Board of Advisors

Ahdee’s objective is to use his entrepreneurial and leadership experience to empower and inspire high school and college aged students to create and develop their ideas so they can achieve their ultimate life and career goals.

Ahdee Abramson is the Founder and President of Pet Ventures, a manufacturer and distributor of natural dog treats and chews under the Pet ‘n Shape brand. Abramson began the company selling dog treats store-to-store from the trunk of his car, and over the past thirteen years, has nurtured it into a nationally recognized business that continues to be a trendsetter in the pet industry. Today Pet ‘n Shape is sold nationally through a network of regional and national retailers and distributors across multiple retail channels including pet specialty, farm & feed, hardware, food drug and mass and online.

Ahdee graduated magna cum laude, spent a year teaching English overseas, and has his Master’s Degree in Business Administration. He is well traveled, multilingual (English/Spanish/Hebrew), and enjoys cycling and competitive sports when he is not working. Abramson is a proud husband and father of a 6-year-old boy and 4-year-old daughter, and counts family time as his favorite pastime. Ahdee’s ultimate goal personally and professionally is to achieve balance and prosperity, and he works diligently every day to achieve both.

Mary Akpovi is the founder of her accounting firm, Mary O. Akpovi, CPA, Inc., which branched out in May 2021.   She is a  co-founder of the accounting firm, Martini Akpovi Partners in Encino and was a partner in that firm for 30 years. She is known for devoting significant time to local and foreign charities that serve women, orphans and the homeless.

She has sat on the boards of Exceptional Children Foundation and Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission.  She recently joined the Woodbury University, School of Business Advisory Board.  Akpovi received the Volunteer of the Year award from the Business Journal as well as the Business Journal’s Award for Lifetime Achievement.

She is also proud of training and mentoring future leaders. “To walk along with others as they come into their own professionally, is exceptionally rewarding,” she said. Akpovi is a certified public accountant with a focus on tax and consulting. She holds a doctorate in business administration and a master’s degree in business taxation from the University of Southern California, along with a master’s in business administration from Santa Clara University.

Michael Cusumano is the Managing Director of the Cusumano Real Estate Group, a Burbank, California based real estate development and investment firm. He is responsible for the current development of the $200,000,000 “Premier on First” mixed use development in Burbank California, as well as the $200,000,000 “Talaria at Burbank” mixed use development project, in addition to approximately $1,000,000,000 in other developments throughout southern California.

Cusumano is very active in philanthropic and civic endeavors. He is the Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center Foundation, Member of the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of the Verdugo’s, the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, Burbank Business Partners, Leadership Burbank, and several other civic organizations. Cusumano holds a California Real Estate License and California General Contractor’s License, and is a graduate of UCLA (BA-Economics-1984) and the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business (MBA-1994).

Paul Herman is President of The Herman Company, located in Burbank. The Herman Company is a commercial real estate brokerage specializing in sales, leasing, property management and development of commercial real estate in Southern California

For the past sixteen years, Paul has developed comprehensive expertise in the real estate industry gaining knowledge and experience through my positions with an industry-leading corporate giant, Countrywide Home Loans, a small, well-respected family business, S. D. Herman Co., and a boutique commercial real estate brokerage, Commercial Asset Group (CAG). He has handled over 350 real estate transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $225,000,000.00.

The Herman Company is founded on three guiding principles:

Integrity = Transactional Honesty

Respect = The Golden Rule

Trust = The Final Piece

Mr. Herman is also a respected board member of Burbank Water and Power, Board President of the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank & the Greater East Valley, Board member of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, and serves as an Expert Witness since 2008.

He holds a BA in Political Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is an alumnus of Leadership Burbank Class of 2015 and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker.

Formerly a Venture Partner with OurCrowd, Mr. Noam Lotan is an investor and a mentor to several privately held technology companies.  He has 25 years of public company CEO and board experience.

