Los Angeles Small Business Commission

Ronda Jackson, Commission Chair

CEO and Mompreneur, Décor

Ronda Jackson’s response to changing market conditions and her desire to deliver the best service possible has led to Décor’s steady growth and impressive client list. Her portfolio includes Warner Bros, US Bank, The Walt Disney Company, Golden State Water, and several government agencies.

Jackson attributes a large part of her success to attending a variety of business development programs. These programs enhanced her business acumen and established a sustainable success strategy for Decor. She is a graduate of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program; University of Washington Michael G. Foster School of Business Minority Business Executive Program; Turner School of Construction Management; UCLA Anderson’s Management Development for Entrepreneurs, GLAAAC BEP Program, and the Tuck-WBENC’s Executive Women Program.

Jackson is a 4-year nominee and three-time Supplier of the Year award winner. Jackson was named the 2018 WBEC-West Star and Enterprising Woman of the Year. Under her leadership, Décor has been honored by the US Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Small Business Award, SBA’s Minority Small Business Champion, BBALA Outstanding Entrepreneur Award, and National Association of Minority Contractor’s Contractor of the Year. In addition, she also made Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Top Minority Firms and Women Making a Difference” list. She earned a spot on the Inc. 5000’s and Inner City 100’s list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

Ronda Jackson is the Chair for the City of Los Angeles Small Business Commission.

Mott Smith, Commission Vice Chair

CEO and Co-Founder, Amped Kitchens

Mott Smith is CEO and co‐founder of Amped Kitchens, the first large-scale multitenant kitchen developer/operator in the US, and principal of Civic Enterprise, an urban infill real estate development firm. He is a founding board member of the Council of Infill Builders and teaches in the Master of Real Estate Development Program and Ross Minority Program in Real Estate at the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Smith also serves as Vice-Chair of the City of Los Angeles Small Business Commission and on the boards of affordable housing developer Restore Neighborhoods LA and LA-Más. Earlier, he was Acting Director of Planning for the LA Unified School District during its multi-billion-dollar school construction program, following his service as founding Executive Director of New Schools‐Better Neighborhoods.

Smith worked as editor/business manager of The Planning Report and is past president of the Westside Urban Forum. He was also the former bassist of the LA-area rock band All Day Sucker.

Mott Smith received a Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California (USC) and a BA in Linguistics from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

Gail Lara

Executive Director, Women’s Collaborative Mentoring Program

Gail Lara is the Executive Director of the Women's Collaborative Mentoring Program (WCMP). She comprises over twenty years of experience in small business development, training, and as a business owner. She holds twenty-five years of experience in retail buying, sales management, procurement and advertising specialty.

Lara diligently worked with Small Business Development and non-profit agencies to create curriculums, present workshops, and host panels and events for over 5,100 entrepreneurs during her long career. In addition, her collaboration with over 390 business resource and industry experts helped prepare entrepreneurs to navigate through the resources available to connect to mentors, training, funding, networking, diversity and government contracting programs.

Gail Lara is a recipient of various Business Awards, including; NLBWA, LABJ and SFVBJ, and serves on the City of Los Angeles WED and Small Business Summit planning committees.

Charles Lew, Esq.

Principal, The Lew Firm

Charles Lew, originally from Scotland, grew up in Florida and moved to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount Law School and embrace life as an Angeleno. His first LA job as a Hollywood nightclub bouncer exposed him to various industries that would inspire his initial entrepreneurial ventures.

Lew's law practice, The Lew Firm, represents many prominent Angelenos, including Metta World Peace, Nick Fouquet, Omari Hardwick, Trejos Tacos, Kelis, and Flaunt Magazine. He opened the first Stout Burgers and Beer in 2009, which led to several other hospitality ventures and unrelated businesses such as The Morrison Pub, Boomtown Brewery, Huckleberry Ltd, Third Wave Market, Veritil, and HRmony.

Lew is on the Board of Directors at Loyola Law School and is working closely with the Dean on developing a program that will educate and prepare students for what's to come with entrepreneurial laws and endeavors as well as artificial intelligence and how it pertains to the law. He is also a founding member for Forbes LA Business Council and a Forbes.com contributor and hosts quarterly paneled networking events with FLABC.

Lew believes in giving back a percentage of his businesses. He is actively involved with charities like Adopttogether, Mental Health America, Project Paperbag, Stout's Sip, Chew, Give. An internal program that encourages employees to volunteer their time to a charity of their choice and a donation is made to that charity on their behalf by Stout.

Roslyn M. Simpson, Esq.

Special Counsel to the CEO of Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles

Roslyn M. Simpson has spent over 27 years as a funding professional. She has led the major giving efforts at nonprofits and major universities, including her alma mater, the University of Southern California, and the University of Arizona, where she served as Associate Vice President for Development. A collegiate All-American in Track and Field, she presently sits on the Board of Law and Legislation for USA Track and Field and the governing body for the United States national teams for Track and Field, Cross Country, Road Running, Race Walking and Para-Olympians.

Simpson has guided the private foundations and business development campaigns for numerous professional athletes and coaches, where funding success and mass community outreach were realized under her direction. In addition, Simpson is active locally as Chair of Youth Track and Field for the Southern California Association of USA Track and Field and is a Trustee for the historic First AME Church of Los Angeles.

Simpson also serves as an Executive Board member for two nonprofits, the South Los Angeles Community Development and Empowerment Corporation and the Urban Equity Community Foundation.

Jesse Torres

Founder & Principal, ArroyoWest LLC and Co-Founder, Small Business Front, Inc

Jesse Torres is the principal and founder of ArroyoWest LLC, a minority-owned management consulting firm in Los Angeles County, and the co-founder of Small Business Front Inc., a community building and media startup focused on small businesses.

During his three-year tenure at GO-Biz, Torres successfully secured more than $108 million in state general funds to provide match and capacity-building grants for the federal small business technical assistance providers operating in California. In addition, he administered a portfolio of high-profile California State programs, including the Innovation Hub Network (iHub), California Advanced Supply Chain Analysis and Diversification Effort (CASCADE), the Cybersecurity IT Health Advisory Board, and the California Cyber Innovation Challenge (CCIC), hosted at Cal Poly Pomona since 2017. Jesse also led small business recovery efforts for GO-Biz following major disasters.

Prior to joining GO-Biz in 2015, Torres served as Regional Director for the Los Angeles Small Business Development Center Network. He is also former Director of Alumni Affairs for the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University.

Jesse Torres is Board Chair for California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity, Advocacy Chair for Union Station Homeless Services, and was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to the City’s seven-member Small Business Commission. He also serves as a member of the board for Associated Students UCLA and Sustainable Economic Enterprises Los Angeles.