Oscar Cancio '04
Oscar graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2004. He went on to attend Bates College, where he played football and was captain of the ice hockey team. After graduating from Bates, he went on to serve as one of the Assistant Deans of Admission for his alma mater. Oscar has dedicated over 16 years of his life to the field of enrollment management and admissions. He's worked in higher ed and K-12 admissions, including his two year stint as Associate Director for the Harvard-Westlake Admissions Office. Oscar is currently the Senior Director of Enrollment Management at Holston Academy, an accredited online independent school for grades 6-12. When Oscar is not working or volunteering at HW, you can find him at Dodger Stadium cheering on the Boys in Blue, spending time with his nephews, playing with his foster dogs, or running around Mexico City in search of the best street tacos. Oscar lives in Long Beach, CA and is heavily engaged with his local community.
Ami Kramer Cohen '81
Ami Cohen has been a dedicated member of the Harvard-Westlake community for 47 years. As the recipient of a scholarship to attend Westlake School in 1977 she has always had a deep appreciation, not only for her educational foundation she received, but also for the HW community that has supported her throughout her life. Ami graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley at the top of her class in Economics.
She received her MBA from UCLA Anderson and went on to be a film executive at Miramax, Columbia Pictures and Dreamworks. She has served on the Common Sense Media Board. Ami is married to Joe Cohen and mother of Lili '15, Jack '18, and Edie '24. She is an American Folk Art collector, writer and philanthropist.
Ami is a firm believer that scholarships and education are the key to success. Because of her generous scholarship, she feels compelled to continue to do the same for students at HW and continue the tradition. In 2004, she conceived of a dinner that would honor Financial-aid recipients graduating that year. Twenty-one years and going strong, the Spotlight Dinner remains a wonderful annual tribute to graduating financial aid recipients and the patrons who give the gift of scholarship.
Zaakirah Daniels '10
Zaakirah Daniels, LCSW (she/her) is a 2010 graduate of HW and a proud product of the Los Angeles public education system. While at HW, Zaakirah was a 4 year member of the Dance Production and Advanced Dance programs, as well as the Girls’ Varsity Track and Field team (for which she was inducted into the HW Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017). She continued to dance and sprint at Cornell University, where she was a member of the school-record holding shuttle hurdle relay team in 2014. After graduating from Cornell, Zaakirah returned to Los Angeles to put her Human Development major and Education minor into play: she was a classroom teacher and community-level social worker for 7 years (6 at HW as Director of HW Works) before transitioning to clinical social work in 2021. As a licensed clinical social worker, Zaakirah believes that when we each build a life worth living, we’re doing our part to get closer to the world we want to be living in. Zaakirah is looking forward to bringing her visionary, community-building, and program development skills to the HW Alumni Board.
Casey Federman '91
Casey Federman is a Senior Partner & Co-Founder of Irongate, an entrepreneurial full-service real estate firm with operations in California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Mexico. Irongate specializes in the development of luxury-branded residential and resort communities located in one-of-a-kind places.
Prior to Irongate, Casey was an investment banker and corporate attorney.
Outside of work, Casey is on the Executive Board of Directors of Tower Cancer Research Foundation, as well as a Founder, former President, and Executive Board member of Cancer Free Generation. Casey is also very active at Harvard-Westlake School, where he is a member of the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Board, and was previously President of the Alumni Association, Chair of Annual Giving, and Chair of the Real Estate Network. He also previously served as a member of the Curtis School Board of Trustees, where he focused on the Finance and Buildings & Grounds Committees.
Casey attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a BA in Economics and History and received his JD/MBA from the University of Southern California.
Outside of work and charitable commitments, Casey enjoys spending time with his wife, four kids, and two Goldadors.
Patti Bank Finkelstein '81
Born in Baltimore and raised in Los Angeles, Patti graduated from The Westlake School for Girls in 1981 and earned her B.A. from UCLA in Political Science and Government. She maintained strong ties to Westlake, serving for more than twenty years as a member of the Westlake Alumnae Board, which overlapped with her now twenty-seven years as a continuing member of the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Board. Patti also finds great joy as a Class Agent for her Westlake class and in helping to community build and raise support for the school from Harvard-Westlake alumni.
Patti and her husband, Jeff, have been married for 32 years and are proud parents of Harvard-Westlake alumni, Brandon ’12 and Haley ’15. Patti was an involved parent volunteer at Carlthorp School and Harvard-Westlake while her kids were students. After many years of raising money for Harvard-Westlake annual giving as an alumna and parent volunteer, Patti worked in development at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, initially in annual giving and later as the director of major gifts until retiring in June 2021. She proudly attributes her successful career at Crossroads to everything she learned over her many years as a volunteer fundraiser for Harvard-Westlake’s annual giving.
