Board & Staff

Virgil Roberts

Chair

Virgil Roberts is managing partner and founder of the Bobbitt & Roberts law firm. He currently serves on the boards of Community Build, Claremont Graduate University, Families in Schools, Usher’s New Look Foundation, The Alliance of Artists and Record Companies, Southern California Public Radio, Broadway Federal Bank, The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools and The James Irvine Foundation. Past board experience includes chairmanship of The Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project (LAAMP), the California Community Foundation and the Los Angeles Education Partnership. Roberts also served on the boards of CORO, Marlborough School, the Public Education Network (PEN), and the Bridgespan Group. He holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School, where he was a Felix Frankfurter Scholar.

Carl Ballton

Carl Ballton is the former managing director and deputy group head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Americas at MUFG Union Bank, N.A. He also served as president and chief executive officer of the MUFG Union Bank Foundation. Ballton is active on the boards of Occidental College, Southern California Grantmakers, Goodwill Industries of Southern California, Southern California Business Development Corporation, and the African American Board Leadership Institute. Ballton received his B.A. from Occidental College, and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Eugene Boykins

Eugene Boykins is president of the Boykins Business Management & Marketing Consulting Group. He retired from Nestle USA after holding a range of marketing and executive management positions. Boykins has held executive positions or owned entrepreneurial ventures in both the U.S. and Caribbean countries. He served on the board of the LA Business Development Center, the Program Advisory Committee for KCET-TV, board director of Big Brothers of Los Angeles, the UCLA Foundation, Academic Advancement Program (AAP) Advisory Council, UCLA Anderson GSM, Lifesteps Foundation, Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) and the Advocates Foundation. Boykins earned his B.S. in Business Management from San Diego State University and his M.B.A. from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Yvette Chappell-Ingram

Yvette Chappell-Ingram is president and CEO of the African American Board Leadership Institute. Her work experience with nonprofit organizations spans more than 25 years, and she has served on numerous boards and committees. Appointed State Commissioner by Governor Edmund Brown Jr., Chappell-Ingram is a member of the Dental Board of California. She also serves on the board of Special Needs Network. Past boards include the national and local boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the University of California Irvine Advisory Board and the Accounting Careers Awareness Program. Chappell-Ingram received her Masters of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.

Yolanda J. Gorman, MBA, Ph.D.

Dr. Yolanda J. Gorman, senior advisor to the Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Gorman has more than 25 years of experience as a successful organizational consultant specializing in nonprofit management. She has assisted nonprofit organizations with infrastructure and resource development, and has provided program and strategic planning, research and evaluation, board training and organizational development services.

Dr. Gorman has secured more than $100 million from state, federal and private sources to help her clients design and deliver programs that respond to critical human needs. She conducts seminars and training sessions for the boards of local and national organizations, foundations and academic institutions, and has provided technical assistance to numbers of private foundations.

Board chair of CalNonprofits Insurance Services, a for-profit insurance solution for nonprofit organizations in California, she also serves on the Board of Trustees of Woodbury University. In 2013, Dr. Gorman was appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. to the board of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, which she now serves as chair. She is the author of several articles and papers on organizational capacity building, strategic planning and business management.

Dr. Gorman is a three time graduate from UCLA with a BA in Psychology, an MBA from the Anderson School, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. An active volunteer with multiple community, civic and cultural organizations, Dr. Gorman recently completed her second term an Alumni Regent of the University of California. She is the only Alumni Regent to serve twice. Dr. Gorman is currently the chair of the board of CalNonprofits Insurance Services, a for-profit insurance solution for nonprofit organizations in California. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Woodbury University. In 2013, Dr. Gorman was appointed by California Governor Brown to serve on the board of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, and is currently the chair of the board. She is the author several articles and papers on organizational capacity building, strategic planning and business management.

Paul C. Hudson

Paul C. Hudson is the founder of Hudson & Holland Advisors, LLC, a financial advisory firm that advises and assists nonprofit organizations with strategic restructures, including nonprofit collaborations, mergers, partnerships, cooperatives and other strategic alliances. His nonprofit practice includes executive coaching and financial workshops for senior executives and board members.

Hudson is the immediate past Chairman and CEO of Broadway Federal Bank, a certified Community Development Financial Institution that has operated in the underserved ethnic markets of South Los Angeles since 1947.

