Board President
Past Vice President Communications, Titan Corporation

Wil Williams is past Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs for Titan Corporation (now L-3 Communications). He joined the Board of Directors in 1999. Wil has served in various public affairs and communications positions in government and industry, ranging from the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs to prominent Fortune 500 companies. He is a former and retired Air Force officer and pilot.

Second Vice President

Ingrid Nielsen was born and raised in San Diego and is an active community member with a long history of support for the Urban Corps. She served as Secretary on the Board of Directors for Nielsen Construction and on the Midway Community Planning Advisory Committee.

In addition to her long-term support of the Urban Corps, Ingrid has volunteered as a counselor at the San Diego Youth & Community Services Storefront, a shelter for homeless teens, and later on the SDYCS Board of Directors for seven years. In addition, she has volunteered and/or supported: The Thursday Club, Tarik Kamisa Foundation (TKF), Habitat for Humanity, and La Jolla Cancer Research.

Ingrid holds a bachelors degree in Business Economics and Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. During her 30 years of professional working experience, Ingrid has held various positions in the San Diego Real Estate Development, Property Management, and Construction fields.  She currently manages three commercial properties for the Nielsen family and in her spare time enjoys tennis, bridge, book club, traveling, and spending time with her grandchildren.

As an Urban Corps board member, Ingrid succeeds her mother, the late Charlotte Nielsen who served on the Urban Corps board from 2003-2011.

Treasurer
Senior Tax Analyst, Sempra Energy

Tracey Williams has over 15 years of accounting and finance experience.  She has been working with Sempra Energy as a Senior Tax Analyst for over five years focusing on tax preparation of San Diego Gas & Electric tax returns.  Prior to joining Sempra Energy she was the Chief Operating Officer of a local fitness chain in San Diego.  Tracey received her Bachelors in Accounting from San Diego State University and is currently pursuing her CPA license.  Tracey’s other affiliations include:  LEAD San Diego Graduating class of 2009, actively participating in the Big Brother Big Sister program, Sempra recruiting, and Junior Achievement.

Board Secretary
San Diego Housing Commission, Community Liaison

Daniel Morales has been the Community Services Liaison and Ombudsman for the San Diego Housing Commission for the past 10 years . As a former City Council representative, he worked hard to help start the Urban Corps in 1989. Daniel not only supports the Urban Corps through his voluntary work on the Board of Directors, but goes above and beyond in his commitment to the youth of San Diego. Daniel continues to volunteer as an umpire for North Park Little League and has done so for over 15 years. He resides with his wife, Anne, and son, Carlos in the community of North Park.

Board Member Ex-Officio
President, San Diego Unified School Board

Richard is President of the San Diego Unified School Board. Richard also serves as San Diego Regional Director for the Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers.

Previously, Richard served as the San Diego-Imperial Counties Regional Director for the United Domestic Workers of America (UDWA), representing over 20,000 homecare workers who take care of low-income elderly and disabled citizens. Richard developed and directed a community-based organizing strategy of homecare workers, and negotiated the UDWA’s current contract with the County of San Diego.

Before joining the labor movement, Richard served for five years as the President and Executive Director of the Consensus Organizing Institute, a national community-organizing group. At COI, Richard created and implemented community-based approaches to the development of affordable housing, supporting welfare recipients in their transition to work, improving inner city schools, and increasing civic and voter participation. Richard has designed and managed large-scale community organizing projects in San Diego, Chicago, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Long Beach, and New York.

In addition to the Urban Corps, Richard currently serves on the boards of the Cesar Chavez Service Clubs, the League of Conservation Voters San Diego chapter, the San Diego Unity League, and the San Diego Cooperative Charter School. A proud graduate of El Cajon Valley High School, he holds a bachelors degree in history from UCSD, and a masters in public policy from Harvard University. Richard lives in Golden Hill with his wife Kim and his sons Jeffrey and Jesse.

Board Member
President, National University International

Bob currently serves on the Urban Corps of San Diego Board of Directors, the Community Resource Center Board of Directors, and has been appointed by the City of Carlsbad mayor and city council to the Carlsbad Library Board of Trustees where he serves as Vice Chair.

