About DTLA

DTLA LEADERSHIP GROUP

Who is part of this effort?
The leadership group is comprised of individuals with deep local ties and a shared commitment to nurturing their city’s innovation community.

Andrea Nunn
Senior Vice President, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
View Bio
Andrea Nunn
Senior Vice President, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Andrea Nunn leads the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s entrepreneurship and innovation efforts. She is responsible for connecting businesses, large and small across the Los Angeles region, with resources, workforce development, capacity building and access to contracts. Nunn specializes in developing mutually beneficial partnerships between companies and in managing all aspects of client services relationships: needs assessment, solution-based proposals, cross-departmental collaboration, integrated strategic sales and marketing plans. Prior to the Chamber, Nunn was VP of Business Development & Strategic Alliances at the Los Angeles Times, responsible for leading new revenue initiatives, where she also managed the Media/Books, Healthcare/Education and Co-Op sales teams with advertising revenue responsibility of over $35MM. Nunn also served 15 years at HBO. As VP of Domestic Network Distribution, she was responsible for over $600MM in revenue, leading and managing HBO’s DIRECTV business and its 2nd largest affiliate partnership. Nunn began her career in advertising and marketing at McCann-Erickson, specializing in account management, strategic planning, budget management, and creative/media direction for national corporate accounts in airline, hotel, newspaper publishing, film, and aerospace industries, including Cathay Pacific Airways, Continental Airlines, Doubletree Hotels, Los Angeles Times, Agfa Motion Picture Film, Allied Signal, and Lockheed Corporation.

Nunn received the Advanced Advertising Studies Certificate from the University of Southern California and graduated summa cum laude from Woodbury University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing/Fashion, Business Administration.

Michael Shilstone
Director, Central City Association (CCA)
View Bio
Michael Shilstone
Director, Central City Association (CCA)

Michael Shilstone is the Director of Economic Development for Central City Association (CCA). He manages CCA’s advocacy on economic development policies and issues, and aims to foster economic development capacity through coordination with the City, County, elected officials, Business Improvement Districts and the business community.

Prior to joining CCA, Michael worked as a real estate and economic development consultant for HR&A Advisors, where he focused on a broad range of initiatives at the intersection of the public and private sectors including Los Angeles’ first ever Citywide Economic Development Strategy, an incentive zoning system for Downtown Los Angeles, and funding strategies for signature open space projects like the revitalization of Pershing Square and the Los Angeles River. He also previously served as the Press Officer for the New York City Department of City Planning.

Michael is a member of the American Planning Association and Urban Land Institute. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Manhattan College and a Master of Urban Planning with a concentration in Economic Development from the University of Southern California.

Jamie Sullivan
Director of Public Affairs, Soylent
View Bio
Jamie Sullivan
Director of Public Affairs, Soylent

Jamie Sullivan is the Director of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Soylent. She joined the company in the summer of 2018 and oversees philanthropy, government affairs, and corporate affairs. Jamie comes to Soylent with more than 15 years experience in the non-profit sector where she spent the bulk of her career in hunger relief and education. She has lead fundraising, public policy, communications, programing and volunteer efforts for multi-million dollar organizations. Jamie’s expertise is in strategically addressing food insecurity and gaps in basic needs supports for students from underserved populations. Jamie was previously the Chief Development Officer at United Friends of the Children (Los Angeles, CA) which followed her time as the Vice President of External Affairs at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank (Cleveland, OH).

Jamie has raised more than 100 million dollars through private philanthropy over the course of her career and additionally has worked on state and national government policies which provided tens of millions of dollars to organizations that fight food insecurity and educational injustice. “Woman of Distinction”, “Mover and Shaker”, “Top 25 under 35”, and “Hunger’s Hope” are all titles and awards that Jamie has received throughout her career.

In making the jump from the nonprofit sector to the corporate sector, Jamie saw an opportunity for great societal impact at Soylent. She has the role of helping the growing company deepen their commitment to their founding mission of addressing the challenge of feeding an exploding population, sustainably. She is thrilled to bring her talents to the food and beverage world, to which she is no stranger, as she was raised in West Virginia by parents who were Coors beer distributors.