For 20 years, Noam served as CEO of MRV Communications, (Nasdaq: MRVC), a global telecom equipment manufacturer.  He led the company from a startup to a public company with 4,000 employees worldwide and $500 million in revenue, with peak valuation exceeding $5 billion. Light Reading magazine listed him as one of the “top ten movers and shakers” in Optical Networking.  Light Reading magazine listed him as one of the “top ten movers and shakers” in Optical Networking.  Under his leadership, MRV was recognized for eight consecutive years as one of the fastest growing public companies in Southern California.  Some of the more significant products developed by MRV were the first 100Mb Ethernet Switch (licensed to Intel) and the optical transceiver that enabled the deployment of Verizon FiOS® to more than 10 million homes in the USA.

After MRV, Noam was CEO of Resonate Industries, a startup company in the clean energy sector.  He also held a variety of management positions at Hewlett-Packard and at Fibronics, working in the US, UK, France and Israel.

Mr. Lotan has been the Chairman of Source Photonics, Inc. (Also known as Luminent Inc.) since June 2007. He has been an Independent Director of Capstone Turbine Corp. Mr. Lotan has been a Director of Optical Access Inc. since its incorporation in December 1999. He served as a Director of US Seismic Systems, Inc., since May 2012 and MRV Communications Inc. from May 1990 to June 30, 2010. Mr. Lotan further served as a Director at Zaffire, Inc. He is also a Member of NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors).

Mr. Lotan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, and an MBA from INSEAD, the European Institute of Business Administration, Fontainebleau, France.,He has served five years as an officer at the IDF.

Shawn Morey is a Realtor and Principal Broker at Dwell Real Estate group. He has over 10 years of experience in real estate and development. His passion for this field has led him to experience all aspects of the industry including architecture, multi-family brokerage, property management, development and investing. Being a real estate investor and developer himself, he is confident in knowing what it takes to get a deal done.

An entrepreneur at heart, Shawn is involved in multiple business ventures. He is managing partner at NutriShop, Northridge, which is part of a national retail nutrition chain, and owner of the Paid to Play Media Group, a diverse nightlife and entertainment group, encompassing all aspects of the nightlife industry. In addition to specializing in nightlife and event production the Paid to Play Media Group offers a wide variety of services in its consulting division.

Prior to his current professional involvements, Shawn held a variety of positions, such as Event Coordinator at the California Fight Syndicate, a promotional company licensed by the California State Athletic Commission, and specializing in sports entertainment, in conjunction with community involvement; Project Manager at Better Shelter, an LA based boutique real estate development company; Associate at Marcus & Millichap, and Architectural Draftsman at Stitch Design Studios and Zimmerman Architects.

Shawn was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA. He gained a passion for architecture, construction and development at a young age through his father and grandfather. After high school he attended Santa Barbara City College to study architecture and drafting. Shawn studied Business Finance and Real Estate at Woodbury University and holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Development of the University of Southern California.

As a lifelong supporter of entrepreneurship, Shawn has been asked to speak at the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization’s National Conference multiple times around the US. He enjoys giving back and mentoring undergraduate entrepreneurs on their way to creating their own business.

Dr. Walter W. Mosher, was born in Los Angeles and has resided in the San Fernando Valley most of his life.  He was a co-founder of Precision Dynamics Corporation, a company manufacturing and distributing products in the health care field, and served as its President from 1957 to 2002.  Since 2002 Dr. Mosher serves as a Director for Precision Dynamics Corporation.

From 1956 till 1971, Dr. Mosher was a student and faculty member at UCLA.  He served as Director of the Urban Ecology and Transportation Group at the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering.  After serving on the committee that established the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UCLA, he became a lecturer in this School.

Additionally, Dr. Mosher was a consultant to the Federal Government associated with setting up the National Highway Safety Bureau in the Department of Transportation, and to Systems Development Corporation on their traffic flow theory research program.

In 1971, Walt received his degree from UCLA’s School of Engineering, specializing in applied mathematics, computer technology and transportation flow theory. He subsequently assumed full-time management of Precision Dynamics Corporation.  Dr. Mosher holds several patents in the patient identification field and has numerous publications in the field of highway safety and traffic flow theory.