He serves on the board of the AABLI, UCLA Technology Development Group, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and the Ebony Repertory Theatre. He has previously served as Chairman of the Los Angeles City Community Redevelopment Agency and as President of the Los Angeles NAACP, and on the board of the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation.

Hudson earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and is a member of the State Bar of California and District of Columbia.

Beverly Ryder

Beverly Ryder is president of The Wellington Ryder Group. She is a retired corporate executive, most recently serving as vice president and corporate secretary of Edison International. Ryder is board president of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and serves on the boards of Claremont Graduate University, the Stanford University School of Education, Civic Ventures, and The Colburn School. Past board experience includes the Stanford University Board of Trustees, the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS), United Way of Greater Los Angeles, CORO, YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, and the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Ryder earned a B.A. in economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Larry Taylor, Ph.D.

Larry Taylor, Ph.D. is a seasoned independent professional corporate director having served on publicly traded corporate boards, private company boards, non-profit boards and corporate advisory boards. Currently he serves as the chairman of The Creighton Group, executive board member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (SoCal), board member of the iClair, Inc., treasurer and board member of LA84 Sports Institute, management representative for Space Lok Inc., and alumni board member for the Cranbrook Horizons Upward Bound. In addition, he serves as the Honorary Director General for the Institute of Directors (India). Further, he is a member of the International Corporate Directors Network (ICGN) whose members oversee $26 trillion of corporate investments.

Dr. Taylor has over forty years of consulting, training, auditing and management experience in the manufacturing, service, government and international assistance sectors. As a practice leader and senior consulting manager for Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche, two Big Five professional services firms, he gained extensive expertise in project oversight and management. Among the commercial clients for whom he has provided consulting and training services are General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Hughes Aerospace, Black & Veatch Engineering, and Lockheed Martin.

Dr. Taylor received Executive Management doctorate degree from the Peter Drucker Management Center of Claremont University in July, 1992 with emphasis in productivity improvement & environmental management and his Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University with emphasis in statistical quantitative management

Reveta Bowers

Emeritus

Reveta Bowers is the former head of school at The Center for Early Education. A leader in her community and in the field of education, Bowers has served as board chair of the California Community Foundation, an outside director of the Walt Disney Company, as past president of the Fulfillment Fund’s Board of Governors, and as a board member of the National Association of Independent Schools. She is currently on the boards of The Fedco Foundation and the Board of Governors of the UCLA Healthcare System. After earning her degree in Humanities from the University of Southern California, she returned to graduate for a master’s degree in Development Psychology.

Yvette Chappell-Ingram

Yvette Chappell-Ingram is president and CEO of the African American Board Leadership Institute. Her work experience with nonprofit organizations spans more than 25 years, and she has served on numerous boards and committees. Appointed State Commissioner by Governor Edmund Brown Jr., Chappell-Ingram is a member of the Dental Board of California. She also serves on the board of Special Needs Network. Past boards include the national and local boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the University of California Irvine Advisory Board and the Accounting Careers Awareness Program. Chappell-Ingram received her Masters of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.

Victoire “Vickie” Prothro

As director of communications and operations, Victoire Prothro leads the organization’s communications, marketing, and media efforts along with overseeing office management. Prothro is responsible for generating a dynamic creative strategy to raise the visibility of AABLI, to increase community engagement and to help drive awareness of the organization’s programs and accomplishments. Prior to joining AABLI, she worked as an independent contractor, performing communications, outreach and program functions for a number of local nonprofit institutions. Prothro previously served as Community Affairs Manager/Associate Producer for a Los Angeles area talk show which gave community representatives a forum for discussion of local and national issues. She is a board member and scholarship chair for the Nonprofit Communications and Media Network (formerly PIRATESLA.org), dedicated to helping nonprofits work more effectively with the media. Prothro is a cum laude graduate of Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in business management.

Corey Gaither

Corey Gaither serves as the programs and placement coordinator for AABLI. His responsibilities include the organization’s core programs and board placement assistance, including commission appointments.  In addition, he coordinates programs and events that facilitate the growth of the AABLI network and its alumni. Prior to joining the AABLI team, Gaither was a certification specialist with the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council. At the Council, he reviewed minority owned businesses for supplier diversity programs with private and public sector entities.  Additional nonprofit experience was gained at Project R.E.A.C.H. in San Bernardino, which helped impoverished families gain access to resources within their communities. Gaither is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology.