Karsh Center Board of Trustees & Leadership

Katie’s life has been guided by the core Jewish concept tikkun olam (“to repair the world”), putting it into action by serving her community, improving systems, and advocating for marginalized voices. After earning her B.A. in the History of Art with a minor in French from the University of Pennsylvania, Katie began her career as a Teach for America corps member in the Bay Area. She taught first grade and held multiple leadership roles, including representing K-2 grades on the District Leadership Team and co-leading Student Council. She also received formal recognition for her top performance districtwide and throughout the region. Deeply influenced by the needs she identified while working in the classroom, Katie brought her skills to a higher level of education system improvement, working in curriculum design and partnership development at education non-profits Common Sense Media (San Francisco) and Turnaround for Children (New York City). Inspired to make a greater impact, she earned her M.A. in Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford University, studying non-profit effectiveness and broad systems change. Katie pivoted to apply her skills more broadly to improve communities, earning an M.S.W. from the University of Southern California. She completed the Postgraduate Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in 2024 from Wright Institute Los Angeles. She currently works in private practice on the westside of Los Angeles as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. In addition, Katie volunteers her time for the Skirball Cultural Center advising on next generation engagement. Her relationship to Wilshire Boulevard Temple began as a student under the leadership and teaching of Rabbi Steve Leder where she also began directly volunteering at the food pantry (the precursor to the Karsh Center). She is (humbled and) grateful to have the opportunity to serve the same community from her early years now as a Trustee on the Karsh Center Board. 

Joan B. Kessler, Esq., Ph.D.brings 15 years’ experience as an ADR professional and a Ph.D. in communications to her mediation and arbitration practice at JAMS.  Dr. Kessler has mediated and arbitrated hundreds of diverse matters, including individual and class action employment; real property; business/commercial, including partnership and shareholder disputes; estate/probate/trust; insurance; health care and entertainment cases.  With a law career spanning more than 30 years, she has the legal experience and knowledge to quickly understand complex legal issues.  Dr. Kessler’s 10-plus years of experience as a jury researcher and consultant affords her the ability to provide key insights into jury dynamics.

Dr. Kessler is a uniquely qualified mediator and arbitrator whose training and education allow her to communicate effectively with attorneys and all parties involved in her matters.  Her background in communications helps her to develop a rapport with even the most challenging, combative and high-profile personalities.  She possesses a keen ability to bring parties together to reach resolution on even the most contentious of matters.  Dr. Kessler uses her ability to speak Spanish and her understanding of inter-cultural uniqueness in Korean, Persian, Israeli, Armenian, and other cultures to help resolve disputes through mediation.

Dr. Kessler has for years been firmly committed to mentoring young women, particularly law students and beginning lawyers. For over 25 years, the Joan B. Kessler Award has provided support for graduate students at the University of Michigan to assist them in completing their dissertation research.

Dr. Kessler has been honored as one of the top women litigators in California, repeatedly named a Southern California Super Lawyer, and is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell. Most recently, she has been included on the list of Most Influential Women Attorneys by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

As a sports and event marketing consultant, Susan Matloff has worked with agencies, national governing bodies, local organizing committees and event properties on events from soccer’s World Cup to Nintendo Wii video game launches.  Susan has worked with many not-for-profit organizations on strategic planning, partnership evaluation and board structure and governance.  As a Trustee of the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM), she helped with fundraising strategy and program development.  More recently, Susan has dedicated time in support of her children’s schools (Larchmont Charter School, Marlborough School and Phillips Academy Andover) and Wilshire Boulevard Temple.  Susan has developed a passion for sustainability, having achieved LEED Platinum designation for the renovation of her family’s 1920s Windsor Square Tudor, and looks for efficiencies in event and organizational operations.

