Staff Leadership
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Alex Ben Morales, L.C.S.W.
President & CEO (since 1988)
In the 22 years that Mr. Morales has been with Children's Bureau, he has been instrumental in growing the organization's budget from $6.6 million (5 sites) to $27 million (20 sites) and, most importantly, in developing Children's Bureau into a preeminent leader in child abuse prevention. He is responsible for overall program development and operations of the agency and he advocates publicly with local and state leaders seeking child welfare policy reform. Alex holds a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California. He earned his B.A. in Physics from California State University, Long Beach, and his interest in science has moved the organization towards the role of discovery through its research and evaluation programs.

Carmine Salvucci, M.B.A.
Chief Development Officer (since 2006)
Mr. Salvucci is responsible for raising $8 million annually in private and government funding as well as overseeing all aspects of the agency's marketing and public relations activities. Mr. Salvucci was Senior Associate Director of Development for Stanford University and has 20 years of experience within the academic institutional arena. Before he entered the development profession, Mr. Salvucci was involved in higher education admissions and financial aid. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Holy Cross College and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Sona Chandwani, M.B.A.
Chief Financial Officer (since 2010)
Ms. Chandwani is responsible for oversight of the agency's financial matters. Prior to joining Children's Bureau, she was the Chief Financial Officer of AIDS Project Los Angeles for more than six years. Additionally, she has worked in a strategic planning capacity with various non-profits, including the Austin Museum of Art and The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

From 1992 to 1996, she worked at Arthur Andersen in the Assurance and Business Advisory Services Group specializing in financial services. Ms. Chandwani earned a master's degree in business administration from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. She received a bachelor's degree from UCLA in business and economics, with a minor in accounting. Ms. Chandwani is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of California (inactive).

Ron E. Brown, M.B.A.
Chief Program Officer (since 2000)
Mr. Brown manages the operations of Children's Bureau's foster care,adoption, mental health and child abuse prevention programs. He has helped to grow each program by acquiring larger contracts and implementing new services. He is also responsible for the agency's accreditation from the Council on Accreditation. Mr. Brown's background is in health care where prior to joining Children's Bureau, he worked for many years at Citrus Valley Hospice and Home Health, Inc. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.B.A. from California State University, Long Beach.

Ann Marie Ellertson, M.A.
Chief Human Resources Officer (since 2004)
Ms. Ellertson is responsible for all aspects of human resources, including recruitment, training, compensation, benefits and employee relations. She has more than 23 years of experience in human resources, developing employee relations at Merisel/Wareforce, Regency Health Services and Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Ms. Ellertson holds a B.A. from California State University, Northridge and an M.A. from Pepperdine University. She is an L.A. Bar Association certified mediator and serves on the pro bono panel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for both New York and Los Angeles. She also serves as a coach and mediation mentor for the Western Justice Center Peer Mediation Invitational (PMI).