VALLEY NEWSMAKERS

FEATURED NEWSMAKER Andrei Nikitin With the goal of boosting philanthropic support for Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, Andrei Nikitin has joined Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Health Foundation as the new director of development. Nikitin will be planning, coordinating and implementing major gift fundraising initiatives at a critical time for the hospital, including leading an effort to raise more than $3 million for construction of a $6 million Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Construction of the hospital’s first NICU is expected to be completed by 2012. “Henry Mayo is a growing hospital and to facilitate growth philanthropy is important,” said Nikitin, who has more than 12 years of broad fund development experience. “I believe philanthropy is absolutely essential for the continued strategic growth of the hospital, and I am excited to be a part of this growth.” Prior to joining Henry Mayo, Nikitin served for more than five years as the major gifts officer at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. There, he successfully raised major gifts for a $10-million capital campaign for a new acute care tower, as well as for equipment (a new multislice CT scanner, Giraffe OmniBeds), and for hospital renovations. He secured the largest bequest gift, valued at $4.8 million, Glendale Adventist has ever received. “Henry Mayo offered me a fantastic opportunity for professional growth that I couldn’t pass up,” said Nikitin, a resident of Thousand Oaks. Nikitin will be working closely with the Foundation president and the board of directors on growing philanthropic support of the hospital. – Andrea Alegria Awards Valencia community association managers Beth Bottaro with Crown Management and Sascha Macias with Merit Property Management Inc., have been awarded the statewide designation of Certified Community Association Manager. The CCAM designation is awarded to community managers who have completed a stringent educational program and the required work experience in the field of community association management. Informa Research Services, Inc.’s deposit research manager, Randy Rosen, and commercial services senior product specialist, Sarine Topdjian, have been awarded Certified Treasury Professionals (CTP) accreditation. This certification is conferred by the Association for Financial Professionals and requires passing a stringent set of examination requirements. Informa Research Services, based in Calabasas, provides financial product research. Rosen, who leads the deposit research team, has been with Informa for 15 years. Topdjian has been researching commercial services with Informa for the past 18 months. Adam Singer, CEO and Chairman of IPC The Hospitalist Company Inc, received the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE) “Physician Executive of the Year” award for 2010. Singer, who is the first hospital medicine physician to be honored, was presented the award at the MGMA Annual Conference in New Orleans Oct. 26. The award recognizes a physician executive in a medical group practice who has exhibited outstanding leadership to achieve exceptional performance in the delivery of healthcare in his or her practice and community through personal example and collaborative team management. Accounting Today has named Therese Tucker, CEO and founder of financial software provider BlackLine Systems, to its first-ever ‘10 Worth Watching’ list. The list focuses on women who are pioneers in a wide range of accounting-related areas, and who are “inspiring for what they offer the profession.” According to the publication, the list features women “whose achievements deserve recognition by the accounting profession as a whole.” Founded in 2001 in Calabasas, BlackLine has just over 60 employees and boasts a client roster that includes AT&T, Boeing, Costco, Cox Communications, eBay and Northrop Grumman. Biotech Calabasas-based KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals has added Francois Kress, the president and CEO of Prada USA, to its board of directors. Kress has more than 15 years of experience in building and commercializing successful luxury brands. Prior to Prada he was CEO of the US retailing arm of Italian jeweler Bulgari. He has also held numerous positions within LVMH (Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton), including president of Fendi North America, CEO of the LVMH Fashion Group Australia and New Zealand, and President of Louis Vuitton Malletier Thailand, where he oversaw the Vuitton, Loewe, Celine and Fendi brands. Entertainment Warner Bros. has renewed the contract with Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Ed Romano, and he will serve in this capacity through the end of 2013. Romano reports directly to Warner Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Barry Meyer. Romano joined Warner Bros. in 1968 and during his tenure with the company served as assistant treasurer, controller, vice president and controller, and senior vice president and controller before being promoted to his current post. He has served 16 years in his current position and is responsible for all of the company’s financial activities, including financial reporting, budgeting and planning for future business growth. In addition, he is also responsible for Management Information Services, Studio Facilities and Corporate Real Estate. Healthcare David A. Kohl has been named medical director for Kaiser Permanente’s