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Board of Directors
Cindy Brenneman - Chair
Mrs. Brenneman is a 35 year resident of Costa Mesa
and very active in the community. She currently
serves on the Costa Mesa CERT Advisory Committee
, Mesa Verde Community, Inc., and is a Trauma Intervention
Program (TIP) Volunteer. Cindy and her husband
Tom have lived in Mesa Verde for 32 years.
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Karen Ursini - Vice Chair
Karen Ursini and her husband have owned the Newport
Rib Co. in Costa Mesa for 22 years. They have
raised their three children in Costa Mesa and
have been active in youth sports, PTA organizations,
and the Costa Mesa Child Care and Youth Services
Committee. She is retired from the non-profit
organization, Coalition for Children, Adolescents
and Parents (CCAP) where she served on the board
and then on the staff as a Parent Educator Coordinator..
In 2003, the Ursini family received the Costa
Mesa Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame Award.
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Mary Fewel - Secretary
Mary Fewel has been a cheerleader for West Costa
Mesa for the past 20 years, helping to re-open
Victoria Elementary School in 1993, creating
a long-running newsletter for the Freedom Homes
(now Canyon Park) neighborhood, and serving on
various Westside improvement committees. She
is a sales associate for Re/Max Metro, and lives
in Costa Mesa, overlooking Canyon Park, with
her husband Chris and two sons. |
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Committee Members
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Jamie Brownlee
Jamie Brownlee
is the Director of Outreach Ministries
at Vanguard University and her
role is to oversee both local
and global ministries. Jamie
is responsible for creating a
vision for Outreach and organizing
opportunities for students to
serve in our own backyard of
Costa Mesa and internationally.
She partners with organizations
within Orange County and has
developed an intense training
program to prepare students to
work in other cultures.
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Dr.
Steven Grant
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Wendy
Leece
Wendy Leece came to Costa
Mesa from Tucson, Arizona in 1972 and
never left. Always a resident of the
Westside, Wendy’s early years in
the city were spent raising her five
children who attended local schools and
played in many sports leagues.
In 1994, Wendy was elected
to the Newport Mesa Unified School District
School Board and served two terms representing
Trustee Zone 7. Wendy was appointed to
the Parks and Recreation Commission in
2003 and served as Chair of the Commission
in 2006. Wendy has also served on her
homeowner’s association’s
Architectural Review Committee and is
the immediate past president of the Costa
Mesa Republican Assembly. She was elected
to the City Council on November 7, 2006.
Council Member Leece states, “The
Costa Mesa Community Foundation is a
very active group of committed people
who give of their time to make Costa
Mesa a better place to live and work.”
Wendy is very proud of her
children: Bret, daughter-in-law Blithe,
grandchildren Kennedy and Hamilton; Megan,
Stephen, Amy and Emily.
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Lea Lowe
Lea Lowe is the Executive Director for
a non-profit corporation in Long Beach,
CA. She also participates in the “Reading
by Nine” program at Whittier Elementary
School. Lea has a long history
of involvement in various non-profit
organizations and has lived in Costa
Mesa for six years.
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Lorena
Penaloza
Ms. Peñaloza
joined the Office of General
Counsel for California State
University in January 2008.
She is a member of their
Litigation Team and is a
resource attorney for Unlawful
Detainer Actions. Prior to
2008, she spent several years
with the City of Santa Ana
City Attorney’s Office
where she advised clients
on issues involving planning
and building regulations,
the Public Records Act, the
Brown Act, and where she
served as Legal Counsel for
the Human Relations Commission,
the Workforce Investment
Board, the Santa Ana Empowerment
Corporation, and the Zoning
Administrator. Ms. Peñaloza
also served as the City’s
Code Enforcement Prosecutor
for three and half years
and handled tort defense
litigation on behalf of the
City of Santa Ana.
Prior to working for the
City of Santa Ana, she was
a Staff Attorney with the
Office of the General Counsel
for the Social Security Administration
(SSA) in Maryland. During
her tenure with SSA, she
detailed as a Legislative
Counsel with the Committee
on the Judiciary for the
U.S. Senate. She began with
the Office of the General
Counsel through the Presidential
Management Fellowship Program
(formerly known as Presidential
Management Internship).
Ms. Peñaloza is admitted
to practice law in California
and before the United States
District Court for the Central
District of California. She
is a member of the following:
the Orange County Bar Association,
the Hispanic Bar Association
of Orange County, the Orange
County Women Lawyers Association,
and served on the board for
the American Latino Voter
Education Fund. She is also
an alumnus of Future Leaders
of America and Hispanas Organized
for Political Equality.
Ms. Peñaloza received
her Juris Doctor from the
University of California,
Hastings College of the Law,
and her Bachelor of Arts
in Sociology and Political
Economies of Industrial Societies
from the University of California,
Berkeley.
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Jeffrey Harlan
Jeffrey Harlan is an urban planner and
environmental consultant with The Planning
Center in Costa Mesa. Formerly an environmental
attorney, Jeff has been a long-time advocate
for, and practitioner of, community and
open space/recreational planning, sustainable
development, and green building. Having
served in a leadership role in a number
of non-profit and community organizations,
he is currently a member of the City
of Costa Mesa Santa Ana River Trail Blue
Ribbon Committee, and Orange County Green
Connect. Jeff and his family live in
Eastside Costa Mesa.
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Tom
Sutro
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Jeff
Teller
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William Turpit
Bill Turpit moved to Costa Mesa at the
beginning of his career as a lawyer and
has enjoyed being active as a volunteer
with a number of Costa Mesa's neighborhood
and civic committees and organizations. Of
special importance to Bill has been his
involvement with organizations serving
youth and families, primarily in the
Westside where he resided for his first
25 years in Costa Mesa. Bill is
a real estate lawyer and partner with
the firm Jackson, DeMarco, Tidus & Peckenpaugh
in Irvine.
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