Board Members
Mary Andres
Albert Brecht
Jonah Brown
Cathleen Cotter
Steve Gratwick
Casey Heim
Christopher Lane
Dane Martens
Eric Smith
Vince Wong
Mary Andres
Dr. Mary Andres is an Assistant Professor from the USC Rossier School of Education and teaches in the Marriage and Family Therapy program. She was previously a Staff Psychologist at Student Counseling Services where she coordinated the USC GLBT Mentoring Program for ten years. Dr. Andres’ professional interests include multiple dimensions of identity, sexuality, and harm reduction with substance abuse and other destructive behaviors. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Ohio State and her Masters and Doctoral work from Wright State University.
Besides having a private practice in Santa Monica, she also travels annually to the Cannes Film festival as an advisor for student programming. She cherishes her opportunities for travel, snowboarding, backpacking and family and friends. This is her second round of being on the Lambda Board. She was a former member and Co-President and is honored to be back with this new group of energetic volunteers.
Albert Brecht
Albert is the Associate Dean, Chief Information Officer and John Stauffer Professor of Law
at USC's Gould School of Law. Albert specializes in computerized legal research and the expanding role of law librarians in the scholarly mission of the faculty. In addition to administering the law library and information technology, he teaches Legal Research.
Before joining USC Law as an assistant librarian in 1973, Albert completed his B.A. at North Texas State University; his J.D. at the University of Houston; and his M.L.L. at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is a member of the Texas State Bar and a past president of the American Association of Law Libraries. At USC, he has served as a librarian and assistant professor; director of the Law Library and associate professor; professor; and interim deputy university librarian.
Jonah Brown
Jonah is Director, Sales Development at Edmunds Inc. in Santa Monica, where he develops strategic positioning and advertising sales programs for global automotive industry clients. He is also a co-founder and board member of Reaching Out MBA, Inc., a nonprofit corporation dedicated to producing annual international conferences of LGBT graduate business students and business leaders. As President of the USC Marshall School of Business Gay & Lesbian Association, Jonah was an organizer of the Reaching Out MBA conference in Los Angeles in 2004. He is also a proud recipient of Lambda's Thomas J. Peterson Scholarship in Business Administration.
Prior to his MBA studies, Jonah produced feature films at Warner Bros. and the Walt Disney Company and held Internet services product management roles at Creative Planet and Edmunds Inc. Jonah is a graduate of Brown University (BA in American Civilization; Phi Beta Kappa) and from USC Marshall School of Business (MBA).
Cathleen Cotter
Cathleen Cotter graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a B.A. in Communications during the "Reality Bites" era and considered herself lucky to land a job with a non-profit agency. It was work, and it allowed her to flee Orange County for the bright lights and stunning diversity of Los Angeles. Soon after moving to the big city, Cathleen found a job working as an Editorial Assistant and Reporter for a local newspaper group for even less money. Oh, but the glory of having a byline far outweighed the trials and tribulations facing yet another bowl of instant ramen! Nine years ago, Cathleen returned to the fast-paced world of mass communications when she got a job as an Editor at PR Newswire.
While working full time, Cathleen completed her M.A. in Communication Management at USC's Annenberg School. After graduating, she moved around within the company a bit before being promoted into her current role of Western Region Media Relations Representative. Cathleen is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and Media Bistro.
Cathleen is honored to be part of Lambda and looks forward to helping strengthen the organization and increasing its visibility to the students and alumni of USC, and within the GLBT community in general.
Steve Gratwick
A 1991 graduate of Lawrence University, Steve immediately left chilly Wisconsin for California. Settling in San Francisco and work in a law firm lead to a lot of volunteering and a connection with the HIV/AIDS community. He completed three California AIDS Rides in the 1990s and eventually worked for the public relations branch of Tanqueray, a principle sponsor of the event.
