The HW DEI Alumni Advisory Council (“HWDAAC”) is a broadly representative group that will support the school in its ongoing work to fulfill its mission, meet its DEI Commitments , and pursue its plans for anti-racism at Harvard-Westlake.

The HWDAAC will:

  • serve as sounding board for the school's on-going and new anti-racist and DEI initiatives;
  • provide feedback from the alumni perspective to school leadership on its progress on the student experience;
  • suggest strategic ways to promote an inclusive campus environment for all students
  • communicate to the alumni community about the current state of the school and its anti-racist and DEI initiatives;
  • serve as a resource for alumni who did not have a diverse, equitable, and/or inclusive experience and facilitate their reengagement with the school;
  • create a community of alumni professionals in the field and/or alumni who are committed to these goals/values.

The HWDAAC will be staffed by the Head of External Relations who will work closely with the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Relations staff.

Membership

The HWDAAC will consist of 20-25 at-large members and representatives from currently existing alumni affinity groups.

A Chairperson or Co-Chairs will serve a term of three years.

Members will serve a term of three years in staggered cohorts. Terms are renewable.

The HWDAAC will meet at least twice a year with additional meetings as called by the chair/co-chairs.

Council Members

  • Maria Camacho '97
    Maria Camacho '97
     

    Maria Camacho is the Director of Government Affairs for the Los Angeles Rams. Since the return of the Rams to LA in 2016, Maria has established working relationships with public officials and public agencies throughout the LA region to identify opportunities for partnership and to solicit insight and feedback on policy and civic topics. Given the development of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park by Los Angeles Rams ownership, she also has worked closely with the development team in policy engagement, public agency dialogue and efforts to bring the world's most prestigious events to the Los Angeles region.

    Prior to joining the Los Angeles Rams, Maria was Director of External Affairs for River LA for three years, a nonprofit organization working to re-imagine all 51 miles of the Los Angeles River in partnership with renowned architect Frank Gehry. She utilized her six year tenure within the Los Angeles public affairs consulting arena as Vice President at Consensus Inc. to initiate a strategic approach to interacting with the political stakeholders made up of 17 cities, the County of Los Angeles, and US Army Corps of Engineers, alongside the numerous communities and stakeholders, to carry the river transformation momentum forward.

    Maria holds her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School and Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity with a Minor in Urban Studies from Stanford University. She currently resides in Hancock Park with her husband, Dayton Miller, her son Landon, her daughter Josephine Louise, and her labradoodle Taj.

  • Natasha Case '01
    Natasha Case '01
     

    Natasha Case is Co-Founder/CEO of Coolhaus. Since launching the architecturally-inspired ice cream sandwich company from a barely drive-able postal van at the Coachella Music Festival in 2009, Coolhaus has scaled to a national fleet of trucks in LA and NYC, a flagship store and innovation center in Culver City, and a grocery business of ice cream sammies, pints, cups, mini sammies and soon-to-be cones in dairy and non-dairy.

    Natasha has been named a Forbes 30 under 30 Food & Beverage, Zagat 30 Under 30, LinkedIn 10 under 35 for Food & Leisure, 10 Most Successful Women in Business by Leaders Globe, and was recently named UCLA LGBTQ+ 2019 Alum of the Year. She co-hosted her own podcast, ‘Start to Sale' through Eater/Vox Media. In 2019 she joined YPO in the Beverly Hills chapter. Natasha is a board member of UCLA Arts Dept, Startup UCLA, and a member of the Lyft Council.

    Today, Coolhaus is the leading women and LGBTQ-founded and led ice cream brand in the country. Natasha is devoted to leading Coolhaus' social mission of inspiring the next generation of women and LGBTQ founders, entrepreneurs and creators of diverse backgrounds to feel empowered to turn their dreams into realities in an equitable environment as a top value and priority. Natasha has partnered with Black Girl Ventures to create ice cream to raise funds for entrepreneurial grants, and she is committed to teaching courses and frequent public speaking engagements to push the envelope for the next generation.

    A graduate of UC Berkeley (Architecture with double minor in City & Regional Planning and Italian Studies) and UCLA (Masters of Architecture), Natasha worked at Walt Disney Imagineering before founding Coolhaus with her now-wife Freya Estreller (they have two kids together: Remy & Nico).

