Dr. Wendy Leavell

CEO and President

Dr. Wendy Leavell serves as CEO and President. She joined the Ocean Institute in 2017 as Vice President of Education and brings leadership experience in education organizations in for-profit and non-profit sectors, including USC, Houghton Mifflin, College Board, and the Discovery Cube. Wendy has a doctorate in education from USC, where she earned the Dissertation of the Year award for her research in 2012.

Vipe Desai

 Business Strategist & Philanthropist and Board Chairman

Vipe Desai is an award-winning executive and thought-leader who is known for having a sharp eye on the ever-changing consumer dynamics, trends, challenges, and opportunities that help make informed decisions in the boardroom.

With more than 30 years of marketing, branding, and leadership experience along with 20 years of governance serving on more than a dozen boards, Vipe has a proven track record for leading successful brand launches, organizational change, brand re-positioning, and strategic planning within the boardroom and a passion for inspiring, mobilizing, and empowering support for underserved communities.

Vipe is a dedicated and experienced leader in a host of sectors that spans retail, action sports, commercial real estate, food & beverage, and media.

Today, Vipe is focusing on ensuring that future generations are met with a healthy and thriving ocean and is involved with several ventures focused on innovations and solutions that will reduce plastic waste and minimize business’s impact on the planet.

Steve Harris

CIC President; Robert E. Harris Insurance Agency, Inc. and Board Secretary 

Steve Harris is a career insurance professional that is dedicated to delivering the highest expertise in risk management for client counsel. He has served as President of Robert E. Harris Insurance Agency since 1998 and leads the agency with the same guiding principles that it was founded upon in 1955: integrity, relationships and service.Steve joined the agency in 1991 and successfully diversified the agency’s book of business beyond the real estate sector. Prior to that, he handled one of the largest audit territories in the U.S. for CIGNA Property and Casualty, working on general liability, workers’ compensation, property and automobile policy audits.

Steve Harris earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC).

Jeannine Smith, CFP®

Certified Financial Planner, Financial Advisor and Senior Vice President at Morgan Stanley in Irvine, California.

For more than 30 years she has dedicated her career to helping clients navigate their many concerns and ultimately simplify their financial lives so they can feel more confident about their future.

In 2004, she co-founded the MacArthur Group at Morgan Stanley with her business partner Jeff Main. Collaborating with their team of seasoned professionals they provide tailored solutions to help clients tackle their financial challenges.  Jeannine finds deep satisfaction knowing that her care and efforts can make a positive difference in the lives and legacies of the families she serves.  In 2022 she was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors: Best-In-State.  

In addition to her dedication to Ocean Institute, Jeannine also serves on the Board of RxBallroom Dance, a non-profit organization whose mission is to use ballroom dance to enhance the quality of life for people confronting neurodegenerative conditions.  Her favorite hobby is amateur ballroom dancing and despite a history of knee injuries that makes it more challenging, she loves it.  She resides in Laguna Niguel, CA with her two grown sons living nearby.

Ken Petersen

Senior Vice President and Business Development Officer, First American Trust, FSB

An attorney by trade, Ken has been with First American Trust for the past twenty-three years, where he specializes in advising high-net-worth individuals and families on estate planning matters and crafting customized plans in the areas of investment management and wealth advisory/trust planning. Ken is part of the team that collaborates with families to help preserve, protect and grow their wealth with an emphasis on family, business and philanthropic priorities. He started his career as a business and real estate litigation associate attorney with Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP in Newport Beach, California. He subsequently served as legal counsel and as a real estate asset manager for Koll Management Services, a subsidiary of the Koll Company. Ken graduated Phi Beta Kappa/Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UCLA and earned his Juris Doctorate from UCLA’s School of Law. In 1989, he was admitted to the California State Bar, where he remains a member in good standing. Ken is involved as a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the American Bar Association; The Elder Law and Trusts and Estates Sections of the Orange County Bar Association; The Orange County Estate Planning Council; The UCLA Planned Giving Forum; the Oceanic Friends of the of the Wrigley Institute / USC Marine Research Facility on Catalina Island and the Noble Vikings of Orange County. He is a past Chairman twice over of the Orange County Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Section. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of Orange County; the Endowment Committee for the Surfrider Foundation; the Endowment Council for Chapman University; and Development Committee for the Ocean Institute, where he heads up its Professional Advisory Council, comprised of 175 local estate planning attorneys and fiduciary CPAs dedicated to supporting the organization’s mission of ocean research, education and conservation. Mr. Petersen has also served as a civilian volunteer for the Orange County Sheriff Department’s Professional Services Reserve Division – Search and Rescue Unit. In his free time, he enjoys surfing and stand-up paddling with his wife and walking Greta, their beloved Great Dane, around the Dana Point Harbor.

Charlie Steinmetz

President; JCA Associates, Inc

Charles W Steinmetz is a real estate investor. Previously he worked for the family company, Tiernay Metals until he sold the Company to Transtar Metals in 1999. Tiernay was the largest distributor of aircraft quality aluminum extrusions in the world. The Company is now owned by Castle Metals.

Mr. Steinmetz is also President of the Steinmetz Foundation that makes grants to literacy and curiosity building educational non-profits in Southern California.

