NEWSMAKERS
Voice of Poor for Regional Federal Reserve Board
Sister Diane Donoghue’s religious calling led her to aid the poor. Her success at community development initiatives led her to the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
After touring Esperanza, the non-profit Donoghue founded to develop affordable housing and offer other community services downtown, Mark Mullinix, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank’s L.A. branch, decided she would offer a different voice on the board.
“He said, ‘We expect you to come with a bias,'” Donoghue said. “And I do have a bias.”
As one of seven members of the Los Angeles branch of the 12th District board, which covers California south of Fresno, southern Nevada and all of Arizona, Donoghue is a voice of the working poor. Other board members represent small and large businesses.
“For me, that means people who are at 30 to 60 percent of the median income,” Donoghue said. “They make $18,000 to $28,000 a year for a family of four.”
Board members are expected to present the perspectives of their constituencies to the Board of Governors and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
Donoghue expects her greatest challenge to be representing the poor in an environment where other members have a considerably stronger voice.
“Los Angeles is the low-wage capital of the country. While 67 percent of Americans are homeowners, 85 to 90 percent of the people in our neighborhoods (downtown) are renters,” Donoghue said. “It’s a huge problem.”
Although Esperanza pays Donoghue a salary, her vow of poverty requires that she donate it to her order, the Sisters of Social Service.
In addition to Esperanza, Donoghue founded the South Central Organizing Committee and has served as executive director of several social service organizations. She was born in Minneapolis in 1931 and has lived in Los Angeles since 1936.
Matt Myerhoff
Aerospace
Boeing Co. has appointed Dave Ryan vice president of communications satellite manufacturer Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo. Ryan has worked for Boeing for 13 years, most recently as vice president and deputy general manager of Boeing’s space and intelligence systems.
Architecture
Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects has appointed Jorge Sciupac director of its Los Angeles office. Sciupac has managed large-scale commercial and residential master plans, mixed-used developments and historical renovations in the U.S. and abroad.
Banking
Bank of America has appointed Christopher M. Frank market president for its Beverly Hills and Westside areas. Frank will be responsible for revenue generation and coordination of community relations. Frank worked for Morgan Stanley, most recently as executive director and regional sales manager for the Western region.
Peter Thomas has been appointed to the board of the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Thomas is managing director of the Las Vegas-based Thomas & Mack Co.
Consulting
Public accounting and business consulting firm RBZ LLC has promoted Mark Umemoto and Julie Vieyra to manager and hired Stephen Rickert as manager.
Entertainment
Peter Caranicas has been named editor of “Below the Line,” a newspaper for craftspeople working in the of the entertainment industry. Caranicas was previously publisher and editor of Film & Video magazine and development director of ShowBiz Expo.
Creative Domain, a marketing and advertising agency, has appointed Craig Relyea executive vice president of marketing. Relyea will lead the company’s newly created interactive entertainment division. Previously, Relyea ran worldwide marketing for game publisher Interplay Entertainment.
Warner Strategic Marketing has promoted Andrea Kinloch to vice president of strategic marketing, Marylou Bono to vice president of marketing for the home video division and Pam Barnes Lueneburg to vice president of publishing administration. Kinloch was previously vice president of product management and partnership marketing for Rhino Records. Bono was previously senior director of marketing for Rhino Home Video. Lueneburg was previously senior director of publishing administration for Warner special products.
Tim McNeal has been hired as senior vice president of development at Tom Lynch Co. McNeal will develop primetime broadcast TV series, specials and movies-of-the-week. McNeal has worked in the entertainment industry as a network executive, a literary agent and a dot-com professional.
Financial Services
GE Business Credit, a unit of GE Corporate Financial Services, has named Sam Yegan vice president of origination for its Los Angeles market. Yegan will help manage new business development initiatives, including all asset-based lending transactions between $5 million and $30 million. Yegan was previously a vice president and client manager for Citibank Commercial Markets.
Hospitality
Kor Hotel Group has appointed Cindy Lew as director of sales and marketing for the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, where she will oversee sale, reservations and catering. Prior to Kor, Lew worked with Acorr Business and Leisure Hotels, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and Loews New York Hotel.
Insurance
Lockton Insurance Brokers Inc. has appointed Mark Carlin senior vice president. Carlin specializes in equity funds and turnaround firms.
Law
Schulze Haynes & Co. has hired John R. Loevenguth as director of litigation and corporate recovery and John C. Bonilla as a senior consultant in litigation/technology consulting. Schulze Haynes provides litigation consulting, corporate recovery and real estate advisory services.
William H. Emer has been named partner at Perkins Coie. Emer joins the firm’s Los Angeles labor and employment group representing employers. Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Emer was a partner with law firm Riordan & McKenzie.
Law firm Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman has named Craig S. Seligman partner in its corporate practice. Most recently, Seligman worked with Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.
Deputy Attorney General Robin Miller Sloan, Deputy District Attorney Lisa Mangay Chung and civil litigators Donna Fields Goldstein and Nancy L. Newman have been appointed judges of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Most recently, Sloan was a prosecutor in the health, education and welfare section of the California Attorney General’s civil division. Chung supervised the domestic violence unit of the Antelope Valley branch of the District Attorney’s Office. Goldstein was a partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips specializing in complex civil litigation. Newman, a partner with Knapp Petersen & Clarke, has been involved in insurance and product liability related cases.
Silver & Freedman has named Richard L. Sprunger and Gregory N. Weisman partners in the business and tax department. Sprunger works in negotiation and preparation of agreements and documentation. Weisman chairs the firm’s apparel industry practice group.
Media
KTLA-TV has hired Leila Feinstein as weekend sports anchor and weekday news reporter for News at Ten. Prior to her new position, Feinstein was a reporter and fill-in anchor for San Francisco channel KRON-TV’s newscast.
Pharmaceuticals
Neurion Pharmaceuticals Inc., which develops drugs to treat central nervous system diseases, has appointed Mark J. Suto executive vice president and chief science officer. Prior to joining Neurion, Suto was vice president of chemical and biological sciences at Deltagen Research Laboratories in San Diego.
Public Relations
Les Eisner has been promoted to executive vice president of The Lippin Group, an independent entertainment and media public relations firm. Eisner, who joined Lippin in 1994, will continue to represent corporate communications campaigns for domestic and global television organizations.
Real Estate
Shopping center developer Westrust has hired David Newsome as vice president of development. Most recently, Newsome worked as vice president of development at Center Trust.
Western Pacific Housing has appointed Rick Coop president of the company’s Los Angeles and Ventura County division. Prior to his new position, Coop was the division’s vice president of forward planning.
Residential community Playa Vista in West Los Angeles has hired Kristin Ramsey as vice president of marketing. Ramsey most recently directed Coca-Cola’s Southern California division’s operational and customer marketing, media buying, marketing asset management and promotions.
Professional real estate organization CoreNet Global has elected Alice Wilson president of its Southern California chapter. Wilson is vice president of DMJM Design, an architecture and engineering firm in Los Angeles.
Technology
Applied DNA Sciences Inc., a provider of proprietary embedded-DNA security solutions to protect intellectual property from counterfeiting, has hired Don Alexander as textile industry market advisor. Previously corporate vice president of technology at Guilford Mills, Alexander now heads Anovotek LLC, a technology innovation and commercialization firm.
