A seven-member Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) governs Los Angeles World Airports. By the Charter of the City of Los Angeles, the Board is responsible for the formulation of airport policy. The Board is comprised of public-spirited business and civic leaders who are appointed by the Mayor, approved by the City Council and serve staggered five-year terms.
The current members of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners are Vanessa Aramayo, Matthew M. Johnson, Courtney La Bau, Victor Narro, Nicholas P. Roxborough, Valeria C. Velasco, and Karim Webb.
Following are biographies of each of the commissioners:
Karim Webb - President (appointed for term ending June 30, 2024)
Commissioner Webb is an Entrepreneurial Activist. A Principal at Webb Investments, an investment company aligning instruments of economic opportunity with and for people residing where opportunity exists. Also, he is co-founder of Positive Cash Flow (PCF) Restaurant Management, a franchisee of Buffalo Wild Wings. PCF has four restaurants in the Los Angeles area, with four additional units in development.
Commissioner Webb is also Venture Partner in Slauson & Co., an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the tools, platforms, and people aiding in small businesses' development, democratizing access to business ownership.
He serves on the boards of California Community Foundation, Everytable, African-American Board Leadership Institute, the Living Through Giving Foundation: Hashtag Lunchbag, Digital Restaurant Association and the Brotherhood Crusade as a Corporate Advisor.
Matthew M. Johnson - Vice President (appointed for term ending June 30, 2025)
Commissioner Johnson is a founding partner of Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP. For more than 25 years, he has represented the world’s most recognized talent and luminaries across film, television, sports, music, and politics, as well as many award-winning film and television producers, directors, writers, and content creators. Best known for his extensive film and television practice, Commissioner Johnson has a distinguished track record of structuring and closing landmark transactions across the media and entertainment landscape. He was at the forefront of negotiating deals that have paved the way for talent to maintain creative license and control over their intellectual property, enabling his clients to secure lucrative financial benefits, including novel and ancillary revenue streams through licensing, endorsement, merchandising, and publishing arrangements.
In 2008, he became the youngest person ever to join The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Power Lawyers in the Entertainment Industry” list and has remained a fixture on it every year since. He was also named one of The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans in the United States.
Outside of his law practice, Commissioner Johnson is a leader in the civic arena, active in politics, and a committed philanthropist. He currently serves as a Board Member of the International Rescue Committee, LA 2028 Olympic Games, and NYU School of Law. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Policing Project at NYU.
He previously served as the Chief of COVID-19 Philanthropic & Private Sector Community Emergency Response for the City of LA. In that capacity, he helped design, fund-raise, and implement a $75 million program focused on providing emergency relief services and financial assistance to the City’s most vulnerable. He is also the former President of the Los Angeles Police Commission and a former member of the Board of Airport Commissioners of the City of LA. A lifelong, engaged Democrat, he served as Treasurer of the Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign and as an At-Large Member of the DNC under the Obama Administration.
In recognition of his charitable work and commitment to the community, Commissioner Johnson has received numerous awards, including the President’s Volunteer Service Award, the Lawyer of the Year Award from the Langston Bar Association, the distinguished Dream Keeper Award from the “I Have a Dream Foundation” for his work in education, and an award from the Zeta Rho Foundation for his positive contributions to society and the youth of greater Los Angeles.
Commissioner Johnson is a graduate of Rutgers University and NYU School of Law. Prior to founding Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, he was a partner at Ziffren Brittenham LLP, where he served as Managing Partner for eight years until 2018.
Vanessa Aramayo (appointed for term ending June 30, 2028)
Commissioner Aramayo has worked to deliver lasting and positive systemic change at the local, state, and federal levels. She brings a rich background of working in the private, public, and now non-profit sectors. Her experience working in the California State Assembly and the U.S. Congress helped shape her vision of changing public policy to address inequities by engaging those directly impacted by systems. For over ten years, she has served in top leadership positions for local and statewide non-profit organizations working to improve conditions for immigrants, low-income and communities of color. Her experience working on public policy spans over 20 years and her issue areas of responsibility have included public education, college access, health care, economic development, immigration, security and public safety, and environmental.
