Stars’ Board of Directors

Strategic Finance, Pinterest

Anthony Eng is a Strategic Finance Associate of Operations at Pinterest.  He previously served as Vaccination Clinic Project Manager for Herald Christian Health Center, working to bring COVID-19 vaccinations to the San Gabriel Valley. He also worked as a Financial Accounting Manager at The Walt Disney Company, supporting the Disney Book Publishing business.  Anthony is an alumnus of San Marino High School and graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.  He also obtained a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Pepperdine University and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).  On his free time, Anthony enjoys biking at the Rose Bowl, hiking at Eaton Canyon, and set his best personal record at the Pasadena Triathlon earlier this year.  Anthony currently resides in Pasadena and has a vested interest in contributing to the local community where he was raised.

Vice President and Relationship Manager, Wells Fargo Capital Finance

Carlos’ current role is Vice President and Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo Capital Finance in Santa Monica,  managing a portfolio of business loans to manufacturers, wholesalers and service providers with sales that range from ~ $50 million to ~ $1 billion-plus. Carlos resides in Arcadia with his wife Kathy, and enjoys their extended family of 5 kids and 6 grandkids.

Jodean has been a volunteer at Stars for the past two years helping with food preparation and distribution for the youth programs. Starting during the pandemic, she has found it fulfilling to serve the families of Stars in a practical way, and to spend time with her fellow volunteers. Jodean and her husband John are active members of La Canada Presbyterian Church, which they have attended since 1992. She has a variety of hands-on volunteer experience, including administrative support at Los Angeles Christian School, cooking meals for youth at Oasis of Hollywood, and playing piano at Huntington Hospital.

Jodean now enjoys volunteering a good part of the week, having retired after a 34-year career serving as an engineer at the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. There, she worked with local, state, and national coalitions to develop and implement environmental laws and regulations.

Jodean and John have been married for 31 years and have two grown children and two dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, walking the dogs, and playing the piano.

Carla is a long-time resident of Pasadena and a recently retired teacher from Pasadena Unified School District after 37 years of service. During her career, she held roles of Elementary and Middle School Teacher, Administrator and Coordinator of Special Programs, Teacher on Special Assignment, and oversaw charter schools, private schools, and supplemental educational services (SES) which provided free tutoring services to students in Title I schools.

She completed her undergraduate studies at Cal State University of Los Angeles and received her Master of Arts in Education and Administrative Credential from Azusa Pacific University.

Carla is a former commissioner for City of Pasadena, Northwest Commission (2016-2020) and has spent many years volunteering with Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles as a Girl Scout Leader and Trainer. Additionally, she is a current board member of So-Cal Sister Cities, a member of Pasadena Sister Cities Committee, and an instructor with Outward Bound Adventures, taking high school students on Environmental Studies Expeditions in hiking and camping.

Carla is a mother of three young adult children who attended both public and private schools and Pasadena. In her free time, Carla enjoys reading, movies, theatre, musicals, concerts of all genres, and enjoying the outdoors through camping and hiking.

Senior Director of Development, Regional Major Gifts and Student Affairs, Caltech 

Nicole is the Senior Director of Development, Regional Major Gifts and Student Affairs at Caltech. Like Stars, a highlight of working at Caltech is the focus on student success.  Her previous position was Executive Director of Development at the UC, Riverside School of Medicine. She has also served to direct fundraising efforts for AbilityFirst and led fundraising programs for Orthopaedic Institute for Children, Providence Saint Joseph Foundation and at USC, where Nicole contributed in both school and university-wide campaigns.

Nicole received her Master’s degree in Public Administration from USC, and her Bachelor’s degree in English / History from Whittier College. Nicole and her family reside in Altadena.

Owner/Operator of Chick-Fil-A Pasadena

Adaobi Gwacham was born in Nigeria and was introduced to Chick-fil-A in 2004 when she started working at the Chino Hills location. She quickly rose into leadership positions and began to pursue Chick-fil-A as a life-long career. After receiving her business management degree from California Baptist University, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work at the Chick-fil-A home office. This lead to her involvement in the opening of more than 100 new Restaurants nationwide. Adaobi’s ultimate goal was to become a Chick-fil-A Operator in California and that dream came to fruition in 2014 when she was selected to be the Owner/Operator of the Pasadena location.

President and Publisher, Outlook News Group and LCM-News

Charlie Plowman is the president and publisher of Outlook News Group and LCM-News, which includes the Pasadena Outlook, San Marino Tribune, La Cañada Outlook Valley Sun, South Pasadena Review, Burbank Leader and Glendale News-Press. It is one of the largest community news organizations in Southern California and has earned more than 10 statewide awards and honors from the California News Publishers Association.

Mr. Plowman has been working in mass media markets for three decades. He has received philanthropic awards from Union Station Homeless Services, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the PTA, and he also has worked closely and/or partnered with the Special Olympics, Habitat For Humanity, Pasadena Police Department Explorers, Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Department, National Charity League, Foothill Family, Five Acres, Hillsides, Sycamores, Pasadena Playhouse, the local schools’ Educational Foundations and Booster Clubs, multiple Chambers of Commerce, Huntington Hospital, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, YMCA and Kidspace Museum, in addition to many other organizations.

The Outlook News Group has received the Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award, as well as the PTA Founder’s Day honor for its contribution to local schools.

“We are blessed to have a tremendous staff, which is a key to our success,” Mr. Plowman said. “Our editorial, sales and production departments work extremely well together, and they love to cover our communities.”

Currently Mr. Plowman serves on the boards of Stars, Door of Hope (to aid homeless families), and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation.

Mr. Plowman moved to Southern California in 1978, attending elementary, junior high and high school, where he was a two-time all-league basketball player and team captain. His journalism and broadcasting emphasis in college earned him bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California.

Corporate Attorney

Clarissa Weirick is a corporate attorney, with experience in the entertainment industry and general corporate transactions. She served as General Counsel of the NBCUniversal Filmed Entertainment Group from 2015-2018, overseeing legal matters for the worldwide operations of the motion picture group, including its global theatrical, home entertainment and consumer products businesses and Fandango.

Prior to that, she spent eighteen years at Warner Bros. in various legal roles, including most recently as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, overseeing all legal matters for Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In that role, she had responsibility for all legal activities including licensing, sales, production and acquisitions, as well as daily operational matters relating to the distribution of the studio’s movies, television shows and interactive video games in physical and digital formats on a worldwide basis. Clarissa earned her law degree from UCLA School of Law in 1987 and her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Stanford University in 1982.

Clarissa resides in La Canada Flintridge, where she and her husband, Brad, have lived since 1992 and raised their three children: Catherine (29), Clayton (26) and Maddie (23). Clarissa loves to read, jog, hike, cook and entertain, and has been active in a number of local community organizations, including the La Canada Presbyterian Church and Union Station Homeless Services. She serves on the boards of the Western Justice Center, Spanish Peaks Community Foundation and Descanso Gardens, and also is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) representing a foster child in the LA Child Welfare System.

Rosiris (Cds) Paniagua is a Financial Representative at Northwestern Mutual in downtown Los Angeles.  Her previous position was as a mortgage broker at TRU Finance. Cds holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley  and a graduate degree from USC. Her volunteer work includes:

Member of Junior League of Pasadena 2006 to present (sustainer)

Mother’s Club –volunteer reader and committee member for yearly Fall gala

Volunteer for UC Berkeley Admissions and Alumni scholarship interview committee