AIGA Los Angeles board members serve a two-year term that runs from June–May. In April of each year, chapter membership is asked to nominate other members which they will be an asset to the Board and our chapter at large.
Executive Team
Paul Woods
President
Founder & Partner at Alice
pwoods [@] aigala.org
Hannah Richard
Vice President of Operations
Strategic Development
Manager at HGA
hrichard [@] aigala.org
Courtnie Cotillo
Vice President of Finances
Director Of Marketing
Program Management at Chime
ccotillo [@] aigala.org
Development Team
Alexis Caban
Development Director
Senior Art Director at OUTFRONT Media
acaban [@] aigala.org
Alexis Elisa Cabán is a proud New Yorker living in LA. She is currently a Senior Art Director at OUTFRONT Media, a leading media company that specializes in out-of-home (OOH) advertising. Alexis has more than 15 years of experience in design and proudly brings her culture and perspective to her work at both large and small companies. Alexis currently leads the development of standout, award-winning campaigns for local and national clients in different industries. She’s also a co-founder of UnidosFRONT, a Hispanic employee resource group that aims to elevate the voices of OUTFRONT’s Hispanic employees and allies.
Alexis holds a BFA in Graphic Design and Advertising from the School of Visual Arts and a UX Design Immersive Bootcamp certificate from General Assembly. She is passionate about typography, illustration, branding systems, research, and UX design. She also runs her own freelance design business, where she creates one-of-a-kind branding systems, websites, marketing materials and more, for a variety of clients. She is fluent in Spanish and has won multiple awards for her creative work, including an Addy for the Greater San Francisco Ad Club, OBIE and Think LA.
Prior to working at OUTFRONT, she spent over 6 years as an Art Director for the Branded Entertainment team at Macy’s where she art directed award winning creative campaigns for Macy’s national, annual & special events.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Team
Michelle Leclerc
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Director
Creative Director at Leclerc
mleclerc [@] aigala.org
Michelle Leclerc is a Chilean-American graphic designer, illustrator, data visualist, and educator whose work focuses on social justice and representation. Michelle’s design company Leclerc advocates that agencies create work that is reflective of the communities they serve. This means designing for an audience that is diverse in identity, gender, race, ethnicity, and ability. She also serves as Creative Director at Sawyer Agency, a full-service studio that designs visuals that are aesthetically pleasing, effective and impactful.
Social equity, inclusion, and activism are major aspects of Michelle’s work. She has developed design and data visualization for activist organizations like Yale’s Justice Collaboratory, Be a Hero, and Freedom Reads. In 2016, Michelle led the data visualization and design of Campaign Zero’s Police Union Contracts report. The organization’s data-based approach to activism is the subject of a new documentary, Making of an Activist on Hulu and Disney +. In 2017, she created the data visualization for Elizabeth Warren’s book, This Fight is Our Fight. In 2019, on behalf of Campaign Zero, she led the data visualization for the first police scorecard in the US, which sought to identify urgent issues surrounding police accountability and propose best-practice solutions. In 2022, her work was recognized by Latinas in Tech in partnership with Korbel California Champagne, who named her one of 30 Luminarias in the STEM fields.
Now, Michelle passes on her passion for statistical narratives to future generations through her instruction in infographic design at Tyler School of Art in Temple University and her substack, Statistic it to ’em!
Marketing Team
Rachel Fujita-Esteffe
Interim Marketing Director
Freelance Senior Art Director
resteffe [@] aigala.org
Rachel Fujita-Esteffe is an art director and designer focused on creating unforgettable experiences in experiential marketing and advertising. With 10 years of teaching at schools like the University of Idaho, University of Cincinnati-DAAP, University of Oklahoma, and ArtCenter, Rachel brings a collaborative, hands-on approach to her creative work.
Currently, as Event Programming Chair and Conference Marketing Manager for AIGA LA, she’s dedicated to building spaces where designers can connect, learn, and feel inspired. Born and raised in Hawaii and refined in New York City, Rachel blends warmth and grit in everything she does, always aiming to make a genuine impact.
Programming Team
Amanda Powell
Programming Director
Freelance / Contract Marketing
Consultant at October Creative
apowell [@] aigala.org
Operations Manager,
AIGA Los Angeles
jmanthey [@] aigala.org
Past Presidents
2023 - 2000
Samantha Cabrera (2020–2023) Patrick Frederickson (2020) Amanda Hovest (2017–2020) Jason Adam (2014–2017) Noreen Morioka (2012–2014) Jimmy Moss (2010–2012) Michael Lejeune (2008–2010) Agustín Garza (2006–2008) Mick Hodgson (2004–2006) Pash Pashkow (2002–2004) Noreen Morioka (2000–2002)
1999 - 1980
Moira Cullen (1997–2000) Mary Scott (1996–1997) Sean Adams (1994–1996) Stan Evenson (1992–1994) Josh Freeman (1990–1992) April Greiman (1988–1990) Margaret Coy (1986–1988) John Coy (1984–1986)
