strategic board and staff.
JAY LEVIN
Jay is Founder, President and Executive Director of the EQuip Our Kids! Campaign. Generally acknowledged as a media pioneer, he is founder and former CEO and Editor-in-Chief of multiple award-winning and greatly successful (broke advertising records in the industry) LA Weekly newspaper, which he sold some years ago. Since then he has focused on three areas of activity.
(1) Starting, growing or saving media properties that have social value. Mr. Levin is knowledgeable about most elements of media and marketing, including developing sponsorships from major companies, and has a wide network of business and institutional allies and talent.
(2) Non-profit organizations, of which he has launched or co-launched five, including Fix Our America (money out of politics), the Community Media Project (poverty and job development), The Committee of Concern for Central America (human rights), and now EQuip Our Kids! and The California Social-Emotional Learning Alliance. He has also served on the advisory board of other non-profits, including the Liberty Hill Foundation (which earlier honored him as Man of the Year, as did the Office of the Americas) and the Green Business Network.
(3) As a successful if very part-time life and executive coach for 20 years, this based on his life-long interest in and study of human development, in which he is trained as a practitioner, including via a Master’s Degree program in spiritual psychology. The same inner-and-outer-world management skills that constitute adult social and emotional learning, he believes, are even more effective with – and more easily adopted by – children.
AMANDA MANARES
Amanda is Board Chair of EQuip Our Kids! Devoted to advancing human wellbeing , she is a founding partner of Precision Health Technology Products, as well as an investor or Advisory Board member of multiple businesses in many sectors, including social impact investing. These service more than 30 global marketplaces. Her specialty has been securing market innovation and first-to-market advantages for several companies, including Appics AG and WeText. In this she draws on an extensive range of industry influencers, key strategic partners, global change makers and public figures she has cultivated over time. She is frequently called on for strategic development of business and selective nonprofit initiatives based on these factors, as well as for an innate skill at simplifying complex concepts, for her execution talents and instincts, and for her ability to understand and communicate organization missions to global markets.
Most recently, her interests and skills have gravitated toward entertainment and media and to navigating realms of virtual immersive technologies and blockchain ventures – including architecting crypto-philanthropic initiatives. As a mother herself, Amanda sees the emotional intelligence revolution and social emotional learning as a needed catalyst of an advanced society that has gained the skills to shed its destructive, conflict-ridden tendencies and prosper in a mutually caring and ever more innovative, fairer, and healthy new world. She also brings the vision of such a world to her role as a Founding Circle Member of the Stan Lee Foundation.
DAVID ADAMS
David is Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Assembly based in New York, which he joined in 2014 as the Director of Social-Emotional Learning. There he created the Resilient Scholars Program (RSP), a unique approach to integrating SEL into curriculum and classroom practices across the UA network. Now a national program, RSP serves schools and districts in Los Angeles, Houston, Syracuse, and other cities. Later, as Senior Director of Strategy, David led the expansion of the organization into a model provider of school support, with an emphasis on innovation and equity in public education.
David is also co-leader and key organizer of two-year old International SEL Day, a collective social media effort by SEL educators to inform the public about the exceptional benefits of adopting SEL in all schools and homes. The 2021 event on March 26 drew 12 million views in one weekend. He also is a board member of CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning), which is the most prominent and influential SEL support organization in the U.S. In 2021, David received the Champion of Equity Award from the American Consortium for Equity in Education. He is an author of The Educator’s Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence, and a co-author of the textbook, Challenges to Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs in Organizations. A Civil Affairs Officer in the Army Reserve, he holds an M.Ed in Educational Psychology from Fordham University.
MARQUES D. ANDERSON
Marques is an innovator, world builder and cyborg anthropologist, which studies the intra-connections between humans and technology. In 2009, following five years as an NFL player and two years of study abroad, he founded the World Education Foundation, which focuses on bridging the gap between academia, technology and project implementation in local communities around the world. WE developed on-site programs in 21 of the 81 countries he has visited. Accomplishments include improving malaria treatment production and access in DR Congo; also alleviating poverty there via an integrated biodiesel program; Youth Empowerment Programs in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia; an alternative fuel project in Haiti; and a solution incubator in refugee camps of Northern Iraq and Myanmar. Collaborators in WE projects include MIT, Harvard, Stanford, USC, the United Nations Foundation, Save the Children and Start Up Lab.
BARBARA ANNIS
Barbara Annis, CEO of Gender Intelligence Group (GIG), is a world-renowned expert on gender, diversity and inclusive leadership. She advocates the value and practice of this new type of leadership in organizations and major companies worldwide. Her insights and achievements have pioneered a transformational shift in mindsets for men and women across the globe on the importance of gender unity to organizational success. Over the last 30 years, she and her associates have transformed organizational cultures and leadership behavior while creating greater gender balance at all levels. Barbara is also Chair Emeritus and current member of the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard Kennedy School, and was recently conferred the International Alliance for Women, Lifetime Achievement Award.
