Our Board

Al Arimendez, Chairperson Miller, Geer, Arimendez Al Arizmendez is Vice President of Client Services for Miller Geer Arizmendez, a public relations and communications firm specializing in healthcare. Al currently leads a statewide public relations effort for the California Fluoridation Task Force, an ad hoc consortium of oral health advocates that includes the California Department of Health Services, the Dental Health Foundation and the Northern and Southern regions of the Public Health Association, working on statewide and grassroots levels. Al is a member of the Healthcare Public Relations Marketing Association, the Southern California Public Health Association, and the Hispanic Public Relations Association. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara, where he began his journalism career as a radio broadcaster at KCSB-FM. In addition to serving as CHC’s Board President, Al performs pro-bono work on behalf of the Asthma Allergy Foundation of America, jobstarts.org and 4RKidssake.com.

Lillian Lew, Treasurer Families in Good Health Lillian Lew is Director of Families in Good Health, a multilingual, multicultural health and social education project that strives to provide quality outreach and education services to the Southeast Asian, Latino and African American communities in Long Beach. The program was established in 1987 as a joint venture between the St. Mary Medical Center and the United Cambodian Community, Inc., creating a partnership between community and healthcare. As director, Ms. Lew oversees numerous health and social education programs that focus upon health promotion and disease prevention. She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Foundations from the University of Hawaii, which she attended through an East-West Center grant program. She is also a Registered Dietician.

David Sloane, Secretary USC David C. Sloane is Director of the Master of Planning Program University of Southern California and teaches courses in urban planning, urban history, community planning, health, and policy. Prior to joining USC’s faculty in 1992, he taught at Dartmouth College and Medical School. Dr. Sloane received his BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MA and PhD from Syracuse University. He was Associate Dean for the School of Urban Planning and Development from 1996 to 1998 and is currently serving on the academic advisory board of the Journal of the American Planning Association. Additionally, Dr. Sloane is a director of the Vernacular Architectural Forum and a member of the steering committee of the AABLH/REACH US Project.

Joanne Leslie Community Health Sciences Dept, UCLA, Retired Joanne Leslie, ScD, recently retired from the Community Health Sciences Department of the UCLA School of Public Health, where she taught courses in nutrition and women's health, and co-directed a federally-funded training program, Partners in Excellence for Leadership in MCH Nutrition. Dr. Leslie, an ordained Deacon in the Episcopal church, has twenty-five years experience in public health nutrition research with an emphasis on household factors related to hunger and malnutrition. She has worked for many years on nutrition and health issues in francophone West Africa. Dr. Leslie currently serves on several boards, including as a Trustee of Freedom From Hunger since 2002.

Claude Martinez Management Consulting Claude Martinez is CEO of a management consulting firm that provides services to non-profit and philanthropic organizations in need of strategic planning, organizational management, board development, leadership training, program evaluation, regulatory research, fund development, and public affairs. Mr. Martinez earned his BA from California State University, Los Angeles and a law degree from Loyola University Law School, and is currently on the faculty of Cambridge College. He has forty-five years of public and non-profit executive management experience, including serving as president and CEO of El Centro Human Services, executive director of Health Systems Agency, and senior health services analyst for LA County.

Nicolas McClure Entrepreneur Nicholas McClure is a real estate, commercial finance, international trade and healthcare entrepreneur. Mr. McClure holds a BA in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Master's Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Health Care Administration from the University of Southern California, and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Harvard. In 1983, Mr. McClure served as associate administrator at Los Alamitos Medical Center, and was promoted first to Chief Operating Officer and then to Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Center. His responsibilities included total facility management and oversight of over 700 employees and business relations with 300 physicians. Mr. McClure has been an entrepreneur since March 1990.

Cynthia Oredugba Project Director, WORKING Cynthia Orredugba is Project Director for WORKING (Working Out Regularly Keeps Individuals Nurtured and Going), a research project at UCLA’s Division of Cancer Prevention & Cancer Research School of Public Health & Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ms. Oredugba is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio, where she helped found the campus’ Black Student Association as well as Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Before moving to Los Angeles, Oredugba lived in New York, where she worked as a talent scout for the theatre and motion pictures department of William Morris Agency. Since living in LA, Cynthia has founded her own talent agency, The Robinson Company, served as Community Services Director for the American Cancer Society, and has been active in several boards, including the Stennis Family Foundation and Black Women for Wellness.