As Co-Founder and President of First Star, and CEO of PhilmCo Media llc, Mr. Samuelson is a serial pro-social entrepreneur. In 1982 he co-founded the Starlight Children’s Foundation; by 1990 the positive psychological impact of Starlight seeded his next pro-social endeavor, Starbright World, co-founded with Steven Spielberg. 1999 saw the formation of First Star, 2005 EDAR Everyone Deserves a Roof, and 2013 saw him launch ASPIRE, the Academy for Social Purpose in Responsible Entertainment. In the midst of all this Peter has produced 26 films and raised four children. Educated at Cambridge and the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, Peter resides in Los Angeles with his wife Saryl, and continues to fight every day for those less fortunate, chief among them America’s abused and neglected children.

Isael Andrade is a dedicated cultural researcher and community advocate whose work bridges fashion, identity, and equity. With a master’s degree in Fashion Studies from Parsons, Isael’s research explores the history and preservation of cultural dress practices within Latino and LGBTQ+ communities, highlighting clothing as a powerful tool for storytelling and empowerment. Isael also brings strong experience in data and audience research through their work in advertising and audience research, delivering insights and trend analyses that inform campaign strategy and elevate diverse voices in digital media. Beyond academia and media, Isael has led community outreach initiatives focused on health advocacy and resource access for underserved communities, with a deep commitment to cultural preservation and equity. As a board member and alumnus of the First Star Academy, Isael offers a lens rooted in cultural analysis, data-driven research, and community empowerment, championing initiatives that honor identity and build bridges across communities.

Alexander Ballantyne is a Bruin Guardian Scholars Academy alumnus and communications major at UC Santa Barbara, where he focuses on social impact and youth advocacy. A former foster youth, Alexander brings lived experience to his role on First Star’s Board of Directors. He is featured in the PBS documentary Possible Selves and has been an active advocate in both the media and public policy spaces. Alexander remains committed to ensuring that foster youth are not only represented but also given real pathways to thrive.

Michael H. Cook, Esq., is a partner and co-chair of the Health Care Group at the law firm of Liles Parker PLLC in Washington, DC. Michael practices law in the area of health care, and during his more than 40 years of practice has headed the DC office health care practices of several major national and international law firms. A Fellow of the American Health Lawyers Association, Michael has also served as an advisor on health care policy to the campaigns of candidates for national and state political office and has lectured and published extensively in the area. He currently serves of the Boards of the Center for Public Service and Scholarship at Shenandoah University, the Political Science Department of Temple University, and the Osteoporosis Foundation, and was appointed by the current Governor of Virginia to serve on the Board of the Department of Medical Assistance Services – the Department that administers Virginia’s Medicaid program.

Delida Costin is committed to equipping individuals and teams to get to where they want to be, and that includes children in the foster system. That also includes the chief legal officers with whom she consults who need to build departments that are indispensable assets within the C-suite and boardroom. She’s led legal and people teams at Pandora Media, CNET Networks, and Grove Collaborative. Her philosophy emphasizes valuing heartbeats as fiercely as dollars, paying attention to what others value, and recognizing accountability to a larger ecosystem.

Brian Gray, CPA , is a partner at Gursey | Schneider LLP, Brian specializes in income tax planning, annual tax return filings and audit defense for businesses and their owners. Brian has extensive experience working with high net worth individuals and their estate planning attorneys to design and implement tax efficient estate plans. Brian is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics with a minor in Accounting from University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to joining Gursey | Schneider LLP, Brian held positions as a tax director at a national accounting firm and as director of finance and tax for a family office.

Judy Hackett, has over 25 years of experience in both B2C & B2B strategic planning, marketing, advertising, brand development, sales and product management. Previously, she was the Chief Marketing Officer for Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., Web.com, and CareerBuilder. She is a founding partner and CMO in the LA-based investment firm, Bryant-Stibel. Judy began her career in broadcast television and served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for TBS Superstation. She has received numerous industry awards in her career including an EMMY, ADDY, PRSA Phoenix and Promax Gold Medallion. She graduated from Kent State University with a degree in Journalism and in 1996, received the university’s Young Alumni Award. Judy serves as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of The CMO Club, a global community of CMOs committed to solving marketer’s biggest challenges. Judy and her husband Bruce, reside in Pacific Palisades, California.

