Board of Governors

Andrew Bjornson is a seasoned design leader who is passionate about empowering young creative to find pathways to careers in design fields. Andrew is an alumnus of Rochester Institute of Technology, with a BFA in Industrial Design Program and Associate Degree in Graphic Design. He has many decades of experience in footwear and action sport product design, working on Inline and Advanced Concept teams at brands such as Vans, New Balance, and Reebok, in addition to freelance design. He has led intern programs and collaborative experiences with college and high school programs. He is currently Senior Director for the digital footwear and apparel product design teams at Vans.

Andrew has designed and lead teams of designers creating industry leading product such as snowboard boots, bindings, helmets, and all types of footwear including running, cross training, basketball, outdoor, and more. He holds patents for several of the innovative projects on which he has worked. Andrew believes in a collaborative approach to design using consumer insight, athletic performance testing, and global trend research to produce solid solutions.

Andrew’s philosophy is, “Patience and Persistence.” There are no overnight successes. Success comes from failure. Like trying a new trick in snowboarding or skateboarding; you know you will wipe out- you just need to keep getting up, figuring out what went wrong, and try something different until you succeed.

Adrian is the Founder & Creative Director of Ad Hoc Industries. With extensive creative, brand strategy, and design experience, Adrian’s specialty is bridging the gap between business and creative organizational goals. Clients include Barbados Tourism, where he led creative for a global brand campaign with the superstar singer Rihanna. Recently, Adrian served as Creative Director on the leadership team at The Harvard Innovation Labs for four years and has been a mentor to student and alumni startups there for the last 10 years. Adrian was the Vice President of the $1.8B Global Footwear Division at PUMA where he led all creative design direction, including collaborations with athletes, fashion designers and artists such as Usain Bolt, Alexander McQueen and Kehinde Wiley. He holds an MBA from Harvard University.

Richard Holbrook has been helping companies create innovative and commercially successful products and brand positioning strategies for over thirty five years. As a 1981 Industrial Design graduate of the prestigious Art Center College of Design, he was recruited by several international automobile brands, and accepted a position with PSA Peugeot Citroen as part of the company’s first Global Design Center in Paris, France.

In 1985 he left PSA and established his independent studio with initial clients Casablanca Fan, Dacor, Herman Miller, Thermador, Tropitone Furniture and other industry leadings brands. In 2000, Holbrook formed dna, a joint venture with client Teknion,. As CEO and Creative Director, Holbrook led a team that designed and delivered a new line of products including seating, storage, desks and accessories, as well as a ground-breaking website created to allow customers to specify custom configurations with a drag-and-drop interface. In 2003 Holbrook returned to his independent product development practice, initiating projects with new partners including Bernhardt Design, Brown Jordan International, Gunlocke Furniture, Office Depot and Staples.

Zeina J. Collins is an attorney, philanthropist, business owner, author, and fashion enthusiast, recently featured by Riviera Magazine as a Woman of
Style. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, she left the country during its civil war to relocate to the U.S., a move that made her what she considers, the definition
of the American Dream. After graduating from UCI and earning a B.S. in Biology, Zeina received her Juris Doctor and is licensed to practice in
California and Hawaii. She currently manages a law firm in California where
she lives with her husband and four children. Zeina is the author of Haute Mama, a modern-day no-nonsense book on balancing motherhood, love, a career, health and happiness with style and grace.

Lynn Jochim is a leader and collaborator in the evolution of cities of the future throughout California.

FivePoint’s inclusive and mixed-use communities include Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine, FivePoint Valencia (formerly Newhall Ranch) in Los Angeles County, and FivePoint Candlestick / The San Francisco Shipyard in San Francisco. Together, these mixed-use communities will include approximately 40,000 residential homes and 23 million square feet of commercial space, while generating approximately 288,000 jobs during construction and $54 billion in activity for the California economy.

Chad Nelsen is the CEO at the Surfrider Foundation where he has worked since 1998. At Surfrider, Chad is responsible for strategic guidance regarding environmental campaigns at the local through national level, and he oversees a number of environmental programs that include volunteer water quality monitoring, ocean-friendly landscaping, surfonomics, as well as education and outreach programs.

Prior to joining Surfrider, Chad was a NOAA Coastal Zone Management Fellow working with Oregon’s state coastal zone management program. He is an alumni of Brown University and Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and has Doctorate the Environmental Science and Engineering program at UCLA where he focused on the economics of surfing. Through his work on coral reef conservation in Puerto Rico, the Surfrider Foundation earned recognition from the US Coral Reef Task Force.

Mr. Reitz is the co-founder, Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Medical Systems, Inc. Currently, Mr. Reitz manages all facets of Interactive Medical’s operations including strategic planning, acquisitions and financial management.

Prior to Interactive Medical Systems, he served as the Chief Operating Officer at Dynamic Medical Systems. There he played an integral role in the vision, operations and the sale of DMS to Invacare in September 2011.

Mr. Reitz received a BS in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California. He is a member of the Entrepreneur Organization.

Mr. Shopoff has more than 45 years of real estate and investment experience. His expertise includes the acquisition, development, and sale of new and redeveloped residential and commercial properties throughout the United States, as well as partnership structures, debt placement, venture capital, and investment underwriting.
He has acquired over 1K properties on behalf of his various entities, including the acquisition of over 8K apartment units and the entitlement of over 15K lots of land
suitable for single-family or multi-family development, as well as millions of sqft of commercial projects.

Mark Sperling is a veteran event producer, marketing, and partnership executive with over three decades of experience with global brands in sports, entertainment, and consumer products. A pioneer in action/lifestyle sports and music culture, Mark has developed groundbreaking campaigns in experiential programming, public relations, marketing collaborations, licensing and broadcast partnerships, televised sporting events, and entrepreneurial ventures.

As Co-Founder of Group Y, Mark built the original and leading collective of industry professionals focused on youth marketing, lifestyle, and other progressive and expressive cultures. Mark has organized over 250 nationwide events, building a highly engaged online and live event community and curating over 950 guest speakers from the world of business, fashion, music, entertainment, media, tech, finance, politics, and more, who all share a common talent: authentically engaging with youth culture. Past events include ComplexCon, NBA Con, Agenda Emerge, Something In The Water Festival, CEO’s Wear Sneakers, Good Is The New Cool, Hall of Flowers, ASC Action Sports + Culture conferences, and more.

Steve is the founder and principal consultant at SRTully & associates. As an accomplished executive coach and business consultant, he specializes in empowering mid to senior-level managers through pivotal career transitions in the action sports and consumer products world. He has a deep background in the consumer products industry, with extensive experience in sales, marketing, and operations across wholesale, traditional retail, and DTC channels. Steve’s held President-level leadership roles at renowned action sports companies including Quiksilver, Roxy, Vix Luxury Brazilian Swimwear, and Neff Headwear.

Dedicated and accomplished professional with a bold career transition from 18 years in commercial real estate/property management to a prominent figure in the emerging art field. Born and raised in the artistic landscapes of Mendocino County, Liz brings a unique blend of business acumen and a deep appreciation for art. An alumna of Biola University, her journey has been marked by a strong work ethic, commitment to excellence, and a keen ability to understand and embrace emerging art and artist. Liz is an avid art collector with a deep passion for various forms of artistic expression. She actively supports and promotes emerging artists, contributing to the vibrancy of the local art scene. Liz is dedicated to promoting and enhancing the artistic landscape of Southern California, with a focus on the dynamic Los Angeles art community.