Commissioner Aramayo is a passionate advocate for coalition building and engaging key stakeholders to work together towards expanding opportunities for all. Throughout her career, she has successfully collaborated with hundreds of community based organizations across California, effectively mobilizing residents and families in urban and rural areas. In addition, she has fostered partnerships with business leaders and elected officials at the local, state and national levels, including city halls, Sacramento and Washington DC.
One of Commissioner Aramayo’s notable achievements is the development of training programs that have empowered and cultivated thousands of community leaders, developed effective public policy agendas, and led campaigns to cultivate electoral power in key, under-represented communities. Her dedication extends to diverse policy advocacy efforts, from initiatives focused on increasing parent engagement within local school districts to championing a more equitable state budget in California. Additionally, she played a key role in health care reform with the delivery of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform at the national level. Through this work, she has also helped to lead efforts to deliver victories on key state ballot measures that create billions in new revenues to fund education and critical local health services. Her experience creating campaigns aims to increase new voters and turnout in low income, underserved communities.
Commissioner Aramayo currently serves as the Executive Director of a Los Angeles based non-profit organization, Alliance for a Better Community (ABC) which works to advance social, economic, racial equity and justice for the Latino/a community and the Los Angeles region.
She is the daughter of immigrant parents, a first generation college graduate, and her personal experience lends to a stronger understanding of the importance of access to opportunities and basic resources that help people thrive. Professionally, she has learned the critical importance of delivering strategic initiatives through strong, robust collaborations and building bridges through authentic relationships. She is a proud UCLA graduate and lives in Northeast Los Angeles with her husband and twin daughters.
Courtney La Bau (appointed for term ending June 30, 2024)
Commissioner La Bau is a C-suite executive and has over 20 years of experience in the international political and business arenas. She is a strategic advisor, published author, and speaker on national security, counter- extremism, culture and business around the world, specializing in strategic partnerships and building cross cultural bridges. She is one of LA’s 40 under 40 (2017), and has been featured on CNN, ABC, Al Jazeera, Euro News, The Hill, and Sky News Arabia. Most recently, she had a one hour special on CNN with Lisa Ling, highlighting the changing face of terrorism.
She is currently an Instructor with the Safe Communities Institute at the University of Southern California, and a former Los Angeles City Ethics Commissioner.
Commissioner La Bau is the CEO & Founder of CLB Global Strategies, a consulting firm focusing on the intersection of national security and business around the world. Over decades, she has worked in these senior roles on behalf of the federal government, think tanks, law enforcement agencies, and the private sector. During this time, she created and led numerous initiatives to build civil society, community resilience, and counter all forms of extremist narratives. She has a proven level of success through her authentic approach to understanding people, having won multiple awards and honors from various communities, government entities, and elected officials. She has travelled the world interviewing currently incarcerated and former extremists, and has a demonstrated passion and commitment to breaking down silos and enhancing equity in our communities.
Prior to that, she served as the Chief Global Strategy Officer for Neocova. She was responsible for the overall strategy of the organization’s international work - assessing and creating strategy for regions around the world based on the political, economic, and business environments of each new market. She also oversaw the DC public affairs efforts and political connectivity for the company.
Commissioner La Bau is the former Vice Chair of Emerge California, and has worked on numerous political campaigns at the local level as well as at the presidential level, having advised candidates on extremism and terrorism issues. She is a Political Partner for the Truman National Security Project, and co-head of the Homeland Security & Community Resilience Group.
Previously, she lived in Cairo, Egypt working on global investments in the region. She started her career as a Global Investor for JPMorgan Securities, spending six years at the firm. She continues this work as an avid investor today.
She has lived and worked in over 65 countries, has a deep knowledge of cultures around the world, and speaks fluent Spanish and conversational Arabic.
Commissioner La Bau graduated from the University of Southern California with a Business Administration (Finance) degree.