Patti enjoys spending time with her family and friends (many of whom were with her at Westlake). She loves to cook (and frequently posts stories of her cooking on Instagram), entertain, travel, read literary fiction, work out, play pickleball, mahjong and canasta, and to take long walks with her family’s English cream golden retriever, Nilla Bean.
Andrea Levine Firtel '95
Andrea (Levine) Firtel attended Harvard-Westlake School (Class of 1995). She earned a Bachelor in Science as a Business Scholar from the Marshall School of Business, with an emphasis in Marketing, at the University of Southern California. After graduating USC, she began her career at CBS’s Eyemark Entertainment, in the marketing department for television syndication. Following a merger with King World, she moved to NBC Universal to help establish the same department as a Director of Marketing. Upon the birth of her first child, Bradley, Andrea stopped working in the entertainment world in order to dedicate her time and efforts towards her children and the community at large.
Andrea has always taken leadership roles at the schools her children attended. She has been an active member of the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Board for the past 16 years. In her time on the board, Andrea founded the affinity group, HW Alumni with Kids, in an effort to bring alumni closer together. For her affinity group, Andrea hosted and coordinated multiple events a year. These events are broken up into two categories. Social Events that bring alums and their children together to help build the HW alumni community, and Lecture Evenings that feature informative panels for parents discussing a variety of social and developmental issues pertaining directly to children and the greater community. In the spring of 2017, she served on the planning committee for the school to execute the 25 Year Anniversary Celebration.
In her free time she loves being with her family: her Son Bradley, who is attending The University of Oregon and her daughter Alli, who is a Sophomore at HW (’27) and her two Labradoodles Mochi and Mackey! She loves to plan events, bake and is an avid tennis player. Andrea also volunteers in the Emergency Room at Cedars Sinai Hospital once a week.
Liza Kaplan Glucoft '02
Liza Glucoft (’02) started her career in television at FX Networks, before launching digital video at Who What Wear, Conde Nast Entertainment, and Scott Free TV, where she developed Choose or Die for Netflix. Most recently, she was at Startling Productions (Game of Thrones) and is currently working with Kismet Pets and The Outset handling all their video and production needs. However, her favorite job is being mom to Benjamin, age 4, and his sister coming soon. Her family’s love for Harvard Westlake runs deep as she’s happily married to fellow alum, Evan Glucoft (’00).
Chris Hopkins '92
Chris Hopkins has over 20 years of experience in M&A transactions, managing operations, and financial reporting, including identifying acquisition targets, conducting legal, financial, and accounting due diligence, structuring ownership, capitalization, and financing of deals, serving on the boards of advisors and directors of numerous companies, and as portfolio company manager.
Chris was most recently a Managing Director at Regent, LP. Regent is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring businesses and realizing exponential growth through operational improvements and strategic capital deployment. Prior to joining Regent, Chris was the Chief Operating Officer of Brener International Group, LLC and concurrently served as the Executive Vice President of Forever Orange, LLC, the parent company of the Houston Dynamo (MLS), Houston Dash (NWSL) and BBVA Compass Stadium, and served on the board of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Prior to joining Brener International, Chris was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Playboy Enterprises. Prior to joining Playboy, he was a partner at Rizvi Traverse, a media focused private equity firm. Prior to joining Rizvi Traverse, Chris worked at Platinum Equity where he worked first as an M&A attorney, and later as a Director of Mergers & Acquisitions and was involved in the acquisition and disposition of numerous companies. Chris began his career at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as a corporate attorney, focusing on mergers and acquisitions.
Chris is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and received a JD and a MBA from the University of Southern California. Chris is a native of Los Angeles, California.
Chris serves as a Commissioner on the Board of Zoo Commissioners of The City of Los Angeles, appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Chris served as the Co-Chair of President’s Circle Avant-Garde at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 2010 – 2014.
Angel James Horacek '95
Angel James Horacek (HW ’95, P ’27, P ’29) is the principal attorney at Law Offices of Angel J. Horacek, PC in Culver City. She practices employment and civil rights law on behalf of employees, focusing primarily on anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation work. She represents employees in courts, arbitrations, and administrative hearings. She also counsels employees in select pre-litigation matters. Prior to starting her own firm, Angel was an associate commercial litigator at an AmLaw 100 firm focusing on business and corporate clients and was an associate attorney at a boutique employee-side litigation firm. In addition to her role as President of the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Association, Angel sits on the Board of Directors for EmpowHer Institute, which empowers girls and young women in marginalized communities by giving them the skills necessary through education, training, and mentorship to become confident, college, and career-ready.