  • Faith Chung '10
    Faith Chung '10
     

    Faith Chung is the Senior Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at Proskauer. She was previously a Real Estate Finance Associate in the Finance Department at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

    Faith's demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion as well as her experiences in both the non-profit and corporate legal spheres have allowed her to advocate for, counsel, and further the professional development of current attorneys. She has worked on, and continues to work on, successfully implementing mandatory firm-wide implicit bias trainings, mentorship and diversity pipeline programs, law school sponsorships, and pro bono programs. She also frequently analyzes diversity and inclusion metrics and handles client survey requests regarding the diversity of attorneys working on client matters.

    In addition to her previous and current experiences, Faith Chung is a member of the Diversity Task Force at Proskauer, a leadership group of Executive Committee members, senior partners, and business services leaders focused on raising the bar for the Firm's diversity and inclusion strategy. The Diversity Task Force regularly meets to discuss, develop, and swiftly execute major, targeted initiatives related to: 1. law school recruiting, 2. lateral hiring for all lawyers including partners, 3. retention and promotion initiatives focused on the utilization, development, and mentorship/sponsorship of diverse lawyers, and 4. firm-wide inclusion training programs. Faith is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and Cornell Law School.

  • Michelle Hung '91
    Michelle Hung '91
     

    Michelle Hung is a graduate of Westlake School for Girls last class of 1991. In September of 2019, she moved from her hometown of Santa Monica, CA to Concord, NH to work as Associate Dean of Admission at the uniquely all boarding St. Paul's School. Previously, Michelle worked in the admission office at Harvard-Westlake School for eleven years.

    She earned her B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and an M.F.A. from the Directing Program at UCLA School of Film, Television, & Digital Media. Michelle has worked in undergraduate admission at both Hampshire College and Yale University. Michelle left Harvard-Westlake to work as the writers' room researcher for The Banker's Wife, an Amazon Studios limited television series.

    Throughout her education and career, Michelle has examined the representation of Asian-Americans in media and in schools. Currently at SPS, Michelle lives and advises in a boys' dorm; serves on the Disciplinary Committee, the SPS Faculty DEI Council; and is lead faculty adviser of the student group, SPS Women of Color, and the SPS Yearbook. She looks forward to bringing her work and life experiences to the newly formed HW Alumni DEI Council. Michelle lives on the grounds of the St. Paul's School with her husband, Marko Rondiak, and two young sons who play ice hockey. She has recently taken up socially distanced activities like snow shoeing.

  • Keren Johnson '02
    Keren Johnson '02
     

    Keren Johnson is a seasoned political communications expert with a background in international policy. After graduating from American University, Johnson lived for over a decade in Washington, D.C., where she worked on constituency outreach for the Democratic Party. Keren served on the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) Executive Diversity Task Force and was recognized by President Barack Obama for her efforts to recruit, retain, promote, and increase BIPOC representation within the agency.

    Keren’s background with DEI work translated from a passion to philanthropy and a career. She is a founding board member of the Black Swan Academy non-profit organization where she runs a scholarship effort for underprivileged students of color in the DC Public Schools system. She supports various policy makers with stakeholder engagement in BIPOC communities and serves as a trainer for Say Space, a DEI collective run by fellow Wolverine Bianca Wilson ’07.

    Keren shares a strong affinity to Harvard-Westlake and has always been committed to its DEI efforts. While attending and later working at HW, she joined BLACC and the Black Faculty & Staff committee. She is one of seven alumni co-authors who wrote an open-letter to HW following the death of George Floyd, which created an ongoing, anti-racism dialogue with HW alumni, including the creation of this advisory council. Keren, along with countless others within the community, remains encouraged by Harvard-Westlake’s anti-racism curriculum and hopes her voice on the DEI Alumni Council will further support BIPOC Wolverines.

