Board of Directors
Laura Leigh Hughes - Founder
An Actress for the past 18 years, acting in dozens of
television and film productions, Laura Leigh founded the Unusual
Suspects in response to the 1992 civil unrest. She has served as
Executive Director for the past 8 years, before moving to the
board to focus on her acting career. She graduated from UCLA
with a BA degree in Sociology.
Alison Cardoso
An actual native Los Angeleno, Alison began her performing
career at age 11 with the 19th Street Children’s Theater Group
touring southern California and entertaining dozens. In contrast
to her early flair for drama, after high school she decided to
use her left brain and studied computer science/engineering at
UC Santa Barbara. After school she worked in various nerdy
business segments in Silicon Valley for nearly ten years, five
of them spent running a successful systems analyst consulting
business. Her love of entertainment drew her back to Los Angeles
in 2002, where she worked in finance at Fox Studios while acting
and directing in local theater in her off hours. Currently,
Alison is a producer and partner at Misfit Films, Inc., the
greatest independent film company you’ve never heard of.
Russ Cashdan - Board Legal Council
Russ is a corporate and finance lawyer at Kaye Scholer with
a broad practice in mergers and acquisitions, finance and
general corporate matters. Mr. Cashdan represents buyers,
sellers and investment bankers in mergers and acquisitions and
public and private finance transactions, including initial
public offerings, secondary public offerings and private
placements. Mr. Cashdan also advises public and private
companies of various sizes on matters ranging from day-to-day
operations to restructuring transactions. Prior to attending
University of Southern California law school, he worked as a
certified public accountant for what was then a Big Eight public
accounting firm.
Ed Coghlan - President
Ed is an accomplished senior corporate communications executive
with vast health care and public policy experience: Corporate
News Director for the highly successful four-station Montana
Television Network; News Director at KCOP in Los Angeles
garnering the highest news ratings in the station’s history and
winning the LA Press Club’s Best Newscast award; Senior Vice
President of Corporate Communications for Sunrise Technologies
in Fremont, California, where his public relations efforts lead
to stories on the NBC Nightly News, the Los Angeles Times and
CNN. He also has experience in the public policy area with
experience in public transportation (Los Angeles County
Transportation Commission), education (Los Angeles Unified
School District), public health (Oldtimers Foundation and
Mexican American Opportunity Federation), environment
(Metropolitan Water District and Tree People) and children’s
issues (First 5 Los Angeles). He has a broad understanding of
the Latino market and has worked in successful placements in
Spanish language media. Coghlan is a veteran public speaker and
presenter, teaches presentation and media skills to
professionals around the country.
Deborah Lintz
Deborah is an attorney at Paramount Pictures, handling
entertainment contracts for Paramount Pictures, Paramount
Vantage, and DreamWorks. Prior to joining Paramount in January
2007, Deborah was an associate at the law firm Hughes Hubbard &
Reed LLP. She graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 2004.
While at UCLA, Deborah was the Chief Articles Editor of the UCLA
Entertainment Law Review, a Board Member of the Public Interest
Legal Foundation (“PILF”) and Co-Chair of PILF’s annual auction
“Bid for a Better World" which raised a then-record amount of
funds to support public interest legal work. Also during law
school, Deborah
received a $12,000 grant from the UCLA Center For Community
Partnerships to found Film Outreach LA, in collaboration with
The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company. Film Outreach LA trains
film professionals to mentor at-risk youth through the
production of their own short films and also produces
fundraising and educational DVDs for non-profit programs
assisting at-risk youth. As a result of her efforts through Film
Outreach LA, Deborah was named a Foster Care Hero by the LA
County Board of Supervisors in 2005.
Jennifer Lisle
Jennifer has worked as a journalist for the last 18 years in
New York, London and Los Angeles. She has covered a range of
topics, including urban and cultural trends, real estate, visual
art and breaking news. Her experience in social services
includes working as the grants manager at Planned Parenthood
NYC, the agency that manages the three Manhattan Planned
Parenthood clinics and serving on the Board of the The Rockland
Parent-Child Center in Nyack, NY. She holds a BA in English and
Economics from Tufts University and an MA in Literature from
Middlebury College. She's also been the editor of our US
Newsletter for the past year and contributes her expertise
throughout the year with press releases and media coverage. “I'm
thrilled to be joining the Board of an organization that
provides such vital services and produces such great theater!”
Thomas Reed - Board Treasurer/Organization's Accountant
Tom received his BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in
Film Production and his Master's degree from Long Island
University in Accounting & Finance. He spent twenty seven years
as an accountant and business manager with a primary
concentration in the entertainment industry. Currently he is
running his own firm, Affiliated Financial Service Group, Inc.
Gisèle Sánchez Rochet
Gisèle has twenty years experience in television news and
entertainment as a producer, writer and editor, including an
Emmy nomination for her public affairs program "Midday Sunday,"
and a Golden Mike Best Documentary for “Trail of Greed, Trail of
Death.” Credits include: “In Living Color,” “Essence Awards,”
“The Grammy Awards,” “Cesar Chavez Legacy Awards, and the “Latin
Grammy Awards,” and “Sparks.” Other awards: Press Club Award for
Best PSA in 1990 for “Don’t Drink and Drive,” a Spanish and
English language campaign; Nosotros Award for “Historias Para
Mejorar el Mundo II (writer),” which has been broadcast
worldwide on Spanish language radio network. Gisele has been an
active volunteer with The Unusual Suspects since 1999.
Advisory Council
Edward Asner - Actor, Former Union Leader, Activist
Carol Biondi - Youth Advocate and Activist
Lena Bryant - Regional Bank Manager
Solomon Burke - Musician
Leigh Curran - Director of the Virginia Avenue Project Performing Arts & Youth Programs
Gary Erickson - Marketing & Development Consultant
Judge Terry Friedman - Retired Presiding Juvenile Court Justice for Los Angeles County
Robert Greenwald - Producer
Tom Hayden - Former Senator, Author and Activist
David Henry Hwang - Playwright
Sarah Key - Author
Mwitu Ngudu - Former Legislative Aide to Speaker of the Assembly Herb Wesson
Connie Rice - Lawyer and Legal Activist
Luis J. Rodriguez - Author and Gang/Youth Activist
Cheryl Silver - Non-Profit Consultant
Adam Simon - Businessman
Susanna Styron - Screenwriter/Director
Julie Tugend - Consultant (and former Chief Operating Officer of the California Endowment)
Zoot Velasco - Granter writer & Performer, Prior US Executive Director from 2004-2005