Angel holds a B.A. in History and a J.D., both from UCLA. In her free time, she enjoys her family: her husband Erik (HW ’95), her daughter Kara, and her son Samuel.
Andrew Jameson '86
ANDREW JAMESON is Managing Partner at Path Content Group (PCG), a multifaceted media company profiled in publications including The New York Times and Los Angeles Business Journal. In 2020, PCG entered into a first look development deal with ITV Studios, and partnered with actor/writer/producer Tisha Campbell (MARTIN, UNCOUPLED) to form The Turnpike Alliance, a company devoted to championing diverse voices.
Mr. Jameson has produced over 100 episodes of primetime television, including the hit Starz drama series POWER, the MTV global phenomenon SAY IT IN SONG, the critically acclaimed Sundance series DREAM SCHOOL, and the TBS comedy series THE GOOD LIFE. Moreover, he recently directed the documentary anthology FACES OF THE CITY, which focuses on social justice in San Francisco.
A guest lecturer at the University of Southern California, Georgetown University and Columbia University, Mr. Jameson has been a featured speaker at the Produced By conference, RealScreen West, MediaCon Dublin and the Television Critics Association. He has been profiled in publications including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Billboard and The Los Angeles Times.
Before co-founding PCG, Mr. Jameson was President at Primary Wave Entertainment, Partner at CeeLo Green’s Emerald Productions, Partner at Pierce Brosnan’s Irish Dreamtime Productions, and President of Maloof Entertainment Group. He was also a business affairs executive at Screen Actors Guild, Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox.
Mr. Jameson is a member of the Producers Guild of America as well as the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He has served on Mayor Eric Garcetti’s trade delegations to China, Vietnam and New Zealand, and holds a BSFS from Georgetown University and a JD from Loyola Law School.
Austin Katz '95
Austin is the owner and President of CR Creative Services. The company provides logisitics, storage and transportation to the high end interior design and art consultant industries. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations as well as strategic planning and acquisitions.
Austin was previously the Chief Development Officer for Troika Design Group. In this newly created role, he was responsible for the firm’s overall growth and diversification. Austin focused on deepening Troika’s relationships with its entertainment partners as well as broadening the firm’s reach into technology and consumer brands. He also led corporate development and strategic planning.
Austin also served as the Chief Operating Officer of THE Company where he was responsible for the strategic planning, business development and operations. During his tenure there, he successfully implemented a growth and operations strategy that results in a 6X increase in revenue and an even greater profitability.
Previously, Austin co-founded and served as Managing Partner of Emulsion Group, a strategic consulting firm specializing in marketing, sales and operations assisting clients in consumer products, media, retail, technology and healthcare. He spent over 8 years at Brand Sense Partners where he was the Vice President of Business Development as well as a member of the senior executive team. There he was responsible for strategic planning, brand strategy and strategic partnerships and alliances on behalf of the firm’s Fortune 500 clients.
Earlier in his career, Austin was with Warner Bros.’ in the Corporate Business Development and Strategy group, Infospace Mobile (a mobile content delivery platform) in Business Development, Sony Corporation’s digital media investment group as Manger of Business Development, and as an Associate at Rare Ventures, the consumer-driven technology investment arm of Rare Medium.
Austin received an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He is involved with various organizations including the Alumni Board of Harvard Westlake School, Curtis School Annual Fund Co-Chair and the Board of Directors of the West LA Little League.
Jay Levine '98
Jay Levine is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Hartbeat, the global media company founded by Kevin Hart operating at the intersection of comedy and culture. In this capacity, Levine oversees all aspects of the multi-platform entertainment company’s activities including development, production, marketing, distribution, and other exploitation of its intellectual property and experiences.
Prior to joining Hartbeat in February of 2024, Levine led strategy and operations for the WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, which included WB Pictures Group, HBO and HBO Max Programming, WB Television Group, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, WB Animation, TBS, TNT, DC, Consumer Products, Global Brands & Experiences, and other traditional and digital content businesses.
During his 13 year-tenure at Warner Bros. and then WarnerMedia, Levine took on a series of roles of increased scope, responsibility, and seniority across many different functions. He worked closely with all main creative divisions across development, production, finance, business affairs, marketing, and distribution; he oversaw the Corporate Business Development and Strategy Group that led all M&A, strategic investments and divestitures; he was responsible for overseeing new WB digital partnerships with key talent (including LeBron James and Ellen DeGeneres); he built new formats of storytelling and next-generation content businesses leveraging WB brands and IP; he managed WB’s 50% ownership interest in The CW Network and all day-to-day governance of the joint venture; he led the Worldwide Studio Operations Group that operated all production and post-production facilities in Burbank and Leavesden and the Company’s owned and operated tours and retail experiences worldwide; and, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations and partnerships for Warner Bros.’ first dedicated digital division charged with aggressively building direct-to-consumer capabilities and producing digitally native content.
