DIRECTORS
Laguna Beach Beautification Council Board Member Biographies
Dora Wexell Orgill –
President, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
Dora is a passionate and multi-talented entrepreneur, manager, and avid supporter of art and artists. Dora was past and current Executive Director for Seven Degrees, Terra and Seven7Seven and is continuing her lifelong dedication to the development and preservation of artistic culture in Laguna Beach. A self-starter and dedicated creator, Dora owned her own art business, Baubles, from 1987 until 2002, and is a past President, Board Member and Exhibitor of the Sawdust Art Festival as well as running her own brick-and-mortar location in Laguna Village as well. Dora has held significant leadership positions for a variety of non-profits including the Laguna Beach Craft Guild, Sawdust Art Festival, Laguna Beach Arts Commission, and is currently President of First Thursdays Art Walk since 2012 and has been a member of FTAW since 2001. She has been an active and enthusiastic contributor to the creative ecosystem in Laguna Beach for more than thirty years.
Ellen McKessar – Vice President & Treasurer, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
Ellen has resided in Laguna Beach since 2000 and has been actively involved in community affairs and projects. She has been an active member of LBBC since 2012 serving on the Board of Directors in the roles of Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Member at Large, chairing Galas and Beautification Awards. Ellen’s 30-year business career consisted of leadership roles in Global Business Development, Sales, and Management. She earned the Certified Relocation Professional & Global Mobility Specialist designation and a Certificate of Interior Design from IDI, in addition to receiving numerous awards and recognitions. Ellen and her husband are the creators of “Music in Bluebird Canyon” which serenaded neighbors during COVID.
Norm Grossman –
Secretary, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
Norm has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2015. He has been involved with community issues in Laguna Beach since moving here in 1978. He served on the Laguna Beach Planning Commission from 1988 to 2000 and 2001 to 2015. Prior to that, he served on the Design Review Board from 1984 to 1986. He is President of the Laguna Greenbelt, Inc. and served on the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Board Directors from 2018 to 2020. His professional background includes 25 years as a senior electrical design engineer and division manager in the aerospace industry and 20 years as a college senior professor and director of curriculum development.
Leah Vasquez – Board Member at Large, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
Leah Vasquez life and career is in the arts and physiology. She settled in Laguna in 1964 raising a family, becoming active in water sources, canyon annexation, environmental sustainability, and connectivity. As a city arts commissioner and administrator and adjunct art professor at UCI, she helped develop public art guidelines and projects including Music in the park, the Bench, Banner, and Pallet programs and events like Arts in Motion inspiring the L.A. Street scene under Mayor Tom Bradley. Working with city, county, and state leaders and visionaries like James Dilly and Fred Lang, she helped chart Laguna's water courses and native trees and developed an international art business: Leah Vasquez Fine Art Services: Art for Public and Private Sites consulting and creating monuments to enhance historic and unique properties. Continuing activities include co-hosting Artwalking: Nature Nurturing Culture on KXFM 104.7 and serving as board member on the Laguna Beach Beautification Council.
David Raber – Board Member at Large, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
David moved to Laguna in 1999. He is an active participant in community organizations, serving on the boards of Temple Hills Community Association and Board Member at Large for the Laguna Beach Beautification Council. David has been actively involved in many civic projects including the Downtown Plan, Village Entrance, Festival Remodel, Laguna Canyon Road, and Pedestrian Circulation in the communities. He has also served as Vice-Chair of the City's Historic Preservation Ordinance Task Force and alternate representative for the City's Laguna Canyon Task Force. David's professional background spanned over 30 years in commercial software product development space, including Sr. VP of On-Line product development for Ticketmaster and roles as CTO for software-as-a-service solution providers.
Mary Raber – Board Member at Large, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
Mary Raber is a retired certified public accountant who was the audit partner for Inouye, Shively and Longtin, CPA’s for over twenty years. Mary also has extensive experience with nonprofit organizations, both professionally and on a volunteer basis. Her volunteer work includes various committee assignments as well as treasurer positions with the Dana Point Yacht Club, Soroptimist International of Irvine, Liga International and the Laguna Woods Yacht Club. Mary is currently on the Board of the Laguna Beach Beautification Council, which reflects her interest in Laguna Beach having moved to the city for the first time in 1996.
Amy Eidt Jackson – Board Member at Large, Laguna Beach Beautification Council
Amy Eidt Jackson is an artist of distilled light and interpreted environments. Her work reflects her love of nature and the inspiration of the natural landscape. Amy is past President of Southern California Plein Air Painters (SOCALPAPA), and an active member of Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA) and Los Angeles Art Association. She participates in exhibitions throughout California and the South of France, and her works can be found in many private and corporate collections. Recognized as ‘Best Art Teacher of the Year’ by Orange County Board of Education, Amy is an accomplished art teacher. She is also Founder and President of Art Studio Education, which organizes and teaches adult workshops in Laguna Beach and abroad. Amy studied art and art history in Southern California and on the east coast, as well as at the Universita di Firenze, in Florence, Italy. Presently she works in her studios in Laguna Beach, surrounded by her family and a multitude of animals, as well as Birch Studio in Newport Beach.
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