Jill A Tracy

Director of Emergency Services; Southern California Gas Company

As the Director of Emergency Services for SoCalGas, the nation’s largest natural gas distribution company, Jill is responsible for leading emergency planning, training and response efforts for SoCalGas’ natural gas transmission, storage and distribution operations throughout Southern California. Jill has over 20 years of experience in various disciplines in the energy industry.

Prior to joining Sempra Energy in 2007, Jill was senior environmental counsel at Chevron and led the nationwide environmental litigation and enforcement program at Unocal following a career in private practice in California, New York and New Jersey as an environmental compliance, enforcement and litigation attorney.

Jill has a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Independent Studies from Vassar College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of New Hampshire School Of Law.

In her spare time, Jill enjoys cooking, trail running and spending time with her three sons.

Mel Chambers

Chambers Group Inc

Mr. Chambers received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Utah State University in 1972. Prior to forming Chambers Group, Inc. in 1978, he specialized as a Principal and co-Principal investigator at the Utah State Water Research Laboratory, Utah State University. He participated in the development and application of mathematical models for the water resource systems, planning, evaluation, and decision making. He has authored and co-authored several articles and reports on subjects including water resource system analysis, planning, evaluation, and decision making with an emphasis on comprehensive environmental management. In addition, he worked on the development of a conceptual and operational framework for the assessment of environmental impacts studies within the province of Alberta, Canada. He coordinated the development of a multi-disciplinary program of environmental research for the Alberta Oil Sand, developed Oil Spill Contingency Planning in the Beaufort Sea, and other environmental studies for energy and transportation projects.

He founded Chambers Group Inc. (CGI) in 1978. CGI is an environmental solution firm specializing in environmental, planning, impacts reports/statements, biological and cultural resources, marine biology, compliance, and construction monitoring and restoration. CGI is a solutions-oriented environmental consulting firm serving private businesses, industry, and government agencies throughout the western United States. The firm was formed to address environmental protection requirements set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (CEQA). For four decades, Chambers Group has been providing its clients with services in environmental compliance as well as natural and cultural resources management to keep projects moving forward through the environmental review process. In 2014 Chambers Group joined the growing contingent of Employee Stock Owned companies in the United States. Mr. Chambers remains Chairman of the Board.

In 1984 Mr. Chambers purchased City Concrete Products Inc, a small Southern California Ready Mix concrete company. He grew the company and sold it in 1995. He was Chairman of the Board for Southern California Rock Products and Ready-Mix Association and the National Ready-Mix Concrete Association. Mr. Chambers was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine’s special report as one of the 50 hottest Small Businesses in America for his implementation of W. Edwards Deming 14 Management Points. And has given presentations on how to accomplish transformation to a Deming-managed company.

Mr. Chambers has been involved with the Ocean Institute since 1989, has been a board member since 1991 and Chairman for 6 years in the early ’90s. He currently is Chair of the Facilities Committee.

He has stayed active with the Institute because he is excited about the unique hands-on immersion programming to teach children and feels few fields of study are more important to the future than science, technology, engineering, math, history, and the environment. Using the ocean, children are inspired to learn. He feels they have developed programs that get kids excited about science/history/environment and they take that excitement back to their families and schools.

Collie F. James IV

Office Managing Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Collie James is the Office Managing Partner of Morgan Lewis’ Orange County office and the Deputy Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Southern California litigation practice. He in an experienced trial attorney who focuses on complex business litigation matters, including mass tort, product liability, unfair business practices claims, and consumer class actions. Collie’s practice often involves high-profile crisis management matters, and he regularly counsels clients on a broad array of issues that significantly impact their businesses.

Collie is also committed to community and philanthropic interests. He is the co-founder and treasurer of the Maddie James Foundation, established in honor of the memory of his five-year-old daughter and which assisted in funding the building of the seaside learning center bearing her name at the Ocean Institute. He also previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jessie Rees Foundation, which supports children and their families around the world who are facing pediatric cancer, and on the Governance Committee of the local chapter of Make-A-Wish. He is a past president of the Orange County Bar Foundation and board member of the Federal Bar Association and directs a local legal aid clinic.

A native of Texas, Collie earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Dartmouth College and graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law before moving to California to begin his professional career. He lives near the Ocean Institute in Capistrano Beach with his wife Monica and their two sons, Collie V and Beckett.

Claudia A. White, Ph.D.

CEO White Sands Consulting

Claudia A. White, Ph.D. is the owner and CEO of White Sand Consultants. She is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, Mentor, Coach, and Performance & Productivity Consultant. She specializes in researching, analyzing, developing, and assisting leaders, teams, and organizations to increase workplace performance and productivity. For the past twenty-nine years, she has worked with many individuals and organizations to significantly improve their quality of work/life, quality of customer service, improve work relations, create productive team environments, and increase worker productivity. She has worked successfully in both the domestic and international arenas. She is a published author, keynote speaker, and adjunct college professor who voluntarily mentors business leaders & students. For over twenty years she served as a Board Member & Business Advisor
as well as a Community Volunteer both in the United States and in Jamaica.