Changes in the AIDS Ride organization lead him to new work as a health counselor for a corporate wellness program based in the Bay Area. Steve’s work with the LGBT community also continued as a counselor for youth on sexual health and coming out issues. In 2003 he happily moved to Los Angeles to enroll in the masters of social work program at USC. While a student, he co-founded an LGBT student caucus and organized a number of events to bring awareness to community issues and create a more welcoming environment for students, faculty and staff in the school of social work. Steve now works as a social worker in a senior clinic by day, and is finishing a documentary about “Don’t ask, don’t tell” he began at USC. Steve looks forward to building a strong, healthy and diverse LGBT Trojan alumni community.
Casey Heim
Casey earned his B.A. in Public Relations from the Annenberg School for Communication in 2004 and used the flexibility of a single major to get involved in everything USC threw at him. Casey served as Co-Captain of the USC Marathon Team, President of the a cappella group Reverse Osmosis, and Editor-in-Chief of USC's literary/arts publication, Palaver. He also worked as Course Assistant for The Art and Adventure of Leadership, President Sample’s class on leadership, and volunteered regularly in the neighborhood.
Post graduation, Casey worked for 3.5 years at The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), as an intern (3xs over), as Special Events Associate and finally as Volunteer Manager.
Casey’s is passionate about involvement and volunteerism and is thrilled to be giving back to the university that made him the person he is today.
Christopher Lane
Christopher Lane received his B.A. at USC in Critical Studies in
Cinema-Television in 2004 and then received his M.A. in Moving Image Archive Studies from UCLA's School of Information Studies and School of Theatre, Film, and Television in 2006. He currently works in the Technical Services division of MGM Studios where he works with one of
the largest studio film/video libraries and dabbles in post-production, film/video archiving, restoration, and preservation.
Chris belongs to the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)where he serves on the Strategic Plan Implementation Task Force, holds the position of Outreach Coordinator for the Conference Committee, and functions as the in-coming chair of the Diversity Task Force. Chris is an active member of AMIA's GLBT Interest Group and recently organized and chaired their panel discussion and screening focusing on diverse identities and cultures in amateur film and video. In 2006, AMIA recognized Chris' academic pursuits and active role in the organization and awarded him the Kodak Fellowship in Film Preservation.
Chris looks forward to working with the rest of the board and membership on making Lambda and integral part of the Trojan community.
Dane Martens
Dane Martens escaped small-town Idaho five years ago to attend USC as an undergrad. In the School of Theatre, Dane focused his studies mainly in Dance and was the Company Manager for the USC Repertory Dance Company for two years prior to graduation. As a student employee, he worked for USC Spectrum designing mostly posters for School of Theatre productions. Last fall, Dane was hired as a staff member to coordinate graphic services for Spectrum and the Division of Student Affairs, which entails a wide range of projects from invitations and postcards to large installation displays. Dane is honored to be working with Lambda Alumni and serving their graphic needs.
Eric Smith
A native of Los Angeles, Eric received his Bachelor of Science degree from USC in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing in 1994. While attending USC, Eric was the advertising assistant for the Daily Trojan.
Currently, Eric is the Vice President and one of the co-owners of Bel Aire Bridal, a manufacturer of wedding accessories with two factories in China. The marketing and business education Eric received has helped him to grow the company into a multi-million dollar business, each year posting double digit growth and a current customer base of 2,000 stores worldwide.
Eric is honored to be a part of Lambda, and looks forward to making Lambda a more visible part of the Trojan family.
Vince Wong
A native Angeleno and second-generation Trojan, Vince Wong received his B.S. in Public Policy and Management in 2003. He works as Assistant Director of Community & Local Government Relations at UCLA, liaising to local legislators and community-based organizations, and advising the University on land use, public safety, and transportation concerns. Prior, he served as a Deputy to Los Angeles Councilmember Jack Weiss.
Vince also serves as an officer to the Stonewall Young Democrats, focusing on communications and outreach. He has participated in a myriad of political and community organizations, including the Junior State of America and the American Society for Public Administration. He engages in organizations whose goals include community enrichment and the increased involvement of LGBT partners in the greater community. He is passionate about reducing apathy in youth, especially LGBT youth, and is ecstatic to work with Lambda to help build a more distinguished and diverse Trojan community.