Board of Directors

Chair / President

Vice-Chair / Vice - President
(he/they)

Christopher Covington is a proud product of Tongva Land known as Long Beach, California. They are a multiracial, genderqueer person of color with many lived experiences that profoundly connects them to intersectional movements and spaces. They serve as Vice Chair for the Long Beach Equity and Human Relations Commission, Co-Lead for the Safer LBUSD Campaign, and California Advocacy and Campaigns Manager with the National Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network.

Secretary
(she/they)

Jade Ali is a multiracial trans woman of Filipina‐Mexican descent raised from the city of Carson, California. She serves as the Youth Engagement Specialist for REACH LA, where she works in empowering LGBT youth of color in Los Angeles County through presenting harm reduction workshops, facilitating youth‐led advocacy groups, as well as providing educational and arts programming. Jade's work has reached the state level where she was accepted as a guest speaker for the Elevate Youth California Convening in 2023, in which she discussed indigenous frameworks on the decolonization of mental health.

As a former Front Desk Receptionist at the Center Long Beach, Jade has built interpersonal skills in providing trauma‐informed care and cultural empathy to QTBIPOC communities, unhoused LGBT individuals, as well as people struggling with substance abuse. Jade has originally began as a client at the Center Long Beach through partaking in the support groups and volunteer opportunities since before her gender transition in 2019, which has led her to develop a deeper understanding and knowledge of the landscape of Long Beach through a culturally‐responsive lens.

Jade is grateful to be serving as a Board Member for the Center Long Beach where she is able to provide representation of her intersectional identities as a youth, a Filipina‐Mexican, as well as a trans woman who was raised under a lower socioeconomic background. Through the honor of being elected as a Board Member at the age of 23, Jade commits to plant seeds of BIPOC programming and community cultural wealth through an ethics of care that will holistically serve the Center Long Beach within the years to come.

Treasurer
(he/him)

With over 10 years in the nonprofit, political, and philanthropic sectors, Diego is a passionate advocate for social justice, equity, and impact. He currently serves as Senior Philanthropy Advisor with Liberty Hill Foundation, where he oversees a portfolio of high net‐worth Donor‐Advised Fund (DAF) holders and Giving Circles, which distribute over $9 million in annual grants to nonprofits in Los Angeles County.

Previously, Diego served as an Officer with the California Community Foundation, where he managed a portfolio of 200+ individual, family, corporate, and scholarship funds totaling $130 million. Diego has served in a Senior Director role on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Presidential Campaign (2020) and Congresswoman Nanette Barragan’s first congressional campaign, helping elect the only Latina to U.S. Congress in 2016. Deeply rooted in community, Diego has also served as a Commissioner in two cities: Huntington Park and South Gate.

Diego is an alumnus of Coca Cola’s NextGen LGBTQ Leaders Initiative, Equality California’s Leadership Academy, LGBTQ Victory Institute’s Victory Empowerment Fellowship, and People for the American Way / Young Elected Officials Network’s Front Line Leaders Academy.

Diego holds a B.A. from UCLA and M.B.A. from the School of Enterprise Management and Social Impact at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, CA.

Board Member

Born and raised in Wilmington California, Victor Ibarra is the only boy of three siblings. His father Victor and mother Anna have always been supportive parents who always pushed Victor to persevere, work hard and give back to others.

An agent of change, Victor’s interest for political and economic equity stems from his grandfather’s involvement with Cesar Chavez and the fight for fair wages and worker’s rights. His EXP internship with former Assemblymember Warren Furutani solidified Victor’s career aspirations and gave him a springboard for community organizing. Victor proudly identifies as First-Generation Queer Latino and is passionate about addressing the lack of political involvement and underrepresentation in his community. He graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Political Science.

Victor serves on the board of Directors for EXP - a non-profit that aims at bridging industry and high schools together to build tomorrow’s workforce and provide career opportunities to students from underserved communities in Southern California. He serves as the Co-Chair for the Diversity Equity Inclusivity Committee and is determined to provide equitable resources for all. He also joined the Board of Directors of the LGBTQ Center Long Beach in 2020 to advocate for more resources for disfranchised communities. He also participated in both federal and statewide campaigns advocating for disadvantage communities. He has served many years as a delegate for the California Democratic Party.

Victor is an alumnus of the 2018 Equality California Leadership Academy class, which focused on cultivating new LGBTQ leaders in CA. He has been recognized by the State Senate with an “Extraordinary Citizen” award and by the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce as “Man of the Year”. He also ran for Wilmington Honorary Mayor in which he raised money for the Wilmington Rotary Club to continue the efforts of “Service Above Self”.

In 2017, Victor took on the role of Field Representative for Democratic Caucus Chair Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson of the 64th District. In the tenure of five and a half years, Victor worked on multiple issues ranging from environmental rights, health equity, public safety and overall advocating for an equitable lifestyle for residents in his community and State of California. Victor was fortunate to serve as District Director to Assemblymember Gipson. Victor is now the Public Affairs Manager for SoCalGas and oversees 14 cities within his region.

Additionally, he serves on 8 board of directors ranging from Chamber of Commerce to Nonprofit organizations.

Victor is the epitome of a public servant; he is a force of change and will continue to advocate for what is right and fair.

Board Member
(she/her)

With a passion for entrepreneurship, Kena Fuller set out to build Fuller Management Corporation (FMC), a business coaching and development firm revered for its hands‐on expertise, expansive knowledge, and award‐winning services. Aligned with her education in Business Psychology, Behavioral Economics,

Global Business Management, and Marketing; with 25‐plus years of business operations experience, Kena Fuller and FMC have created services and programming, leading to the support of 10 major industries, 200+ businesses served, and more than 27,000 hours of direct technical assistance in support of small business ownership. Adamant about the people‐first approach, all pursuits of FMC are designed to be human‐centered and deeply rooted in supporting both the individual and business alike. As

Executive Director of Fuller Management, Kena is adamant about client engagement and overall customer satisfaction. Personally managing every client account, it is her careful attention to detail and integrated strategy that has helped consistently support and grow each client's revenue year over year.

Board Member
(she/her)

I am native to southern California, having been born and raised in Los Angeles and living in Long Beach for since 2014. In addition to English, I am fluent in speaking Hindi and Urdu (Indian/Pakistani languages). I have worked in the financial sector since 2006 and currently hold my series 6, series 7 and series 66 registrations as well as the California state life insurance licenses. I started my career in the industry in 2006 with Pacific Life Insurance Company. I was hired by Edward Jones in 2014 as a field-based trainer and realized my passion was to serve my community as a financial advisor. I also had the honor of becoming a limited partner of Edward Jones in January 2019. I also obtained my Chartered Retirement Plan Counselor™ designation in February of 2023.

My passion is to work with individuals, families and local business owners to help them achieve their long-term goals and dreams. My goal is to provide my clients with financial education, tools and guidance to determine their financial goals, create a path toward achieving them and celebrate when they do. I hold monthly financial education sessions via webinar with timely topics to help my community with financial education.

Outside of work, I enjoy cooking, being active and travel. I am an active member the Financial Planning Association of Los Angeles and Orange County.