Meet The YA Staff
Talya Franklin (she/her)
– College President
Email: tfranklin@youngamericans.org
Phone: (951) 493-6753 ext:102
Born and raised in Southern California, Talya has over 15 years experience in driving organizational impact within the corporate realm and non profit sector. Talya is a business executive who specializes in strategies bringing together processes, employees, and strategic long term business planning. From establishing and evolving strategies by advancing staff skills and competencies to optimizing finances, Talya has a reputation of rebranding organizations by restructuring and rebuilding.
Production Team
Bruce Sampson (he/him)
– Director of Creative & Production
Email: bsampson@youngamericans.org
Phone: (951) 493-6753 Ext: 109
Sampson is not new to The YAs. He began his association with the group as a performer at age 15. Bruce performed at four Young Americans dinner theater properties in Atlanta GA, Newport Beach CA, Seal Beach CA and Harbor Springs MI. From 2009 through 2017, Sampson served as guest director for YA International Music Outreach tours in Europe, the UK, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Africa. He even taught English Composition at the YA College of the Performing Arts for three years.
Bruce has been contracted as a writer and director for a number of The Young Americans’ projects over the last three years, including summer camp tours, The New Kids Shows, and convention shows. He has also contributed arrangements for The Young Americans’ annual Christmas show. This past summer, Bruce was a valued member of the team that brought The YA dinner theater show to life at The Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, Michigan.
All three of Sampson’s daughters were members of YAs as well.
In addition to his experience with YAs, Bruce has written, directed, and produced all over the United States and three cities in China. He has written shows for Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm and co-produced an award-winning dinner theater in Newport Beach for 5 years.
Bruce is “honored and excited to have this opportunity to continue contributing to this organization that has been such a major part of my life and that of my family.”
Belle Hein (she/her)
– Production Coordinator
Email: bhein@youngamericans.org
Phone: (951) 493-6753 Ext: 110
Belle has been involved in theater since she was eight years old and has enjoyed being both on and off stage, learning all aspects of live performance. She joined The Young Americans in 2018 as a technical intern where she found her passion for lighting. She toured across the U.S. and Japan with the organization, experimenting with lighting design. Belle graduated with an Associate in Child and Adolescent Development and plans to fulfill her dream of becoming a Kindergarten teacher.
Justin Bobbs (he/him)
– Production Coordinator
Email: jbobbs@youngamericans.org
Phone: (951) 493-6753 ext: 104
Justin joined The Young Americans in 2015, participating in eight tours, taking on leadership roles, and eventually choreographing numbers for the group. After his time there, Justin went on to audio engineer for television and live performance, working on shows such as Shameless and Generation. Justin is also a music producer, with credits alongside artists such as Miguel, The Weeknd, SiR, Matt Corby, Nick Hakim, Lucky Daye, and more. Justin was nominated for a Grammy in 2019 for his contribution to the Critically acclaimed album “Black Panther: The Album” curated by Kendrick Lamar.
Willie Jones (He/Him)
– Media Coordinator
Email: wjones@youngamericans.org
Phone: (951) 493-6753 Ext: 111
Eric Funk, originally from Clarion, Pennsylvania, moved to Los Angeles to attend The Young Americans College of the Performing Arts in 2016, where he obtained degrees in Vocal Performance and Acting. He then traveled all over the world teaching music to children and performing. His travels led him all over Asia, Europe, and North America. Eric became the Director of Production at The Young Americans and oversaw all creative and technical aspects of shows and tours. After long contemplation, he decided to move back to Clarion in the fall of 2023 to be near family and get involved in his hometown community he loves. Eric is the Community Development Coordinator (CDC) for the Clarion County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) located in Clarion, Pennsylvania. He serves as a key piece of the CCEDC’s efforts to promote economic development through community revitalization and redevelopment. Eric acts as a full-time liaison between the many small communities throughout the county, aiming to plan development projects, build local capacity, and funnel in outside investment. This initiative will seek to develop planning and fundraising for Main Street revitalization in five county downtowns: Clarion, East Brady, Foxburg, Knox, and New Bethlehem.