Victor Narro – (appointed for term ending June 30, 2026)
A nationally known expert on immigrant rights and low-wage workers, Commissioner Narro has been involved with immigrant rights and labor issues for almost 40 years. He is currently Project Director for the UCLA Labor Center and Core Faculty for the UCLA Department of Labor Studies, where he teaches classes that focus on immigrant workers and the labor movement. Commissioner Narro is also Core Faculty for the Public Interest Law Program at UCLA School for Law.
He was formerly the Co-Executive Director of Sweatshop Watch. Prior to that, he was the Workers’ Rights Project Director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). Before his tenure at CHIRLA, Commissioner Narro worked in the Los Angeles Regional Office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).
Commissioner Narro was appointed by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to the Police Permit Review Panel of the Los Angeles Police Commission in 2005 and the Board of Commissioners of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles in 2011. In 2017, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Commissioner Narro to the Cannabis Regulations Commission.
He is the author of many law review and journal articles. He is co-author of Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America’s Cities (2008), and Wage Theft and Workplace Violations in Los Angeles (2010). He is co-editor of Working for Justice: The L.A. Model of Organizing and Advocacy (Cornell University Press, 2010) and No One Size Fits All: Worker Organization, Policy, and Movement in a New Economic Age (Cornell University Press, 2018). Commissioner Narro has published a children’s book about labor solidarity, Jimmy’s Carwash Adventure (Hard Ball Press 2016). A follower of the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, Victor has emerged as a leading voice for spirituality in the work for justice as a Movement Chaplain for Faith Matters Network. Commissioner Narro’s latest book publication is The Activist Spirit – Toward a Radical Solidarity (Hard Ball Press 2022).
Nicholas P. Roxborough (appointed for term ending June 30, 2025)
Commissioner Nicholas Roxborough is the co-managing partner of Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani, LLP, a boutique employers’ rights law firm based in Los Angeles.
Commissioner Roxborough specializes in representing insured and self-insured employers as well as large stakeholders in complex workers’ compensation insurance and regulatory issues across the country. He has obtained, over the last 30 years, numerous successful verdicts and landmark appellate decisions concerning the insurance and employment industry, as well as successful class action settlements.
Commissioner Roxborough received his Juris Doctorate from Southwestern School of Law, studied at the Institute of European Studies in Vienna, Austria, and received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Commissioner Roxborough has worked closely with and chaired the California Insurance Task Force, which recommended many solutions resulting in major legislative changes in the workers’ compensation industry. Commissioner Roxborough was named one of the top 50 most influential professionals in the California workers’ compensation industry, and was named Defense Lawyer of the Year at the Comp Laude Annual Awards Ceremony. He received the JFK Award from the Los Angeles County Democratic Party; and also serves on the California Organized Investment Network Advisory Board, appointed by then Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones.
Commissioner Roxborough has been appointed as a City Commissioner including Vice Chair of the Police Permit Review Panel, and The El Pueblo de Los Angeles Commission.
Commissioner Roxborough is a longtime advocate of community involvement and served as the past Chairman of the Board for United Cerebral Palsy of Southern California
Commissioner Roxborough lives in Encino.
Valeria C. Velasco – (appointed for term ending June 30, 2027)
Commissioner Velasco is a sole practitioner estate planning attorney in Playa del Rey. As a civic leader, she has served as Lieutenant Governor for Rotary International District 5280 and currently serves as a Fee Dispute Arbitrator for the State Bar of California. She also served as chair of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce World Trade Week in 2012.
Commissioner Velasco has served as a City of Los Angeles Planning Commissioner, Staff Legal Counsel and Hispanic Liaison to former City Councilman Michael Woo, Assembly Aide/Hispanic Liaison to former Assemblyman Mike Roos and a bilingual elementary school teacher.
Commissioner Velasco earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, a Master of Arts degree in education from Claremont Graduate School, and Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach.
Commissioner Velasco is a native Californian, born at California Hospital in Los Angeles, and has lived with her husband Frank in Playa del Rey since 1988.
Board of Airport Commissioners
Los Angeles International Airport
1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045
laxboac@lawa.org
(424) 646-6263