Barbara began her career as the first woman in sales at Sony and became the first woman Sales Manager, gaining 14 Outstanding Sales Achievement Awards and Sony’s MVP Award. Since then, her group has facilitated more than 8,000 workshops and conducted thousands of leadership assessments and executive coaching sessions. And she is the author of five books: Results at the Top: Using Gender Intelligence to Create Breakthrough Growth, co-authored with Richard Nesbitt; Gender Intelligence: Breakthrough Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Improving Your Bottom Line, co-authored with Dr. Keith Merron; Work with Me: The 8 Blind Spots between Men and Women in Business is written in conjunction with John Gray of Mars Venus renown; Same Words, Different Language: A Proven Guide for Creating Gender Intelligence at Work; and Leadership and the Sexes, co-authored with Michael Gurian Her 5th book, Results at the Top: Using Gender Intelligence to Create Breakthrough Growth is out now!
View her TED Talk and an interview with her on BNN Bloomberg.
DR. ROSLYN ELLISON BLAKE
Dr. Blake is CEO of MB Ellison, Inc., and COO of Bob Blake & Associates, which services the employee benefits programs of many government organizations in the Los Angeles region. Frequently honored as a leader in the African-American business and philanthropic communities, she has established her own program to elevate the lives of young people. Dr. Blake is also on the Board of Councilors at USC’s School of Pharmacy and the board of Getty House Foundation, and is active in the Women Presidents’ Organization, Women Impacting Political Policy, and the National Association of Women Business Owners. A graduate of University of Southern California, she is a trained pharmacist turned entrepreneur and C-suite executive. As a Big EQ board member, she will serve as Secretary and Treasurer.
DR. AMY CRANSTON
Amy currently serves as the Executive Director of the California Social-Emotional Learning Alliance . Previously she was Director of Expanded Learning Services for the Ventura County Office of Education; also Co-Regional Lead for Region 8 of the California Department of Education’s Expanded Learning Division. A professional educator for nearly 20 years, she has been a teacher, school site administrator, county office administrator, and state representative for a four-county region.
A formal and passionate SEL expert, her Doctoral study focused on Social-Emotional Learning in K-12 Education. She has since brought her SEL expertise into service in various capacities at the local, state, and national levels. Dr. Cranston holds an Ed.D. in K-12 Educational Leadership and has published several articles based on her SEL research. Her book Creating SEL Environments is set for release in July, 2019 by Shell Education Publishing. Her additional areas of expertise include: Impact of poverty on education, social justice and educational equity for at-risk students, dropout prevention, college and career readiness, career and technical education (CTE), school climate and safety, family engagement, and afterschool expanded learning programs.
RYAN CROWNHOLM
Ryan is CEO of Crown Capital Ventures, Inc. and a veteran of the US Army. An enthusiastic supporter of social-emotional learning (SEL) and of positive school transformation and the father of two young children, he brings his exceptional talents as a guerilla marketer and entrepreneur to assist EQuip Our Kids! in developing business and philanthropic support for SEL. Ryan has built a succession of multi-million dollar companies with little capital and no outside investment. Sectors include waste management, trucking, excavating and construction, along with internet-based businesses, marketplaces, blockchain, and real estate. His creativity and experience has also helped dozens of businesses and non-profits execute on their vision. He has a unique talent of unlocking hidden revenue in almost any type of organization. Ryan also volunteers his time with Defy Ventures, helping formerly incarcerated inmates learn about soft job skills and entrepreneurship to help them re-integrate into society.
ERNESTO DURAN
Mr. Duran is one of the 16 “Regional Leads” for Expanded Learning Programs in the State of California, responsible for providing technical assistance and grant compliance support to more than 50 school districts serving more than 21,000 children in 250 schools across four counties. Earlier, he managed a Boys and Girls Club department of 200 employees, overseeing multiple after-school programs. A major supporter of Social-Emotional Learning and a frequent speaker at community events and at education and government conferences, his most recent area of focus is on SEL in the Latino community.
A research scholar as well, his latest study looks at the prevention of health disparities for children exposed to violence in under-served communities. Two earlier studies examined health disparities for farm workers and indigenous Mexican populations living and working in Ventura County. He also has provided consulting assistance and training to government institutions, businesses, non-profit organizations and marketing agencies seeking to increase their outreach and services to the growing Latino community. Mr. Durán graduated from UCLA with a double major in History and Spanish Literature and holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the school.
