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Jon Goodman President
T: 213.312.9458
E: jgoodman@townhall-la.org
Jon Goodman, currently President of TOWN HALL Los Angeles, has occupied several leadership positions in projects designed to strengthen the downtown region. She built and led the nation’s first new media incubator, located in South Central Los Angeles, EC2 – The Annenberg Incubator Project at USC. To lure other new media businesses downtown, Goodman worked with LA Mayor Richard Riordan’s office in creating tax incentives for new technology companies housed along the Figueroa Corridor. She was a Founding Director of the Digital Coast Roundtable and previous Chair of the Los Angeles Venture Forum.
Under her leadership, TOWN HALL Los Angeles is once more the venue of choice for world leaders in business, politics and culture. Since becoming President in 2005, the number of Town Hall events has risen over 300% with a comparable audience increase, and its podium has been the medium for major policy addresses from US Senators to heads of the Fortune 500. LA Weekly now describes the organization as “the City’s ultimate power breakfast.” Town Hall continues to build on its 74-year commitment to Los Angeles.
Before founding EC2, Goodman was the Director of the Entrepreneur Program at USC where she led it to top-five national rankings. While there, she developed the first entrepreneurial programs in South Central High Schools including Rosemead High School, Downey High School and Manual Arts High School. Goodman created the first direct business assistance program in South Central Los Angeles - the University Community Outreach Program. The following year, the organization handled the vast majority of loan packaging after the 1992 LA Riots.
Moderator of “Something Ventured,” a 26-part series on entrepreneurship which was repeated for seven seasons on PBS, Goodman is also the co-author of Leading with Knowledge: the Nature of Competition in the 21st Century and author of numerous articles, columns and white papers.
Notable during her outstanding career have been a number of awards recognizing her as an innovative, creative and committed leader. She was selected by Wired magazine as one of the 20 people in the nation who will help form the future of the entertainment industry and by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 10 most influential people in the region’s technology business.
Goodman received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut where in 2004 she was inducted into the School of Business Hall of Fame, and a doctorate in Business Strategy/ Microeconomics from the University of Georgia, where she was named Distinguished Alumna of the Terry College of Business in 1995.
Marian Shima Vice President, Public Affairs and Programs
T: 213.312.9303
E: mshima@townhall-la.org
Marian Shima is an award-winning executive with more than 20 years of combined experience impacting organizational success through the creative development and leadership of high-profile projects and programs. In her role at Town Hall, Marian is responsible for the strategic development and production of 40 events annually.
Prior to joining Town Hall Los Angeles in 2010, Marian held several management positions during her 11-year tenure at the Los Angeles Times. As Executive Director of Public Affairs, her most recent position, she led the Los Angeles Times Family Fund’s $3.3M fundraising/grant-making program and oversaw signature programs such as Reading by 9, a children’s literacy collaborative between public, private and community-based organizations. Marian also managed community outreach for mayoral, gubernatorial and presidential debates hosted by The Times.
Before joining the Los Angeles Times, Marian held several hotel marketing management positions at the Disneyland Resort. She has received numerous honors, including the International Reading Association “Celebrate Literacy” Award for Reading by 9, the President’s (Bush) Volunteer Service Award, the “Women as Peacemakers” award from the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center, and the United Way’s “Campaign Coordinator of the Year.” Her affiliations include Asian American Journalists Association (Los Angeles Chapter), Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) Advisory Board and Goodwill Southern California Marketing/PR committee.
Deborah Weinberg
Director, Media Relations
T: 213.312.9307
E: dweinberg@townhall-la.org
Since 1999, Deborah Weinberg has been Director of Media Relations for Town Hall Los Angeles. Her depth of experience, with over 20 years in media and public relations, brings expertise in media outreach to Town Hall, where she serves as a liaison between local, national and international media affiliates and leaders in business, academia, government, the arts and entertainment.
During her tenure Deborah’s work with the media has increased broadcast and print visibility for the organization and its speakers, and has highlighted the important and timely issues discussed from its podium. She has conducted numerous Town Hall-hosted news conferences for world leaders, corporate CEOs, and chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others. She is responsible for the distribution of Town Hall’s radio programs nationwide and provides students of Town Hall’s American Heritage Program with a firsthand exposure to media’s role in a democracy.
Prior to joining Town Hall, Deborah served as Director of Media for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. Previous to that she was a Los Angeles Program Coordinator for the US Department of State International Visitor Program. In addition to her involvement in diplomacy at home, Deborah has led delegations abroad.
Deborah is actively engaged in a variety of philanthropic pursuits and organizations throughout the Los Angeles community, among them projects on international human rights, assisting the homeless, and providing education programs for adults. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Comparative Literature.
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