Antelope Valley Medical Offices. Kohl, who has been with Kaiser Permanente in the Antelope Valley since 2002, will oversee more than 100 physicians. Most recently Kohl served as chief of service for family medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Lancaster and Palmdale Medical Offices. He also served as laboratory director, radiology and population care champion. He succeeds Wadie Tadros who recently retired as medical director. Law Westlake Village based law firm SoCal IP added Jonathan Pearce as associate. Pearce focuses on patent and trademark prosecution and litigation. His experience includes work with televisions, satellite systems, interactive entertainment, multi function printing devices, and consumer products in obtaining, protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights. He received his computer science and business degree, master of business administration and law degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Media Video advertising company MeFeedia has added Eytan Elbaz to the firm’s advisory board. Elbaz is chairman and co-founder of Deep Dive Media, and was a founding member of Applied Semantics which was acquired by Google and became Google AdSense. As an advisor and investor, Elbaz will help to strengthen the technology behind MeFeedia’s video products and services, while providing support for the Burbank- based company’s technical and strategic vision. Non- Profit The Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley has added five new members. Those elected to the Board are Clay Andrews, general manager of the Warner Center Marriott; Jill Ause, chief financial officer of Specialty Merchandise Corporation in Simi Valley; Lynn Fernandez, vice president/ relationship manager at California United Bank for the San Fernando Valley market; Sepand Samzadeh, CEO of Valley Recycling Center; and Gail Guglielmino who has served as executive director, interim executive Director, and director of development at several Southern California nonprofit organizations. Real Estate illi Commercial Real Estate appointed Valerie Camacho as division manager for their newly opened Santa Clarita office. A real estate veteran of more than 23 years, Camacho has experience with both national tenant leasing and representation as well as small “mom and pop” transactions. She began her career in 1988 leasing and managing a portfolio of strip centers for LaMancha/CBM located throughout Southern California totaling more than 800,000 square feet. Her experience includes leasing and managing more than 1 million square feet for The George Elkins Company out of Beverly Hills, serving as a senior manager and business development associate at Coreland Companies, and working with Newhall Land & Farming Company, where she was responsible for the retail development, lease-up and sales of the company’s centers. Camacho also worked with NAI Capital before opening up her own real estate division. illi Commercial Real Estate also hired Cassidy A. Cook to join the new Santa Clarita Office. Before joining the company Cook was a small business owner focused on management in the hospitality industry. Jeff Rosenblum, a 30-year veteran of residential and commercial real estate sales and management in the Westlake Village area, has joined Troop Real Estate, Inc. and will manage the company’s Westlake Village office. Rosenblum’s real estate background includes new construction sales, apartment sales and property management. Prior to joining Troop, Rosenblum served as a manager with the Fred Sands organization and most recently Re/Max Olson in Westlake Village where he served in a management capacity. Commercial real estate firm Grubb and Ellis promoted Gelena Skya to senior associate at the firm’s North Los Angeles office in Sherman Oaks. Skya has been actively working with tenants and owners of office properties since 2007. Along with partner Roger Beck, Skya has participated in leasing and sales for such companies as Anheuser Busch, Honeywell, Humana, and Los Angeles County Board of Education. Technology Row 44 Inc., which provides broadband Internet connection for airline passengers, announced that former Vegas.com Chief Executive Howard Lefkowitz recently joined the company as chief commercial officer and will open Row 44’s new Las Vegas office. He will be responsible for marketing and branding the services of the Westlake Village company and develop new product strategies for Row 44 and the company’s airline partners around the world. Lefkowitz’s marketing and technical experience includes serving as vice president of business development and marketing for Earthlink; helping Dick Clark Productions bring the first interactive primetime show to network TV; and working with Ted Turner’s WTBS to create that station’s first original show starring Alex Trebek. During his nine-year tenure as president and CEO of Vegas.com the site grew to receive more than 2.5 million Internet visitors a month. Lefkowitz also joins Row 44’s board of directors. Palmdale based Senior Systems Technology, Inc., a provider of printed circuit board assemblies and other electronic products, added Gregg Mozdy as vice president of business development. Mozdy’s experience in the electronics industry includes working as an executive with LSI Logic, Lattice Semiconductor and, most recently, LaBarge, where he held a variety of roles including Director of Business Development. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Ohio Northern University.