UCO Board of Directors

Andrea Friedenthal, Board Chair,is the Operations Manager for Off-Road Adventures Magazine (a magazine for off-roaders). She also finds the time to participate in numerous community activities. She has been a donor chairperson for various non-profit, humanistic organizations such as the Ocean Park Community Center, Abused Women and Childrens Home, Red Cross Disaster Relief, and the Temple Israel Mitzvah Day Chair, where she coordinated 14 new projects and more than 200 volunteers. As a pilot, Andrea was the coordinator for the Flying Samaritans, where she coordinated monthly international mercy missions of medical teams to remote areas. She is a charter board member and president emeritus for Grandparents as Parents, and was instrumental in getting some of the initial funding, hiring a grant writer, writing the brochure and helping in setting up the original website.

Randolph Nielson, MBA, Treasurer,has been employed by California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) for the last six years. For the last two years he has been the Cashiering Supervisor, where he coordinates the efforts of eight individuals who are involved in customer service, accounts receivables, reconciling the general ledger, and preparing daily deposits of on average $200,000.00. Mr. Nielson graduated from CSULB with a BS in Business Administration. He also has a MBA, in Business, from Pepperdine University.

Gary Shelton, Secretary,is a community activist and organizer with Long Beach Housing and Long Beach Coalition for the homeless. He attended Drake University for 4 years. He received the Marion Morgan Peace & Justice Award, First Congregational Church of LB and is proficient in Spanish. He helped organize the computer lab for the Drop-in-Center and runs it most Sundays. He is active in the majority of organizations in the city of Long Beach dealing with the homeless and low income issues.

Teri Brewster, MBA, Voluntary Executive Director, works for KFICO, Inc. on the health desk servicing the clients for 3 insurance brokers.  She has been a member of First Congregational Church LB since 1982 and is currently assistant treasurer. She has a BA from Cal State Fullerton, a California teacher's credential in Elementary Education from Cal Poly Pomona, and an MBA from the University of Southern California. She was a legal assistant for Mutual Service Corporation a broker/dealer for four years.

Nancy Valencia, D.A.Y.S. Program Director, is a native of Long Beach, CA, and a graduate of CSULB with a degree in Criminal Justice. She worked with female offenders, reuniting the women with their families, providing resources for employment, housing, drug counseling and parenting classes. Is passionate about issues relating to children and social justice. Taught elementary school in Long Beach; served as member and later Director of the Governing Board of the Downtown Associated Youth Services (DAYS). Currently serving as member of Youth Service Network Board, the Dorothy and Edwin Baker Foundation, the Progressive Christians Uniting Board, and Rick Rackers, an auxiliary of Assistance League.

Brad Lara-Gagne, D.I.C. Program Director,is a former educator who has worked as a professional organizer in the non-profit sector as well as having over 30 years of food service experience and currently is owner/chef of Bootstrap Catering. He is the Program Director of the Drop-in-Center (DIC) and has helped to implement cooperation between restaurants, Farmer's Market, and the University of Cal State Long Beach Presidents’ Scholars program plus many other groups to increase the effectiveness of DIC.

Larry Foresteris Mayor of the City of Signal Hill for the third time and has served as a councilman for the past 12 years. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BS in Civil Engineering and Catholic University of America with a MS in Ocean Engineering; worked for 25 years as an Engineer and a Sales Engineer retiring in 1995 due to AIDS; helped found and served as Chair of "Being Alive Long Beach" and "Being Housing" ... an HIV/AIDS support organization and residential housing for HIV/AIDS patients. Currently he is serving on the Board of the Conservation Corps of Long Beach as Chair for years...helping young, 18 to 24 disenfranchised adults return to a productive life and in most cases finish High School. He has been a member of First Congregation Church of Long Beach for the last 3 years and follows it's commitment to "Social Justice."

John Taylor Knessretired as a Director of Current Schedules from America West Airlines in September of 1999. He has been in the airline industry since 1967. Since retirement, he has done consulting work with Sabre Technologies in Bahrain and Polar Air Cargo in Long Beach. Mr. Kness has a Masters Degree in Education from Northern Illinois University. He is a Viet Nam veteran. He has been a member of First Church for eight years.

Heather Blackmunworks for the legislative department for the City of Long Beach, where part of her duites are to cover homelessness-related issues.  She also covers senior and health issues and works closely with city staff and various organizations to stay on top of what’s going on in the city.  She received her bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University, Dominguez Hills and is currently working on her master’s degree in public administration.  Heather is originally from the Washington D.C. area and has lived in the Long Beach area for 14 years.

Advisory Board

Dr. Mary Ellen Kilsby, Advisor, a resident of Long Beach, CA, received her B.A. from Pomona College (Phi Beta Kappa and Cum Laude) and an M.A. and Doctorate in Ministry (with Honors) from the School of Theology at Claremont. She was the first woman to received the Wilshire Preaching Award, given to a graduating senior from the School of Theology, and has been ordained by the United Methodist Church (1975) and the United Church of Christ (1978). Dr. Kilsby served as Senior Minister of First Congregational Church of Long Beach, a United Church of Christ, from 1988 until 1999, when she retired and became Minister Emerita. She is currently active in the Long Beach community in the arts, religious endeavors and various foundations.

Michele Wilson, Esq,Advisor, is a native of the City of Long Beach, California. She began her career as criminal defense attorney with the public defenders' office; then she joined a large, corporate firm in the civil defense area defending physicians, acute hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and their staff. In preparation for her professional career, she worked for 11 years as a law clerk and project attorney in a small civil practice in Long Beach that served low income and disadvantaged citizens. During her years of education she gained extensive experience with public policy administration and within the political arena. Currently she has her own practice, the Law Offices of Michele Wilson.

Rev. Jerald Stinson, Advisor, was a magna cum laude graduate of Occidental College and the Divinity School at Harvard. He is Senior Minister of First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. He has served as a United Church of Christ minister for 35 years. He is an Associate Fellow of the Westar Institute (Jesus Seminar) and just completed his term on the Board of Directors of Progressive Christians Uniting. Rev. Stinson is a member of the Christian Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California, the Jewish-Christian-Muslim Leadership Forum of Long Beach and the National Advisory Board of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He is on the Steering Committee of the City of Long Beach Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.                               

Each board member contributes annually to Urban Community Outreach.