About Our Board
The USC Alumni Club of Beverly Hills & Hollywood was formed in October 2008. Our short-term goal is to build a base of alumni in the area and provide cultural, educational, and social programming with input from our members. In the long-term we would like to provide future and existing Trojans scholarships that would ease their financial burden and enable them to share the enriching Trojan experience that we once endured.
Here are the Board members of the USC Alumni Club of Beverly Hills/ Hollywood:
The USC Alumni Club of Beverly Hills & Hollywood was formed in October 2008. Our short-term goal is to build a base of alumni in the area and provide cultural, educational, and social programming with input from our members. In the long-term we would like to provide future and existing Trojans scholarships that would ease their financial burden and enable them to share the enriching Trojan experience that we once endured.
Here are the Board members of the USC Alumni Club of Beverly Hills/ Hollywood:
President:
Rod Halimi
rod@bevhotrojans.com
Rod graduated from USC in 2001 with a degree in political science. He is Los Angeles native and a die hard USC Trojans football fan. Rod was an educator for 7 years prior to leaving the classroom to design the next generation of educational software. He is the founder and CEO of Biosphere Enterprises, Inc.
Vice President:
Nicola Cicciarelli
nicola@bevhotrojans.com
Nicola Cicciarelli graduated from USC, Marshal School of Business in 2001 with a BS in Business Administration. Now an Online Marketing Professional, Nicola has built her career focusing on marketing in the online space and website development. For the past 3 years she has been involved with the USC Alumni Association, serving on the Board of USC Alumni Club of the South Bay in 2007-2008, and now the Beverly Hills /Hollywood Club. In her spare time she enjoys traveling to international hotspots and also enjoying the local ones in her hometown of L.A.
Director of Communications:
Haley Golding
haley@bevhotrojans.com
Haley recently graduated in Fall 2008 from USC’s Thornton School of Music with a B.S. in Music Industry. She has interned at both Warner/Chappell Music in A&R and Interscope in International Marketing. After growing up in Northern California in the small town of Danville (which no one’s ever heard of), Haley decided to try out the city life and made the move to LA after graduation. She currently works at Warner/Chappell Music in Administration. In her free time Haley enjoys being introduced to new music, checking out concerts, helping with the animals at the Lange Foundation, and being a tourist in LA.
Director of Sponsorships:
Victoria Bailey
Victoria joined AXA Advisors, LLC, as a Financial Consultant in August 2009, after a 10 year tenure in the same capacity at UBS Financial Services. During her time at USC, Victoria was a member of the Trojan Debate Team and graduated in 1994 with a B.A. in International Relations. She has a history of fundraising and volunteering her time to a variety of charities. A fan of USC and all things Trojan, Victoria's son is currently a sophomore at USC.
Director of Membership
Antonette Araya
Antonette, born and bred in Southern California, loves being a Trojan. In 2003, she graduated from USC with a B.S. in Education and a B.A. in Psychology; in 2005, she received her M.S. in Education with a Reading Specialization. Her passion for educating our underprivileged youth can be seen in her elementary school classroom at Foshay Learning Center, which is one of USC's Family of Five Schools. She has worked with students in the Neglected or Delinquent Children and Youth Program. In summer 2009, she received an Earthwatch Educator Fellowship to Ecuador, where she worked with a team of researchers to study caterpillars. She is committed to accomplished teaching and is currently a National Board Certification Teaching candidate. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, karaoke, yoga, volleyball, and shopping at TJ Maxx. She is excited to establish and foster long-lasting, extraordinary relationships with her fellow Trojans!
Director of Events
Robinne Burrell
Originally from New York City, Robinne made her way west to attend USC's Cinema School in 1995. Balancing studies and work, she got an early entry into "the biz" by working for Miramax Pictures in script development by her sophomore year. By the time she graduated, she had worked alongside Oliver Stone, Sam Raimi and Brad Grey. After several years in film production, the calling was strong to make a commitment to philanthropy and she was chosen to serve as a U.S Ambassador of Goodwill in Mexico where she founded a non-profit organization for orphaned children. Since then, Robinne has migrated to entertainment technology where she oversees strategic partnerships for MySpace. In between mentoring on weekends, you can find her entertaining friends, enjoying the great outdoors and LOL.
Director of Membership
Sarah Emami
After growing up in Spokane, WA, Sarah headed south to attend USC and enjoy the sunshine. She graduated with a B.S. in Business/Finance in 2001 and joined Disney after graduation where she manages a team of credit analysts and is a member of the Disney Tri team. She has a strong interest in creating structures that allow people to reach their maximum potential and began taking sustainability courses at UCLA in 2009. After learning about the group through the 2010 BevHo Big Sunday event, Sarah began volunteering with AbilityFirst, a long-standing southern California non-profit devoted to helping adults and children with individuals realize their full potential. Sarah enjoys spending time with family and friends, being outdoors & by the water, yoga, and adventures.
Director of Development
Tony Lund
Tony graduated in 2007 from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where he studied film production and physics. An accomplished producer, Tony has worked in both animation, feature film production and TV documentary. One of his latest films, "Is There a Creator?", aired on global television as a part of the ground-breaking TV miniseries "Through the Wormhole: With Morgan Freeman" and quickly became one of the most watched programs in the history of The Science Channel. Tony is currently the managing director of Isotope Entertainment, LLC, a Los Angeles based feature film production company.
Director of Technology and Social Media
Rachel Woodward
A 2005 graduate with a degree in Public Policy, Planning and Management, Rachel attended USC on a basketball scholarship, serving as a captain during her senior year. A passion for travel landed her a job as an online marketing specialist at Crystal Cruises, a Los Angeles-based luxury line consistently awarded World’s Best by prestigious travel magazines. Following the successful launch of the line’s innovative new website, and her disciplined management of all e-marketing strategies including website administration, email campaigns and copywriting, Rachel was recently promoted to Manager National Accounts. A true USC fan, she attends as many sports games as possible and volunteers her time at Trojan events. A self-described heath-nut, Rachel enjoys spinning classes, playing basketball, hiking, biking and then relaxing on the beach. She loves to spend quality time with family and friends, and of course, she loves to travel.
Director of Fundraising and Scholarship:
Lisa Gopman
lisa@bevhotrojans.com
Lisa Gopman was born in Cincinnati Ohio and in 1995 decided to make the bold leap from the Midwest to USC. She spent four glorious years in the theater school and proudly graduated in '99. She was especially honored to be selected as her class speaker along with Henry Winkler aka “The Fonz!” Since graduating, Lisa has spent the last few years fundraising for a co-op of international non-profit organizations as well as maintaining a successful career in the entertainment industry. Lisa has appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend, MTV, and in 2003 she was selected in a nationwide search as the grand prize winner of Comedy Central's Laugh Riots standup competition. Lisa has a deep love for her alma mater and looks forward to planning USC football viewing parties that are walking distance from her apartment in Hollywood! Yayyy! Fight on USC Alumni Club of Beverly Hills/Hollywood!!
