CSUDH Philanthropic Foundation Welcomes Three Esteemed Leaders to Board of Directors

CARSON — The philanthropic foundation of California State University, Dominguez Hills or CSUDH has announced three new members of its board of directors.

A registered 501(c)3 organization, the philanthropic foundation supports CSUDH as a key educational, cultural, and economic resource for the South Bay. It was established in 2015 as an independent charitable successor to the CSUDH Foundation, and encourages the solicitation and acceptance of private gifts to the university. As California’s budget has decreased in recent years and the university continues to prepare deserving and talented students for the demands of the regional workforce, the foundation focuses on fundraising and endowment management to generate much-needed funds to sustain and grow CSUDH.

Its board of directors, comprised of industry and civic leaders, advises CSUDH president Thomas A. Parham, engages external partners, and fosters a culture of philanthropy. This active group of dedicated volunteers is chaired by Maria Villa, a principal of the law firm of Lathrop & Villa, a Latina trailblazer in the legal community, and a CSUDH alumna with a B.S. in Business Administration.

Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the philanthropic foundation Eva Sevcikova said:

“I am thrilled to augment the board leadership with these outstanding individuals. They were selected based on their individual skills and passion for CSUDH. They are committed to make the dream of higher education a reality for our Toros and help move them up on the socio-economic ladder. I’m grateful for their service and look forward to taking our important work together to new heights.”

The new board of directors members include:

Franco Vega |Founder and CEO of The RightWay Foundation

Franco Vega is a visionary leader dedicated to empowering system-impacted youth in Los Angeles County. As an orphan and former probation youth, Franco uses his experiences to drive positive change for foster youth. The barriers he faced and overcame as a young adult inspired him to create The RightWay Foundation with a mission to ensure every foster youth has the resources and community they need to build a prosperous future. The RightWay Foundation combines healing-centered, trauma-informed mental health services, comprehensive job readiness training, and supportive housing for transition-age foster youth in Los Angeles County. Having attended CSUDH, Vega feels connected to the campus and today’s students.

Bree Nguyen | Educator, Founder, and Investor
Bree Nguyen teaches classes in finance, management, and entrepreneurship at CSUDH. She also speaks publicly for student and corporate audiences, and serves as an advisor and consultant for various early-stage companies across entertainment, gaming and digital and education nonprofits. Beginning her career as a teenager at Maverick Records, she pioneered digital marketing strategies before becoming director of marketing at Warner Bros. Records. She went on to co-found Archer Education before serving as Meta’s head of public figure partnerships. Today, through her firm MPN Business Group, she advises and invests in startups across entertainment, gaming and education sectors, while serving on boards including the U.S. Soccer Federation Development Council. She holds an M.S. in Business Analytics and earned her B.S. in Finance from CSUDH.

Danny Bakewell, Jr. | Executive Editor and Chief of Staff of the Los Angeles Sentinel Danny J. Bakewell, Jr. leads the Los Angeles Sentinel, the largest African American owned and operated newspaper west of the Mississippi. It is part of the Bakewell Media Company, which also owns the Los Angeles Watts Times and Taste of Soul, the largest free family festival in California. Danny Jr. also serves as the President of The Bakewell Company, a business founded by his father Danny Bakewell, Sr., in the 1970s and now one of the largest African American-owned development companies in the United States. Most of the Bakewell Company’s four million square feet commercial project portfolio was and is in Southern California, and all of its properties are in areas with large communities of color. His mother, Aline Bakewell, Esq., is a 1975 graduate of CSUDH.