Genesis LA

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Board Of Directors

Richard Maire

Chairman

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Robert Oehler

Treasurer

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Pattie Ehsaei

Secretary

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Lee Kanon Alpert

Chairman Emeritus

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Marcia Choo

Independent Consultant

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Dutch Ross

Director

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Cindy Miscikowski

Director

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Steve Rolfe

Director

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Paul Chen

Director

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Richard Maire

Richard J. Maire, Jr. is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Maire is a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, specializing in capital markets, corporate and financial services and banking law. He contributes almost 30 years of experience practicing law in the areas of public and private equity and debt transactions, commercial transactions, joint ventures, asset-based lending and other selected areas of financial services. His industry expertise includes retail, restaurant chains, food service, telecommunications, healthcare, internet and manufacturing. Mr. Maire has a J.D. from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a four-year letterman athlete and graduated cum laude. Mr. Maire is a member of the Board of Directors of Imaging Presentation Partners, Catalina Capital Advisors, is Vice Chair of an Article 2 Subcommittee and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Business Law News and he is also on the Board of Directors of the YMCA-Westchester.

Robert Oehler

Treasurer

Mr. Oehler is a founding member of the Genesis LA Board of Directors and he is currently the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. Mr. Oehler has over 35 years of banking experience. He has served as President, Director and Vice Chairman of the Board of Far East National Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank SinoPac of Taipei, Taiwan. Under his stewardship the bank’s assets grew from less than $500 million to approximately $1.7 billion in 5 years. Prior to that he served as an executive with Citigroup for 25 years and served as President and CEO of a merchant banking venture RoboRock, LLC, partnering with Nicholas Rockefeller. Mr. Oehler recently retired as President and CEO of a local minority owned, full-service bank, Pacific Alliance Bank, which serves Southern California. He has served on the boards of California Bankers Association, National Association of Chinese American Bankers, and the International Financial Institutions Association and remains involved with the California Bankers Association and American Bankers Association. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Rand Corp’s Center for Asia-Pacific Policy. Mr. Oehler holds a Master’s degree in International Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University and a B.A. degree in Political Science from Williams College.

Pattie Ehsaei

Secretary

Ms. Ehsaei is Senior Vice President of SBA M&A Lending at First Bank, where she provides financing for a variety of small and mid-size businesses. Previously, she was Senior Director of SBA M&A Lending at Banc of California as well as Regional Sales Manager/Vice President for the Business Banking Division at Union Bank where she oversaw a group of commercial lenders on real estate and Commercial and Industrial lending. Prior to that, Ms. Ehsaei was the Managing Partner and head of business development for GRID Partners, a boutique investment banking firm focused on raising capital for the development of green energy projects. She also worked at Wetherly Capital, where she served as the Director of Family Offices and Sovereign Wealth Funds. At Wetherly, she was the firm’s primary liaison with Family Offices in the U.S. and also focused on institutional investors in the Middle East, raising capital for a variety of private equity strategies. Before joining Wetherly, Ms. Ehsaei was Vice President of the California Business Banking Division at Wells Fargo Bank where she managed a team of consultants focused on selling financial products to small and middle market companies in the region.

Ms. Ehsaei holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a JD from Loyola University of Chicago. For five years, she served as an Assistant State’s Attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago. She holds a NASD Series 22 and 63 registrations and is licensed to practice law in Illinois and California. A resident of Los Angeles, she has served on numerous boards, including the Persian American Cancer Institute as the Chief Public Affairs Officer.

Lee Kanon Alpert, Esq,

Chairman Emeritus

Mr. Alpert is a founding member of the Genesis LA Board of Directors, a current active member of the board and Chair Emeritus. Mr. Alpert is an award-winning attorney, arbitrator, mediator, consultant, and philanthropist. He additionally belongs to multiple not for profit boards and other organizations.

In 1976, he was a founding principal of Mink & Alpert, a Professional Law Corporation, based in Encino, California which grew over the decades and ultimately became the prestigious Alpert, Barr & Grant a Professional Law Corporation later transitioning, in the recent years, to Grant/Shenon, a Professional Law Corporation, where Mr. Alpert now serves as Senior of Counsel to the firm.

Lee is a founding member, President and CEO of Alpert Dispute Resolution and Consulting, Inc. (ADRC). ADRC provides private Arbitration services, Mediation services, Consulting services and Lobbying services to its clients. Mr. Alpert has received numerous awards for his excellence as an Arbitrator and Mediator.   

Mr. Alpert’s current primary legal practice focuses on business and corporate law, administrative/government relations, commercial law, construction law, and real estate transactional law. Lee also serves as offsite general counsel for several businesses, an American Arbitration Association (AAA) Arbitrator and Mediator, a Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore, private and court-appointed special master, and referee for many years.

Lee has participated, chaired or been a member of many public and philanthropic boards, commissions, and advisory councils for the city and county of Los Angeles, State of California, non-profits and various professional bar organizations. Mr. Alpert was educated at Wayne State University, the University of Southern California (USC) and Loyola University School of Law and Harvard Business School.

Marcia Choo

Independent Consultant

With an emphasis on Social Enterprise and in non-profit management, Marcia has worked in the private and public sectors as well as holding teaching assignments. Currently, she serves as Vice President of Community Development at Wells Fargo Bank working on issues of affordable housing, workforce development, small business development, financial education, and veterans services focused on low-to-moderate income communities. She held director-level positions at two national museums and in municipal government. She holds a MSSW from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA. She serves on the Boards of Genesis LA (CDFI) and Taller San Jose.