Dr. Mosher serves on the Boards of various organizations including, Board of Directors and Past Chair of the Valley Industry Commerce Association (VICA), Board member of Valley Economic Development Center, Board Member Health Industry Business Communications Council (HIBCC), and Board member of the San Fernando Police Advisory Council. He was a founding member and Director for the Health Industry Manufacturers Association (HIMA), now AdvaMed, for 15 years and was a member of the Technical and Regulatory Committee from its inception until 2008.  Dr. Mosher has been the recipient of many awards for distinguished community service and volunteerisms throughout his illustrious career including the Nelle Reagan Award from Olive View-UCLA Medical Center Foundation (1996), the prestigious Fernando Award (1998), and the Harmon Ballin Community Service Award from VICA (2001).   In 1996 he was honored to be an Olympic Torch Runner.

Dr. Mosher holds an exemplary record of community involvement, and still actively supports MEND, Hathaway-Sycamore Child and Family Services, Tierra del Sol Foundation and the Valley Cultural Center.

Neil Sherman is the owner of Industrial Metal Supply located in 6 locations throughout Arizona and Southern California with headquarters in Sun Valley, Calif. IMS is a 70 year old family run metal distribution company with a combined warehouse space of over a half million sq. ft. and over 450 employees. IMS has retail stores within each warehouse location where they wholesale, distribute, import and export metals of all kinds to the entertainment, automotive, aerospace, construction, marine, defense, welding and manufacturing industries.

Neil just developed a 30 acre, 220 hangar space parcel of land at the Van Nuys Airport called the Park at Van Nuys which caters exclusively to propeller aircraft.

Neil grew up locally in Burbank and attended Notre Dame High School, Valley College and then went on to USC and Harvard University to get his degrees.

He is currently on the Advisory boards of the USC Roski School of Art, Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra, Children’s Cancer Network in Phoenix, Woodbury School of Business and the Metal Service Center Institute. He is past president of the National Association of Aluminum Distributors, the Metal Service Center Institute, Juvenile Diabetes Association and co-founder of the Calif. Winter Special Olympics.

Neil is an avid golfer, snow skier and sailor.

Dr. van Niekerk’s field of expertise lies in both Higher Education and the Corporate world.  He is an expert at strategically positioning organizations through well-defined planning and marketing.  During the past forty-six years his attention has been focused on Education (Schools of Business) and International Consulting, with major assignments in Advertising, Automotive Branding, Entertainment, Telecommunications, Health Care Technologies, Health Care Associations, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing, and Foreign Governments.

Dr. van Niekerk’s services are often sought by major corporations before, during, and after mergers.  He specializes in successfully molding often disparate cultures into cohesive and highly productive organizations.  He has been a college Dean and Vice President and has held positions in business and industry as Associate Director of UCLA Medical Center as well as the UCLA Medical Group.

Dr. van Niekerk currently oversees International Recruitment at Woodbury University. Prior to this, he was the Dean of Woodbury’s School of Business (2005 – 2016), leading the School to initial AACSB accreditation; Associate Dean for Executive Programs and Executive Professor of Marketing at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School; and taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Andrews University, Michigan State University, and the University of Southern California, where he was also a lead faculty for the Center of Excellence in Health Care Management.

Dr. van Niekerk served as Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning for both National Medical Enterprises (Tenet) and UniHealth America, and as General Vice President for the Adventist Health System in their Sunbelt Division.  He is considered to be one of the nation’s foremost Strategic Positioning specialists with numerous nationally and internationally recognized brands in his portfolio. His further expertise is focused on Luxury Brands – especially in the automotive industry where major clients include Mercedes-Benz, smart, BMW, and Volvo.

He holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, an M.A. from Andrews University, and a B.A from  Pacific Union College. He has also done post-doctoral work in Marketing/Luxury Brands.

Dr. van Niekerk is very active in philanthropic endeavors and has a strong interest in corporate governance, particularly serving on corporate boards.

Wayne Ward has more than 30 years of leadership experience in driving revenue growth and profitability in both sales and commercial banking organizations. He has successfully led strategic planning and implementation, as well as organizational transformation, for commercial and mortgage bank start-ups and retail branch networks for commercial banks. As senior vice president at California Bank & Trust, Wayne manages business banking throughout West Los Angeles, the South Bay, and the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys.