He is a graduate of the City of Carlsbad Citizens’ Academy and the LEAD San Diego Program where he was awarded the LEAD San Diego Herbert G. Klein Visionary Award for making significant leadership contributions to the San Diego community. He served in Bolivia as a Peace Corps Volunteer and as a member of the Butler University Board of Directors.

Bob was also selected as a “Power to Be” in the December 2008 issue of the San Diego Magazine. He has a B.A. in International Studies & Political Science from Butler University and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of California San Diego. Bob is married to Sarah Benson and has two wonderful boys, Palmer and Reece.

Board Member
Principal, Leon Brooks & Associates

Leon Brooks is the Principal of Leon Brooks & Associates, Designers - Planners.  He has been on the Board of Directors of the Urban Corps since 1995. Leon also serves on the County of San Diego’s Planning Commission, and is a member of the San Diego Unified School District's Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee [ICOC] for Proposition MM School Bond.

Board Member
Vice President, Fund Development, ARCS Foundation, Inc. - San Diego Chapter

Diane Annala Chalmers received her undergraduate education at Denison University, a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Indiana University, and post-graduate certification in Arts Administration from Harvard University. In her professional career she has held a variety of positions in higher education, arts management, non-profit management and government. These include serving as Director of University Events at UCSD, as Chief of Staff for a San Diego Councilmember, Executive Director of the San Diego Performing Arts Foundation and as Director of Development for the College of Professional Studies at SDSU. Most recently she has served as Development Director for the Louisville Orchestra and as Executive Director of the Louisville Ronald McDonald House. While in Louisville, Diane also taught Non-Profit Management at Bellarmine University. In the course of filling these positions she has traveled extensively, including the former Soviet Union to select arts groups for the San Diego Russian Arts Festival, and several trips to China as a planner for an International Conference on Rehabilitation of the Handicapped.

In 2004 Diane returned to San Diego after an absence of a few years and lives in La Jolla with her husband, Joseph Chalmers. Dr. Chalmers is a Visiting Scholar at UCSD and San Diego State University and retired Chairman of the Department of Physics at the University of Louisville. Diane is currently retired but remains involved as a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego chapter of the ARCS Foundation, Inc., serves on the Advisory Council of the ATHENA project at UCSD Moores Cancer Center, and Chairs the Concert Committee at La Jolla Presbyterian Church in addition to serving as Board Member of Urban Corps.

Board Member
President and Chief Operating Officer, San Diego Padres, Retired

Dick Freeman joined the Padres as Chief Financial Officer on January 1, 1981. Prior to joining the Padres, Dick served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, as a CPA with the firm Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co. (Today’s KPMG) and Controller and Treasurer of Central Federal S&L of San Diego.

Dick became president of the Padres in September 1988 and served as president until 1995. He became Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1996 serving in this capacity until 2002 when he returned to the Padres as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Dick currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Salk Institute and the National Board of the March of Dimes Foundation, the San Diego Economic Development Corp. and the San Diego International Sports Council. He and his wife Judi have one daughter, Heather. She and her husband Rob are attorneys living in Boston. The Freeman’s live in La Jolla, CA.

Board Member Ex-Officio
Attorney-at-law

Gino Mazzanti is an attorney who earned his law degree from California Western school
law in 1976. He has been in private practice with the Law Offices of Gino V. Mazzanti
in San Diego since 1977. His practice concentrates in the field of business law where he
is engaged in forming and advising partnerships, corporations (both for profit and not for
profit) and limited liability companies. He also handles business litigation. He is currently general counsel for the following nonprofit corporations:

• Interface Community Services, Inc. - Founded in 1983 and provides services for
  children and adults with developmental disabilities to help them be independent and
  productive.
  
  
• OpenOceans Global Inc. - Founded in 2007 and is dedicated to “Linking People to the
  World’s Oceans” through sharing information that will result in more informed decisions
  about ocean policy. The organization is non-partisan and non-political. OpenOceans Global works with communities to gather information, data, funding and options that can be implemented for mutual benefit.
  
  
• Chapel Of Awareness Spiritual Church Corporation – A church founded in 1973.