Despina Kayichian

Founder & President

Despina is a practicing nephrologist since 1996. She lived her first 25 years in her home country Lebanon experiencing first hand social inequities and poverty brought on by the long drawn civil war. In 2009, she went back to school and completed a graduate degree in Healthcare administration; that gave her the tools to take on multiple leadership roles in hospitals as well as ambulatory settings. The desire to serve the most vulnerable has always been burning in her heart.

Over the years, she volunteered as a practicing physician in Mexico, Belize, Skid row DTLA, free clinic in Glendale and many more. She always enjoyed the outdoors and found calm and therapy in the beauty of nature. While practicing at Venice Family Clinic since 2014, she is constantly reminded of the disparities in accessing safe and green spaces her patients experience. Now, at the nadir of her career, she would like to give those kids, kids in underserved communities, the opportunity to enjoy nature outings and to experience the beautiful outdoors Southern California has to offer.

​Iliniza Baty

Secretary

​Iliniza (Nisa) was born in California, but spent part of her childhood living in Patzcuaro, Mexico. As the child of an anthropological archeologist and a former Peace Corps volunteer, commitments to cultural understanding, activism and social justice are rooted in her bone marrow. Nisa (Iliniza Baty, LCSW) is the Director of the Behavioral Health Department at Venice Family Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center, serving the most vulnerable in Los Angeles.

Nisa has worked in the field of Behavioral Health for 26 years in a variety of settings including a local non-profit mental health agency where she was instrumental in developing school based programming for schools in SMMUSD. She has also worked in hospital and county mental health programs. Nisa Baty has a Bachelors in Political Science and Sociology from Occidental College and a Masters of Social Work degree and Certificate in Family Therapy from Boston University. Prior to her work in behavioral health, Nisa served as director of the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Riverside, CA.

Charbel Ghaby

Treasurer

​Charbel, originally from Lebanon, immigrated to the United States at the age of 11. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Science (Business) from the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated Cum Laude in 2000. After beginning his career as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley, Charbel transitioned in 2004 to join the family restaurant business, where he successfully established multiple restaurants over the next 15 years. At the peak of his restaurant ventures, Charbel and his brother managed three full-service restaurants and five quick-casual establishments.

While expanding his entrepreneurial skills, Charbel pursued higher education and earned his MBA from Woodbury University in Burbank, all while overseeing his restaurant enterprises. In 2020, he reconnected with his true passion for financial planning and joined WestPac Wealth Partners as a financial advisor.

Since then, Charbel has achieved significant professional milestones, obtaining his Series 7 and Series 66 licenses through FINRA and becoming a licensed life/health agent through the California Department of Insurance. In 2021, he furthered his expertise by earning the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) designation from the American College of Financial Services. In 2022, he obtained his Certified Business Exit Planning (CExP) certification.
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Beyond his professional accomplishments, Charbel is also engaged in community service. He has dedicated eight years to coaching his sons’ AYSO soccer teams and actively participates in his sons’ cub scout pack and boy scout troop, where they collaborate on community improvement initiatives.

Rigo Garcia

Director

​Rigo Garcia has recently been named the new Executive Director of the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California. He brings over 18 years of experience working in an FQHC setting. His experience includes health education, leadership and outreach and a commitment to ensuring marginalized groups are provided primary care access.

Recently, Rigo has been the Director of Health Education for the Venice Family Clinic, an organization that provides quality primary health care to people in need. In this role, he created and managed one of the largest community clinic food distribution programs in L.A. County where he executed daily food security initiatives for nearly 10,000 families in need per month.

Rigo has had experience working with children and youth in various aspects. He was a camp counselor during his college years, created fitness programming for youth during the beginning of his career, and most recently has worked with a health care team to provide education on teen health. Rigo has also served on various committees: Anti-Racism Committee as an Action Group Facilitator, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and UCLA’s Hypertension Council. He received a B.S. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and a Master of Public Health from the University of Southern California.

Christine Lewison

Director

Christine Lewison is an executive specializing in brand marketing, management and development with a demonstrated record of accomplishment in direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns, go-to-market strategies and industry-leading creative within film, TV and entertainment-focused brands. She is the Director of Franchise Development at Spin Master managing the #1 preschool brand in the world, PAW Patrol.
 
Christine holds a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Mass Media from California State University, San Bernardino. Prior to Spin Master, Christine was the marketing lead for numerous film campaigns at 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and WarnerBros.

Christine loves to be immersed within the beauty of nature and is a dedicated trail runner who runs throughout sections of the Santa Monica mountains every week. She practices martial arts including Muay Thai Kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu and has an absolute passion for cooking and travelling.