Poly welcomes new members to board of trustees

Poly recently welcomed four new members to the board of trustees, while also honoring those members departing from the board after years of dedicated service. Those rotating off the board include Nancy (McAniff) Annick '81 (nine years), parent of Tim '12, Erin '14, and Ally '16; Mary Blodgett (two years), parent of Isaac Calvin '13 and Seth Calvin '15; Ruth (Zeronian) Edwards '83 (six years), parent of Joseph '16 and Natalie '14; and John Frank (12 years), parent of Hannah '05 and Peter '08.

The new board members are:

Kwame S. Brathwaite, vice president of real estate at Citibank in their Realty Services division, is a real estate professional with more than 15 years of experience in strategic planning. Before joining Citibank, he was a portfolio manager at McDonald's Corporation. Brathwaite's expertise includes ensuring the profitability of a real estate portfolio, developing and maintaining corporate relationships, leading capital projects, site selection, lease analysis, negotiation, and direction cross-functional teams. He also manages the photographic archive and collaborative projects pertaining to his father, photographer Kwame Brathwaite.

Brathwaite is also on the boards at Young & Healthy and REAP Los Angeles and is a former board member at St. Aloysius Educational Clinic in New York City. He earned a bachelor's degree in law, jurisprudence, and social thought from Amherst College in 1996 and an executive MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business this past May. He is married to Poly alumna Robynn (Jackson) Brathwaite '94; their three children, Carter '27, Jackson '25, and Kennedy '30, attend Poly.

Poly alumnus Mark K. Holdsworth '83 is co-founder and operating partner of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm with approximately $8 billion of capital under management. He has extensive experience investing in the equity or debt of companies in transition in a variety of industries. Holdsworth is the former chairman of TCP's Investment Committee and is also the founder of Holdsworth & Co., LLC, a family office based in Pasadena. He also serves as director of Parsons Corporation and has been the chairman or director of several public and private companies across the United States.

Holdsworth is a member of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Chairs Council at Caltech, president of the First Tee of Greater Pasadena, and a former national trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Pomona College, a bachelor's degree with honors in engineering and applied science from Caltech, and attended Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Amanda, have three children who attend Poly: Ellie '18, VeeVee '20, and Caroline '25.

With more than 32 years of professional experience, Michelle C. Kerrick is a managing partner and leads Deloitte's Los Angeles practice, one of the largest professional service firms in the area, with more than 1,700 audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory service professionals. In her career, she has served a diverse group of publicly and privately held clients, ranging from middle-market companies to large multinationals in several industries. Kerrick leads Deloitte's National CFO Leadership Program for their western region, which focuses on supporting CFO's in their complex roles.

She is also on the boards of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Council, and Young Presidents' Organization Los Angeles Gold, and she was on the bid committees that brought the Olympics 2028 and Super Bowl 2022 to Los Angeles. Kerrick is committed to the advancement of women in the workplace an was named Executive of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal. She received her bachelor's degree in accountancy from Northern Arizona University and is a recipient of the NAU outstanding alumni award. Her daughter, McKenzie '25, currently attends Poly.

Sonia Singla is a physician, scientist, and the medical director of Lotus Clinical Research, a scientific organization dedicated to improving experimental techniques in the field of pain management, which she co-founded in 2001. She has served as an investigator in more than 100 scientific studies and has authored multiple publications focused on the advancement of safer, more effective pain management medication. Singla has also served as the chair of the Institutional Review Board at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where she supervised the hospital's research studies to ensure that patients' rights and health were protected.

Several years ago, Lotus implemented an internship program for Poly students and alumni (the program was featured in an OakTree Times issue). The internship offers high school and college students hands-on experience and an opportunity to build professional skills and to test inclination toward careers in medicine, healthcare, and science, as well as the opportunity to participate in the drug development process.

Singla is active in nonprofit work in the greater Los Angeles area, having served on boards for Pasadena Village, Cancer Support Community, Pasadena Community Foundation, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Young & Healthy, Pasadena Art Alliance, and Mt. Saint Mary’s University. She and her husband, Neil, have three children at Poly: Roen '28 and Asher and Mia, both '23.

Pictured (left to right): Michelle Kerrick, Kwame Brathwaite, Sonia Singla, Mark Holdsworth.
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