Governor appoints 3 SoCal residents to CSU Board of Trustees

Three Los Angeles-area residents were appointed by the goveor Thursday to the Cal State University Board of Trustees, including the former head of the American Film Institute.

Jean Picker Firstenberg, 79, of Los Angeles, served as president and CEO of AFI from 1980 to 2007. The institute is dedicated to preserving “America’s vanishing film heritage.” She is a former executive of the Markle Foundation charitable organization.

Gov. Jerry Brown also appointed Los Angeles resident Thelma Melendez, 57, the head of educational services at the Los Angeles Unified School District and a former adviser on education and workforce development in the Los Angeles mayor’s office. She is also a former deputy superintendent at the Pomona Unified School District.

Brown also re-appointed to the board Lillian Kimbell, 56, of Woodland Hills. A member of the board since 2014, Kimbell is legal counsel and business manager for Gardel Associates media group, and manager of Spanish Language Authors and Publisher Relations.

Two other people were also appointed to the CSU board – Riverside attoey Jane Caey, 73, and Lateefah Simon, 39, of Oakland. Simon has been director of programs at the Rosenberg Foundation since 2009.

The appointments all require Senate confirmation. All of the appointees are Democrats.

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