Board & Staff

Favorite Band:  All types of R & B artists

Favorite VCF Event:  Like a mother hen I can’t pick a favorite, they are all my favorite

I am so fortunate to work for this fine organization.  What can be better than spending an evening in the park with family and friends enjoying music and creating memories.  It is wonderful to be on the cutting edge as we add new facilities and programs and showcase them throughout the San Fernando Valley.

Joellen’s passion for community and community service led her to Valley Cultural Foundation’s door in 2014. In 2019, she joined the staff in the office, and in 2022 when our CEO Nora Ross passed away, Joellen stepped up to lead the organization.  She is a longtime West Valley resident and has served on many different boards from Sunrise Little League to Valley Traffic Advisory Board, as her heart is in being of service. She is married to a retired Navy Veteran, and she has three grown kids. They have a total of five grandkids – three girls and two boys. Her love for football is like no other, and she’s always rooting for the Green Bay Packers. She and her husband Jim love to travel to Bullhead, Arizona and spend days on the river, riding their jet skis.

If she is not at the park, she is watching football or playing with her grandkids. 

Favorite singer: Luke Bryan

Favorite food: Italian

Favorite place to visit: Bullhead City, AZ

Favorite team: Green Bay Packers

Kristen is a Valley native with deep roots in the community. She spent much of her life working at Wachsman-Staley Photography, her family’s third-generation photography business, where she captured special moments and helped create lasting memories while developing a strong appreciation for creativity, art, and event-based work. In 2023, she joined Valley Cultural Foundation and now serves as Office Manager.

Kristen believes that music soothes the soul and finds joy in live performances, working at concerts, and witnessing the smiles music brings to people’s faces. She thrives in positive, celebratory environments and values time spent with family and friends. Outside of work, Kristen enjoys exploring new places, traveling, gardening, spending time at the beach, and enjoying art in all its forms.

Jade is from Las Vegas and moved to the Valley to pursue her passion for storytelling and creative media at California State University, Northridge. She is earning her degree in Cinema and Television Arts with a concentration in Emerging Media and a minor in Marketing. Through her studies, she has gained hands-on experience in motion capture, video projection, and virtual reality.

Jade joined Valley Cultural Foundation as a Social Media Coordinator in March 2026. She loves live events and feels the organization is perfectly aligned with her passion for both marketing and community experiences.

Outside of work, Jade enjoys running, watching movies, and dancing. 

Gina Guarino Eskow serves as Chair of the Board of Valley Cultural Foundation, where she leads one of Southern California’s most respected nonprofit arts organizations dedicated to bringing free, high-quality concerts and cultural programming to communities across the San Fernando Valley. For Gina, Valley Cultural Foundation is more than a leadership role — it is the way she gives back by serving the community through her lifelong love and passion for the arts. Under her leadership, the Foundation continues to expand its reach, strengthen public-private partnerships, and celebrate its 50-year legacy of enriching the cultural fabric of the San Fernando Valley.

In addition to her nonprofit leadership, Gina is Vice President of Real Estate for Held Properties, Inc., a real estate developer, investment, and management firm. In this role, she oversees strategic leasing, asset management, and long-term portfolio growth across a diverse commercial real estate platform. Known for her collaborative style and results-driven approach, Gina brings a sharp business lens to every organization she serves.

Gina is also a Past Chair and current Board and Executive Committee Member of the Century City Chamber of Commerce, where she continues to support economic development, business advocacy, and community engagement throughout the Century City submarket.

Most important to her professional and civic life, is her family. Gina is married to her husband Keith for 30 years, and together they are proud parents to Sarah, Joshua, and Justin, along with their beloved family pet, Brooklyn, who keeps everyone smiling and grounded. Her deep commitment to family, community, and culture is the driving force behind her leadership and service.

A Principal at BWS Financial Inc., I have over 19 years of investment experience. I have been providing institutional investors with equities research covering growth and deep value stocks. My focus has been on opportunities on companies with strong free cash flow and with a history of being discarded by the Street. I have a unique approach to applying idea generation and entrepreneurship knowledge to finding businesses that have the greatest potential for return.

I graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelors of Science in Economics.

I have also been recognized by various entities for my civic engagement. I was an afterschool mentor with Los Angeles Team Mentoring, and previously served on the advisory board of the RISSC program at Mt. San Antonio College. I was past President of West Valley PALS and served on the board of Securities Traders Association of Los Angeles. I have also acted as Santa at Valley Presbyterian Hospital for the last three years. I received the Diamond of the Community Award from the Encino Chamber of Commerce in 2018.

I enjoy traveling. You can find me on a weekend escape to a city in Europe and Asia, or up the 101 freeway because a new restaurant opened.

Favorite performer: Rihanna

Favorite restaurant: Crave Cafe

Favorite activity: Watching/Playing Hockey

Valley Cultural Foundation is my favorite organization. I’ve been involved with the VCC/VCF for over twenty years. I’m a past VCC board member, chaired various VCC committees and I have provided decorations for the VCC/VCF Gala for many years. My husband I work in the music industry and are committed to bringing free concerts to the Valley. I’m very excited to be on the board, working with the board members, working with the VCF staff, joining committees and working to help the VCF reach its goal in serving and providing free music and entertainment to the community. Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to serve and be a part of this wonderful organization.

Favorite musical artist: I like them all. I enjoy all musical and entertainment genres.

Favorite VCF event: I enjoy all the events including the concerts, movies and fundraisers.

Favorite activity:  Listening to music, going to concerts, reading, biking, working, decorating, gardening and volunteering.