  • Michelle Alpert Kelrick '04
    Michelle Alpert Kelrick '04
     

    Michelle Alpert Kelrick graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and minors in Music and Spanish. Upon graduation, Michelle joined the New York Teaching Fellows program and began teaching 4th grade at a traditional district school in the South Bronx, New York. After teaching for several years in the Bronx, and graduating with a Masters in Education from Fordham University, Michelle moved back to Los Angeles, where she taught English Language Arts at the Gabriella Charter School. Michelle left the classroom to work at a nonprofit called Educators 4 Excellence (E4E), where she worked with teachers across Los Angeles to advocate for greater teacher voice in policy-making decisions. At E4E, Michelle engaged in DEI work, with the goal of better serving students across Los Angeles. Michelle has served on the board of the Gabriella Charter Schools since 2014. She is the current Board Secretary and the Chair of the Governance Committee.

    One of the things Michelle loves about Harvard-Westlake is its continuous efforts to reflect and improve. As a student at Harvard-Westlake, she was on the Honor Board, and had the unique experience of helping the student body uphold the school honor code. Now, as Harvard-Westlake engages in important DEI work, she is eager to help hold Harvard-Westlake to its own high standards - this time as it pertains to being an inclusive community for all.

  • Shawn Laws O'Neil '85
    Shawn Laws O'Neil '85
     

    Shawn V. Laws O'Neil is a network and production executive with expertise in unscripted television, currently as Co-Executive Producer on the CBS franchise series Big Brother.

    During her career, she served as Director of Current Programming at TV One, contributing her expertise to the cable network’s success by spearheading a variety of specials and series showcasing talent of color. Shawn later served as Supervising Producer on The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty for A&E and was part of the producing team for Shaq Presents Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain. She has managed third-party casting teams for Amazing Race, Survivor, Hunted, and The Body Challenge, and has lent her talent to shows airing on ABC, Discovery, Discovery Health, Fox, and MTV, as well as independent features.

    In 2006, Shawn launched a full-service media company, Half Pint Communications Inc., providing production, publicity, media management, and talent relations support for a variety of shows and live events, including writing and producing content for the National Urban League, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, TELACU, and the National Hispanic Council on Aging.

    Shawn lends her time on various charitable outreach projects including We Are Servants and Journey of Faith. She has previously held positions on the Board of Directors for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, as well as CLEAR Association Inc., an organization of rights & clearance professionals.

    She is a proud alumna of Westlake '85 and Rutgers University '89, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and Cane Corso.

  • Carrie Lee '95
    Carrie Lee '95
     

    From asset management to philanthropic work, Carrie Lee believes in challenging traditional notions of leadership and success. After her time as a finance attorney at White & Case, Carrie spearheaded a number of humanitarian projects in the Indian Himalayas, including the region's most celebrated school to empower marginalized communities. This inspired Carrie to create Pine Street Alternative Asset Management in New York, an award-winning hedge fund seeding platform with an emphasis on inclusion investing. She also serves as a senior advisor to Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security developing non-partisan strategies to address national security challenges facing the United States. In her free time, Carrie enjoys Star Trek, Formula 1 and California wines.

    Carrie is a graduate of UC San Diego and received her JD from Loyola Law School.

  • Peter Levi '82
    Peter Levi '82
     

    Rabbi Peter Levi is a veteran Jewish community professional with experiences in community relations and interfaith affairs. After 18 years in congregational life, he now directs the Anti-Defamation League's Orange County/Long Beach Regional Office, serves as president of the Orange County Board of Rabbis, is a member of the Orange County Sheriff's Interfaith Advisory Council among many other community coalitions. As a community leader, Peter shows a passion for securing justice and fair treatment for all. He has been deeply involved in interfaith relations, fought discrimination against marginalized groups and lobbied for inclusion for all person regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, and country of origin, and is a supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.

    As a leader in ADL, Peter fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all. ADL does so by responding to hate incidents, building relationships with elected officials, the interfaith community, law enforcement, other cultural and civil rights organizations, and educating the community [anti-bias and anti-bullying programs for K-12 schools, college campuses, and the community].

    Peter earned his bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Yale College, then taught high school before pursuing a PhD in Analytic Philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He was ordained as a rabbi by the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. Peter is married to artist Ruth Levi and is the proud father of four.

