James Cross was appointed to the Board in 2017. He was the founder of Port of Los Angeles High School and served as its executive director from 2005 to 2015.

Previously, he operated Cross America Inc., a financial services company, and served as director of operations for the Academic Financial Services Association. Mr. Cross also served as financial manager of California State University, Dominguez Hills during its transition from a college to its accreditation as a university.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from California State University, Long Beach and his master’s from California State University, Dominguez Hills. He pursued further studies in Organizational Communication at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Theresa Montaño, a grassroots community activist in the Chicanx community, was the co-chair of Southern California Latinos for Jackson. She was the coordinator for the JJ’88 campaign in East Los Angeles, etc. and helped secure the 25th Congressional District for Jesse Jackson. Curently, Theresa is a Professor of Chicano/a Studies with an emphasis in education at CSU-Northridge. Dr. Montaño has more than 40 years in public education , she taught for 15 years K12 schools before moving into higher education. Montaño is the former CTA Vice President and currently coordinates the public education work for the California Faculty Association (CFA, an SEIU affiliate), where she chairs the teacher education caucus. She has been recently appointed to a seat on the Los Angeles County Office Board of Education.

She is active in the movement for Ethnic Studies having served on California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Advisory Committee. She is actively working with teachers and districts on the implementation of Ethnic Studies programs and curriculum throughout California. She is also co-chair of LULAC’s (League of United Latin American Citizens) higher education committee. Her current research includes a project on women of color in union leadership. She has also co-authored articles on ethnic studies, critical race theory in Chicana/o Studies and collaborative projects on Chicana/o Studies and Ethnic Studies. Her publications include two co-edited books, several research publications, essays and curriculum units.

Michele Breslauer is a senior attorney at the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles where she has represented children in the child welfare system for over 27 years.  The Children’s Law Center is the largest legal services organization representing abused, neglected and abandoned youth in the nation. The Children’s Law Center advocates for their clients by supporting families; fighting for reunification, permanence, educational opportunity, health, and mental health wellness; and empowering and strengthening children, families, and their communities. 

Michele is also a member of the Board of Directors, and former Board Chair, of LA Family Housing; one of the largest providers of low-income housing, interim housing and permanent supportive housing in LA County. LA Family Housing helps people transition out of homelessness and poverty through a continuum of housing enriched with supportive services.  

Michele volunteers for a number of organizations, including Junior Achievement, teaching teenagers’ life skills and budgeting.  Michele grew up in Los Angeles and attended LAUSD schools.  She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Law Degree from Loyola Law School.  In 2009, Michele received her Child Welfare Law Specialist certification through the National Association of Counsel for Children.

Dr. Laura Cantú is a transformational educational leader with over two decades of experience advancing student equity, academic innovation and workforce development across California's community college and public education and workforce development systems. Currently serving as Vice President of Instruction at Los Angeles Mission College, Dr. Cantú has led strategic enrollment management, career pathway development and accreditation efforts with measurable success. Her prior roles include Dean of Instruction and Dean of Student Services at East Los Angeles College, where she spearheaded initiatives supporting disproportionately impacted students and helped establish key programming.

Dr. Cantú's leadership spans K-16 alignment, dual enrollment and regional workforce education partnerships—including service with the City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department and the Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement. She brings deep expertise in educational policy, grant administration and cross-sector collaboration, with a strong commitment to equity, access and institutional effectiveness.

She earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley. Dr. Cantú continues to serve on professional networks focused on expanding college access and transforming educational outcomes for Los Angeles County’s diverse student populations.

Yvonne Chan, Ed.D., is the founding Principal of the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Los Angeles. She has pushed the limits of education and social innovation for more than 50 years as a school leader, policymaker, and the founder of the first conversion charter school in the nation that now serves 3,300 low-income students (PK-12).

Throughout her trajectory, Dr. Chan transformed “crack houses” into schoolhouses, established a family center with onsite health services and a community theater, transformed gang territories into college prep laboratories, instituted an extended school year and a longer school day, integrated global studies and career-tech pathways into the daily curriculum, provided performance pay for teachers, and maximized untapped human and fiscal resources.

Her efforts turned the once failing public school into a community-based learning center and the high-poverty neighborhood into an educational and economic corridor. As a result, the school received the California Distinguish School and the National Blue Ribbon School Award recognitions. She is determined to turn risks into opportunities through her tenacity and forward-thinking skills to do the impossible.

Dr. Chan earned a doctorate in education from UCLA, a Master of Arts in Special Education from California State University, Northridge, a Bachelor of Arts in World Languages from UCLA, and a post-doctoral in Computer Science from UCLA. In addition, she has eight teaching and service credentials and the ability to communicate in four world languages.

Dr. Chan served as a teacher and an administrator at the Los Angeles Unified School District for 20 years. While serving as the Principal of Vaughn, she was also an adjunct professor at California State University, Northridge, and UCLA. In addition, Dr. Chan was a member of the California State Board of Education, a Commissioner of the City of Los Angeles, and is a current LA County Commissioner for Public Social Services.

She has received many awards, including the Milken Educator Award, McGraw Hills Prize in Education Award, James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, the Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award, Valley of the Stars, Woman of the Year, Distinguished Alumni Award from UCLA and CSUN, and the Rose Award from USC.

Arriving in the U.S. alone at age 17 with just $100, Dr. Chan set out to pursue the American Dream —a dream she realized and a dream in which she now teaches countless others to aspire.

Stanley L. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., is a Senior Project Scientist and Research Director at the Center for the Transformation of Schools in the School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA where he leads a National Science Foundation funded Research Practice Partnership that supports STEM pathways for south Los Angeles students through computational thinking development. He holds an additional role as an academic researcher in the Black Male Institute. Dr. Johnson is also an educational consultant, researcher, and practitioner with an extensive background in K-12 leadership, teacher education, language and literacy development.

Dr. Johnson previously served as a consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education in School Improvement, District Capacity Building, and Curriculum and Instructional Services. He was also Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Development for Teach for America, where he supported and built capacity with Program Improvement schools and districts. Johnson focused on effective language arts instruction and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) through professional development, coaching, and providing technical assistance to educational leaders and classroom teachers.

Dr. Johnson was the Founding Principal of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Community School in Oakland, CA. He began his career in education through Teach for America, where he taught all levels of English/Language Arts and Advanced Placement English at Centennial High School in Compton. Dr. Johnson was awarded a promotion to Program Coordinator, a district office administrative position in curriculum and instruction, after successfully serving as Centennial's Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Self-Study Chairperson and getting the school's accreditation reinstated. For academic research, Dr. Johnson critically examines effective secondary English teachers who implement culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogical and instructional practices in their classrooms to close literacy gaps and address their students' academic, social, and emotional needs. Johnson is particularly interested in how Advanced Placement English teachers facilitate high levels of engagement for their high achieving boys of color (and especially African American males) by ensuring that they have access and exposure to language and literacies of power.

Dr. Johnson received his Ph.D. in Urban Schooling from the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, his Master of Arts in Secondary Education along with clear teaching and administrative credentials from Loyola Marymount University, his Bachelor of Arts in American Literature and Culture with college honors from UCLA, and matriculated through the Pasadena Unified School District and is a graduate of Pasadena High School. Dr. Johnson is the recipient of numerous academic distinctions and community service awards. He received the Randall C. Bacon Alumni Achievement Award from the Western Province of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. In 2010, he received the National Science Foundation-sponsored Colloquy on Minority Males in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics summer fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. In addition, UCLA presented him with the Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award for his outstanding teaching of undergraduate students' significant contributions to the educational community.