Helen has been a long time supporter and Board Member of Valley Cultural Foundation. One thing she loves about the organization is how much enjoyment it provides to the community year round. With so many fun annual events, and new one continuously being formulated, she is glad to be at the forefront of these programs. She continuously brings her experience as a Marketing Representative for the State Compensation Insurance Fund to the team as new programs are being implemented.

Favorite band: Pink Floyd

Favorite VCF event: Any concert!

Favorite activity: Traveling

I grew up in New York City where the arts was an integral part of our curriculum and every child had the opportunity to sing, dance, perform, and play musical instruments. I performed in Carnegie Hall as part of a bi-centennial celebration and am incredibly grateful for having had this experience in my youth. I believe encouraging artistic expression is fundamental to our well-being and I am excited to be a part of these efforts. While I have been a community volunteer for over 30 years, I first experienced VCF events through my good friend Gina Guarino. I’m excited to share my extensive experience in project management, marketing and event planning to help VCF reach their goals.

Favorite musical artist:  While I love most genres of music, my favorite all around talent has to be Barbra Streisand.  I even entered a singing contest where she was a judge when I was in elementary school in New York City.  She was so encouraging.

Favorite VCF event: I love that all the events just bring people together to enjoy the diversity of talent in our community.

Favorite activity: Travel, writing, and photography has been my passion for most of my life.

Henry Liang is a private wealth advisor with Wells Fargo Bank Wealth & Investment Management. Henry is responsible for providing comprehensive wealth management advice to high-net-worth individuals and families, entrepreneurs, and business owners throughout California and U.S.

Henry has extensive experience in custom credit solutions integrated into overall private banking and wealth management solutions. Henry has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, serving the specialized needs of many high-net-worth clients and families.

Most recently, Henry was a senior wealth advisor with Wilmington Trust and prior to that, he was instrumental in developing and launching Zen Private Wealth Advisors, Inc. where he worked directly with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, assisting with comprehensive and customized financial solutions, including the integration of target acquisitions through complex reorganizations and business planning.

Previously Henry served in executive roles at leading international financial institutions, including Citigroup, Wells Fargo Bank, Berkshire Hathaway, and Sterling Capital Partners. His experience spans bank operations, credit and mortgage banking, investment advisory, and wealth management.

Henry earned a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University with a focus on investment theory. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with concentrations in finance and real estate from California State University, Northridge.

Favorite band: Depeche Mode

Favorite local restaurant: HOM Italian

Favorite activity: Working out and coaching

Art Zwickel is a partner in the Investment Funds & Private Capital practice at Paul Hastings LLP, an international law firm. His legal practice focuses on working with asset management firms on their corporate and regulatory matters and organizing investment funds, including registered funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and fund-of-funds. He also advises a variety of institutional investors in connection with their investments into alternative investment funds. Prior to attending law school he spent four years in public accounting performing audits of financial services businesses, earning his CPA in the process. He currently serves on the boards of the California Alternative Investments Association and Investor Choice Advocates Network (ICAN).

Art has lived in the San Fernando Valley/Simi Valley area for over thirty years with his wife of 36 years, Lucette, who works for the J. Paul Getty Trust. Art and Lucette have been involved in music the arts for many years, primarily through their children, who were both involved with Join the Band, a local music program that allows participants to perform at iconic music venues such as Whisky a Go Go and The Roxy Theatre. Their daughter Auberi graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a studio arts degree and their son Austin graduated from UCLA a degree in music. Art and Lucette enjoy attending the concerts in the park sponsored by Valley Cultural Foundation, and Art is excited to lend his legal and finance expertise to VCF to help the organization continue to grow and thrive.

Favorite band: Art listens to a wide variety of music spanning classic rock, jazz, blues and alternative/independent rock.  It is impossible to pick a favorite!

Favorite activity: Art enjoys travel, food, wine and hosting gatherings for friends and family at their home.

Favorite local restaurant: Moody Rooster

Jo spent her career focusing on accounting and finance in manufacturing companies with headquarters in the U.S. and operations around the world. She served on company boards of directors beginning when she attained her first chief financial officer position in 1990. She retired in 2023. 

Jo received a bachelor of administration degree from Bellevue College, Omaha Nebraska and received her master’s degree in international finance in from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California. 

Jo has been active in many non-profit and civic organizations over the years. Jo served as President of Women in Business (‘WIB’) Los Angeles and remained on the board for 5 years; she concurrently served on the Women In Business Foundation board for 7 years. Jo was honored with the National Association of Women Business Owners Los Angeles chapter for her volunteer work with WIB. The San Fernando Valley Business Journal recognized her with the Top CFO Honoree award. She served on the board of directors for Youth Mentoring Connections, a non-profit serving inner-city at-risk youth, chairing the finance committee. In 2013 Jo was received the Jean Jauck Community Service Award presented by the Canoga Park and West Hills Chambers of Commerce. 

Jo is a member of the Canoga Park Elks Lodge #2190 and has served in a number of capacities over the years serving as Exalted Ruler in 2014-2016 and again in 2023-2024. She is actively involved with the local lodge, veterans, and Elks National Foundation scholarship programs. 

She currently serves on the board of directors for Sister City International, Canoga Park chapter as treasurer. Jo was elected in June 2025 to the Winnetka Neighborhood Council where she serves on the Board focusing on public safety. 

Favorite singer: Kenny Chesney 

Favorite band: The Rolling Stones—they still have it at 80! 

Favorite restaurant: Verse

Favorite activity: Travelling to new places

Marc Wolf is our newest Board Member.