OUR BOARD
Lonnie Lardner / Richard Cortez / Lisa Jefferson / Phil Elins / Stephanie Sydney / Jen DiSisto / Brandon Teresi
Lonnie Lardner
Founder, President
You may know Lonnie Lardner from her award-winning television news and feature reports broadcast in Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago, and New York. But what you may not know is that in 1989, her deep passion for the arts led her to launch what is now one of the longest-running series of children’s art workshops in the history of Los Angeles (which has since grown into our non-profit organization, Hope’s Nest.)
For her service to the city, Lonnie was honored with the Mayor’s “Volunteer of the Year Award.” Today, she runs corporate creativity workshops for Fortune 500 Company executives seeking a competitive edge. Through a series of artistic exercises, Lonnie’s training sessions offer fresh approaches to problem-solving in business — and in life. For more on her corporate work, visit her website www.lonnielardner.com or her art blog: www.thelardnerreport.com. In between workshops, Lonnie serves as art consultant to some of Wall Street’s most prestigious firms. But she confesses, she’d almost always rather be slopping paint around with a couple hundred kids in a city park.
Lisa Jefferson
Secretary,Treasurer
Lisa serves as our new secretary and treasurer of Hope’s Nest. She also runs LRJ Account Management, a business/account management company, based in Los Angeles. With a focus on the entertainment industry, her company is based on the treasured principle, “relationships first.” Lisa is dedicated to helping busy professionals organize and prioritize their finances.
A Detroit native, Lisa worked 15 years in the music industry, achieving the level of VP of Press & Artist Development at Elektra Entertainment. She has had the pleasure of working with some of the world's most gifted, accomplished artists. Working alongside the industry’s executive power players and top-selling recording artists, she has developed a knack for identifying needs and creatively solving problems. She brings that same expertise and energy to her new company and to Hope’s Nest.
Stephanie Sydney
Board Member
Stephanie has worked as a graphic designer and art director since the 1970s. She has volunteered with non-profits and worked behind the scenes producing variety of cultural events in Los Angeles. In the early 1990s she worked with a Graffiti Art Coalition centered in Highland Park, helping street artists find legal venues, arranging shows and curating exhibitions.
Today, Steph works in her art studio in Santa Monica as a fine artist exploring photography, assemblage and mixed media. She studied art at Santa Monica College and UCLA. She has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows,
and her work has become part of permanent art collections of multi-national financial institutions based in NYC. Steph was born and raised in London, England. Her parents were actors, writers, and studio executives in the U.S. and the U.K. She moved to Malibu, California with her family as a teenager and now resides in Venice.
Phil Elins
Board Member
A member of The Directors Guild of America since 1993, Phil works as an Assistant Director on commercial, television, and Feature productions. A native of Chicago, Phil received his BA in Telecommunications from Indiana University in 1985. He moved out to Los Angeles in 1986 to begin a career in film production.
A proud father of a teenage daughter, Phil spends his free time with 15-year-old Aden, playing tennis and basketball, reading and traveling. Phil has twice served as a Big Brother and still hangs out with his 26-year-old "little" Jake, playing sports and going to ball games just like they did back when they met in 1998. Phil is honored to be of service to Hope’s Nest and looks forward to helping get the word out about its long-established commitment to the community.
Richard Cortez
Board Member
Richard comes from the global corporate arena, where he brings an extensive background of building and leading high performing teams with an intense focus on customer experience. He’s held several executive positions at large multinational organizations including Dell, Citrix, and SGI. In 2008, as Director of Global Field Services for Dell, Richard led a team of 2200 that were recognized by the American research and advisory firm, Gartner, as the “Global Leader in IT Field Services.” Richard holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Richard and his wife Amber have two sons. They live outside Los Angeles. Before joining the board of Hope’s Nest, Richard served on the board of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness.