Who We Are

Colleen has worked in real estate for more than 18 years. She says, “If you ask those who know me in current times they would say I’m a workaholic, but I would rebut in saying I’m working on that right now. I am a dedicated person who finds it extremely difficult to give up. My top 5 strengths are: Competition, Analytical, Achiever, Futuristic and Relator – if I use them correctly I never look backwards.”

Colleen has served as Board Secretary, Gala Chair, and Fund Development committee.

Godby serves as a vice president in the Irvine office of The Capital Group Companies, an American financial services company. It ranks among the world’s oldest and largest investment management organizations, with over $2 trillion in assets under management. He is a graduate of UCI and resides in Irvine with his family. Paul has served as a past Board Chair and was recently named the Champion of Change for the Gala.

Kimberly Valley is the Compliance officer for American Business Bank in Southern California and has been in the banking industry for over 30 years. Kimberly has been involved in community-based organizations professionally throughout her career. She has actively partnered, created, facilitated, coordinated, and taught financial education programs for low to moderate income individuals. Kimberly is active in her role as a board member with The Priority Center building on its current and future initiatives.

Richard Swinney is a retired attorney at law with 34 years of experience working in the financial institutions industry. Swinney is a longtime community activist with board leadership positions at The Priority Center, the Exchange Club of Newport Harbor, California State Parks/Crystal Cove Conservancy and the Million Kids nonprofit group, among others. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force having served in the Air National Guard. Swinney lives in Newport Beach.

Richard represents The Priority Center within the Exchange Club and has served on the Finance committee.

Susan Long Crockett is a principal in the firm. Working with high technology clients, Ms. Crockett prosecutes patent applications in diverse areas of technology, including: Software, Internet communication and Medical Devices. As an experienced intellectual property lawyer, she counsels on trademark issues, infringement and validity issues and patent infringement litigation. She also has broad experience in international patent and trademark prosecution. Susan brings a unique perspective to intellectual property issues, drawing on years of engineering, managerial and marketing experience.

Before becoming an Orange County intellectual property lawyer, Susan spent nine years as an engineer in widely diverse areas of practice dealing with hardware design, software design, integration and technical marketing. She started her career at General Dynamics, designing Automatic Test Equipment for the Cruise Missile Program. She then moved on to lead teams of engineers designing and integrating flight software for the Atlas Centaur rocket system, launching telecommunication and government satellites. Susan also performed product development in addition to creating and executing marketing strategies for computer systems during her work at Teledyne Systems Company.

While at Southwestern University School of Law, Susan was actively involved in their Moot Court Honors program, achieving a Finalist Oralist award in the 1994 Intramural Moot Court Competition, winning First Place Team in the 1995 Florida State Bar National Tax Competition and serving on the Moot Court Board of Governors. She was also an editor of the Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas. Susan lives in Mission Viejo, California, with husband and fellow intellectual property attorney David Crockett along with their two sons. She is an avid runner and has run in numerous marathons. Susan still finds time to remain active in the Boston University Alumni Schools Committee and judge at the annual Southwestern Intramural Moot Court Competition.

Orange County philanthropist Catherine Sorensen, a resident of Newport Beach, has years of experience working with family foundations and other nonprofit organizations. Sorensen played a board leadership role with the Lloyd E. and Elizabeth H. Klein Family Foundation, the Community Foundation of Orange, the Center for Investment and Wealth Management at the University of California, Irvine, and the Assistance League of Anaheim.

Catherine founded The Priority Center’s Women of Priority group and events. She has also chaired the annual Families Helping Families holiday event which secured over 350 gifts for children and their parents—which made it the most successful event ever, even during a global pandemic! Catherine also has co-chaired the Pillars of Priority campaign and raised nearly $100,000 to name the board rooms at the Center in our new location.

Vanessa E. Dixon, M.A., has over eighteen years of experience in both policing and academia. Beginning her career as a police officer in the City of Lowell, MA, she served as a patrol officer, firearms licensing administrator, school resource officer, and as a detective. In 2004 Vanessa Dixon transitioned to a teaching career serving as a Professor of Criminal Justice at Middlesex Community College attaining tenure in 2010. Additionally, Professor Dixon holds a level III instructor certification from the State of California P.O.S.T. as an Academy Instructor, Domestic Violence Advocate and in Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence from the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Vanessa Dixon has also served as the past Criminal Justice Chair of the Computer Forensics Advanced Technology Education Program, was trained as an advanced instructor with the Ford Foundation, and is a certified instructor with both Gang Resistance Education Training (GREAT) and the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO).

Currently, Ms. Dixon is an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at California State University of Long Beach and a Professor of Criminal Justice at Westwood College in Anaheim, CA. While at Westwood College she was awarded the National Faculty Member of the year 2012 for Outstanding Excellence in Academia. She is also consulting with various police and probation departments, and educational institutions, including the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Las Vegas Police Department, the New Haven Connecticut Police Department and the Standard Training for Corrections of California. Vanessa Dixon has dual Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice from American International College, Springfield, MA, and a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA.

Armstrong is a businessman and entrepreneur. He has been a chief executive officer in the insurance agency for more than a decade. Roger is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, providing clients with trusted advisors who save time and provides quality, reliable service and cost-effective risk management solutions.

In his free time, Roger is a baseball coach and elder in his church. He has held many leadership roles with The Priority Center and currently holds the position as Board Chair.

Mr. Chowdhury came to Canterbury in 2002 and has worked in a variety of capacities: an analyst, the manager of analytics, as well as his current role consulting directly to institutions and private clients in the key areas of investment policy, asset allocation, and portfolio construction. Mr. Chowdhury is a shareholder of the firm, member of the firm’s Board of Directors, as well as the firm’s Capital Markets and Real Assets Manager Research Committees. Mr. Chowdhury received a degree in Management and Economics from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota and is a CFA charter holder. Debashis has served as Board Chair and Gala Chair of the Priority Center.

Mark Clews is a Senior Managing Director in Ankura’s Data & Technology practice, based in Orange County, CA. Mr. Clews has over 20 years’ experience providing expert consulting advice in relation to the defensible handling of electronically stored evidence, the interrogation of complex data sets and the management of large-scale eDiscovery matters. Mr. Clews specializes in Digital Forensics, eDiscovery, and Cybersecurity services.

Mr. Clews has helped his clients and their counsel navigate the complex data challenges of responding to regulators in the US, EU and APAC regions. Including; the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, Attorney General’s office, European Competition Commission, Environmental Protection agency, Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Inspector General, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Mr. Clews’ expertise spans the entire lifecycle of the electronic discovery reference model – from providing proactive guidance on information governance and discovery readiness consulting, to the preservation, processing, and review of data for production purposes. His engagement experience includes investigating the operation of illegal cartels, theft of intellectual property, accounting irregularities, securities class actions, qui tam whistleblower suits and other fraudulent activities.

Mark is an EnCase certified examiner (EnCE), a Certified Cyber Forensic Professional (CCFP) and has been recognized in the Who’s Who Legal publication as one of the World’s leading Forensic and Litigation Consultants within the Digital Field for the last 6 years running. Mr. Clews was also recognized as a future industry leader in the same publication. Mr. Clews has contributed to many thought leadership articles, and is regularly approached to opine at leading industry conferences in relation to technology innovations and their impact on legal proceedings.

A life focused and built on good old-fashioned hard work and tenacity to achieve the American Dream is what brought Frédérique to The Priority Center … to support the extensive programs delivered to some of Orange County’s most vulnerable facing generational trauma.

A Naturalized American Citizen at 16 following her immigration at the age of 10, learning English and assimilating as quickly as possible is one of the most important achievements in Frédérique’s “This American Dream” story. Frédérique has traveled to 5 continents, some multiple times and attributes her global experiences as key influencing factors that led her to her various entrepreneurship quests and successes.

A serial entrepreneur of four companies in the experiential marketing arena over a 40+ year career, each company born out of the simple belief that success is a result of good old-fashioned hard work first and foremost, always client-centric, and forever evolving.

Currently Founder and CEO of FG|PG and The Shop @ Show Ready, launching both businesses 21 years ago with a vision of disrupting the trade show and corporate event marketing landscape by being one of the first woman-owned experiential creative, production AND fabrication agencies.

Today, FG|PG is known for strategically grounded, award-winning creative, flawless production, and stunning fabrication— all under one roof. The unique blend of emotion-driven, human centric experiential marketing brings together people, technology, content, and culture— to drive meaningful business results for clients of all sizes, including Warner Brothers, Meta, eBay, Oculus, Netflix, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Bytedance, Unreal Engine, Fortnite, AMC Networks, NBC Networks, Crown Media, Petersen Museum, Wipro, Evolus, Cloudinary, 2K Games and many more.

John is the President of Milestone Risk Management. He leads a team of professionals who provide insurance, risk management, and workplace safety solutions for middle market companies in Southern California. John is also the Founder of the Brewery Insurance Program, which provides insurance services to breweries nationwide. John has spoken at numerous brewing industry conferences educating this young industry on proper risk management and workplace safety practices.

Prior to joining Milestone, John performed commercial real estate appraisals for private and institutional investors.

John is a Graduated Boston College with a BS in Finance. He lives in Lake Forest with his wife, Erin Hoefer, and his son, Thomas Hoefer.