  • Katherine Luna '01
    Katherine Luna '01
     

    Katherine Luna is a senior machine learning engineer at Apple in the Trust and Safety team in Search and Knowledge. In that role, she founded Apple’s machine learning fairness and bias efforts in search and leads initiatives to determine policy for content and hate speech detection. Prior to that, she led machine learning research for Apple Spotlight suggestions. Katherine advises teams throughout the company on incorporating diversity and inclusion into their products and contributes to cross-company initiatives to promote a more diverse and inclusive organization.

    Katherine is a Fulbright scholar and holds a Ph.D. in Physics, M.S. in Financial Mathematics, B.S. in Physics, and B.S. in Mathematics all from Stanford University. In her free time, she enjoys painting, cooking, golf, and soccer.

  • Rebecca Neubauer '07
    Rebecca Neubauer '07
     

    Rebecca Neubauer received a Master of Arts in Social Service Administration and a certificate in Health Administration and Policy with a Concentration in Global Health from the University of Chicago. She is licensed as a clinical social worker in the state of California. Rebecca has worked in various capacities in the public and private sectors. Her clinical experience includes working at Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Services, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), UCLA Rape Treatment Center, Harvard-Westlake Middle School, and Brentwood Upper School. Currently, in addition to her private practice, she volunteers as a Clinical Supervisor at the Maple Counseling Center and provides forensic psychological assessments for individuals seeking asylum with Physicians for Human Rights.

  • Terry O'Neal '07
    Terry O'Neal '07
     

    Terry O'Neal was an integral part of the team that pushed the initiative to create this council. Currently, Terry is a Brand Manager at Øpus United, a creative agency and brand accelerant – where he manages brand concept and strategy for several Fortune 500 Companies. Prior to joining the Øpus United team, Terry was the Footwear Manager for the luxury fashion brand, Fear of God, where he oversaw a range of product stages from development to wholesale logistics. In addition to Footwear Manager at Fear of God, he also served as the Project Manager for e-commerce, and an integral component of the Brand & Business Development of Fear of God.

    Before joining the Fear of God team, Terry was a Brand Director at Five Four, where he focused on brand strategy and operations. He began his career as an investment banking analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he analyzed capital structures for clients in preparations for IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and various types of financing transactions.

    After attending Harvard-Westlake, he received his B.A. in American Literature & Culture from UCLA, where he was also a varsity member of the UCLA Football team.

    Outside of work, Terry advises two companies; Legacy, an athlete focused brand management agency and Unfortunate Portrait, an artistically driven high-end clothing brand. He also enjoys photography, actively maintaining a healthy lifestyle, traveling, music, and basketball.

  • Kevin Parker '95
    Kevin Parker '95
     

    Kevin Parker is a talent manager with Artists First. With over 20 years of experience, Kevin represents actors, writers, and directors for both film and television.

    Kevin began his career in 1999 with Artists Management Group, Michael Ovitz's newly former management/production company. Promoted in two different departments, Kevin created film and television opportunities for music talent and consulted companies such as Seventeen Magazine and The Palms Casino & Resort for entertainment business prospects. Following the acquisition of Artists Management Group by a rival management company, Kevin left to become a television producer for networks such as NBC, MTV, VH1, TBS, and HBO.

    Returning to talent representation in 2010 with a boutique management company, Kevin joined Principato-Young Entertainment (rebranded Artists First) in 2016. In his time at PYE/Artists First, Kevin's clients have created and/or starred in over 50 televisions shows and movies including the Netflix feature BEATS, the Hulu series WOKE, and the two season straight-to-series order of the Will Smith produced drama BEL-AIR for Peacock.

    Away from the entertainment business, Kevin has served on the Emerging Leaders Board for JVS SoCal, the Professional Circle for Communities in Schools, as an advisor for The Council for Urban Professionals, and as a consultant for the NBC Stand-Up for Diversity Program.

    Kevin graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 1995 and earned his B.A. from Morehouse College in 1999. A member of the first Harvard-Westlake CIF Basketball Championship team, Kevin organizes the annual Alum Run basketball tournament for alumni Varsity basketball players.

  • Flora Pereira '05
    Flora Pereira '05
     

    Flora Pereira (she/ella/ela) graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2005. Flora is a world-traveler whose journey began in Brazil. She is proud to be a Latina immigrant. She grew up in many countries, and Harvard Westlake provided her an opportunity to see even more of the world through School Year Abroad in France.