She lives in Glendale, CA a suburb of Los Angeles with her partner of nine years, Derrick, their two cats Gus Gus and Atreides, and their dog Hoggle. (Yes, those are Cinderella, Dune, and Labyrinth references!).

Stephen Fay
Director, Corporate Partnerships, Plug and Play Tech Center
View Bio
Stephen Fay
Director, Corporate Partnerships, Plug and Play Tech Center
Effie Turnbull Sanders
Vice President, Civic Engagement & Economic Partnerships at University of Southern California
View Bio
Effie Turnbull Sanders
Vice President, Civic Engagement & Economic Partnerships at University of Southern California

Effie Turnbull Sanders is a passionate and dedicated advocate for economic, environmental, and social change. She brings over two decades of experience advancing the rights of underserved Los Angeles communities to lead the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z) as its Executive Director. As Executive director, Sanders leads SLATE-Z’s efforts to promote neighborhood revitalization, educational excellence, and economic empowerment to help realize the tremendous promise and potential of South Los Angeles.

Prior to joining SLATE-Z, Sanders worked in service of the children of Los Angeles as Assistant General Counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on real estate development, facilities management, and employment law. Through her legal career, she has worked as counsel to public and private organizations such as the City of Los Angeles and Richards, Watson & Gershon.

As a social justice leader, Sanders has served as an appointee to state and federal entities. Currently, she is the Environmental Justice Commissioner with the California Coastal Commission. She is also member of Representative Karen Bass’ Congressional Council. Sanders was a Presidential Appointee for Vice Chair Cruz Reynoso with the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

Throughout her career, Sanders has led a number of non-profit organizations as an active board member for Social Action Partners and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. She also served as an advisory board member to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Mark Ridley Thomas’ African American Voter Registration, Education, and Participation Project.

Sanders received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from the University of California, Los Angeles, her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law and is a graduate of the University of Southern California Ross Program in Real Estate. She and her husband live with their two children in Los Angeles.

Miki Reynolds
Executive Director, Grid 110
View Bio
Miki Reynolds
Executive Director, Grid 110

Miki Reynolds is the Executive Director of Grid110, an early stage startup accelerator and community development non-profit she co-founded in 2015. She has 12+ years of experience working in tech, ranging from digital marketing and creative services to software development and e-commerce. After managing digital projects at global entertainment corporations like MGM Studios and 20th Century Fox, and heading up operations/product for a software development company, she launched the Downtown LA location for tech education company General Assembly.

Miki has accepted commendations from Mayor Eric Garcetti on behalf of General Assembly and Grid110, has been recognized by LA Biz Journal as a 2017 Woman of Influence, and was most recently named to Techweek’s 2017 #Techweek100. She’s a proud UCLA Bruin, taco aficionado, rescue dog owner x2, and passionate advocate for the LA startup community.

Jim Winett
Executive In Residence Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
View Bio
Jim Winett
Executive In Residence Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)

Mr. Winett is the Founder and Managing Director of the DPAA Group, a boutique-consulting firm focused on creating strategy and providing operational execution services. Jim also is an entrepreneur and takes management and equity positions in emerging companies and technologies.


Jim is a hands-on operations and finance executive. As a business consultant and advisor, Mr. Winett has provided consulting services since 1987 to over 70 clients ranging from early-stage startups and turnarounds to large U.S. and overseas manufacturers, distributors, retailers and service corporations. Mr. Winett has particular strengths in strategic planning, organizational change, operational execution, restructurings, business development, and finance.


As an entrepreneur, Mr. Winett has founded and developed numerous successful companies in Internet Fulfillment, Consulting, Health, Fitness and Wellness, and Consumer Products industries. These include co-founding and running ICCS Partners, a financial services and business consulting firm, founding and managing ShipMax.com, a third-party fulfillment company for online retailers, co-founding The Agency for Sports Ethics, LLC the world’s premier independent anti-doping program for professional cycling and other sports, and serving in interim and executive roles with various consulting clients.


Mr. Winett received his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in 1992 and his B.S. in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987. He is also a CPA (inactive status).


Mr. Winett resides in Los Angeles with his wife and 2 daughters and enjoys competing in triathlons, 5k’s and 10k’s.