Twenty-five years of executive experience in global sales, operations and customer relationship management in the highly competitive and rapidly changing Medical Device and Consumer-Electronics markets. Extensive engineering, marketing, sales, and sales operations management experience along with managing global world-class contact center operations. Employed proven methodologies and processes and delivered year-over-year industry leading customer satisfaction programs. In-depth understanding of customer and product lifecycle management. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills honed managing multinational clients, third party suppliers and global operations teams. Elevated customer loyalty to a level where its bearing on bottom line profitability was substantial and measurable.

Ed has served as Board Chair in the past and Golf Event Chair as well.

Don Kennedy is currently the senior vice president of the National Agency. After earning his B.S. in political science from Stanford University, Kennedy went on to receive his juris doctorate from McGeorge School of Law at University of the Pacific. A California resident, Kennedy is a member of the California Land Title Association, where he is an active member of the Underwriter Section Executive Committee. Don also serves on the Board of the Good Deeds Foundation. He now resides in Southern California with his wife and their two children. Don has run in Ragnar twice, and served on the Board for 6 years.

Hogiadi Kurniawan, CPA, joined the firm as a senior manager in the Audit and Business Advisory Services Department. Hogi was an audit manager for a Big Four firm, and as an audit manager for over eight years at one of the largest public accounting, consulting, and technology firms in the U.S., working with both public and private companies. Hogi graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Hogi has served as past Board Chair and has been very active with The Priority Center the past few years.

Thomas Manakides is an experienced litigator known for developing innovative strategies to tackle large and complex litigation matters with an emphasis on environmental and transnational issues. He represents multinational corporations across several industries, including food and agricultural, real estate, aerospace, and waste. Mr. Manakides has extensive courtroom experience in both trial and appellate courts and often advises clients on matters involving mass tort, environmental laws and enforcement and cost recovery actions.

Thomas has served as Board Chair in the past and has supported the Gala and Families Helping Families.

Alex Musetti is a California native and vice president of Hughes Marino in Orange County. He has leveraged his business acumen and background in finance to passionately represent commercial tenants of office and industrial space throughout Southern California as a licensed broker. His clients range from small and medium-sized enterprises to large multi-national corporations. Alex provides multi-disciplined real estate advisory services to his clients and offers them comprehensive and singular representation for a variety of real estate requirements. His extensive knowledge of the market combined with his experience and problem-solving skills make him a strong ally when representing tenants in lease negotiations, site selection analysis, investment acquisitions, financial modeling, and portfolio management. Alex earned his MBA with an emphasis in finance from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He completed his undergraduate studies at Saint Mary’s College of California in the Bay Area where he graduated cum laude with a B.S. in economics.

Alex lives in Newport Beach where he enjoys spending time with his family and staying involved with his alumni association. Alex has a natural affinity for experiencing new countries and cultures and spent much of his early life visiting new places and learning new languages. Alex is also active in the Athletic Challenge.

Rachel Ng is a Vice President at the Capital Group Companies where she leads and facilitates strategic business planning and forecasting for Retirement Plans Services. Rachel has been with the Capital Group for sixteen years and has gained experience across different business areas.

Rachel was born and raised in Singapore and came over to UC Irvine for college. She is currently residing in Irvine with her husband and fur baby.

For over a decade, Andrew Phillips worked as the Business Manager for his father’s well-established dental-CPA firm, Phillips Accountancy Corporation. In September 2021, he and his wife Laura co-founded their own firm, The Phillips Group, and acquired Phillips Accountancy. The Phillips Group is perhaps one of the state’s last remaining truly boutique healthcare-focused accounting firms. They have decades of experience serving dentists and physicians nationwide, but what sets them apart is their technology-focused, proactive, endlessly communicative mindset. As Chief Growth Officer, Andrew’s role is to ensure that the firm is always moving forward, whether it’s by developing new strategic partnerships, enhancing the client or employee experiences, or implementing new technologies or processes.
Before entering the accounting industry, Andrew served as a medic in the Army. After leaving the Army, he worked for Emergency Ambulance Service as an ambulance attendant/emergency medical technician. Finding the 24-hour shift schedules difficult, Andrew switched fields to find a profession that was better suited to starting a family, but never lost his love for working “in the field” with new people each day. As the former Director of Interns & Volunteers with the Newport Beach Film Festival, he also brings a wealth of management and leadership skills to any organization he joins.
Andrew is a past treasurer of his homeowners’ association and currently supports the following organizations:

• P.A.T.H. (People Assisting The Homeless)
• Fostering Unity
• Second Harvest Food Bank
• The Little Red Dog
• American Red Cross

Marc has received an individual AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating, and has been named a Southern California Rising Star for 2004 and a Southern California Super Lawyer for 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 by the Publishers of Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics, a distinction reserved for only 5 percent of lawyers practicing in Southern California. Marc is licensed to practice before all the State and Federal Courts in California and before the Ninth and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. His practice emphasizes business litigation and business law. Marc has also taught continuing education seminars on deposition taking skills. Marc graduated from UC Davis Law School in 1991, where he finished in the top 15% of his class.

