2012 – 2013 USC Price Leadership Council
The Leadership Council is comprised of individuals who represent the various aspects of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. The Council represents key constituent groups in real estate, urban planning, health, and government. Members work closely with Dean Knott in reaching out to alumni, friends, parents, and corporations to engage others in the life of the school. Their efforts have led to the successful establishment of the Dean’s Speaker Series, and they are also instrumental in raising support for USC Price.
If you would like to contact a member of the Leadership Council to discuss how you can become more involved at USC Price, please e-mail athenian@usc.edu.
Jim Lewis, BS’ 97
Interim Chair, Leadership Council
Jim Lewis currently serves as Assistant City Manager for the City of Atascadero, CA and as President of the Office of Economic Development. Jim is active with USC and serves on the Board of Governors of the Alumni Association, the Dean’s Leadership Council and on the advisory board of the Master of Public Administration degree program. The Tribune, the county’s leading newspaper named Jim one of the Top 20 professionals under 40 years of age in 2006. Jim serves on the National Editorial Advisory Board of International City Management Association and on the Ethics Committee for California-ICMA. He is a past president of the Municipal Management Association of Southern California.
Mark Alexander, MPA ’90
Mark R. Alexander currently serves as the City Manager of the City of La Canada Flintridge; a position he has held since June, 2003. Prior to his appointment as City Manager, Mr. Alexander served in other management positions with the City including: Assistant City Manager; Deputy City Attorney; Assistant to the City Manager; and Administrative Assistant. Prior to his arrival to La Cañada Flintridge in 1988, Mr. Alexander held administrative positions with the cities of San Dimas, Glendora and Simi Valley. From 2009 to 2012, he represented the USC Price School of Public Policy on the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors and the Price School’s Alumni Board. He serves on the School’s Master of Public Administration Advisory Board, the School’s Executive Education Advisory Board, and the Athenian Society Leadership Council. Mark currently chairs USC’s City/County Management Fellowship Advisory Council.
Dan Cassidy, BS ’59
Dan Cassidy is among the most experienced and accomplished practitioners in the fields of public sector labor relations, negotiations and employment law. For more than 30 years, he has effectively advocated on behalf of counties, cities, special districts, community colleges and school districts in negotiations, arbitrations and in civil service commission and other administrative hearings. Dan, a founding partner of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, has negotiated hundreds of labor agreements for his public agency clients, and various public safety, general, professional, and supervisory units. He has also represented public agencies as a presenter and panel member in numerous interest arbitrations and fact-finding proceedings. Prior to founding the Firm, Dan served as Chief of the Labor Relations Division of the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Office, where he gained first-hand knowledge of the needs of his public agency clients.
Nicholas T. Conway, MPA ’75
Mr. Conway is President of Arroyo Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm serving State, County and local agencies. One of the firm’s clients is the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and Mr. Conway serves as its Executive Director. Prior to forming AAI, Mr. Conway was a Principal with Arthur Young & Company overseeing the Firm’s government services practices in Southern California. He is active in a number of community organizations including one of the founders of AAF Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.
Andrew Katersky, BS ’92
Andrew Katersky is the Vice President of Finance for Pacifica Ventures, where he handles all financial aspects of the firm’s projects. In 1992, Mr. Katersky earned a B.S. in Public Administration from USC. He credits this degree as the foundation to his professional success and has tried to thank USC by actively supporting both the Academic and Athletic sides of the University. Mr. Katersky is a member of the USC Alumni Association, USC Associates, USC Libraries Top Drawer Society, on the board of the Second Decade Society and sits on the Dean’s Annual Fund Council for USC Price.
Meghan Loper, BS ’04
Meghan Loper currently serves as a lobbyist for Capitol Strategies Group based in Sacramento, CA. She previously served as Public Policy Director for Majestic Realty Co., one of the nation’s largest privately held, family-owned real estate development firms. During her five and a half year tenure, Meghan worked actively with several trade associations and represented the company’s interests throughout Southern California and in Sacramento. With Majestic properties playing a critical role in the supply chain, Loper severed on several regional goods movement committees and stakeholder agency advisory groups and serving as the lead staffer for a member of the California Transportation Commission. Additionally, she co-chaired the legislative action committee for the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership. In addition to her career endeavors, Meghan is actively involved as a member on the board of directors of Coro Southern California, where she previously studied as a fellow in the Public Affairs program.
Kevin D. McCarthy, B.S. Policy, Planning and Real Estate
Kevin D. McCarthy joined Majestic Realty Co. in 1992 and currently serves as Senior Vice President and Director of Development and as a member of the Board of Directors for Majestic Realty Co. He is a senior development partner responsible for the development, leasing and asset management of projects in Southern California and Texas. Under Mr. McCarthy’s leadership, the company has seen tremendous growth in industrial development activities in Southern California and beyond. In his role as Senior Development Partner, Mr. McCarthy has directed the development of 25.5 million square feet of industrial product. Prior to joining Majestic, Mr. McCarthy was an Industrial Property Specialist with Grubb & Ellis Company, where he was recognized as one of the top salesmen in the Southern California marketplace. Mr. McCarthy graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree and studied policy, planning and real estate development with an emphasis in real estate finance. Mr. McCarthy serves on numerous boards and trade associations, such as the Urban Land Institute, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and the Association of Industrial Realtors – AIR. Mr. McCarthy currently serves on the Athenian Society Leadership Council as well as the Board of Councilors at University of Southern California. Additionally, Mr. McCarthy serves on the Board of Directors for the Majestic Realty Foundation.