Dutch Ross

Director

Mr. Ross serves as Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Ross is President and CEO of Economic Resources Corporation (ERC) and a financial executive with over 30 years of experience with both Fortune 500 companies and non-profit economic development organizations. Mr. Ross began his professional career as a financial analyst with the Wickes Corporation and later joined Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) where he held a variety of managerial, financial and planning positions on the corporate staff and in divisional and subsidiary operations. Mr. Ross’ involvement in local economic development issues began in 1992 when he served as a volunteer executive with Rebuild L.A. working on economic development projects in South Los Angeles. He has extensive experience in corporate governance and financial underwriting and analysis. Over the years, Mr. Ross has been active in a number of community organizations. He has served on several boards including the Long Beach YMCA, where he was Board President, and the Valley Economic Development Center, where he is currently Vice Chairman. Mr. Ross holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Industrial Economics and a Master’s of Science in Industrial Management both from Purdue University.

Cindy Miscikowski

Director

Ms. Miscikowski is chair of the Real Estate Committee of the Board of Directors, where she lends her expertise to reviewing new projects. Ms. Miscikowski is the Managing Partner of the Ring Group, a diversified real estate investment company, owning properties in California, the Northwest, the Midwest and Virginia. The company’s principal activities are involved in developing multi-family rental units with over 2,600 apartments and marina properties in the greater Los Angeles area. Ms. Miscikowski has been involved in public service for over 35 years in the City of Los Angeles. She was appointed to the Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and elected President of the Board in July 2009. She served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1997 to 2005, after having been Chief of Staff to Councilmember Marvin Braude over 20 years. Ms. Miscikowski is widely recognized as an authority on urban planning, revitalizing the city’s land use policies and spear-heading the adoption of a new Master Plan for the Los Angeles International Airport in 2005. She also authored two pioneering voter-approved initiatives, one banning oil drilling on the city’s coastline in 1988 and another, imposing density limitations in most of the city’s commercially zoned land in 1986. She also played a crucial role in the preservation of thousands of acres of open space in the Santa Monica Mountains for public park and recreation uses. Ms. Miscikowski received a degree from UCLA in political science in 1970 and has been involved in a number of non-profit organizations serving on boards of director since leaving the City Council including the Los Angeles Police Foundation, the Los Angeles Music Center for the Performing Arts, the Center for Governmental Studies.

Steve Rolfe

Director

Mr. Rolfe has been a commercial banker for almost 40 years. He began his career with Security Pacific National Bank’s International Banking Group and had overseas assignments in Japan, Korea and Singapore where he was the Southeast Regional Credit Administrator covering Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Also while at Security Pacific, he was the Chief Credit Officer for Security Pacific Asian Bank, N.A., a subsidiary bank formed to focus on Asian business in California. Mr. Rolfe worked for Bank of America on two separate occasions, first doing problem loan workouts in Asia and then as a domestic commercial lending credit officer based in Los Angeles. In early 2006, after a short assignment as the Senior Credit Administrator for Southern California for United Commercial Bank, he had the opportunity, with 2 other executives, to organize and open a de novo community bank focused on providing banking services to small, local businesses. He later moved to ProAmerica Bank, another L.A.-based community bank, where, as Chief Credit Officer, he was actively involved in building relationships with not-for-profit businesses active in providing services to underserved parts of L.A. County. This work included involvement in some New Markets Tax Credit financings. Mr. Rolfe retired from full-time credit work in the Spring of 2016. He now serves on a part-time basis as an in-house consultant on credit practices at another community bank .

Mr. Rolfe holds a B.A. from Haverford College and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington where he also did work in Far East Asian studies. He served as a science teacher in the U.S. Peace Corps for 3 years in Korea and developed a level of fluency in the Korean language.

Paul Chen

Director

Mr. Chen is a practicing CPA and is the managing partner and CEO of Chen & Fan Accountancy Corporation, specializing in financial audits, advisory, and income tax compliance for U.S. business entities, many of which are affiliated with multi-national groups with core operations in the Pacific Rim. Mr. Chen has almost 30 years of experience in public accounting serving industries such as distribution, property management, banking, manufacturing, biotech, and R&D services. Mr. Chen has a MBA from the University of Southern California and a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also an active participant in a number of community organizations and currently serves on the board of the Taiwanese American Chamber of Commerce, Rosemead City Chamber of Commerce, STUF United Fund, and Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater L.A.

Jessica Waybright

General Counsel

Jessica Waybright serves as in-house counsel for Genesis LA, she drafts and reviews transaction documents for the Genesis Community Investment Fund and works closely with outside counsel on New Market Tax Credit Program loans. She facilitates and monitors the closings of transactions and repayment of loans and oversees management and implementation of compliance systems.

Ms. Waybright brings a wealth of real estate knowledge to Genesis LA acquired as a Real Estate and Transactional Attorney for Spierer, Woodward, Corbalis & Goldberg. As an Associate for the firm, she drafted and negotiated terms of real estate and business transactions including documents related to residential and commercial purchase and sale agreements, lease agreements, escrow, title and loans, asset purchase and shareholder agreements. Ms. Waybright also worked for the law offices of Brian Lerner and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of General Counsel.

Ms. Waybright has a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law where she was a member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. She is admitted to the California Bar. Ms. Waybright holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis with majors in International Relations and Economics and a minor in Managerial Economics.