Before joining Warner Bros. in 2009, Levine worked at The Walt Disney Company in its Corporate Strategy and Business Development Group and at ESPN. Levine began his career at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in its Media & Entertainment Group of the Investment Banking Division in its NY headquarters.
Levine earned both his Bachelor of Science in economics, graduating magna cum laude, and an MBA with honors in accounting and finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake School. Levine is a member of the Television Academy and currently serves on the Cedars Sinai Medical Center’s Board of Governors and the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Saban Community Clinic, where he is on the Investment Committee. Levine lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lindsey, and their children Jack (11) and Lily (9). Levine is a sports enthusiast, an avid golfer and now a dedicated pickleball player.
Michelle Ghodsian Neman '99
Michelle Ghodsian Neman currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Ramin and 3 children Sasha ‘27, Kaitlyn ‘29, and Pierce. After graduating from Harvard-Westlake in ‘99, Michelle attended the USC Marshall School of Business, earning a degree in Business Administration in ‘02. Shortly after, she joined EMSER Tile, her family business, where she specialized in product design and development. Her passion for design led her to earn an Interior Design Degree from FIDM. Michelle is proud to be a part of the Harvard-Westlake community. She volunteers in fundraising for our alumni community. She is also an active member at WISE School, serving on the PA Board as well as several other committees.
David Nickoll '89
David Nickoll is a Showrunner, Writer, Producer, Director and Speechwriter. Most recently, he served as the Showrunner/Head Writer for Peacock’s 8-episode series “Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart & Kenan Thompson.”
He was the Showrunner of “The Nosebleeds with the Sklar Brothers” on UFC Fight Pass, the Showrunner/Executive Producer for the 2022 and 2023 specials “Back That Year Up with Kevin Hart & Kenan Thompson,” “Kevin Hart’s Winter Olympics Tailgate Party,” and “2021 and Done with Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg.” He was also the Co-Executive Producer for the Netflix series “Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.”
David spent four years as Executive Producer, NFL Now and Alternative Programming for the NFL Network. Past credits include Head Writer for Comedy Central’s “@Midnight with Chris Hardwick” and Head Writer for the nationally syndicated “The Queen Latifah Show” (Sony/CBS).
David was the Head Writer for CBS’ “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” David was a Writer and Segment Producer/Director for “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.”
He has developed shows for NBC, Comedy Central, Bravo, PBS, VH-1 and CBS.
David began his career at “Saturday Night Live” where he worked on the show’s commercial parodies and remotes.
David is a member of AFTRA/SAG, DGA, and WGA. He is the Board Chair of the Los Angeles Leadership Academy, an LAUSD Charter school. He is also the Board President of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation and serves on the Board of the Israel Tennis & Education Centers. A graduate of Williams College, David lives in Los Angeles with his wife (a Westlake School for Girls graduate) and has three children, two Harvard Westlake graduates and one who is a current senior.
Kevin Parker '95
Kevin Parker is a Los Angeles based talent manager and producer with Artists First. With over 25 years of experience in both film and television, Parker was recently named one of The Top HBCU Grads Working In Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter.
In his time at Artists First, Parker’s clients have created and/or starred in over 50 televisions shows and movies including BEATS (Netflix), MORTAL KOMBAT (New Line Cinema), BAD BOYS FOR LIFE and BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE (Sony), WOKE (Hulu), GRAND CREW (NBC/Peacock), TOM SWIFT (The CW), and BEL-AIR (Peacock), THE DAILY SHOW (Comedy Central), QUEENS COURT (Peacock), and LAW & ORDER (NBC).
Currently, Parker serves on the boards of The Los Angeles Parks Foundation, Salvation Army Los Angeles Metro Advisory Board, and on the advisory committee for Yes2Jobs. He has served or advised the boards for JVS SoCal, Communities in Schools, The Council for Urban Professionals, and the NBC Stand-Up for Diversity Program. Parker graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 1995 and earned his B.A. from Morehouse College in 1999.
Danny Seo '96
Daniel, "Danny", Seo (HW ’96) is a partner at Caerus Advisor, a family office to an early Google employee. Danny is primarily focused on special situation investments, such as private equity and real estate, to help barbell the family away from their concentrated technology exposure.
Prior to Caerus Advisor, Danny has tasted all areas of the financial industry - investment banking, real estate debt and private equity, hedge funds and family offices.