Todd Terrazas
President & Executive Director, AI LA
View Bio
Todd Terrazas
President & Executive Director, AI LA

Todd Terrazas is a social entrepreneur, collaboration catalyst, and the Executive Director of the AI LA Community (AI LA). Todd founded AI LA, a California non-profit to provide an open and inclusive platform for civic education, sustainable community development, and innovation. Its mission is to build a more informed and collaborative world in which humans use AI harmoniously and transparently in everyday life. They have partnered with organizations like XPRIZE and Google who align with their mission and vision to develop Los Angeles into a diverse and inclusive tech powerhouse focused on social impact initiatives.

Prior to creating AI LA, Todd was a technology entrepreneur. He founded Brainitch — a social enterprise developing an emergency response system for music festivals and large gatherings. The company evolved into custom software development for clients where he pioneered the use of chat bots for musicians and live events, and created a consumer research chat bot named H.A.N.S. (Helpful Automated Nexus System). He also co-created the one of the first online college classifieds, Mablio.com where students could buy/sell books locally, find a tutor, become a tutor, and find carpools for trips suggest as going to the beach or traveling back home over the holidays.

Todd has a strong passion for education and sustainability. He sits on multiple non-profit boards, including LA’s BEST, an after school enrichment program for 203 elementary schools in the most underserved communities in LA. Todd is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, where he focused on entertainment business and short-form storytelling.

Nick Griffin
Executive Director, Downtown Center Business Improvement District
View Bio
Nick Griffin
Executive Director, Downtown Center Business Improvement District

As Executive Director of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, Nick Griffin spearheads the organization’s marketing, economic development and strategic initiatives, to attract companies, retailers, investors and residents to one of the nation’s most dynamic urban centers. Prior to the DCBID, Nick spent more than 25 years in business development in the real estate, media and technology industries. Nick is a graduate of UCLA and holds an MBA from Ohio State University.

Hilary Norton
Chairwoman, CTC & Executive Director of FASTLinkDTLA
View Bio
Hilary Norton
Chairwoman, CTC & Executive Director of FASTLinkDTLA

Hilary Norton is a 2019 appointee by Gov. Gavin Newsom and currently serves as Chair of the California Transportation Commission (CTC). She brings over 28 years of experience to her role as FAST’s and FASTLinkDTLA’s founding Executive Director. Since 2008, Norton has mobilized a diverse coalition of business, labor, civic groups, educational institutions and transit organizations to support policy and infrastructure improvements to LA’s mobility, livability and economic prosperity.

FAST’s major initiatives include:

  1. FASTLinkDTLA – a new Transportation Management Organization (TMO) for Downtown LA, which launched with one of LA County’s first pilot micro-transit systems. DTLA travelers connect to their destination through flexLA mirotransit’s multi-mobility app, and a new on-demand wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs). In early 2020, FASTLinkDTLA will conduct a DTLA-wide mobility and employment survey;
  2. Mobility hubs – carshare, bikeshare, bike parking, EV charging and traveler services at transit stations;
  3. Comprehensive arterial improvements to improve travel time, encourage mode shift, and promote safety;
  4. Implementing Metro ExpressLanes throughout LA County, creating the Metro ExpressLanes Business Roundtable to establish the pilot corridors and expand into a full network.

Norton holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Francis Pollara
Strategy and Development, Urban Movement Labs
View Bio
Francis Pollara
Strategy and Development, Urban Movement Labs

Francis Pollara is a strategy and innovation executive known for leading transformative projects for industry-leading organizations spanning across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Prior to co-founding Urban Movement Lab, he joined Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office as the entrepreneur-in-residence tasked with establishing a model and organization that could augment government city authority to design and deploy transportation tech solutions in real urban conditions.

Francis is an investor and four-time founder with expertise in scaling organizations and establishing structure in startup and core corporate management functions. In 2019, he exited his third startup focused on community building, catalyzing relationships, and shared knowledge wealth. Additionally, he founded the leading early-stage venture firm Luma Launch, investing in 25+ Los Angeles based tech scalable startups. He has served as an accelerator mentor for Techstars, Starburst, and Summit Series and is a regular speaker at conferences and private events on business transformation and the entrepreneurial mindset. He is an active member of the World Economic Forum community and former Curator of the Los Angeles Global Shapers. Francis holds an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Fine Arts double major in Product Design and Digital Media from Art Center College of Design.