Susan, her husband Stephen and their three children enjoy spending time in the aforementioned eco-friendly home with their dog Blue, watching SNL reruns and traveling together.  Susan received a B.A. in Organizational Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Mr. Richard Powell was born in Los Angeles and now resides in Santa Monica. He graduated from Woodbury University, a private Los Angeles college. While attending college, he started a business with his father, furniture veteran Larry Powell, creating the L. Powell Company. After leading this highly successful family business for 30+ years, Rick was instrumental in selling the Powell Company to a private investment group in 1999. Rick is currently President of Ashjer, LLC, where he devotes his time to helping non-profit organizations raise money, serving on numerous boards and committees as well as a consultant to private companies. Rick has been an avid community leader for his entire adult life. He served in many leadership roles for various non-profit organizations over the years. He currently serves on the Furniture Industry Executive Committee at City of Hope, and as the past President of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, past President of Concern Foundation, past President of JVS SoCal, past Chair of Board of Governors of Cedar Sinai Hospital and past president of Hillcrest Country Club. Rick has also been the recipient of numerous honors recognizing his deep commitment to community service. He is married to Debbie Powell and have two children Ashley and Jeremy and two grandchildren.

David E. Ryu is a civic leader, nonprofit executive, and strategic advisor with nearly three decades of experience turning policy, partnerships, and investment into community impact.

Ryu is Co-founder and CEO of AAPI LEAD, the first national membership-based organization “For and By” elected officials to advance the meaningful participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the American democratic process. He is also Principal at CADALYST Inc., where he leads strategic initiatives across government, healthcare, and philanthropy. Through this work, he has secured and administered more than $300M for mental health and community-based programs.

Ryu serves as a Trustee of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association and served on the California Coastal Commission, Medical Board of California, the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments, Southern California Association of Governments, and the League of California Cities’ Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.

From 2015 to 2020, Ryu served as Los Angeles City Councilmember for District 4, becoming the first Korean American elected to the Council and later the first Asian American to serve in City Council leadership as Assistant President Pro Tempore. He championed ethics and transparency passing landmark and campaign finance reform, built more than 600 units of housing for people experiencing homelessness, and launched Opportunity LA, the nation’s largest Children’s Savings Account program.

Born in South Korea, Ryu immigrated to Los Angeles at age six. He attended LAUSD public schools, studied economics at UCLA, and public policy and administration from Rutgers.

Matt Sloan is an attorney and former litigation partner at Skadden, Arps, who specializes in conducting internal investigations, advising corporate boards and representing companies and individuals in high-stakes government enforcement actions, including both civil and criminal trials. Before joining Skadden, Mr. Sloan clerked for a federal judge in Los Angeles, worked for Irell & Manella and Sidley & Austin, and spent eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, DC and Los Angeles.

In recognition of his work, the Daily Journal named Mr. Sloan one of California’s Top White Collar Lawyers in 2022, the Los Angeles Business Journal recognized him as a Top Litigator and Trial Lawyer in Los Angeles in 2020 and 2024, and Benchmark Litigation named him a Litigation Star in 2024. Mr. Sloan also has been named among the 500 Leading Litigators in America by Lawdragon.

Mr. Sloan has worked on pro bono matters for a number of legal aid organizations, including Public Counsel, Bet Tzedek, the ACLU and Everytown for Gun Safety. He is also a board member of Bet Tzedek and a former board member of the Los Angeles Bar Association’s legal aid foundation, Counsel for Justice.

Mr. Sloan grew up near Detroit, Michigan and attended Yale University, where he studied history, and Harvard Law School. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children and is an avid fan of the Lakers and Michigan football.

Rabbi Joel Nickerson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Emory University with a BS in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, an interdisciplinary program focusing on the psychology, biology, and anthropology of the brain, and a minor in Judaic Studies.  For two years after college, he served as the Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow at Stanford University and then moved to Los Angeles to become the Director of Youth Programming at Temple Judea in Tarzana. After two years of teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, Rabbi Nickerson returned to Los Angeles in 2011 to begin working at Temple Isaiah in West Los Angeles.  He spent eight years there, elevated towards the end of his tenure to the role as co-senior rabbi of the synagogue. In 2019, Rabbi Nickerson joined the clergy team at Wilshire Boulevard Temple.  He helped develop the strategy to move the synagogue’s extensive programming and services online when the pandemic began, and worked with various departments and schools to create content that could reach various audiences within the 2,600 family-unit synagogue. In addition to his work at the synagogue, Rabbi Nickerson serves on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Board of Rabbis, an organization that supports rabbis, of all denominations, throughout the Los Angeles area.