Rudell S. Freer, President

Rudell S. Freer was first appointed to the Board in 1996. This is her fourth term as president. She retired after 40 years in public education as teacher, principal, director of instruction and region administrator in the Los Angeles USD. She also taught graduate students for 13 years at Mount St. Mary’s College. 

 

Freer serves on the Education Council of the Los Angeles Music Center, the board of directors of the California County Boards of Education and the Delegate Assembly of the California School Boards Association. She is a life member of the Association of California School Administrators and the California Retired Teachers Association

She received her bachelor’s degree at UCLA, where she is an active member of Gold Shield and the Affiliates. She received her master’s degree at California State University, Los Angeles, and has pursued doctoral studies in urban education policy and planning at UCLA.

Rebecca J. Turrentine, Ed.D., Vice President

Rebecca J. Turrentine was appointed to the Board in 2009. She also served one two-year term on the Board from 2005 to 2007.

She retired in 2003 from her career as an educator, serving for the last 10 years as superintendent of the Bellflower USD. She was named California Superintendent of the Year in 2000, Polaris Good Scout of the Year for the Long Beach Area Boy Scout Council in 2000 and was awarded the National PTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

While she was serving as superintendent of Bellflower USD, eight of the 14 schools in the district achieved California Distinguished School status, two were named National Blue Ribbon Schools, the continuation high school became a California Model Continuation High School and one school was awarded one of two National Magna Citation Awards for innovation in instructional delivery.

Dr. Turrentine has served on the California School Board Association’s Superintendents’ Advisory Council, on the State Superintendents’ Committee for the Association of California School Administrators and as an ACSA State Board Member.

She received her doctorate in Educational Administration with a specialization in organizational leadership from the University of Southern California.

In 2003 Dr. Turrentine was appointed by the Mayor of Long Beach to the city’s first Commission on Youth and Children, and was elected as its first chair. She has also served on the Executive Planning Committee for the Youth Services Network in the City of Long Beach. Her professional priority has always been to assist with building better futures for the youth and children of Los Angeles County.

Douglas R. Boyd, Sr., Board Member

Douglas R. Boyd, Sr., was appointed to the Board in 2008. He has been an attorney for the past 25 years, practicing in the areas of state and local taxation, criminal, governmental and administrative law. He has also served as chief of staff to a state legislator, a member of the State Board of Equalization and as chief deputy assessor for Los Angeles County.

 

Mr. Boyd earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, a master's degree in Public Administration from Pepperdine University and a Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School. He serves on several nonprofit boards and has a long history of involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. An Eagle Scout, Mr. Boyd and his wife Linda are the proud parents of 11 children and have also been foster parents. Both of his parents were public school teachers, his father for half a century.

 

Mr. Boyd has served as a judge pro tempore in Los Angeles County Municipal and Superior Courts, and received a commendation from the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2002 for his volunteer efforts.

 

He served three years overseas as a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, and was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal and Outstanding Unit award with Combat V device.

Katie Braude, Board Member

Katie Braude has been an active participant in local public education reform since the late 1980s. She was one of the leaders of the movement that launched the successful Palisades Charter School complex in 1994, the first K-12 public charter school complex in the country. Ms. Braude helped found the Palisades Charter Schools Foundation and served as its first executive director, overseeing development efforts that raised more than $2 million dollars for the schools in the first two years of their existence. As a private consultant, she has managed development, public engagement and outreach projects for other charter and traditional public schools in the Los Angeles area.

 

From 2005-2008, Ms. Braude served as development director for KIPP Academy of Opportunity in South Los Angeles, part of the national network of highly successful charter schools that belong to the Knowledge Is Power Program. Most recently she was director of advancement for KIPP LA Schools, overseeing the expanding region’s $4 million annual fundraising budget, communications and public and community affairs.

 

Ms. Braude holds a B.A. in government from Smith College, a master of arts in aesthetic education (music emphasis) from American University and a master’s of public health from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Gabriella S. Holt, Board Member

Gabriella S. Holt was appointed to the County Board of Education in 2010. For the past 25 years, she has been a community leader and passionate advocate for the education and welfare of county youth. Her background in education, healthcare, law, business and governance have been extremely beneficial to her advocacy efforts.

Ms. Holt served eight years on the Palos Verdes Peninsula USD elected Board of Education, two years on the seven district member Southern California Regional Occupational Center Joint Powers Board of Education and as a school site visitation member for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. 

As a Los Angeles County Probation Commissioner, she sits on the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee and Comprehensive Education Reform Committee, which is responsible for the design and implementation of major education reforms in the county’s court school system. Ms. Holt designed, launched and operated the first all digital education access television station/production studio in California as the former General Manager of RPV CitiTV CH 33. 

She holds a California teaching credential in career-technical education specializing in arts, media and entertainment. She received her Executive Juris Doctor degree in health and administrative law from Concord Law School, accounting credential from UCLA and nursing undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan (where she practiced in the areas of emergency/intensive care and case management) and is California CPA exam certified.


Ms. Holt is president/CEO of Citizens for California Reform, a nonpartisan public advocacy organization. She is active in Los Angeles County’s Emergency Medical Corps/Statewide Disaster Healthcare Volunteer system, mother of four grown children, grandmother of two and married to gastroenterologist Dr. Kenneth Holt.

Maria Reza, Board Member

Maria Reza was appointed to the County Board of Education in 2011. A former assistant superintendent of Student Health and Human Services with the Los Angeles USD, Ms. Reza has been a strong advocate for educational excellence.

 

Her education career has spanned more than 40 years. She started as a teacher in 1969 and later served as curriculum specialist, program coordinator, assistant principal and principal.

 

After retiring from LAUSD in 2005, Ms. Reza worked as director of College Prep Programs for Families in Schools and as a consultant for the School Reform Programs at the Youth Policy Institute.

 

She currently also serves on the Board of LA Trust for Children’s Health at LAUSD and as a member of the Docent Council, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

 

An outstanding community leader, Ms. Reza has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Community Leadership award from the Muniz Family Foundation in 2009 and Woman of the Year award by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women in 2006. She was honored as Woman of the Year by the California State Senate twice, in 2000 and 1992.

 

She obtained her master’s in Education Administration at UCLA and her bachelor of science in Home Economics, Humanities and Spanish at CSU, Northridge.

Thomas A. Saenz, Board Member

Thomas A. Saenz was appointed to the Board in 2001 to complete an unexpired term and reappointed in 2003 and 2007. Mr. Saenz is president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national civil rights organization.

From 2005 to 2009, Saenz was counsel to the mayor of the City of Los Angeles, providing legal and policy advice to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. From 1993 to 2005, Mr. Saenz was an attorney with MALDEF, where he served as lead counsel in numerous high-profile civil rights cases in the areas of voting rights, employment discrimination, immigrants’ rights and education equity.

Mr. Saenz previously served as president of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations. He is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School.