Yvette McCarthy, Parent
Yvette McCarthy has over 25 years of experience in Asset and Property Management. Yvette serves on the board for 44 Women for Children and Harvesters. She is currently President of the Pi Beta Phi Parents’ Club at USC. Yvette is passionately involved in philanthropic efforts through her church, Orangewood Children’s Home, Second Harvest Food Bank, Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Assistance League of Newport Mesa. Yvette has raised money for community initiatives and secured donations for charitable organizations. Yvette and Kevin McCarthy co-chaired the Guardian Awards Gala for The Price School in 2010. Their daughter, Alycia, graduated in 2010 from the Price School and their daughter, Ashley, is a current USC Price School student.
Patsy Giacinti Rincon, MHA ’07
Patsy Rincon is a Senior Managerial Consultant in Strategic Planning & Consulting at Kaiser Permanente, America’s largest not-for-profit health plan, which exists to provide affordable, high-quality health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. She has led and supported a wide variety of initiatives including performance improvement and innovation efforts, bandwidth and performance optimization, and region-wide implementation of new protocols of care. Patsy earned a Master of Health Administration from USC in 2007, during which she completed an administrative residency at Childrens Hospital’s USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Currently, Patsy is developing expertise in non-profit board governance through her participation in the Riordan Leadership Institute. She is interning with the board of First Place for Youth, an organization that helps foster youth build the skills necessary to successfully transition to self-sufficiency and responsible adulthood.
Natalia Giacinti Rincon, MHA ’08
Director of Network Operations, Greater Los Angeles
HealthCare Partners Medical Group
Nancy Reguly Silver, M.A., C.C.M., Parent
Nancy Silver has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare. Most recently, she has been the Director of Admissions of Winways, a post acute rehabilitation program for individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries. She has served on the Haberdashery Board, the Intersorority Parents Council at USC, and has been the Price School Liaison for the USC Parents Council. Nancy also supports the Shea Therapeutic Riding Center, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana, the Camino Health Center and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. Greg and Nancy’s older daughter, Courtney, graduated from USC Price in 2011 and their younger daughter, Brooke, is a current student at USC Price.
Elizabeth (Liz) Smith, EML ’08
Elizabeth Smith (Liz) has over 30 years of experience in the health care industry. She has held many diverse roles including leadership in Nursing, Hospital Administration and Public Health. During her tenure she contributed significantly to many successes of the hospitals she was affiliated with and appreciated the opportunities for personal and professional growth along the way. Currently Ms. Smith is the founder and owner of Connective Outcomes LLC, an Executive Coaching and Leadership Development company which focuses on helping health care leaders and emerging leaders align their strengths with their organizations core values to meet critical success factors necessary in fulfilling the mission, vision and goals of their organization. She is passionate about transforming lives from good to great and her executive coaching affords her that opportunity. In addition she has held leadership positions in various organizations she has volunteered with and values the collaboration and the many joint accomplishments. Ms. Smith currently serves on the Sol Price Alumni Association Board of Directors and enjoys mentoring graduate students in our programs. She is an active member of Toastmasters International and enjoys the opportunity to motivate and empower others to be the best they can possibly be. She is an active member of Health Care Executives of Southern California as well as Women in Health Administration. She has also been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority for over 20 years whose core mission is to be of “Service to All Mankind.”
Brissa Sotelo-Vargas, MPP ’06
As the Government and Public Affairs Representative for Tesoro, Brissa Soleto manages and coordinates the communication and stakeholder management activities for the company’s Los Angeles Refinery. She handles issues ranging from government, community, and media relations to crisis communications. In addition to her leadership at Tesoro, Brissa has played an active role in numerous community organizations by serving as the Chair of the South Coast External Affairs Committee of the Western States Petroleum Association, Board Member of the San Pedro, Peninsula & Wilmington YMCA, and Legislative Affairs Member of the Carson Chamber of Commerce, among others.
Wendy Wang, MPP ’01
Wendy currently serves as the Corporate Director for Community Education, Outreach, and Public Policy for Pacific Clinics, the largest behavioral health care provider in Los Angeles. Prior to this role, Wendy worked for the Association of Community Human Service Agencies as the Mental Health Policy Director. While she currently works in the non-profit sector, Wendy has a public service background demonstrated by her previous work in the Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn’s administration. Wendy has served as a former City of Torrance Library Commissioner, City of Pasadena Northwest Neighborhood Commissioner, and board member for OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans), Los Angeles chapter. Her love for books and the library led her back to another Library Commission, this time for the City of Pasadena. Wendy is committed to her alma mater (USC) through volunteering on the Sol Price School of Public Policy’s Alumni Board of Directors and the Asian Pacific Alumni Association Board of Directors (APAA). Last year, Wendy served as the Chairwoman for the APAA Scholarship Committee where over $100,000 in funds were awarded to undergraduate and graduate students dedicated to the Asian Pacific Islander communities. She is also a member of the Trojan Junior Auxiliary Club and the Altadena/Pasadena Soroptomist.