Our Board

Founder Sophie Alpert brought together the nurturing community that allowed Piece by Piece to blossom. The Board of Directors has been entrusted to carry that vision forward. The Board, currently led by Sophie, has deep experience in managing non-profit organizations as well as passion and commitment to the Piece by Piece Mission to provide free mosaic art workshops to residents of Skid Row, South Los Angeles, and surrounding areas who have experienced homelessness and/or are living with economic insecurity.

Sophie Alpert

Board Chair

Sophie Alpert is passionate about helping the underserved and has been involved in the non-profit sector most of her life.  She was the Development Director for Para Los Ninos, a non-profit day care center in Skid Row, before founding Piece by Piece, a social enterprise arts organization in 2007.  

In addition to her ongoing leadership of Piece by Piece, Sophie is involved with organizations helping to raise awareness and seek solutions for individuals experiencing homelessness, including Valley Beth Shalom Temple’s Homelessness Task Force and YPO.

Sophie has 4 children and is the proud grandmother of 10.

Founder's Story

Derek Alpert

Secretary

Derek Alpert serves as full-time President of the Concern Foundation for Cancer Research since September 2001. He became actively involved in 1979 as one of the original founders of Concern 2, the "young adult" second generation of Concern. He served as the Concern 2 volunteer President for over 12 years. He oversees all aspects of the organization including fundraising and fund development, donor development, developing new business strategies and alliances, event organization and planning, community outreach programs, developing and maintaining private and corporate business partnerships, working with Concern's Scientific Review Committee and Concern's Finance, Oversight and Investments committees and develop in-house all marketing materials, social media campaigns.

Before taking on the role of full-time President at Concern, Derek had a very successful 27-year career as a music industry executive and Vice President of Motion Picture Music at Rondor Music Publishing the music publishing division of A&M Records. 

Husband, father and grandfather, Derek is also a board member of several other non-profit organizations both within and outside the cancer community. His board activities include active membership on the advisory councils of both the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases,  and Executive Board Member of the Kevin Cordasco Something Yellow Foundation.

Alan Alpert

Treasurer

Alan is the third generation President of Alpert & Alpert Iron & Metal, Inc. 

Alan is on the board of several organizations both professional as well as charitable and has held many leadership positions in the YPO Organization.

He’s a drummer, father of 4, grandfather of 10 precious grandkids, and would love to someday get to that next level in golf! 

Wendy Colman Levin

Wendy Colman Levin is a Lecturer at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health where she teaches storytelling and public speaking. She has led workshops on communication and presentation skills at Yale College, Yale Law School, Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent, and the Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. In addition to her work with private clients, she volunteers as a coach with Speak Up! at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), where she helps individuals who have had lived experience of homelessness develop and share their personal narratives to advocate for change on the local, state and federal levels. 

Wendy was a member of the Home For Good Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness, which from 2009-2019 was a joint initiative of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce. She is a faculty affiliate of UCLA’s WORLD Policy Analysis Center and a board member for Piece by Piece. Wendy received her MPH and PhD degrees from the School of Public Health at UCLA.

Virginia Tanawong

Virginia Tanawong is blissfully retired from a 35-year career in the entertainment and media industry. She held the role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Community Relations for Universal Studios Hollywood for 15 years. In addition to leading the HR function, Virginia oversaw the company’s philanthropic division, Discover a Star Foundation and was particularly proud of the significant growth in employee volunteerism and fundraising resulting in over $10M in support to local nonprofit organizations addressing poverty, homelessness and children facing critical illnesses.

Prior to Universal, Virginia held HR executive positions at Sony Pictures Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG, CNN and Turner Broadcasting. Throughout her career, she was a passionate advocate for mentoring, inclusive leadership, employee engagement and volunteerism.

Virginia has been privileged to serve on several non-profit Boards at the local and national level. She loves volunteering with organizations that provide support and hope to vulnerable communities and advocate for positive change.

Virginia and her husband have 3 children and two granddaughters, all residing in Southern California.

Donna Mastropasqua

Donna brings 37 years of media, marketing and loyalty expertise to the Piece by Piece board. She launched 1love.org for Bob Marley’s Family and licensed brands, worked with Dave Stewart to launch First Artist Foundation for Financial literacy, worked with Will and Jada Smith on their Careers in Entertainment initiative, and headed up the Policy Link initiative to create the winning on equity fund to support the 100 million people near poverty in the U.S. She worked with the Chopra Foundation to head up strategic partnership and help achieve the goal of impacting 1 billion people.

Donna is married with four amazing children. She loves to travel, cook and create. She is a member of YPO Angeleno and an active volunteer. She loves new chal-
lenges and continually strives to be of service and do the works that can make a difference in the world. She thrives working with people, projects and organizations
that contribute in a positive way to raising awareness and creating tangible solutions for the worlds most pressing global issues.

Advisory Board

The Piece by Piece advisory board is comprised of community members who have expertise in the work and services offered by Piece by Piece. They offer insight in to how the programs help the community; how Piece by Piece can continue to serve the community; and also help identify and address some of the unseen issues and barriers that Piece by Piece artists face in their day to day lives. This unique perspective from diverse voices allows for a better understanding of what participants need and how Piece by Piece can grow to address those needs.