With a passion for leadership, teamwork, and winning, and a unique perspective on values based leadership, Wayne has developed and executed growth strategies at top community and regional banks, significantly improving performance for shareholders, clients, and communities.

A known industry expert, Wayne has broad and extensive leadership experience in financial services in both government and private sectors. His early experience as a National Bank Examiner in the U.S. Treasury Department gave him strategic insight and a deep understanding of the banking industry.  Wayne joined private industry as senior vice president and credit administrator for a Monterey Park community bank. He later served commercial banks, as senior vice president, managing credit administration, mortgage banking, and numerous other business lines including sales and business development. As an entrepreneur, Wayne joined investors, taking an executive role to form, organize, and manage a California de novo bank. Wayne led the growth and expansion of the bank, where he significantly improved the bank’s revenue and fee income performance, making it one of the most profitable community banks in the nation as measured by return on assets.

Wayne’s genuine love of community and desire to give back has driven him to non-profit participation with organizations such as Junior Achievement Finance Park in Los Angeles and the Pediatric Therapy Network in Torrance. Wayne enjoys adding value for others and proudly serves as a mentor and coach in both his professional and personal endeavors.

Wayne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and accounting from the University of San Francisco. He is a lifetime member of the International Business Fraternity Delta Sigma Pi and serves on the Los Angeles Chapter of the University of San Francisco Regional Alumni Council. Wayne resides in Palos Verdes Estates California with his wife and has two grown children.

Tina Alleguez is an experienced Partner with a demonstrated history of working in the law practice industry. She is a strong entrepreneurship professional skilled in serving as Outside General Counsel for corporate clients in different industries and assisting them in Business Formation, Corporate Compliance, negotiating and drafting all documentation in buy/sell transactions of businesses and commercial properties, drafting shareholders’ agreements, buy/sell agreements, operating agreements and a variety of business contracts. She has dedicated over 20 years to litigating insurance defense cases involving products and premises liability, and to litigating business disputes and contract disputes.

Tina holds her JD from Pepperdine University, where she was also the founder of the Hispanic Law Students Association. Tina is the Managing Partner of Alleguez | Newman | Goodstein LLP and the owner of Alleguez & Associates, Inc. Prior to beginning her own firm, Tina was an Associate Attorney at Manning, Marder, Kass, Ellrod & Ramirez. Tina has served on the Board of Directors for the Multicultural Learning Center, including as the Board President. She is also a Board Member of the Hispanic Business Network. Tina joined the Woodbury University School of Business’ Advisory Board in 2025.

Lilit Davtyan is a distinguished leader and visionary in the fields of technology, performance marketing, digital transformation, and financial consulting. As a former Chief Executive Officer at Phonexa, Lilit scaled the company to 200+ employees, over $200 Million in revenue, and expansion into several countries. Lilit is the founder of DrHR, an AI-powered HR platform that transforms human resources through cutting-edge technology. She also founded Davella, a financial consulting firm renowned for its strategic insights and client-focused solutions. Her expertise extends to digital transformation through her partnership with Alon Sera, where she helps business navigate and implement comprehensive digital strategies.

Lilit’s influence in the industry is further evidenced by her involvement with various prestigious organizations. She serves as a Board Member of R.E.A.C.H, Woodbury University, and the Jonathan Club Executive Women’s Forum. Her exceptional contributions to business and technology have earned her significant accolades. In 2020, Lilit was honored as the CFO of the Year for the Large Private Company category by the Los Angeles Business Journal. She was recently recognized as the CEO of the Year in 2024 by the LA Times, a testament to her outstanding leadership. Lilit has also been celebrated as a 2024 Honoree of Women Impact Tech and a Global Trailblazer in Technology.

A Certified Public Accountant licensed by the California Board of Accountancy. Lilit holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Woodbury University and a Master’s Degree in Business Tax from the University of Southern California. Her leadership has been consistently acknowledged through three “Leadership Awards”, voted on and hosted by her employees.

Emil Davtyan is the founder and managing attorney at D.Law. He had a longtime passion for employee rights and fulfilled his dream accordingly.