RICHARD FOOS
Best known as co-founder and former CEO of Rhino Records, which itself became famous twice over – once as the vanguard company that founded and reprised remarkable music (and later films) and packaged these in an elegant and intelligent manner; and secondly as one of the most socially conscious businesses in America, one that encouraged company employees to mentor disadvantaged youth and donated millions to various community-based charities. After selling Rhino, he founded the company Shout! Factory and introduced to it the same social values and product focus, except with more attention to films and TV than music.
Widely respected as a philanthropist, he has served on numerous charity and non-profit social cause boards, among them the Chrysalis Foundation (homelessness and poverty) and Little Kids Rock, a national organization devoted to enriching children’s lives by providing musical instruments and training to schools across the country (more than 1,000 to date), a cause in which he is energetically active. Richard is also deeply committed to infusing SEL programs into all schools.
MIKE GORMLEY
Mike Gormley achieved top recognition in his 40+ years in the music industry by setting into motion major artists’ international careers, including film composer Danny Elfman, the massively successful pop band The Bangles, Rod Stewart, Rush, BTO, The Police and Supertramp – this in roles as a record company executive and independent artist manager. He’s also been a music supervisor for TV and films, a music marketing/PR expert and, earlier, a journalist. He currently guides new talent seeking prominence in the industry.
As Publicity Director for Mercury Records, Mike engineered the media campaigns for Thin Lizzy, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Runaways and The Ohio Players, among others, and was instrumental in signing the pioneering punk band The New York Dolls and the groundbreaking German electronica artists, Kraftwerk. Later as VP-Publicity for A&M Records, he worked with Herb Alpert, Styx, Squeeze and others before starting the management firm Los Angeles Personal Development with Miles Copeland, manager of The Police. Artists he managed include African star Angelique Kidjo, hit songwriters Lowen & Navarro, Australian singer/songwriter Anne McCue, the producer/film composer Paul Schwartz, and Broadway and film star Paige O’Hara. Later as co-founder of Wildcat Records he signed Michael Damian and The Boomers. Marketing clients included Nickelodeon, hip-hop dance company Groovaloo, the Great American Food and Music Festival, Townsquare LLC and Rhino Records.
CRAIG HANLEY
Craig Handley is an author of a best selling book, Hired To Quit, who “moonlights,” he jokes, as CEO of his company, ListenTrust, which was named #1 in Business Products and Service (#27 overall) on the Inc. Magazine 500/5000. The company’s almost 1,000 employees answer hundreds of thousands of CS and lead generation calls monthly, generating $150,000 a month average for clients. Craig also runs a rapidly growing social media company, SocialClose, that is now guiding EQuip Our Kids! social media activities.
An expert at restarts, culture and hiring and highly innovative in marketing and sales, Craig is also a musician who has written hundreds of songs for artists all over the world, from rap to pop to ballads to humorous parodies; and he’s a bit of a comedian whose done stand-up on Broadway in NYC.
Craig served five years in the U.S. Army infantry during the first Iraqi war, leaving with an honorable discharge. An adventurer, he has cage-dived with great white sharks and rappelled down Table Mountain in South Africa, driven the Baja 500 trail in Mexico, hiked through the jungles of Malaysia, and in Iceland he snowmobiled across a live volcano, swam in the Blue Lagoon, and dove in the famed Silfra Fissure – the only dive site in the world where your dive is in the crack between two continental plates. He is also the 85th civilian in the world ever to jump out of a plane from over 32,000 feet (HALO Dive). Other “adventures” he notes: Hanging out on Necker Island with Richard Branson, partying with Akon and Snoop Dogg and many other celebrities, some of whom asked him for his autograph because they thought he starred in Game Of Thrones and he did not correct their thinking.
ISAAC MIZRAKI
KEITH MONTGOMERY
Keith Montgomery is a serial entrepreneur and a NextGen technology specialist.
He is co-founder of several technology companies focused on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud, and Enterprise Transformation. In addition to startups, Keith has worked with some of the largest organizations in the world including Cisco, McGraw-Hill, and the Department of Defense.
Keith uses a mathematician’s mind and linguist’s strategies to allow him to set powerful visions, build high-performance teams, and lead initiatives. By leveraging governance, leadership, data, security, and resilient systems, he’s led turnarounds and business transformations at Fortune 500, commercial banks, and professional services organizations.
As the creator of the Sustainable Disruption Management Framework (SDMF), Keith formulated a method that enables individuals, teams, and organizations to be resilient in the face of extreme change.
Resilience as an outgrowth of emotional intelligence is a core theme in Keith’s personal life, as well as a subject he speaks on to business and futurist groups. He believes humanity’s highest future is in developing the skills to manage life in a compassionate and resilient way.