Supervising Staff
Rumeya Balendran (she/her)
– Accounting Supervisor
Email: rbalendran@youngamericans.org
Phone: (951) 493-6753 ext: 106
YA College Admin
Mohammad Shahisaman (he/him)
– Dean of Instruction
Email: mshahisaman@yacollege.edu
Phone: (951) 493-6753 ext: 107
Mohammad graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A. and M.A. in English. He began his tenure at The Young Americans College in 2015 as the Breadth of Knowledge Department Chair. In 2020, he became the Dean of Instruction and is focusing on expanding equity, diversity, and inclusion within the college’s curricula.
Juandretta Murphy (she/her)
– Dean of Students
Email: jmurphy@yacollege.edu
Phone: (951) 493-6753 ext: 108
La’tesa (she/her)
– Admissions Recruitment
Email: lpugh@yacollege.edu
Phone: (951) 493-6753 ext: 113
La’tesa’s a Detroit girl living the “California dream” enjoying the sunshine and ocean waves! She prides herself on being a free spirit who enjoys helping others and doing her due diligence within society in hopes of making a positive and lasting impact on others. She lives a simple and humble life that is filled with joy between being a military wife, mother of three beautiful children, grandmother to a precious granddaughter and traveling the world with family and friends. Of course she finds peace hanging out with her four legged buddies too.
La’tesa is an AIU Alumni who graduated in 2013 with a Business degree, specializing in Administrative and Healthcare Management. New to Performing Arts, she joined The Young Americans in 2023, bringing over 20 years of Leadership skills, knowledge and vast experience to the Recruitment team. La’tesa also has over 9 years experience within Admissions and Recruitment within Higher Education to bring to the YA team working side by side with other YA Recruiters, recruiting students globally. When not Recruiting La’tesa is busy running her private business – Mindful Vibes and Body Sculpting where she finds joy helping others feel great about themselves externally and internally; and just getting to know a little bit about each person that she crosses paths with. As she would tell you, her purpose in life is to assist others to live a healthy, strong, successful and abundant lifestyle!
A few of her favorite quotes: “Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.” ~ Doris Lessing “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ~ Winston Churchill “It would be a terrible mistake to go through life thinking people are the sum total of what you see.” ~ Unknown
Board of Directors
KENNY MORRIS (he/him) – Board President
– Founder & President, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives
Kenneth B. Morris, Jr. descends from two of the most influential names in American history: he is the great-great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington. His mother, Nettie Washington Douglass, is the daughter of Nettie Hancock Washington (granddaughter of Booker T. Washington) and Dr. Frederick Douglass III (great-grandson of Frederick Douglass). Ken’s life until the year 2007 could be described as distinguished yet decisively disengaged from his lineage until Providence called.
Ken continues his family’s legacy of anti-slavery and educational work as co-founder and president of the Rochester, NY-based nonprofit Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI). His career and life path are driven by a clear focus on FDFI’s mission “To Build Strong Children and to end systems of exploitation and oppression.” He could not have predicted that one day he would so fully embrace and be defined by the characteristics that so closely defined his famous ancestors.
FDFI brings the guidance of history to the fight against modern forms of slavery. As part of the present-day abolitionist movement, FDFI educates young people about all forms of forced servitude and inspires them to action. Current FDFI projects include PROTECT, a partnership with two California-based nonprofit organizations, 3Strands Global and Love Never Fails, to provide grade-level appropriate human trafficking prevention education to students from grade school to high school, and the One Million Abolitionists project, which with a wide range of partners including the National Park Service, History Channel, educational institutions, community organizations, and individuals will print and distribute one million copies of a special Bicentennial edition of Frederick Douglass’s first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, to young people domestically and internationally.
An accomplished and prolific public speaker, Ken regularly appears before charitable organizations, local, state, and federal government agencies, and civic organizations, and presents to students across the country and internationally. He has lectured at universities including New Castle University in England, Columbia University, Morehouse College, UNLV, Tuskegee University, Loyola University Chicago, and Yale University. He has appeared on CNN, Democracy Now!, PBS, NPR, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, and the CBS Evening News. Ken is honored to have been a keynote speaker at the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s annual conference in Vienna and Luxembourg.
