Sherry Lansing, Founding Chair of the EnCorps Board of Directors and CEO - The Sherry Lansing Foundation
During almost 30 years in the motion picture business, Sherry Lansing was involved in the production, marketing and distribution of more than 200 films, including Academy Award® winners Forrest Gump (1994), Braveheart (1995), and the highest grossing movie of all time, Titanic (1997). In 1992, Lansing was named Chairman of Paramount Pictures and began an unprecedented tenure that lasted more than 12 years (1992 - 2005) during which the studio enjoyed enormous creative and financial success.
"I left Paramount at the ripe young age of sixty," notes Lansing. "A generation ago, that would have been retirement age. But my generation has more energy, more drive, and a greater life expectancy than any group of retirees before us. We are going to be here for two decades or more past 'retirement' age and we want to do something relevant in the so-called third act of our lives."
Though she is best known for her long and successful career as a studio executive, Lansing also spent four years after college teaching high school English and math at public schools throughout the Los Angeles area. This experience, coupled with Lansing's long-held belief in the power of education to create lasting social change, has helped secure the place of education on the Foundation's slate of projects.
Lansing sits on the boards of The Carter Center, Teach for America, and The American Association for Cancer Research. Additionally, she is a Regent of the University of California and serves as chair of the University Health Services Committee. Lansing also serves on Governor Schwarzenegger's Committee on Education Excellence as well as the California State Superintendent of Education's P-16 Advisory Council .
Lansing graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Northwestern University in 1966.
CEO – Steve Villano
Steve Villano is EnCorps’ Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Villano has served as President and CEO of nationwide nonprofits including Cable Positive where he raised $20M in 9 years for HIV/AIDS education; developed, produced and distributed Public Service Announcements & long and short-form documentaries for national distribution into 80+ million cable television households; initiated the first-ever collaboration with PBS to air the documentary “Age of AIDS” across all PBS & Cable stations; and developed and implemented several strategic plans. In addition to his socially entrepreneurial background, Mr. Villano has deep roots in American public K-12 and higher education. He has worked as a public education advocate in several key roles during the Administration of New York State Governor Mario M. Cuomo, for the National Education Association, and as an adjunct faculty member at Cornell University’s ILR School for over 22 years. He has also served at the Associate Dean and Vice President level at two major public academic medical centers in New York State. Mr. Villano’s partner in life for 37 years, Carol, served as a K-12 teacher for nearly 25 years, specializing in Reading, but also certified in Math K-12 in New York State.
Ted Mitchell, CEO - NewSchools Venture Fund
Ted Mitchell assumed the role of CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund in the fall of 2005 after having served on the NewSchools Board of Directors for seven years.
Prior to joining NewSchools, Mitchell served as the 12th president of Occidental College in Los Angeles. Mitchell’s tenure at Occidental was marked by a dramatic improvement in both the College’s national reputation and its engagement in the community, as well as by unprecedented financial growth. A former deputy to the president at Stanford and vice chancellor at UCLA, Mitchell is a national leader in the effort to provide high-quality education for all students and has long been active in California and Los Angeles educational reform initiatives. He currently chairs the Governor’s Committee on Educational Excellence , charged with making recommendations to improve California’s system of K-12 finance and governance, and is President of the California State Board of Education . He also serves on the boards of a variety of nonprofit education organizations.
Ted graduated from Stanford with bachelor’s degrees in economics and history, and also earned a master's degree in history and a doctorate in education there.
Barry Munitz, Chair - California P-16 Council, Trustee Professor - CSU Los Angeles
Barry Munitz (California) served as president and chief executive officer of the J. Paul Getty Trust from 1998 to 2006 and as chancellor of the California State University system from 1991 to 1999. He was head of the University of Houston, Central Campus, from 1977 until he left in 1982 to become a senior executive at a large corporation in Houston. Munitz has been a national leader in promoting educational excellence at all levels, including on the Princeton Board of Trustees. He chairs the California P-16 Council and was chair of the American Council on Education , as well as the California Education Roundtable . He is a director of Sallie Mae and was a member of the Commission on National Investment in Higher Education and the White House Council's America Reads Challenge.
