HALÉ BEHZADI,  North America Head of Citi Private Bank

Halé Behzadi is the North America Head of Citi Private Bank and a member of the Private Banking Global Leadership Team. Halé has more than three decades of experience working with ultra-high net worth families and their closely held business and philanthropic ventures and leads the Private Banking activities in 25 offices across the United States and Canada.

Most recently, Halé was the Global Market Manager of the Western Region at Citi Private Bank and directly responsible for leading the ultra-high net worth private banking practices in seven offices in California, Arizona and Washington. Halé co-chairs Citi’s California Leadership Council and is the Executive Sponsor of Citi’s North America Diversity Committee. Previously, Halé chaired the Mentoring Committee at Citi Private Bank and served as the Business Sponsor of Citi’s Pride Network for Southern California and the Women’s Network for Northern California.

Prior to joining Citigroup and establishing the Private Bank office in Beverly Hills in 2002, Halé enjoyed a long and distinguished career with Bank of America, where she was a Senior Vice President directing a team of private banking professionals in Beverly Hills.

Halé holds a BA in Economics from Georgetown University, where she is an active member of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Throughout her career she has played an active role in numerous civic and charitable organizations that provide social services, education and health care in the local community. Currently, Halé serves on the Board of Trustees for Viewpoint School as a member of the Executive Committee, in addition to chairing the Advancement Committee. She has previously held a number of leadership roles including Vice Chair and Chair of Committee on Trustees where she was focused on recruiting more diverse board members, especially women. She is also a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. Halé was recently recognized as a Deborah Award recipient by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for her leadership and civic contributions exemplifying the qualities and ideals of ADL. She holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 FINRA licenses.

Efrain Escobedo, President & CEO of The Center for Nonprofit Management

Efrain Escobedo is a leading executive and dynamic strategist dedicated to increasing the civic engagement of historically underserved and marginalized communities and transforming systems through more human-centered approaches. For nearly two decades, he has worked within the philanthropic, government, and nonprofit sectors to advance his professional mission. This cross-sectoral experience – paired with Efrain’s commitment to empowering local communities – allows him to bring partners together and make a meaningful impact in his work across California.

Efrain previously served as Vice President of Public Policy and Civic Engagement at The California Community Foundation (CCF), one of the state’s leading philanthropies with more than $1.8 billion in assets. Efrain manages senior staff, develops cross-sector partnerships, has helped revamp several multimillion-dollar grantmaking portfolios, and leads the design and implementation of innovative public-private partnerships with Los Angeles County and the State of California. Efrain has played a key role in CCF’s impactful philanthropy, which disbursed more than $100 million in grants and administered multiple public-private partnerships with the County and State.

Efrain’s work is informed by his deep-rooted experience crafting effective human-centered engagement strategies in government. For nearly seven years, Efrain worked at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, first as an Executive Liaison, managing the Department’s Multilingual Services and Community Outreach teams, and then as the Division Manager of Governmental & Legislative Affairs. As Division Manager, Efrain led three divisions – Public Information Office, Legislative Affairs, and Community Outreach – where he spearheaded historic projects like the Voting Systems Assessment Project, which modernized the County’s voting systems through an innovative community-centered process and public-private partnership.

Efrain additionally draws on his experience in the nonprofit sector, as he worked at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund for half a decade, first as Director of Voter Engagement and then as Senior Director of Civic Engagement. Efrain led a national $2.5 million voter education initiative across seven states and played a key leadership role in the historic Ya Es Hora campaign, which helped to naturalize more than one million immigrants in the U.S. and contributed to historic Latino voter turnout in 2008.

Efrain holds leadership positions on committees across the philanthropic, government, and nonprofit sectors. He is Chair of the Board of Directors for Hispanics in Philanthropy, past member of the Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees Board of Directors, a Member of the Board of Directors for Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, a Member of the Policy Advisory Committee for Southern California Grantmakers, and Speaker Appointee of the CA Census Complete Count Committee in 2020.

Efrain earned his bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California and his Master of Business Administration from the University of La Verne. He is a graduate of the Los Angeles County Executive Leadership Program, a partnership with USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Ron Frierson, Director of Economic Development, U.S. West Region of Amazon

Ron Frierson serves as Director of Economic Development of the U.S. West Region at Amazon. In his role, Ron leads the team that supports and champions Amazon investment projects across various Amazon business lines in areas of market-entry, strategy, site selection, entitlements, operations, and partnerships.

Before joining Amazon, Ron served as Director of Economic Policy for former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Ron led the Business Team for the Mayor’s Office, which developed business policy affecting the world’s 3rd largest metropolitan economy. Ron’s portfolio included Commercial Real Estate Development, Technology, Sports & Entertainment, Manufacturing, Taxation, Healthcare, and Tourism & Hospitality. He also oversaw the Convention & Tourism Department, Department of Cannabis Regulation and the Economic Workforce & Development Department on behalf of the Mayor’s Office.