  • June Cigar

    Artist June is well-respected and always supportive of her fellow artists at Piece by Piece, offering a kind word with a welcoming nature. She completed the Speak Up! Advocacy program through CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing) and has represented the Skid Row and South Los Angeles communities in Sacramento, speaking to members of state government on issues such as homelessness, domestic violence, women’s issues, and arts wellness. She is a breast cancer survivor, and is passionate about advocating for women’s immediate health issues. As a trained artist with the program, she works on large and small scale commissions, and also enjoys making portraits of individuals who inspire her.

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  • Jose Morales

    Artist and assistant instructor Jose has been working with Piece by Piece for over twelve years. In addition to working with Piece by Piece, he created his own mosaic art program — Art of Heart — in his community, supporting individuals at KIWA (Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance) and elsewhere in the city. He has been a strong voice in advocating for immigrants and labor rights. Jose has been a pillar in the Piece by Piece program, always supportive, offering instruction that makes each person feel confident in their artistic journey. He enjoys creating geometric artwork and working with Piece by Piece artists on large scale projects.

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  • Luz Mack-Durini

    Luz Mack-Durini leads the Piece by Piece artist team in the fabrication of commissions, both large and small. She has traveled to study with renowned mosaic masters and won awards for her art. Luz was granted a scholarship to study at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York and selected to receive the Robin Brett Mosaic Scholarship by The Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA).

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  • Bea Jones

    Bea Jones is an instructor, supporting in all workshops and may also be found in the Piece by Piece Studio helping with Large-Scale commissioned artwork. Her encouraging assistance and expert knowledge is an enormous benefit to both participants and instructors.

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Artistic Team

We are so grateful for our amazing artist instructors and the expertise they bring.

Learn more about some of the artists they teach

  • Dawn Mendelson

    Artistic/Program Director

    Dawn Mendelson, Artistic Director, has provided leadership in the development of Piece by Piece since 2007. She has over time built an arts curricula for participants that fosters learning in design, drawing, creativity and mosaic technique with progressive benchmarks. Dawn specializes in pique assiette, a style of mosaic which uses recycled materials. Her passion is working with people, especially those who are new to art, and enjoying their moments of self-discovery.

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  • Luz Mack-Durini

    Commissions Manager and Lead Instructor

    Luz Mack-Durini leads the Piece by Piece artist team in the fabrication of commissions, both large and small. She has traveled to study with renowned mosaic masters and won awards for her art. Luz was granted a scholarship to study at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York and selected to receive the Robin Brett Mosaic Scholarship by The Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA).

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  • Jose Morales

    Jose Morales has exhibited commendable growth over his years of participation in Piece by Piece learning workshops, attaining top-level Artisan skills.  We are extremely proud of his accomplishments including his recent advancement to the role of Assistant Instructor.

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  • Bea Jones

    Bea Jones is an instructor, supporting in all workshops and may also be found in the Piece by Piece Studio helping with Large-Scale commissioned artwork. Her encouraging assistance and expert knowledge is an enormous benefit to both participants and instructors.

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  • Ellen Dinerman

    Ellen is a wonderful teacher who values personal connections. Her passion for mosaics began after her first project, a highly textured piece of her 18lb cat, Moca.

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  • Betty Rosen

    Betty Rosen is a professional freelance mosaic artist, community builder, and educator. Her work can be seen in Eagle Rock Park, the Tacoma Museum of Glass, Angels Gate Cultural Center and private residences and collections nationwide.

  • Wendy Viscarra

    Instructor

    Wendy is a Picerne Foundation Artist Outreach Instructor. She has been working as a volunteer with non-profits for over 20 years. She is passionate about helping underserved communities and currently volunteers teaching art to the skid row communities.
    
She has worked in the internet/entertainment industry most of her life but has always created art. She is a mixed media artist who enjoys working in mosaics, jewelry design and mixed media art. She has been working in mosaics for over 25 years and enjoys using recycled materials in her artwork.
    
Her artwork is published in Mosaic Art Today by Schiffer Ltd. Publishing

Administrative Team

Also a creative group! They just happen to use paper and apps rather than tile and substrate!

  • Maggie Bohlman

    Executive Director

    Maggie Bohlman has 20+ years of experience leading mission and values-driven organizations. With a focus on program design, operations, and fundraising in the nonprofit sector she has worked tirelessly to better our community. She previously has served as the Executive Director for Opportunity Junction and Senior Action Network, and was the Chief Community Engagement Officer at David & Margaret Youth and Family Services. She actively sought out the opportunity to join Piece by Piece as she was so impressed with the agency. Maggie currently serves on the RaiseAChild board of directors and has a long history of volunteer service. She holds a B.A. from Occidental College and an MBA from The Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Maggie lives in Los Angeles with her son, two Spanish Water Dogs, cat and tortoise.

  • Jadie Delgado

    Social Enterprise Operations Manager

    Jadie Delgado has a longtime passion for the arts and has been working in the nonprofit sector since 2018. Initially, she managed social media for organizations. Given her natural affinity for storytelling and her sincere interest in people, she moved into marketing and fundraising roles. Her attention to detail and ability to keep everything organized landed her in operations where she is able to combine her interests and skills. Jadie lives in beautiful Pasadena with her daughter and two dogs.

  • Josh Provost

    Operations Manager

    Josh Provost has worked in a variety of different fields from animal rescue to outdoor retail management, and more. Used to wearing a lot of hats, Josh loves to assist in many projects and manage a variety of tasks. Passionate about the arts and working to improve the lives of anyone he can, he was excited at the opportunity to work with Piece by Piece. When not working, Josh loves to spend his time rock climbing, hiking, or skiing but also enjoys streaming games online and spending time with friends all around the country.