    Flora attended Bard College, where she majored in Comparative Literature and minored in Latin American and Iberian Studies. She went on to pursue a legal degree with the express goal of contributing to the movement to dismantle systems of injustice and oppression. She graduated from UC Berkeley Law School in 2014, where she focused on social justice issues ranging from immigration to criminal and juvenile justice. After law school, she was in-house counsel at a non-profit dedicated to supporting documentaries that explore pressing social issues and uplift underrepresented voices.

    Flora found her professional calling as an immigrant justice attorney. She is currently an attorney at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Her legal practice focuses on representing clients seeking asylum and other forms of humanitarian immigration relief, and defending clients against deportation. Flora also serves on the Board of the Pride Law Fund, which focuses on advancing the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. She fiercely believes in the right of all people to live a life free from oppression in all of its forms. She believes that everyone has a role to play and shares a responsibility to collectively build this world.

  • Jonah Platt '04
    Jonah Platt '04
     

    Jonah Platt is an accomplished actor, writer, and musician whose work has been featured on Broadway, network TV, and stages all over the world. He is currently at work writing his original animated series he recently sold to Apple+. Jonah is also an involved leader in the LA Jewish community. He is a Jewish Big Brother, a graduate of Jewish Federation's New Leaders Project and Community Leadership institute, a 3-time JFed Teen Innovation Mentor, and is currently a 2020 Israel Policy Forum Bronfman Fellow, Advisory Board Member for American Jewish University's Miller School Intro to Judaism Program, and an ADL LA regional Glass Leadership Institute Fellow. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Mid-City with his wife Courtney, two-year-old son (and future Wolverine!) Joey, and labradoodle Lucy.

  • Hana Qugana '05
    Hana Qugana '05
     

    Dr. Hana Qugana is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the University of Sussex and NYU London, specialising in the histories of race, empire and post-colonialism. Her research focuses on public education and youth culture in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, exploring the overlapping and contested legacies of European and American imperialism in the region. Based in the UK, she maintains a pedagogical interest in decolonising curricula within the Arts and Humanities, and is committed to tackling institutional racism within academia. Her taught courses range widely across the field of Global History, gravitating towards interstitial moments of ethno-nationalism, spiritual awakening and revolutionary change.

    Hana received a BA in History and Music from University of Richmond, MPhil in Colonial and Global History from Universiteit Leiden, and PhD in History from University College London, University of London.

  • Axel Rivera-De Leon '18
    Axel Rivera-De Leon '18
     

    I graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2018. I'm currently a Junior at Stanford University studying Human Biology with a concentration in Neurocognitive Music Perception. I plan on attending medical school and pursuing a career in LGBTQ+ health.

    As a first-generation/low income college student, I want to support POC/LGBTQ+ students at Harvard-Westlake. My parents immigrated to the United States from Guatemala, but I was born in Los Angeles. I am Latino and gay and proud to be a member of these communities.

    At Stanford, I'm a peer counselor at the Bridge Peer Counseling Center and an undergraduate researcher at the Lab of Organismal Biology. In my free time, I love cooking, hiking, playing Catan, and spending time with my pet African Grey. Pronouns: he/him/his

  • Oscar Rodriguez '89
    Oscar Rodriguez '89
     

    Dr. Oscar E. Rodriguez graduated from the Harvard School for Boys in 1989 where he varsitied in three sports and received the National Forensic League Degree of Distinction in Speech. As a pre-med at Duke University, he co-founded and was Vice President of Mi Gente, Duke's first official Latinx students association, and co-chaired the university's Special Events committee concentrating on creating cross-campus cross-university cultural events to celebrate the diversity of and promote dialogue among the student bodies in the Research Triangle through racial summits, cultural consortiums, and cooperative events. He also co-founded and was Chief Editor of Swing, Duke's first independent student magazine dedicated to providing information, resources, and an open forum previously unavailable to underrepresented LGBTQ, African American, Latinx, Asian American, and international students.

    During his medical training in Mexico, Oscar served as his medical school class president, Chairman of the Board of the North American Students Association, and Co-Founder and Vice President of the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine Chapter of the American Medical Student Association. In these roles, Oscar created programs and events to ensure students of all races, religions, and gender-identities were properly represented and had a voice at the local and national level both in the US and Mexico.

