Girls Inc. of Orange County is seeking businesswomen to mentor next-gen leaders as they move toward college and careers.

With the school year approaching, the nonprofit needs 30 to 40 mentors for its new Project Accelerate program, which will guide young women on their career choices.

“Mentoring is how you can influence and shape your future workforce,” says Lucy Santana, CEO of Girls Inc. of Orange County. “These extraordinary and engaging young women are our future intern candidates, managers, and eventual leaders, and they are in great need of your time and talent. Now is the time to pay it forward, join Project Accelerate, and help reimagine workforce equality here in Orange County.”

To become a mentor or learn more about Project Accelerate, email Chief Development Officer Ann Duncan Levy at alevy@girlsinc-oc.org.

The deadline to sign up as a mentor is Friday, Sept. 2.

Steven Dziekonski is the new CEO at HOPE Center for the Arts. He will lead the nonprofit’s mission of helping intellectually disabled adults through the arts. (Courtesy of HOPE Center for the Arts)

New CEO at HOPE Center for the Arts

Steven Dziekonski is the new CEO at HOPE Center for the Arts, replacing executive director Michele Vavonese.

Vavonese served 25 years with the intellectually disabled community and 19 years at HOPE Center for the Arts.

The center shares space with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast in Irvine.

With 35 years of experience as a secondary school arts administrator, department head and music educator, Dziekonski will lead the nonprofit’s mission of helping intellectually disabled adults through the arts. He also is the owner of G&S Works, a company that provides custom orchestrations for Gilbert and Sullivan operettas worldwide.

Clayton Friedman has joined Troutman Pepper as a partner in the firm’s state attorneys practice. He previously worked at Cromwell & Moring LLP, where he founded and led the firm’s state AG practice. (Courtesy of Troutman Pepper)

Michael Yaghi has joined Troutman Pepper as a partner in the firm’s state attorneys practice. (Courtesy of Troutman Pepper)

Elizabeth R. Raskin is the new surgical director for the Margolis Family Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s Digestive Health Institute. (Courtesy of Hoag)

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On the move

Clayton Friedman and Michael Yaghi have joined Troutman Pepper as partners at its state attorneys practice. They previously worked at Cromwell & Moring LLP, where Friedman founded and led the firm’s state AG practice, and will be working from the Irvine office.

Colorectal surgeon Elizabeth R. Raskin is the new surgical director for the Margolis Family Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s Digestive Health Institute. She comes to Hoag from UC Davis Medical Center where she served as chief of the division of colon and rectal surgery and director of robotic surgical education.

Yvonne Kluttz has been appointed to serve a one-year term with the board of directors at the Regional Center of Orange County. (Courtesy of Regional Center of OC)

The Vendor Advisory Committee at the Regional Center of Orange County elected Rick Perez to serve as the VAC representative on the center’s board of directors. (Courtesy of the Regional Center of OC)

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On board

Yvonne Kluttz has been appointed to serve a one-year term with the board of directors at the Regional Center of Orange County. The center’s Vendor Advisory Committee also elected Rick Perez to serve as the VAC representative on the board. Both are unpaid volunteer positions and the VAC position is a non-voting role. Yvonne Kluttz, a self-advocate who receives services from RCOC, has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability. Rick Perez is president and program director of Abilities Unlimited, a day program for adults that has offices in Lake Forest and Fountain Valley. The regional center is a nonprofit organization contracted by the state to coordinate lifelong services and support for more than 23,000 Orange County residents with developmental disabilities and their families.

Grants

City National Bank has awarded Community Reinvestment Act grants worth a combined $45,000 to seven nonprofits in Orange County. Habitat for Humanity also was granted an additional $10,000 as part of the bank’s national partnership. The recipients splitting the money include Affordable Housing Clearinghouse, Cielo (Community for Innovative Leadership and Opportunities), Families Forward, GreenPath Financial Wellness, HomeAid Orange County, Junior Achievement of Orange County, Orange County Community Housing Corp.

Susan Chaney-Purel, board chair of Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano, has been honored with the 2022 Michael Lewis Friends of Disabled Award. (Courtesy of J. F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center)

Milestones

The J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano has honored Susan Chaney-Purel, board chair of the center, with the 2022 Michael Lewis Friends of Disabled Award. The award, named after the center’s first therapy rider in 1986, celebrates contributions of individuals, organizations, families, and companies that help people with disabilities.

Tangram and the nonprofit Once Upon A Room spent five weeks designing and decorating patients’ rooms at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The work included personalized decorations, bedding, pillows and accessories. (Courtesy of Tangram)

Tangram and the nonprofit Once Upon A Room spent five weeks designing and decorating patients’ rooms at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The work included personalized decorations, bedding, pillows and accessories. (Courtesy of Tangram)

Tangram and the nonprofit Once Upon A Room spent five weeks designing and decorating patients’ rooms at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The work included personalized decorations, bedding, pillows and accessories. (Courtesy of Tangram)

Tangram and the nonprofit Once Upon A Room spent five weeks designing and decorating patients’ rooms at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The work included personalized decorations, bedding, pillows and accessories. (Courtesy of Tangram)

Tangram and the nonprofit Once Upon A Room spent five weeks designing and decorating patients’ rooms at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The work included personalized decorations, bedding, pillows and accessories. (Courtesy of Tangram)

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Interior design firm Tangram recently partnered with the nonprofit Once Upon A Room, which serves chronically ill children. The five-week partnership included decorating patient rooms at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The work included personalized decorations, bedding, pillows and accessories. Each room was designed with a patient’s favorite color and interests in mind. The children also were gifted the bedding, pillows and all accessories used in their room. Other companies involved in the project included One Nine Architecture, Boulder Associates, Women in Health, Austin Commercial and ZGF.

The 15th annual Top Workplaces program opened for nominations on Sunday, May 29. (SCNG/ENERGAGE)

Nominate a Top Workplace before portal closes

The ninth annual Top Workplaces program is winding down its nomination period for Orange County companies and organizations.

The deadline is Friday, Aug. 5.

Last year, the program invited 3,077 companies to take the survey to determine who would make the list of Top Workplaces. In all, 207 companies or organizations took part and a record-setting 155 winners were honored.

Here’s a look at who and how you can nominate Orange County companies and organizations …

Any organization with 35 or more employees in Orange County is eligible to participate. They can be public, private, non-profit and government.
Workplaces are evaluated by their employees using a short 24-question survey.
Companies will be surveyed June through August.
Special publication: December 2022
To nominate online, go to ocregister.com/nominate
Call in a nomination at 714-442-2768

Status Update is compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin and edited by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items and high-resolution photos to sgowen@scng.com. Allow at least one week for publication. Items are edited for length and clarity.