Danny is a past President of the Harvard-Westlake Alumni Association and former Board Director of the Los Angeles Police Foundation. Danny holds a B.S. in Finance from Boston College and an M.B.A from UCLA. His outside interests include travel, surfing and golf. He with his wife Deborah, are expecting their second child in January 2025.
TJ Taylor '07
TJ Taylor grew up in South Los Angeles, and attended Harvard-Westlake from 2001-2007. During his time at Harvard-Westlake he was a member of the Men's Basketball Program, as well as a member of BLACC. Post graduation, he attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. While at Lehigh, TJ received a degree in Accounting & Finance. Returning to Los Angeles immediately upon graduating, he had a stint of less than a year in finance before he transitioned into tech, specifically software focused start-ups. He is currently working in the Venture Capital industry.TJ is passionate about making sure other kids that have backgrounds similar to his are able to get access to the same education and network that Harvard-Westlake provided to him.
Mark Tronstein '96
Mark Tronstein is a Senior Managing Director of Andell Holdings, Inc., a Los Angeles-based private investment firm and family office with global business and investment interests, where he sits on the investment committee, leads the real estate team, and is responsible for all real estate investments and transactions.
Tronstein graduated with a B.A. from the University of Southern California and with an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tronstein currently serves on the board of several civic and non-profit organizations and is a Past President of the Harvard-Westlake School Alumni Board.
Sunny Ahn Whang '92
Sunny Ahn Whang graduated from HW in 1992 with the first co-ed class. As part Wallaby part Wolverine, she is grateful to have experienced the traditions and values that embodied Westlake School, those that carried through to HW, and the new ones that formed which are celebrated still to this day. The Colorado River retreat, long weekends in the visual arts studio, and inspiring art history lectures in Rugby made indelible impressions on me long after she graduated.
After double majoring in Art History and French at UC Berkeley, Sunny pursued careers in business management consulting, tech, and real estate. She is currently a real estate broker in the Los Angeles area. Married to HW classmate Michael Whang, Mike and Sunny share three daughters- Elise HW '24, Charlotte HW '25, and Noelle '30.
I remain deeply connected to the HW community and enjoy having an active role in volunteerism at schools. While serving as trustee at The Center for Early Education, Sunny was also the founding president of the HW Korean-American Alumni Network, is a board member of the HW Real Estate Network, and serves on the HW Alumni Board.
Ernie Wolfe III '68
Ernie Wolfe III (Harvard School, '68) is a gallerist, outdoorsman, field researcher, author, and curator specializing in contemporary and traditional African art. Following his graduation from Williams College, Ernie worked as a scuba instructor in Kenya. There, he took an interest in local Kenyan household art and artifacts, documenting their craftmanship and securing an exhibition of the Arts of Kenya at the Smithsonian Museum at the age of 29. Shortly thereafter, Wolfe opened the Ernie Wolfe Gallery in Los Angeles, which has been open for over 40 years as the longest-standing African Art gallery in Los Angeles.
In his 50+ trips to Africa field-collecting art and speaking with artists, Ernie has pioneered global interest in several homegrown African art traditions such as hand-painted movie posters from Ghana, Ghanaian fantasy coffin sculptures, or Fantastic Afterlife Vehicles (FAVs), Vigango sculptures from the Mijikenda of Kenya, as well as the works of several previously unknown artists including Joseph Bertiers, Almighty God, Paa Joe, Theophilus Nii Anum Sowah, D.A. Jasper, Death is Wonder, Joe Mensah, and more.
An LA art icon known for his signature style of wearing camo and shorts in all seasons, as well as his lavish dinners and openings featuring fresh, hand-caught lobster and wild-game dishes with moose, buffalo, elk, wild boar, and more that Wolfe has hunted himself, he continues to reside above his gallery on Sawtelle.
Ernie has served on the alumni board since before the Harvard and Westlake school merger, and his sons, Ernest Wolfe IV ('10) and Russell Wolfe ('12) are also proud Harvard-Westlake graduates.
Courtney Quinn Wyman '01
Courtney (Quinn) Wyman is a 2001 graduate of Harvard-Westlake. After Harvard-Westlake, Courtney attended the University of California, Los Angeles. Courtney enjoyed a career in finance with JPMorgan and Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors before transitioning to part-time consulting.
Courtney continues to be actively involved at Harvard-Westlake, is on the board, and past president, of the Gamma Xi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma and is an active member of Children’s Chain supporting fundraising efforts for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. When not attending Harvard-Westlake events, Courtney can be found making ceramics or cheering her children on at the baseball field.