Ken appeared in the 2022 documentaries Abraham Lincoln and The American Presidency with Bill Clinton on the History Channel, Frederick Douglass in Five Speeches on HBO and HBO Max, Becoming Frederick Douglass on PBS (October 2022), and 1000 Years of Slavery on the Smithsonian Channel. Previously, he appeared in the documentaries Civil Warriors and Rise Up: The Legacy of Nat Turner on National Geographic and Blood and Glory: The Civil War in Color on the History Channel.
He contributed the preface to Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour published in 2022, the afterword to Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century’s Most Photographed American published in 2015, and the foreword to the bicentennial edition of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, published in January 2017.
Ken received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of La Verne in California in January 2012. In June 2012, he received the inaugural National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom’s Frederick Douglass Underground Railroad Legacy Award in recognition of his commitment to promoting social change through activism that addresses contemporary social issues. In January 2014, Ken was the first man to be awarded the Women’s E-News 21 Leaders for the 21st Century Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism. In April 2016, he received the Anne Frank Change the World Award from the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights. In November 2017, he received the National Association of African American Honors Programs Legacy Keeper Award. In 2018, Ken received awards, including the Award for Excellence from Washington College, Wind Beneath My Wings from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Frederick Douglass Medal from the Douglass Institute for African & African American Studies at the University of Rochester.
Before co-founding FDFI in 2007, Ken was a partner at C&A Marketing, a marketing and entertainment firm recognized as a leader in corporate meetings, incentive travel, and customized marketing programs. He has been a member of the board of directors for Kaleidoscope Arts Factory, a nonprofit youth performing arts organization, and the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the University of La Verne. Ken currently sits on the board of directors for the Frederick Douglass Ireland Project, the nonprofit Globe Lane, and serves as board president at The Young Americans performing arts organization. He is a former ambassador for the nonprofit organization Human Rights First. In November 2017, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi named him to the federal Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission, serving as Commission Chair.
Ken received a Bachelor of Arts Religion degree from the Ecumenical Center for Black Church Studies at the University of La Verne. As did Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, he firmly believes that education is the pathway to freedom.
PHIL LISLE (he/him) – Immediate Past-President
– Entrepreneur
Phil has been involved with both the travel and photography industries since 1975. He is currently President of Pacific Photo Studios and General Partner with Royalty World Cruises. In addition to The Young Americans, he serves on the Board of Directors for Music Theatre Academy of Orange County; Allard Artists, Inc; Lisle Corporation; EZ Way, Inc; Canyon Creek HOA; and Eagles Knoll HOA. Phil is married with three grown children and lives in Irvine, CA. He has been an ardent supporter of The Young Americans since 1981.
DAVID KLEIN (he/him)
– Business Owner
After one year of college studying business management, David took a leave of absence to help his father in his land development business which was going through huge growth in 1977. At the age of 20, David was the project superintendent on his first construction site.
In 1980, David stepped away from construction to join The Young Americans as primary bass player and multi-instrumentalist at Boyne Highlands, MI. During his time with The Young Americans David played bass at “Tibbies Music Hall” and for the first 3 tour performances of the Gershwin Tour. Prior to returning to the construction business David continued his Musca pursuits touring with MarkVII and forming a “Top 40” band.
After returning to the construction business, David moved from project superintendent to project manager and ultimately oversaw all design and development of properties. As a design and infrastructure engineer, David developed “the Split Log,” “Carbon Monoxide Shut-off System” as well as dozens of processing systems that were revolutionary to the industry including “Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete”.
Today, David is married to his wife of over 35 years, Laurie Klein, and is co-owner of Dakota Works, with former Young American sound engineer, Trent Nelson. David and Laurie have four children, Natalie, Alissa, Gideon, and Gabriel.
Mohammad graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A. and M.A. in English. He began his tenure at The Young Americans College in 2015 as the Breadth of Knowledge Department Chair. In 2020, he became the Dean of Instruction and is focusing on expanding equity, diversity, and inclusion within the college’s curricula.
