Black Card Circle® Foundation Board of Directors

Lotay Yang

Founder and Chairman

Lotay Yang brings over 15 years of professional experience at Fortune 500 Financial Institutions. Mr. Yang has served at a Vice President level or higher at several firms including Boston based Fidelity Investments and Chicago based Northern Trust.

In addition to serving as a Founder and Chairman of the Black Card Circle Foundation, Mr. Yang also volunteers his personal time as the elected President of New Horizons Foundation. New Horizons empowers the developmentally disabled by providing assisted living, educational workshops, and occupational services. New Horizons receives over $12 million a year in government funding and recently celebrated it's 50th Anniversay in the community.

Mr. Yang earned a double Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he remains active as a Chancellor's Associate and member of the Anderson School of Management's Dean's Society. He also earned the California state Personal Financial Planning (PFP) designation and studied law at Loyola Law School.

 

Emily Chen

Treasurer

Emily Chen has Master's degrees in both Psychology and Theology. She currently serves as Treasurer of the Black Card Circle Foundation and the Los Angeles County Psychological Association Foundation. She devotes her professional time to establishing strategic partnerships with businesses and nonprofit foundations, raising funds, and distributing funds to innovative and cost efficient projects that support the underprivileged and under-served children and teens at risk for mental illness in the community. Emily also belongs to a women's giving circle as a member of the EveryChild Foundation in Los Angeles County. During her free time she enjoys taking classes at the Epicurean School of Culinary Arts, earning a culinary degree along the way, and cooking for her friends and loved ones.

 

Van Dichoso

CPA

Van Gerard Dichoso, C.P.A. is President & CEO of the Dichoso Group of Companies: Dichoso and Company, CPA, Inc. (a full service CPA firm), and Dichoso and Company, Inc. (a full service insurance, pension, and
real estate investment company) with offices in Beverly Hills, Glendale, and Los Angeles.

Considered by many as one of the most prominent CPAs of Filipino-American descent, Mr. Gerard's business accomplishments, unwavering support to the Filipino community, and numerous awards have earned him these respectable distinctions:

"Asia's CPA Superstar" - Philippine Times (2008)
"An Icon in the Philippine-American Community" - Manila-US Times (2007)
"An Account of Excellence" - In-Focus Magazine (2007)
"Outstanding Businessman of the Year" - PAMANA (2007)
"Twenty Most Outstanding Filipino-Americans in the US and Canada" - Fil-Am Image (2002)
"Who's Who Among Filipino-Americans in California and Nevada" - NAFAA (2000)

Mr. Gerard's CPA firm serves a wide variety of individuals and businesses, including Hollywood entertainers, movie producers, and screen writers. Mr. Gerard has been featured in various publications, newspapers, special events, radio and TV news coverage.

 

Frank Centofanti

Formerly Vice-President -- Manager, Specialized Compliance Department, West Coast Region of HSBC, Mr. Centofanti is a financial services industry veteran of 20 years with experience in securities and banking compliance, anti-money laundering, sales management, investment product sales, and investment representative supervision. Mr. Centofanti received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management with specialization in Finance from Purdue University and holds Series 63, 7, 24, 9, and 10 investment licenses and a California Life Agent/Variable Contracts license.

 

Fitzjoy Hellin

Mr. Fitzjoy Hellin manages and coordinates concerts, promotional and fundraising events and touring for Shakira worldwide. Mr. Hellin brings over 20 years of tour management and event planning experience for musicians and bands including Shakira, Offspring, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, KT Tunstall, and the Backstreet Boys to the Black Card Circle Foundation.

Mr. Hellin recently launched Touch of Love in Columbia, a non-profit micro-lending organization empowering entrepreneurs in low income and developing communities in the Middle East and South America.

 

Danielle James

Board Advisor

Danielle James was raised and educated in Europe, spoke four languages by the age of twelve, graduated university early in Paris magna cum laude, and works in movies and entertainment acting and creating. She has delivered acclaimed performances on television (recently HBO's "True Blood"), in independent films, as well as on Broadway and off. In her spare time she loves helping and learning about people, has been honored by the California State Assembly for her "commitment to the wellbeing of the community," and volunteers for the non-profit Black Card Circle Foundation for which she serves as a Board Advisor.