Mr. Davtyan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance at Woodbury University (2008), graduating at the top of his class. He served as an honorable member of national and international honor societies, and subsequently earned his Juris Doctor degree at Southwestern Law School, where he was honored with prestigious academic-based scholarships and graduated cum laude and in the top 10% of his class.

During his last year in law school, Emil served as a judicial extern at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for Honorable Stephen J. Hillman and as a law clerk in a year-long clerkship program at a global business immigration law firm.

Emil combined his entrepreneurial spirit with his desire for justice in founding his firm. To remain true to his mission and working-class roots, he thereby set out to meticulously cultivate a company culture that redefines the modern-day law firm through a welcoming, creative, family-like atmosphere to establish trust while eliminating the typical law-firm intimidation factor.

Nowell Grossman is the Senior Vice President of Production Finance at NBC Universal Television.

Dating back to 1988, Nowell has an impressive track record in the entertainment industry, starting as a manager of production budgeting at Columbia Pictures, moving to Granada Entertainment, Lynch/Frost Productions, and now for many years with NBC.

His stellar record of production accounting experiences comprises well-known productions such as Judge Judy, Spin City, Bionic Woman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and a wide range of series, including Crossing Jordan, American Dreams, The Mind of The Married Man, Whitney, Parks and Recreation, Togetherness, The Americans, and many more.

From 2015 – 2022 Nowell served as the Vice President of Universal Television, and since 2022 he is the Senior Vice President Production Finance at the Universal Studios Group.

Nick Hacopian is the Director and Principal of Glen West Management and Glen West Realty. Mr. Hacopian earned a degree in Management and Accounting from Woodbury University, and he obtained a real estate broker’s license from the State of California. In the early ’80s, he served as the Director of B&H Management Company, which specialized in property management. In 1985, Mr. Hacopian founded Glen West Management Company and Glen West Realty, Inc.

Under Mr. Hacopian’s direction, Glen West Management has developed an inventory in excess of one hundred buildings, comprised of approximately 2,000,000 square feet, under management, and has a successful annual growth rate of thirty percent. During the fiscal year 1992-1993, Mr. Hacopian personally supervised management of over 30 REO buildings for financial institutions. He is an approved contractor for HUD. In addition to managing existing property, the company has overseen the construction and development of a 196-unit apartment complex in Glendale, California, and a 18400 square foot retail development in La Crescenta, California.

Mr. Hacopian is a member of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of the Chamber’s housing committee. He is a member of the National Association of Realtors and a member of the Institute of Real Estate Management and has earned the designation of Certified Property Manager.

Ed Spiegel practiced public accounting for years and was a partner in a large local firm. He left public accounting and joined a company that provided payroll services to film and television production.

He became the CEO and a major shareholder, expanded its services, formed additional companies and grew Cast & Crew Entertainment Services and Subsidiaries into one of the largest companies of its type in the industry. Today, Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, LLC is the premier provider of payroll and related services to the entertainment industry, providing digital solutions, expert financial services, and cloud workflows that help streamline your processes so you can more easily accomplish your goals.

Ed was an active member of the Woodbury Board of Trustees for 20 years and has served on Boards and Committees of several other non-profit organizations. Ed graduated from Woodbury, with an accounting major, in 1960.

Sundeep Vaghashia is an accomplished entrepreneur, transformative team leader, and astute visionary. He is most prominently known for his experience in real estate investment and development, hospitality management, commercial and residential real estate management, and internet technology.

Mr. Vaghashia serves as President and CEO of VBanks Management alongside his father, who is the Founder and Chairman of VBanks. As a results driven achiever, Sundeep Vaghashia has led VBanks Management’s expansion as a result of his ability to coordinate operations, analyze financial statements and develop future-forward sales and marketing strategies to reach a larger audience of investors, tenants and associates. Sundeep has also led VBank’s adoption of artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies.

At his core, Sundeep is a people-oriented leader. He believes in the importance of community. As a result, VBanks is involved in several community outreach programs, but it’s also apparent in their company mission, organizational values, and customer service efforts as well. This is what makes VBanks a uniquely hands-on and value-driven firm. Sundeep is also intensely involved in volunteer work.