Southern California Leadership Network Announces Four Locals to Participate in Transatlantic Fellowship Program

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Southern California Leadership Network (SCLN) and the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) are pleased to announce four Southern Californians have been awarded the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) for 2010.  During the 24-day traveling program, fellows will be a part of a group of 54 leaders representing 18 states and the District of Columbia looking to develop extensive knowledge of political, economic, and social institutions and issues facing the United States and Europe.

“This is an important opportunity for Southern California leaders to develop international, and particularly transatlantic, perspectives on major policy issues,” said Kevin Cottrell, Executive Director, Southern California Leadership Network, the Southern California nominations and selection partner with GMF.  “Having among the most fellows selected from Los Angeles than other U.S. cities is validation of the region’s importance in global issues.”

The MMF program educates the emerging American and European leaders on the importance of the transatlantic relationship, and encourages them to collaborate on a range of international and domestic policy challenges.  Fellows are selected through competitive nationwide and regional processes and come from politics, government, media, business and the nonprofit sector.  American fellows travel to five cities across Europe, learning about the institutions and people that drive Europe’s cities, regions, countries and multilateral systems through meetings with local counterparts.

The 2010 Southern California fellows are:

Marcus Castain, Founder and CEO, Infrastructure Academy

Marcus Castain is the founder and CEO of the Infrastructure Academy, a social entrepreneurial organization dedicated to building a pipeline of diverse, well-qualified young people for the career opportunities of the green economy.  He also oversees Generation Power, a social enterprise which directly employs young people to conduct sustainability work in their communities.  Marcus has experience as a creator, manager, and participant of leadership, education, and youth development programs.  His most recent experience was serving as Associate Director of Education, Youth and Families for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa where he worked to raise expectations and support for meaningful education reform in Los Angeles.  He also served as the Mayor’s liaison to the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.  Previously, Marcus was an Associate Director at the Broad Foundation, a national venture philanthropic organization that concentrates on dramatically improving K-12 urban public education.  At Broad he managed a $30 million-investment portfolio focused on improving the management systems of large urban school districts including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Long Beach, Oakland and other cities.  He also started the Broad Residency program, a highly competitive, two-year management program that trains emerging leaders for senior management positions in urban school districts.  Marcus has worked in product management for a Cisco Learning Partner and as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.  He started his career in Washington, DC, as a research analyst at an international affairs think-tank.  Marcus has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BA in International Political Economy from University of California, Berkeley.  He also teaches a graduate course in Social Entrepreneurship at the UCLA School of Public Affairs.

Colleen Haggerty, Senior Vice President, Media Relations, Bank of America

Colleen Haggerty is Senior Vice President for Media Relations at Bank of America, managing proactive and reactive media issues for the West Coast, in addition to overseeing media strategies for the company's community development platform. Prior to this, she was Director of Communications for Fannie Mae, overseeing media and public relations efforts for the ten western states for seven years, based in Pasadena. She also served as press deputy for United States Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington, D.C., press secretary for Congresswoman Jane Harman's gubernatorial campaign, and as a news producer for California Public Radio during its final years on air in the early 1990s. Colleen also helps run a family business and is a member with local Chambers of Commerce. She was a fellow with the Southern California Leadership Network, and a member of the media relations advisory council for the Democratic National Committee presidential convention in 2000.
       
Alma Marquez, Vice President, External and Government Affairs, Green Dot Public Schools

Alma Vivian Marquez is Vice President of External and Government Affairs and is responsible for public policy agenda, strategic partnerships, and external and government affairs for Green Dot Public Schools.  The architect of the community engagement and parent organizing framework for small school reform led by Green Dot, Alma has played a pivotal role in education reform movement in Los Angeles.  Prior to joining Green Dot, Alma was a Program Officer at First 5 LA, where she managed a portfolio of $150 million for early childhood education and grew to appreciate its impact in eliminating the achievement gap.  Alma was also a consultant to the LA County Office of Education and LA County Children’s Planning Council to create equitable pathways for educational excellence through diversity, strategic planning and community engagement.  Alma is both a product and survivor of LAUSD schools.  As a teen, she organized with ALYS: the African Latino Youth Summit to create safe and critical thinking spaces for youth of color.  In 1992, she was appointed to the Warren Christopher Commission after the Los Angeles Civil Unrest.  In 1995, President Clinton awarded her the White House Presidential Community Service Award.  Among her awards, she is most proud of being honored by Mayor Tom Bradley, Assembly Majority Leader Marco A. Firebaugh as Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, being a national finalist for the Michael Schwerner Activist Award and being recognized by the March of Dimes for her work to help save babies’ lives.  Alma is also a graduate of the Hispanas Organized for Political Equity (HOPE) Leadership Institute.  As an early supporter of President Barack Obama’s campaign for President, Alma played a key role in working on national Latino Vote programs, securing high-profile supporters and endorsers and travelled all over the country garner support for then-Senator Obama.  Alma was most recently the CA Latino Vote Director for President Obama’s historical campaign securing support in California and in Southwestern states where Latinos eventually made the difference in securing his victory.  Alma graduated from Occidental College with a bachelor’s degree in English and Comparative Literature Studies and received the highly coveted HUD Community Builders Fellowship while pursuing her Master’s degree in Urban Planning with a focus on Social Policy, Community and Economic Development from the University of California at Los Angeles.
   
Angela Reddock, Founder and Managing Partner, The Reddock Law Group

Angela Reddock is a distinguished attorney specializing in employment and labor law and workplace consulting for private, public-sector and nonprofit employers.  She is the Founding and Managing Partner of The Reddock Law Group and has been a partner with other prestigious law firms.  Angela has been named a “Southern California Super Lawyer” and “Rising Star” for several years in a row and is a published author and legal commentator.  Her published works include:  How to Survive Your First Job (Special Editor) and Inside the Minds: Labor & Employment Client Strategies.  She also serves as a legal commentator for KFWB “Turning Point Business Minute” and for KCAL-9 and KCBS-2 television.  In addition to her work as an attorney, Reddock is an engaged community and civic leader, most recently having served for two years as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest community college district in the country.  She also serves on several other boards and commissions and most recently was named a 2009 “SheRo” by State Senator Curren Price for her work in public and community service.  Reddock received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science from Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts and graduated cum laude.  While at Amherst she also studied abroad at Saint Catherine’s College in Oxford, England where she concentrated her studies in modern British literature and politics.  Reddock obtained her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows program in public policy and public affairs.

GMF works with partner organizations across the United States to identify and select the American Marshall Memorial Fellows. In addition to the Southern California Leadership Network, other partner organizations assisting in the 2010 selection process include the Cleveland Foundation, the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, the Citizens League of Minnesota, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, the International Affairs Council of North Carolina, the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver, and the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta. National partners include the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Council of State Governments, and the National League of Cities.

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Southern California Leadership Network (SCLN), a partnership with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop a productive network of exemplary and diverse leaders in the business, government and community sectors who are capable of addressing the critical challenges facing the Southern California region. The organization's core programs are Leadership L.A. and Leadership Southern California. SCLN’s 1,300+ network of alumni work in the business, government and nonprofit sectors serve on civic boards and hold elected office throughout Southern California. For more information, visit www.leadershipnetwork.org.

The German Marshall Fund of the United States is a nonpartisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between the United States and Europe. Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to the Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, DC, GMF has seven offices in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, Ankara, and Bucharest. For more information, visit www.gmfus.org.