall Art Park Foundation Board, where he served as chair for two years where they had a role in supporting the inclusion of the Hollyhock House as an UNESCO World Heritage Site representing one-of-eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Presently, Mark serves on the Executive Board of Governors for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, chairs the Legislative Action committee, and formerly co-chair of the Economic and Workforce Development committee.
A product of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Mark has resided in Los Angeles for 27 years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies from California State University, Northridge with a concentration in Public Administration and Community Service.

Nadia Savira Chrisanto (she/her) is the Assistant Operations + Digital Assets Manager at the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI). She is passionate about advocacy, accessibility, equity, inclusivity, fat liberation, and social justice issues, particularly within the undocumented & immigrant community. Nadia’s professional experiences include serving as the Curatorial & Program Assistant at the California African American Museum (CAAM) and the Administrative Assistant for the Education & Public Programs Department at the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA). Her expertise includes nonprofit operations & administration, programming, curatorial & exhibitions planning, and grantmaking. She was the elected Leadership Council Co-Chair for the Emerging Arts Leaders Los Angeles, was a fellow in the ACTIVATE: Delegates program, and is currently a mentor for the ACTIVATE: Protege program. Nadia is currently serving on the board of Arts for LA.

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nadia moved to Los Angeles in 2002 with her family to seek stability and safety. Nadia received her A.A. in History, Humanities, and Social & Behavioral Sciences from Pasadena City College and her B.A. in History from California State Polytechnic University Pomona. Nadia is a cat mom to her two spoiled kitties, Boba and Mochi. She enjoys playing video games and experimenting with new recipes in her free time.

Cliff has garnered a reputation for being one of the top producers of award-winning experiences including Universal Studios’ WaterWorld Stunt Show, FiestaAventura’s Templo Del Fuego, Bollywood Park and Motiongate including the THEA Award-winning DreamWorks Animation Zone.

Having earned his MFA at the Yale School of Drama, Cliff has collaborated with some of the most creative people in the entertainment industry (notably as producer on Tokyo DisneySea and DisneyFest Asia). Cliff was one of the original founders of Thinkwell Group for which he served as CEO and Chairman for over a decade. Cliff produced notable projects including Warner Bros. Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter; Sesame Presents: The Body touring exhibit and many more projects for Universal Studios, Walt Disney Entertainment, Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM Studios. In 2011, Cliff founded the entertainment development company Mycotoo, Inc., which was designated a top media company by Inc. 500 in 2017.

As chairman, Cliff has continued to build on his reputation of delivering compelling experiences. Mycotoo’s design collaborations have resulted in the opening of two theme parks (Motiongate and Bollywood Parks) for which Cliff oversaw the production development, strategic planning and team staffing. He built the award-winning creative team and served as liaison to facilitate master planning, production design, engineering and management of the specialty groups involved with the both parks. Cliff has been an invited speaker on multiple industry panels. His roots in theatre keep him anchored to like-minded organizations. He serves as board member for the Yale Global Alumni Leadership Exchange (YaleGALE) – an international leadership exchange with China, France, United Kingdom, South Africa and Mexico; And Ojai Valley Playwrights Association – a non-profit group that champions the introduction of new, aspiring playwrights to wider audiences off and on Broadway.

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.