STEPHEN NEMETH
Stephen Nemeth is a feature film and documentary producer and executive producer with dozens of films to his credit – – most produced by his independent film company Rhino Films. He is best known for the feature films Sessions, Why do Fools Fall in Love, Spaceman and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; and for the documentaries Fuel, Climate Refugees, The Monopoly Story, and Dogtown and Z Boys. He also developed numerous human rights related features and documentaries for Amnesty International while on the board of Artists for Amnesty.
KYLIE ROWE
Kylie Rowe, CEO of Kylie Rowe Co., is a specialist in corporate leadership development. An award-winning executive of the year herself, she helps rising-star executives and executive teams build leadership confidence and elevate overall workplace and personal well-being. Her system provides evidence-based leadership education, best-practices training and accountability coaching to efficiently achieve personal and professional goals.
Kylie’s path to enhancing human emotional intelligence began earlier when, serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA, she designed a wellness curriculum for disadvantaged youth that taught emotional wellness and skill-building, including their learning to name and express their feelings. Seeing the positive effects, she later designed her sophisticated adult-oriented business based on a strategic vision that the adult world could be a better place by assisting individuals and companies to develop advanced levels of personal leadership skills – which at core is emotional intelligence. Now recognized as a top 20 under-40 professional, she holds master’s degrees in social work and in business administration, and her undergraduate education is in economics.
A former talk show host of the year, Kylie offers a free group for those looking to develop their personal leadership at https://www.facebook.com/
RONNIE SELINGER
Ronnie is founder and CEO of Nordis Technologies, a high-tech national business communications firm that specializes in digital printing, electronic communications, billing and payment services focused on the Hospitality, Healthcare and Financial Services industries. The 30-year old company operates production facilities in Coral Springs, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ronnie is the visionary behind Nordis Technologies flagship products Expresso and Expresso Pay which are cloud-based electronic billing and payment technologies that allow Nordis clients the ability to manage the complex communications and payment processes from their desktop.
Ronnie makes his home in South Florida and before launching Nordis Technologies created a fundraising company that delivered more than $50 million to schools and youth groups throughout the U.S. His passion for helping children keeps him active in several children-oriented charities, including Voices for Children Broward County, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the March of Dimes, and he is in the early stages of setting up his own children’s support foundation. Other causes he aids are the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, and the American Cancer Society.
TED ALEMAYHU (Emiritus)
Ted became a globally-recognized and respected social entrepreneur when he founded and was Executive Chairman of U.S. Doctors for Africa (USDFA),a humanitarian organization committed to increasing access to medical care for diseases and conditions affecting the people of Africa. Ted is also recognized as the catalyst of the African First Ladies Health Summit, and was a key adviser and contributor to the formation of the African Union Foundation.
ERIK OBERHOLTZER (Emiritus)
Co-Founder & CEO of Tender Greens restaurant chain. A civic activist, Erik focuses on poverty youth, foster care, food justice and job training, economic empowerment and the environment. As a social entrepreneur, Erik works to change the cycle of poverty affecting at-risk youth, doing so in part with culinary training through Tender Greens’ Sustainable Life Project, which he founded. SLP enrolls economically-disadvantaged youth in a six-month farm-to-fork internship consisting of weekly farm visits, classic culinary arts classes and weekly on-the job training at Tender Greens. Graduates are eligible for full-time employment upon completion. Erik also is co-founder of P. Balistreri Salumi Company, the first of chef legacy companies incubated and brought to market through Tender Greens.
TED SCHILOWITZ (Emiritus)
Ted is the official Futurist for Paramount Pictures and views universal emotional intelligence learning as a necessity for the future well-being of society. He spends his time and pursues his passion in a unique role in the motion picture entertainment industry. He works with studio leadership and the technology teams at Paramount/Viacom exploring forms of new and emerging technologies, with an emphasis on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance as groundbreaking projects that pushed the envelope of Virtual Reality storytelling.
our staff and consultants.
Matthew Spaur – Director of Marketing
Harsh Gohil – Social Media Manager
Angela Benedetto and Meg Foss – Writers
Lisa Deal – Art Director
Deirdre O’Hare – Ecommerce Director
Maureen McComsey – Strategic Alliances
Nikhil Bhambi, Mary Brennan, Jack Davis, Adrienne Bracket – Business Sales
Bonnie Chan– Sponsorship Fiscal Manager
Dana Hageman, Ori Hoffer, Anna Safranova, Cheryl Sills, Donya Hengehold – Public Relations
Jesse Crabtree, Celeste Ramos Salado, Luisa Zhao – Sponsorship Researchers
Jeff Sarlo, Will Pitts III – Web Developers
Sasha Strauss, Greg Logan, Linda Hollander, Simon Mainwaring – Marketing Consultants
Stella Tsoi – Project Coordinator
Joe Collins and Julie Visco – Video and/or Graphic Creators
The Art of Good – Design Team
Melissa Vo/Good Cause Group, Lisa-Beth Harris– Funding Consultants
