Jamie Uzeta, School Committee Member

PUBLIC ALLIES

Jaime Ernesto Uzeta is the CEO of Public Allies. Previously, he was the VP of Innovation and Partnerships at BUILD, where he oversaw the organization’s transformational impact efforts. His unique background blends education design, media, technology and public service. Prior to BUILD, Uzeta was a portfolio director at IDEO, the design and innovation firm, where he helped address a variety of systemic challenges in education. Previously, he headed up growth strategy and development for GreatSchools, a digital media group that empowers parents to unlock educational opportunities for their children. In the media space, Uzeta built Participant Media’s digital and TV social action teams, which informed and mobilized audiences around critical social issues. He played a similar role for MTV, where he co-developed the Choose or Lose and Fight for Your Rights initiatives.

Uzeta’s other experience includes a variety of strategy and marketing roles for some of the world’s most recognized brands – including clients such as CNN and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – as well as political positions at the White House and the Departments of Treasury and Commerce. A former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Uzeta currently serves on the national board of Public Allies, a civic service apprenticeship program. He graduated with honors from the University of Houston with a BA in political science and earned his MBA from Columbia University.

Stephen Prough, School Committee Chair

SALEM PARTNERS

Stephen Prough is a Founder of Salem Partners and Salem Partners Wealth Management. In addition to his management responsibilities for Salem Partners’ two main businesses, Prough oversees the firm’s media and entertainment investment banking practice, focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions advisory services. Prough serves on the investment committees of Salem Partners Wealth Management and SW Contego, a fund of hedge funds established by Salem Partners Wealth Management in 2008. Prior to founding Salem Partners, Prough was a Vice President in the Media and Communications Investment Banking Group of Furman Selz. Prough is a graduate of Harvard College, where he majored in Government and was a Harvard Scholar. Prough serves as the Co-Chair of the LA Promise Fund Board of Directors. Prough is also on the Professional Advisory Counsel of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

Elizabeth Mann, School Committee Secretary

MAYER BROWN

Elizabeth Mann is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Los Angeles office. She has extensive experience litigating cases in several areas including entertainment, defamation, health care, antitrust, real estate, investment finance, environmental, regulatory and class actions. Mann has handled cases involving motion picture finance and screen credit issues, biologic marketing strategies, financial advisory services, fiduciary duty claims involving banks and trusts, government investigations, long-distance telephone services, toxic torts and RICO claims.

Mann has had a long term commitment to serving Los Angeles’ underprivileged children. She spearheaded major litigation that established fair housing rights for low income families. She aided a number of Hurricane Katrina refugees who were transferred to Los Angeles in obtaining housing, health and education services. She is also very active in the Los Angeles legal community, serving as the Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She received an undergraduate degree from Pomona College and a JD from the University of California – Los Angeles School of Law.

Robin Kurtzman, School Committee Member

Robin Kurtzman has a long history in the education space. She has a credential in college counseling and worked for years as an independent college counselor. She has also volunteered extensively. She served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Oakwood School in North Hollywood, on its Development Committee, and as the volunteer President of its Parent Organization. She also volunteered at West Adams Preparatory High School, where she founded The Honors Society, assisting students to apply for and pursue small private liberal arts schools. Kurtzman has also volunteered with College Match and the Posse Foundation and has helped to bring both of these organizations on to the West Adams Prep campus. She graduated from UCLA in 1983 with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communications. Kurtzman is the mother of three young women.

Andrea Foggy-Paxton, School Committee Member

The Broad Center

Andrea Foggy-Paxton supports career development of senior leaders in the Broad Center network. Foggy-Paxton previously was executive vice president at Reasoning Mind, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing first-rate math instruction for all students. She also has developed and managed innovative professional development, high-school transformation, college completion and personalized-learning grants for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Earlier in her career, she served in roles with Annie E. Casey Foundation, Tavis Smiley Foundation, L.A. Youth at Work, Rock the Vote, and Freedom Schools. Foggy-Paxton has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College in New York.