Jeremy Bernard Named Next President Of Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

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The Board of Directors of the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles has selected Jeremy Bernard as its next President effective July 16, 2018.

"The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles exists to tear down silos and engage the right mix of resources to solve the toughest problems, and there's no one better suited to convene and then take action than Jeremy Bernard," said Los Angeles financial executive Marc Stern, who chairs the Board of Directors of the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles. "His leadership approach perfectly complements the nimble and entrepreneurial nature of the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles' work to harness the talents of the public, private and philanthropic sectors to make Los Angeles a better place to live."

A 30-year resident of Los Angeles, Bernard served as White House Social Secretary and Special Assistant to President Barack Obama from 2011–2015. Previously, he was Senior Advisor to the United States Ambassador in France and the White House Liaison to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Earlier this year, he published with co-author Lea Berman, social secretary in the George W. Bush White House, the book Treating People Well: The Extraordinary Power of Civility at Work and in Life. He is a member of the board of the Rescue + Freedom Project, an animal welfare organization.

"I'm honored to join the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles," said Jeremy Bernard. "I believe everyone in Los Angeles deserves the opportunity to achieve their dreams—and I believe that everyone in Los Angeles who wants to help make that a reality should have the opportunity to do so. There are very few places like the Fund that serve as a crossroads where talented people from outside the public sector can create exciting, effective civic partnerships."

"None of us alone is as strong as when we sit down together," said co-author Lea Berman. "Jeremy has an extraordinary ability to put people of different perspectives in the same room and bring out their talents in the service of changing lives, and I'm happy for him and for the city he calls home that he'll be heading up the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles."

"The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles has broken new ground to rapidly harness resources from inside and outside government to take meaningful action and Jeremy is uniquely qualified to take the Mayor's Fund to a new level," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Mayor Garcetti also praised the work of the outgoing President of the Fund, Deidre Lind. "The City of Los Angeles and I owe Deidre Lind our deepest thanks for taking the Mayor's Fund from an idea to a true and innovative force to make life better in Los Angeles," he said. "After four short years of existence, the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles touches every corner of our City of Angels. Deidre has forged partnerships that keep children safe, break the cycle of domestic violence and make city government run more efficiently. Her vision and enthusiasm defined the Fund when it was brand new, and its impact stands as a testament to her spirit."

"It has been an honor to lead the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles," said Lind, who is leaving to direct a foundation based in the Los Angeles area. "Creating a new, independent nonprofit to partner with civic programs that make L.A. better has been a true highlight of my career. I wish Jeremy Bernard the best and look forward to what the Fund will accomplish under his leadership."

The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles is an independent 501(c)3 organization that supports civic partnerships between the public, private and philanthropic sectors of Los Angeles. Its independent structure positions it alongside Los Angeles city government, allowing it to draw on the expertise of city officials and bring resources from outside government to create innovative approaches that move Los Angeles forward. Since its founding in 2014, the Fund has launched 35 initiatives, including:

• Summer Night Lights and Fall Friday Nights — these programs keep city parks open with programming when young people are more vulnerable, keeping them safe and on track and improving safety in the surrounding neighborhood. The Fund has supported the program's expansion to 32 parks, serving more than 900,000 people.
• Domestic Abuse Response Teams — Until recently, the critical services of the DART program were only available in 10 of the LAPD's 21 divisions. The Fund helped expand it citywide.
• Operations Innovation Team — The Fund assembled a team of outside experts who took on decades-old city systems and developed transformative recommendations to reform procurement, asset management and worker safety.
• Homes for Heroes — The Fund raised money to provide 500 veterans leaving homelessness with move-in packages that established them in new permanent housing—one of a series of initiatives where the Fund's ability to move quickly bridged critical gaps in responses to Los Angeles's homelessness crisis.

A full list of the Fund's programming and partnerships can be found at http://mayorsfundla.org.

SOURCE Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles

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http://www.mayorsfundla.org