About Us

Dr. Ronald E. Brown was selected in a nationwide search as Children’s Bureau’s new President & CEO effective January 2, 2018.  Ron is responsible for all aspects of the $50 million nonprofit that operates 20 sites throughout Los Angeles and Orange County.  Ron joined Children’s Bureau in 2000 where he managed the operations of Children’s Bureau’s foster care, adoption, mental health and child abuse prevention programs. Under his leadership, these program grants and contracts grew from $11 million to over $30 million annually and now serve 50,000 children and parents throughout Southern California. He has been an integral part of the development of Magnolia Community Initiative, Children’s Bureau’s collaborative effort of over 70 organizations seeking to improve the well-being of vulnerable families and community outcomes in a targeted area of Los Angeles. Prior to coming to Children’s Bureau, Ron’s background was in healthcare development and management. He holds a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an M.B.A. from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University.

Corina has a 15-year-career in the child welfare arena, most recently at Wayfinder Family Services as chief program officer over the past 11 years. During her time at Wayfinder, the agency grew its contracts from $10 million to $20 million, added six group homes, a medically fragile residential program, and shelter care. She also took the program lead of a merger/transition with another organization. Prior to Wayfinder, Corina worked as a regional administrator at McKinley Children’s Center, a chronic care social worker at The Children’s Clinic, and as a foster care social worker/clinician at Concept 7 Family Support & Treatment Center. For the last 7 years, she has been an adjunct guest lecturer at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs where she teaches several courses to MSW graduate students. Corina holds a B.A. in political science and a B.A. in sociology from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California.

Monica Lee Copeland, MFA, CRFE is a proactive fundraising and marketing senior executive with 25+ years of team-centered business management, tech savvy marketing, and donor-focused development experience. During her career, she has secured over $250 million in philanthropic fundraising and billions for private equity endeavors. She is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) building relationships to champion good causes, innovate solutions that improve the human condition, and mentor young professionals committed to leadership and change.  Before joining Children's Bureau as Chief Development Officer (CDO), Copeland served as the CDO for Planned Parenthood Pasadena – San Gabriel Valley and the Cerritos College Foundation, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Stone Ally, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MLC & Company where she led fundraising initiatives for KidSave International, the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, and Agape International, among others. In her early career, she had leadership roles at Transamerica, Dare America, and Harris Trust & Savings Bank. Copeland has a long history of philanthropy and volunteerism and is active on several boards, including the Foothills of Los Angeles Alumni Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association of Writers and Writers Programs (AWP), the CMO Club, and serves as General Counsel at Netzel Grisby and Associates. Copeland holds a Master of Fine Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a bachelor's degree from the College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

With over 30 years of progressive Human Resources experience in varying disciplines, Kymberly Garrett has a background using a holistic Human Resources Management style.  Kymberly supports all levels of professional development and has created cutting edge programs in Talent Acquisition, Talent & Performance Management and Executive Coaching.  Whether creating customized leadership training programs or facilitating change management initiatives – Kymberly utilizes her experiences in both Fortune 500 companies and start-ups, as well as, private and nonprofit organizations to help guide teams into becoming sustainable high-impact and high performing teams. Kymberly is certified through various Human Resources and Training organizations and also teaches Human Resources Practice.  Additionally, she serves on various Advisory Boards and is listed as a Subject Matter Expert with many labor-related governmental agencies. Kymberly, a Chicago native, has called Southern California home for the last 18 years.  She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Gayle M. Whittemore is no stranger to Children’s Bureau and has been involved with our organization since 1990 as our audit partner conducting our year end audit or consulting around managing the Mental Health contract. A CPA by trade with a Master’s in Business Taxation, Ms. Whittemore has 25 years of experience as a certified public accountant and 10 years of consulting experience in the nonprofit sector specializing in government laws, regulation and compliance. As Children’s Bureau’s Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Whittemore is responsible for the oversight of the agency’s Finance, Facilities, Information Technology, Mental Health Revenue Management and the FAF Software social enterprise departments. A strong and respected voice in the community, Ms. Whittemore is a long-time planning committee member and twice past chair of the California Society of CPA’s Nonprofit Conference as well as the past President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the California Society of CPA’s (CalCPA), state Board member of CalCPA, and long time member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.