Board
The Board of Directors for CMAC is composed of a diverse group of local leaders
representing a cross-section of community interests. Directors are designated, elected and
appointed to the board according to by-laws adopted by CMAC.
• Randy Reed
• Roberta Barton
• MaryJane Skjellerup
• Richard P. Yanes
• Parvin Malek
• Michael LefFall
• Jan M. Biggs
• Chad Fitzgerald
• Kevin Hamilton
• Andrea Bressel
• Rey León
• Lucy Ruiz
Randy Reed has enjoyed a long career in media and production including work for local broadcast and cable stations, national networks, educational agencies, and local government. Several of his projects have won International Telly Awards and Communicator Awards. Randy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Fresno State and has been involved in the effort to bring PEG Access to Fresno since 2001. Randy represents the City of Fresno on the CMAC Board.
Roberta Barton is the Public Information Officer for the Fresno County Library. She holds a B.A. degree in Journalism from California State University, Fresno and has more than 20 years of non-profit public relations experience. She is a past Board member of the Fresno Communications Network, past president of the Central California Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Vice President of Education of Stellar Toastmasters, and Board member of Central California Asian Pacific Women.
MaryJane Skjellerup is Regional Director for the Center for Multicultural Cooperation (CMC). In addition to overseeing the production of over 150 volunteer produced digital stories featuring the Veteran, Hmong, Latino, Khmer and Laotion communities of Fresno, she worked as Executive Producer for Common Ground, a 30 minute youth-produced broadcast documentary commissioned by the California Council for the Humanities. She also manages FresYES! Productions, a student run social enterprise that provides media production services to local Community Based Organizations. As Associate Director for the Global Information Internship Program at UC Santa Cruz, she taught courses on applying innovative media solutions to prolific CBO challenges and was mentored by Alicia Dwyer, Academy Award winning Assistant Producer for documentary feature in 2001.
Richard P. Yanes, J.D., is Executive Director of Fresno Metro Ministry and has more than 25 years experience working with nonprofit organizations both as a senior level executive and as a volunteer. Prior to his career with nonprofit organizations, Richard spent more than six years with the California State Assembly managing legislative and political matters. He went on to practice law and provide consulting services for more than a decade to a variety of clients. Richard received his Bachelor’s degree in Government from California State University, Sacramento and his legal education from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
Parvin Malek is a math and arts teacher at Bullard Talent Middle School. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Masters in Theatre Arts. She is active in performing arts and has produced more than twenty professional plays. Parvin is the founder of the Iranian Culture and Art Club of Fresno, a nonprofit organization promoting secular understanding and awareness of Iranian culture, arts and customs.
Michael LefFall currently serves as president of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, West Fresno Chapter #2692 (1), which is focused on the moral and ethical behavior of the community to the end that all can be of “one body”. He formerly held the office of Vice President of International Operations for the FGBMFI Fresno Chapter. Mr. LefFall was born in the Central Valley of California, where his family operated a successful agribusiness which is historically interrelated to the production of over seventy percent of the world’s food source. He graduated from Fresno High School and soon thereafter volunteered in the United States Navy and was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea as the ships’ personnel storekeeper. He served four years and, after receiving an honorable discharge, started his career working in the Production Control Division for Raytheon Data Systems, a large defense contractor. Mr. LefFall acquired skills in the construction industry, which have become the catalyst to connect his strong interest in furthering employment and business development within the under-served community of West Fresno documented for the highest concentrated poverty in North America.
Jan M. Biggs, J.D., is the Senior Administrator to the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. In this position Mr. Biggs supervises all of the Fresno County Office of Education’s facilities, supervises the Multi-Media Services department, facilitates the Fresno County Committee on School District Organization, serves as the lead negotiator with all bargaining units, and assists other school districts with labor negotiations and superintendent searches. Prior to joining the County Office of Education in 1998, Mr. Biggs practiced law for 23 years.
Chad Fitzgerald is the Special Projects/Emergency Preparedness Manager for the City of Clovis. In his role as Emergency Preparedness Manager, Mr. Fitzgerald is responsible for community preparedness efforts from training citizens in emergency response to exercises and drills for City staff. In addition, Mr. Fitzgerald serves the Fire Department Public Information Officer, performs grant writing/administration and serves on the Clovis Emergency Response Team Board of Directors. As the Special Projects Manager, Mr. Fitzgerald oversees the Information Technology division and coordinates projects such as the Connecting With Clovis magazine, collaboration with local community groups on City improvement projects, and acts as backup to the City Clerk. Mr. Fitzgerald has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Fresno Pacific University.
Kevin Hamilton is Deputy Chief of Programs for Clinica Sierra Vista, Inc., a Federally Qualified Health Care clinic system with 50 sites spanning Fresno, Kern and Inyo counties. He has served as developer, coordinator, manager and director for multiple programs serving poor and underserved communities in the San Joaquin Valley. Kevin serves on numerous boards and committees associated with grassroots community capacity building to local, state and regional policy development. He holds an AS in Respiratory Care, BS in Geology and has completed extended course work in mathematics, business and management training. Kevin has worked extensively on different aspects of health care access and redesign around primary care, disease management, childhood and adult immunizations and behavioral health over the last 20 years and is an advocate for social and environmental justice.
Andrea Bressel is the Chief Content Officer at ValleyPBS. In this position she oversees programming, engineering and all local productions. Andrea originally came to ValleyPBS as the producer of a weekly parenting program, 0 to 5 in 30 Minutes! Prior to ValleyPBS, she served over nine years at KFSN Channel 30 with her final position that of a News Producer. Andrea graduated Summa Cum Laude from California State University, Fresno with a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications, with emphasis on news and public affairs.
Rey León is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he obtained a BA in Chicano Studies with an emphasis in public health. He is the founder and Executive Director of the San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement & Policy Project (Valley LEAP), a Latino Valley based non-profit organization. Mr. León is based in Fresno for the Valley and focuses on environmental justice, air quality, energy and green jobs. Mr. Leon has been working to ensure that environmental justice principles are advanced in the regions institutions and culture. Rey is a co-founder of Central Valley Air Quality Coalition and founder of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Green Jobs Coalition which counts on 300+ members. Mr. León sits on various boards and committees including the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development and the Center on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT). In addition, Rey is Associate President of the Mexican American Political Association and most recently elected as Vice Chair of Region four of the California Chicano Latino Caucus. Mr. León has been organizing in the Valley for the past eighteen years and for the past nine years he has been advocating and successfully building coalitions, community capacity, advancing public policy; placement of the first PM 2.5 air quality monitor on the West Side of the Valley, systems change; developing the first ever environmental justice strategy for both the Fresno County Council of Governments and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District as well as the formation of EJ bodies within both institutions and much more. Through Valley LEAP, Rey continues to organize with the grassroots and other partners to promote clean energy alternatives, green jobs and diesel mitigation in concentrated clusters of poverty in the central San Joaquin Valley. Mr. Leon successfully works with Valley communities to achieve environmental and climate justice.
Lucy Ruiz is the Public Information Officer at Reedley College. A graduate of the University of Pacific and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee she holds a master’s degree in mass communication. Lucy was the Community Services Director at CBS 47 for 17 years. She began her broadcast career at KNBC in Los Angeles as the producer of the Fight Back News Reports. She has a long list of community involvement and has served on many local boards.