Robert (Bob) Johnson
Chairman of the Board of Directors
In 1961, Bob Johnson, his wife Lois, and their three children, moved to the Orange County city of Tustin. In 1966 he began almost three decades of work to eliminate segregation of blacks in the county through the Orange County Fair Housing Council. In 1969, he was elected chair of its board of directors. He served as an officer through 1995 and in 2009 returned to the board. In 1981 he received the “Fair Housing Volunteer of the Year” award from the Community Relations Conference of Southern California. Bob is a board member of the Orange County Community Housing Corporation, which he co-founded in 1978 to provide housing for extremely low-income people, and is on the board of the Santa Ana Black Historical Society. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering from UCLA, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In 2009 his book A Different Shade of Orange, Voices of Orange County, California, Black Pioneers was published by California State University, Fullerton. It is now in its second printing.
Michael P. Simondi
Treasurer of the Board of Directors
Michael P. Simondi is a lawyer practicing in Newport Beach, California. Prior to starting his own firm he was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. His private focuses on representing residential and commercial developers in acquiring and developing real estate. Mr. Simondi has been involved in all facets of real estate practice, including representing lenders, developers, lessors and lessees. He has represented lenders in making loans secured by real estate on all types of commercial, industrial and residential properties. He has been a lecturer for the California Continuing Education of the Bar on financing real property transactions. He was also a speaking member of the faculty for the International Council of Shopping Centers on leases. He published an article on the securitization of real estate loans in the fall 1994 edition of Real Estate Review. Mr. Simondi is a member of the Real Property Law Section of the California Bar Association and is a member of the American and Orange County Bar Associations. He also served as a member of the Orange County Transportation Authority, Citizens Rail Committee. He received his B.S. in Accounting from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966, and received his M.B.A. with an emphasis in Accounting at Berkeley in 1969. Mr. Simondi practiced accounting with Price Waterhouse & Company in its tax department and became a CPA prior to entering University of California Hastings College of Law, where he received his law degree in 1976.
Karen Kehetian
Secretary of the Board of Directors
Realtor, First Team Real Estate As a resident of Orange County for 26 years, Karen can be best identified as a dedicated community service activist. As a Board Member of the Fair Housing Council of Orange County and as a Realtor, her role provides a very meaningful personal and professional reward: helping people from diverse backgrounds achieve their real estate goals in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. She takes an active role in her professional career as a member of the National Association of Realtors, and the California and Orange County Association of Realtors. In addition, her community work includes serving as Inspector of Elections for all state and federal elections held in her voting precinct for the past 13 years as well as serving for 14 years as a member of the Board of Directors of her community association in Tustin.
Oscar Rodriguez Aguila
Director
Oscar Rodriguez Aguila migrated to U.S. in 1989 seeking an opportunity for the American dream. Raised by his Mother and Grandmother, he faced the typical struggles that an immigrant faces while attempting to assimilate to a new society. His family faced many challenges including injustices & discrimination while attempting to improve their quality of life. He grew up in Orange California, attended the local school district and community college. Oscar graduated from California State University Fullerton in 2004 with a Bachelor’s Degree. Mr. Aguila is a Property Manager with more than 19 years of Real Estate Experience. He began his career in Property Management as a Maintenance Technician, moving up the ladder in the industry. Oscar is an advocate against inequality, domestic violence and other social issues that dehumanizes a person’s integrity. He is committed in making a difference in people’s life by collaborating with local agencies whose mission are affordable housing, higher education and fair housing.
Khoi Pham
Director
Pham Ngoc Khoi, was born in Hanoi, North Vietnam, fled to the South in 1954 after Vietnam was segregated into two parts by the Geneva Agreement. Prior to 1975: Pham was one among five of the first Vietnamese Air Traffic Control (ATC) Experts/Instructors who taught/trained New Air Traffic Controllers in VN graduating from the Air Traffic Control Training Center (CAAG) in Taipei and Federation Aviation Administration Academy (FAA) in Oklahoma, USA. Additionally, he graduated with a Law degree from Saigon University Law School. In 1975, when the Saigon Government collapsed, he escaped from the Communist for the 2nd time as a political refugee in the USA. Pham also helped 360 fellow residents to evacuate from Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport to Guam by 5 Hercules C130. During this time he was assigned as an Assistant Camp Commander in coordinating and planning activities for the camp which consisted of over 10,000 people until he left Guam to Camp Pendleton in California. In the United States: Presently, he serves as a Vice-Chairman of the King Hung Oversea Foundation to preserve Vietnamese culture. Mr. Khoi Pham participates in many Medical/Health-care Clubs/Groups to help patients at no cost. He was elected by people in Southern California (6 Counties) including Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Pomona, Riverside, San Diego and served the people for 2 terms as a member of the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California – VAFSC as Treasurer and Vice-President of the Board, respectively. In fact, for almost 20 years, he served the Vietnamese people and all citizens in the community as a Director of Fair Housing Council of Orange County (FHCOC) in different service areas including landlord and tenant counseling, housing counseling, and court mediation. He also helped with community outreach and education requested by schools, churches, pagoda throughout Orange County. Presently he is a member of the FHCOC Board of Directors.