    In his professional career, Oscar has developed programs to ensure health equity and combat racism, linguicism, ableism, sizeism, singlism, and “non-traditional” family biases in healthcare. He currently volunteers his time to several organizations combating ageism and classism in healthcare and education.

  • Elizabeth Roy '06
    Elizabeth Roy '06
     

    Elizabeth "Liz" Roy (she/her/hers) is a diversity and inclusion practitioner who delights in helping organizations create spaces where everyone can feel welcomed, valued respected and heard.

    She currently serves as the Director of Business Development for Jennifer Brown Consulting (JBC), a global diversity and inclusion and strategic leadership consulting firm. Before joining JBC, she spent nearly a decade helping various retail and mission-driven organizations grow their teams and develop more inclusive and joyful workplaces.

    Liz is a proud Wolverine (Class of '06), Quaker (UPenn '10), and native Angeleno residing in Inglewood. She enjoys surfing, exploring the robust vegan food scene in Los Angeles, and spending quality time with her partner and two dogs.

  • Matt Sayles '00
    Matt Sayles '00
     

    Matt Sayles is a portrait and commercial photographer and director based in Los Angeles. Matt focuses his work on creating images that reflect a more inclusive image of beauty and highlighting stories of underrepresented people and communities. Matt is a graduate of Stanford University and the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two sons, and three dogs.

     

  • Danny Seo '96
    Danny Seo '96
     

    Danny Seo is a veteran in the financial services arena and an entrepreneur. He is currently the co-CEO of Modern Global Sourcing, managing partner at BrandView Capital Partners and founder of Modern Global Glove, a joint venture with one of Asia's largest publicly listed glove manufacturers. Prior to his journey into entrepreneurship, Danny accumulated 18 years of financial markets experience in the family office world at Checchi Capital Advisers, institutional sales & trading at Sanford Bernstein, real estate private equity at Clarion Partners, real estate debt at George Elkins Mortgage Banking, and technology investment banking at Robertson Stephens.

    Danny is very active at Harvard-Westlake School where he is a past President of the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Association Board. He also previously served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Police Foundation. Danny graduated with honors in finance from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College where he was also widely recognized as a leader and student activist. Danny also received his MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

  • David Sun '98
    David Sun '98
     

    David Sun attended Harvard-Westlake from 1993 to 1998. While at Harvard-Westlake, he ran varsity Track & Field and Cross-Country. David majored in International Relations at the University of Southern California and received his law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He served as a law clerk with the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and legislative intern with the Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    Upon returning to Los Angeles, David entered into private practice, where he focused on immigration and business law. He then followed his passion for public service and joined the Los Angeles Police Department. David has worked uniformed patrol, custody, bike patrol, investigations, and various administrative assignments.

  • TJ Taylor '07
    TJ Taylor '07
     

    TJ Taylor grew up in South Los Angeles, and attended Harvard-Westlake from 2001-2007. During his time at Harvard-Westlake he was a member of the Men's Basketball Program, as well as a member of BLACC. Post graduation, he attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. While at Lehigh, TJ received a degree in Accounting & Finance. Returning to Los Angeles immediately upon graduating, he had a stint of less than a year in finance before he transitioned into tech, specifically software focused start-ups. He is currently working as the VP of Community at recently launched social media app, Dispo.

    TJ is passionate about making sure other kids that have backgrounds similar to his are able to get access to the same education and network that Harvard-Westlake provided to him.

  • Sirus Wheaton '19
    Sirus Wheaton '19
     

    I am a sophomore at Amherst College and a 2019 graduate of Harvard Westlake. At Harvard-Westlake, I was the head of BLACC, a co-chair for Student Ambassadors, and a recipient of the Spotlight Dinner award. I loved my time at Harvard-Westlake, and it inspired me to continue to try and make a change at Amherst. At Amherst, I am a Senator for the class of 2023, on the executive board for the BSU, and a sophomore captain for club soccer. This summer, I worked with four fellow HW class of 2019 graduates on creating the Black@HW Instagram page where we shared stories of how black students have been affected at our high school. I look forward to working on this committee!