ABOUT ACQUANETTA WARREN, Mayor, Fontana, CA

Acquanetta Warren was elected as the City of Fontana’s first female and African American Mayor in December 2010 and re-elected in 2018. Since taking office, Mayor Warren has and continues to be a strong advocate for economic development, jobs, affordable housing, public safety, a healthier community and fiscal integrity. Under the Mayor’s stewardship, the City of Fontana was named the fourth Most Prosperous City in the U.S. (with a population over 100,000), as well as the Most Prosperous City in California from RentCafé. This acknowledgment followed the 2017 Fiscal Times’ rating of Fontana as one of the financially strongest cities in the nation.

Mayor Warren represents Fontana on various committees at the regional, state and federal level. She was appointed to serve on the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee (IGPAC) to focus on trade issues. The four-year term, which started in April 2018, will allow her to provide policy advice to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on trade matters between state and local governments in the United States. She also serves on the San Bernardino Countywide Oversight Board and on the Board of Directors, General Policy Committee and Transit Committee of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. She is a member of the Aging/Senior Task Force and a member of the Latino Leadership Alliance chaired by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Mayor Warren’s past service includes various council subcommittees and boards and commissions, such as Water/Recycled Water Projects and Development Processing for New Communities, the State Park Commission, Casa Colina Rehabilitation Hospital Board of Directors and the Upland YMCA Board of Directors.

Mayor Warren earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/Urban Studies from Occidental College and an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Theology from Next Dimension Bible College. Warren is a member of Water of Life Community Church and has three children and two grandchildren.

ABOUT DEVORAH LIEBERMAN, President, University of La Verne

Dr. Devorah Lieberman, the University of La Verne’s 18th and first female president, brings more than 30 years of higher education experience, scholarship, and leadership to the institution. Since taking office in 2011, she has contributed to the well-being of the university’s students, the scholarly activity of the faculty, and the vitality of the surrounding community while also advocating for engagement, inclusivity, and respect among all.

Lieberman’s expertise includes intercultural communication and diversity issues in higher education. She has published and co-authored dozens of books and articles relating to diversity, institutional transformation, and issues affecting higher education. They include “Successful Models and Practices” in the 2012 edition of Transforming Undergraduate Education: Theory that Compels and Practices that Succeed, and “Engaging a campus in effective intercultural and interracial communication initiatives” in Coming in from the Margins: Faculty Development’s Emerging Organizational Development Role in Institutional Change (2011). She is a contributor to The Huffington Post and writes articles for higher education publications addressing diversity and access to education. Lieberman has also presented and given keynote speeches at national and global conferences.

From 2004 to 2011, Lieberman served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Wagner College in New York. There, she led the strategic development of Civic Innovations, a multi-year effort that served to connect students with community engagement activities.

Lieberman earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Humboldt State University (’75), a master’s degree in Intercultural Communication from San Diego State University (’77), and a PhD in Intercultural Communication and Gerontology from the University of Florida (’84). She and her husband Roger Auerbach have two daughters, Alicea and Emery.