Upon graduation, Marc clerked for the Honorable Justice Warren Matthews of the Supreme Court of Alaska. After his clerkship, Marc entered private practice as an associate at Irell & Manella. Before law school, Marc worked as an accountant for Ernst & Whinney, where Marc passed the CPA Examination. Marc is involved in his community and in local bar functions. Marc is a past treasurer of the Melinda Heights Elementary School PTA, is past president of his homeowners’ association and is a member of the Orange County Bar Association. Marc resides in Rancho Santa Margarita with his wife and three young children.

Marc has served as Board Chair, Fund Development Chair, Ragnar Chair, and has served on the Pickleball Committee, Audit and Finance committees.

Madison S. Spach, Jr. is a founding member of the firm. A 35-year litigation veteran, Mr. Spach concentrates on complex and multi-forum business, construction, and real-estate litigation. He has represented owners, developers, lenders, borrowers, guarantors, general contractors, partners, officers, and directors in a wide variety of litigation, bankruptcy, and loan-workout matters, including internal owner disputes and accountings. Mr. Spach has been a frequent panelist for programs addressing electronic discovery and digital evidence issues and the preservation and production of electronically-stored information. Mr. Spach is a 1980 graduate of Duke University School of Law. His undergraduate degree is also from Duke (1974), and he received a Masters of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Slavic Languages and Literatures (1977). Madison has served as The Priority Center’s Board Development chairperson.

Greg Washer has been a serial entrepreneur since childhood growing up in Corona del Mar. He has created, licensed, or bought many businesses including: Prolite, New Era Cap, Quiksilver Performance, Roxy Athletix, Cabinets Plus, Clean Fun Promotional Marketing, UFC Merchandise, Kidpoets, OC Chopper, Jane Fonda Workout Tape. He has been involved in the marketing of most of the top films of all time in his 30+ year career working with every major studio as an outside marketing company. This also led to founding the Movie Benefit Screening for the then, OC Child Abuse Prevention Center. For over 25 years this event has been the top fundraiser for the Exchange Club of Newport Harbor that started this charity. Greg received The Book of Golden Deeds from the National Exchange Club some 10 years ago for these efforts. He retired in 2017 from “day to day work” to focus on his three amazing children (ages 16, 21, 21), his elderly parents (ages 96, 90), personal travel, and personal investments primarily in real estate. He also sits on two other boards, a public company (Consumer Portfolio Services) and a top children’s charity (Variety). Gregory has expressed interest in getting the Exchange Club Movie Night up and running again.

Jeremy Webb began learning about distillation processes from his father at the age of 8; the proud Scotch-Irish tradition having become a part of Webb family heritage, by way of the rolling hills of West Virginia, many generations past. Born in Long Beach California, Jeremy always felt a deep connection to his Appalachian roots and followed his heart back to his parent’s birth state to graduate from West Virginia University. During his time in West Virginia, his interest in distillation grew. Eventually his desire to know more about whiskey production and the special relationship between the distillate and the barrel led him to Kentucky, where he fell in love with Bourbon. In Louisville, Jeremy studied distilling, distillery operations, barrel aging and the art of blending. He was mentored by Master Distillers having worked for companies like Brown Forman and Jim Beam. In 2019 Jeremy set out on the journey to use his collected knowledge to build a state-of-the-art distillery in Orange County, producing California Straight Bourbon Whiskey distilled in a Vendome Pot-still and aged in new Appalachian White Oak barrels coopered exclusively by West Virginia Great Barrel Company.

Owner/Cook/Head-Distiller Jeremy Webb has spent a lifetime traveling, eating and cooking, cultivating a style of cuisine we are calling Fast Casual Global Fusion Comfort Food. (Say that 10 times fast) His cuisine is heavily influenced by the South; South America, Southeast Asia and the American South. Noodles, dumplings, soups and stews with rich, savory broths, flavors of chili, cilantro, lemon grass, along with large house-smoked cuts of meat like bacon and pastrami will be the foundation of our menu. Our kitchen is crewed by an amazing staff of career cooks flawlessly executing Jeremy’s recipes. It’s like a band, and Jeremy writes all the music.

Athena Wong is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Hexagon Agility, a company that converts commercial diesel vehicles into clean fuel vehicles. She is responsible for creating innovative ways to grow the culture, engage all employees, and build global, scalable people systems that support a dynamic, growing company. Prior to Hexagon Agility, she served as Vice President of Human Resources at Sunny Delight Beverages Co. after spending over a decade managing manufacturing operations and supply chains with Procter & Gamble. Athena holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Kansas State University.