SOCG Advisory Board

Standing on Common Ground has gone to great lengths to assemble the most comprehensive team of advisors possible in order to support the work in our schools and communities.

From the fields of law, education, politics and the private sector, the advisory board meets regularly to inform and direct process and content for SOCG as well as to provide important networking opportunities for participants in SOCG programs.

Thomas Mesereau Jr.

Criminal Defense Attorney

Partner, Mesereau and Yu

Attorney Thomas A. Mesereau, Jr. is one of the most celebrated trial lawyers in America. He specializes in criminal defense (state and federal court) and civil trials. Mr. Mesereau defends corporations and individuals accused of white collar crimes; individuals charged with violent crimes; and professionals, including medical doctors and lawyers, faced with various allegations in the civil, administrative and criminal courts. He also advises companies and individuals regarding regulatory compliance and litigates a wide variety of complex business disputes.

Mr. Mesereau is a partner with the firm of Mesereau & Yu, LLP in Los Angeles. Tom was educated at Harvard University (cum laude), The London School of Economics and The University of California’s, Hastings College of Law.

Tom is best known for having acquitted music legend Michael Jackson of all counts in a highly publicized trial in Santa Maria, California. Since the Michael Jackson trial, Mr. Mesereau has defended     5 clients charged with capital murder and facing the death penalty. None were convicted of capital murder or sentenced to death.

Mr. Mesereau also devotes a percentage of his life and practice to assisting the poor and neglected. Following the Michael Jackson victory, he started a free legal clinic for the poor in South Central Los Angeles. The clinic is named the “Mesereau – Ephriam – Villaraigosa Free Legal Clinic” of Brookins African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is also known for his extensive pro bono work defending death penalty cases in the Deep South.

Lastly, Mr. Mesereau frequently works with public school students and has participated in several SOCG projects in an effort to reduce interracial violence at schools and in helping youth in making positive choices for their lives.

Beverly P. Lemay

Museum of Tolerance

Program Manager
Tools for Tolerance® For Professionals

Ms. Lemay worked for the University of California, Los Angeles as a Student Support Services Administrator for several years. Active in her community, she is particularly proud of her relationship with the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which offers academic, social and professional support to youth nationwide. Beverly is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

Having served as the Program Manager for Tools for Tolerance for Professionals since 1996, Ms. Lemay plans and executes programs for educators, students, corporate groups, municipal personnel, youth, and health and human service professionals. She is responsible for recruiting and training docents and facilitators, the development of curriculum and educational training materials.

SOCG has partnered with the MOT more than 300 times on a variety of projects and Beverly’s leadership and vision make her an invaluable resource and ally for Standing on Common Ground.

Raul Preciado, Student

California State University, Long Beach

Thomas Jefferson High School Alum

Raul, now a Junior at CSULB, became part of the SOCG family as a standout member of the Jefferson High student body and served as ASB President his Junior year in 2005. During his tenure as President, Jefferson experienced the now infamous large–scale intergroup riots in the spring of that year that garnered national attention and thrust Raul to the fore of efforts to restore calm and structure to the beleaguered South Los Angeles campus. Successful in his leadership that spring, Raul went on to take the reigns on a variety of other community-based projects that helped Jefferson become the most-improved high school in the LAUSD today (based on 2008 API growth.)

Raul participated in several SOCG programs and proudly references those experiences as key turning points in his life. His recognition of the high price paid for being insulated in his own community lead him to pursue a career in public service and politics which he is now fulfilling at CSULB. His courageous work leading Jefferson HS through that tenuous time resulted in an invitation to Washington D. C. for the 2006 State of the Union Address as a guest of U. S. Congressman Xavier Becerra.

Raul still lives near Jefferson High School and is actively involved in securing rights and access for undocumented students who have dreams of pursuing post-secondary education.

Dr. Munashe Furusa, Professor

California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH)

Chair, Academic Senate

Chair, Africana Studies

Chair, Division of World Cultural Studies

Dr. Furusa has been an avid supporter of SOCG projects and is a respected faculty member at CSUDH serving in a variety of capacities including Chair of the Academic Senate. Over the years, Munashe has been instrumental in opening up the University to Los Angeles students who normally might not have an opportunity to experience life on a college campus and has personally participated in several programs as a guest speaker and facilitator.

In 2007, two Transition Institutes were hosted by CSUDH that included Thomas Jefferson High School and Edwin Markham Middle School. During these intensive three month projects, Munashe used his own life experiences growing up in Africa and the struggles he experienced as a tool for connecting with students seemingly a world apart.

Munashe was also instrumental in bringing university-level courses on mediation and cross-cultural understanding to neighboring secondary schools at no cost to the students and hosted several “Days of Dialogue” for thousands of students focusing on race relations and peaceful resolution of conflict. Dr. Furusa is an invaluable member of the SOCG team.

One of 7 to be selected as a BES Fellow nationally, Laura brings a cornucopia of talent and expertise to Standing on Common Ground. As she completes the residency component of her fellowship with BES, she looks forward to offering the fruits of her charter school experience to the knowledge base of SOCG and will look toward us to support her in work of offering a cutting-edge, college-prepared educational experience to the children of South Los Angeles.

Originally a high school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Laura is opening her own charter school in the fall of 2010 with a unique 5-8 grade configuration.