MICHELLE LUND (she/her)
– Philanthropist
Following in her beloved mother’s footsteps, Michelle Lund is devoted to making the world a brighter and kinder place for all. She is honored to participate on the boards of several great organizations, many of whom focus on the arts or wildlife rescue and preservation. For more than 15 years, Michelle has served as president of the Sharon D. Lund Foundation where she and her fellow directors enjoy partnering with organizations that care about empowering children, strengthening families, and building vital communities. Michelle and her friends have also been spotted dancing, laughing, and wildly applauding as the Young Americans share their message of inclusiveness, love, and fun around the world.
MARC CHERRY (he/him)
– Writer/Producer
Marc Cherry majored in Theatre at Cal State Fullerton. After being a winner on Dick Clark’s game show, The $100,000 Pyramid, Marc took his winnings and moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in writing. He started his career in the entertainment industry as a personal assistant to Dixie Carter on the set of Designing Women which led to a successful career as a writer.
Throughout the years, Marc has written and produced various hit tv series, such as The Golden Girls and the sequel The Golden Palace. In 2004, ABC picked up Desperate Housewives, a groundbreaking success that won 7 Emmys and 3 Golden Globe Awards as Favorite New Television Drama and many others. Marc was also the creator and showrunner for the drama Devious Maids and original series Why Women Kill.
Currently, Mark is writing the 2nd season of Why Women Kill while producing additional projects under the banner Cherry Productions.
Mohammad graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A. and M.A. in English. He began his tenure at The Young Americans College in 2015 as the Breadth of Knowledge Department Chair. In 2020, he became the Dean of Instruction and is focusing on expanding equity, diversity, and inclusion within the college’s curricula.
HILDE BONESTEEL (she/her)
– CEO of Senior Health Care Assisted Living Facility
DREW MCGARITY (he/him)
– Senior Engineering Manager
Drew joined The Young Americans in 1992 as a drummer but was afforded subsequent opportunities as an audio engineer, company manager, and associate producer. He left the YAs in 1996 to pursue an aerospace engineering career but is always honored when asked to mix one of the group’s special event performances. Drew has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from San Diego State University, and an MS in Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California (Fight On!). He is currently a senior engineering manager for The Boeing Company, a father of two, a golfer, and an avid runner.
Mohammad graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A. and M.A. in English. He began his tenure at The Young Americans College in 2015 as the Breadth of Knowledge Department Chair. In 2020, he became the Dean of Instruction and is focusing on expanding equity, diversity, and inclusion within the college’s curricula.
VANESSA BROWN (she/her) – Advisory Board
– Freelance Percussionist/Drummer/Music Librarian/Music Proofreader
Vanessa Brown is a freelance Percussionist/Drummer/Music Librarian/Music Proofreader. She joined The Young Americans in 1975 as a violinist and later toured as a set drummer. Vanessa served as percussionist for the ABC hit show, “Dancing With The Stars” from Season 1(2004) to Season 18 (2013). She performed with the DWTS house band for nine years. Her career has taken her all over the world performing and/or touring with such artists as Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra Sr. and Jr., Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr., Gladys Knight and The Pips, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., Ray Charles, and Jennifer Holliday, to name a few. She has been involved with numerous award shows (Oscars, Grammys, Emmys), television specials, films, and recordings. She was the percussionist for the Los Angeles musical productions of “The Color Purple”, “Hairspray”, “Dreamgirls”, “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Lion King”. Vanessa is a graduate of UCLA with a B.A. degree in Music Performance, specializing in Percussion.
CAROL P. SCHANER (she/her) – Advisory Board
– Attorney
Carol is a partner with Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, and limits her practice to taxation, nonprofit tax-exempt organizations, estate planning, charitable giving, and business planning. Carol is a member of the State Bar of California, American Bar Association (sections of taxation and real property; probate and trust law), Orange County Bar Association (sections of taxation and real property; probate and trust law), and Fellow of the Esperti Peterson Institute.
Carol serves as adjunct faculty member at the Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law, The Academy of Multidisciplinary Practice, Inc. at Michigan State University, and The Heritage Institute.