Philip Hong, PhD, is the Dean of the University of Georgia School of Social Work. Previously Hong was the founding director of CROSS, a community-engaged research center at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work that leads local, national, and global initiatives and public-private partnerships on strengthening self-sufficiency policies, programs and systems. Throughout his career, Dr. Hong examines long-range, bottom-up solutions to promote individual and system empowerment and inclusion through community engagement, innovation and social impact research in collaboration with diverse urban and rural communities. In recognition of his international and national impact, Hong was awarded the Lucian and Carol Welch Matusak Professorship at Loyola University Chicago from 2016 to 2020. Hong earned his Master of Social Work degree and Ph.D. in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He earned his bachelor’s degree in social welfare from Yonsei University in South Korea.

Adrien Sebro, PhD, is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in critical media studies at the intersections of comedy, gender, and Black popular culture. He is currently completing his first book manuscript with Rutgers University Press, “Scratchin’ and Survivin’: Hustle Economics and the Black Sitcoms of Tandem Productions”, which explores a production history of Black economics in the all-Black cast sitcoms. Sebro served as a mentor and Program Coordinator for the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholars Academy for foster youth in Greater Los Angeles from 2011-2018. He graduated with his BA in Women’s Studies from UCLA, his MA in African American Studies from Columbia University IRAAS, and received his Ph.D in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA.

Stephanie Sperber is the President and CCO of Lion Forge Entertainment. Most recently she served as the President of Imagine Kids + Family, she is a respected and seasoned Entertainment executive who has focused on creating content and building franchises for kids and families in the film and television space. In a career that has spanned 30+ years, she has launched some of the most successful and iconic consumer product businesses around the world, developed and produced children’s television series and films, developed deep relationships within the kids and family creative community, and generated significant global revenue. Sperber’s earlier career was spent at Universal Studios where she was President, Global Consumer Products and Digital Gaming. Sperber started her career in Washington D.C. as a junior staffer for then-Senator Joe Biden where she worked on speech writing and communications assignments. She is a graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara with a major in Political Science.

Vince Thompson lives in Los Angeles and helps First Star with communications, partnerships and donor engagement. He’s lead sales organizations for AOL and Facebook, is a best-selling management author and has served as a startup company CEO and a public company board member. In addition to his work for First Star he invests and consults with his firm Middleshift. Thompson holds a degree in communications from USC and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Lyndsey C. Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer of First Star, Inc. Lyndsey began her career with Teach For America as a science educator in Atlanta, GA, where she led several initiatives that significantly increased student achievement. These efforts resulted in Lyndsey earning the prestigious Atlanta Families Award for Excellence in Education. Lyndsey’s professional and community affiliations include Spelman College, Teach For America, Foster Youth Education Fund, Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Leadership for Educational Equity, Los Angeles County’s Education Coordinating Committee, and the Foster Youth SCP Executive Advisory Council. Lyndsey has an MA in Education Leadership. She lives in southern California with her husband, Keith, and their mini-husky, Daz.

Robin Winston León has been involved in the local nonprofit community for over fifteen years. Prior to First Star, Robin worked with DoSomething.org as the Los Angeles Director where she oversaw expansion of the New York based teen social-action organization, and before that spent seven years as a senior associate at Levy Pazanti, an LA based event coordination firm that specialized in events in the non-profit sector. There, Robin spearheaded dozens of successful events for organizations such as the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, MOCA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, HRC, Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, Women in Film, Heal the Bay and First Star. A graduate of UCLA, Robin remains an active volunteer for many of the nonprofit organizations she worked with previously. Prior to working in the nonprofit field, she worked in the entertainment industry.