Advisory Board

Frank E. Baxter is Chairman Emeritus of Jefferies LLC, a global investment bank. He retired as Chief Executive officer in 2001, a position he held since 1987.

He is the current Honorary Consul of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the City of Sacramento. He is the former Ambassador to Uruguay where he served from November 2006 to January 2009.

He is the Founding Chairman of the Board of Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, a charter management organization with twenty-eight middle and high schools; Board member of EdVoice, an educational advocacy group in Sacramento; member of the Boards of the Pacific Council on International Policy; and St. John’s Health Center Foundation. He is a Life Trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Opera. He is an honorary doctor of Humane Letters at Pepperdine University.

He has been involved in other numerous civic activities, including: Governor Schwarzenegger’s Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth; Chairman of the Executive Committee, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, while undergoing a major building campaign; and Trustee, I Have a Dream Foundation, LA Chapter.

He is a former director of the NASD and served as Chairman of the committee, which resulted in the spin-off of NASDAQ.  He subsequently served on the Board of NASDAQ as a member of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the CEO search committee.  He is also a former director of the Securities Industry Association. He is the recipient of the Bet Tzedek, House of Justice; the City of Angels; Reasons Foundation, Savas Award; and Posse Foundation awards.

He graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He is a member of the California Club and the Los Angeles Country Club. Ambassador Baxter has been married to his wife Kathy since 1962. They have three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Caliber Collision is the largest collision Repair Company in the world with approximately 4.5 Billion dollars of revenue, and over 1100 locations. Shawn joined Caliber after the sale of his three Southern California collision centers to Caliber in April 2015.

As the Chief Client Officer, Shawn’s primary focus is to lead the development and implementation of Caliber Collision’s next generation of strategic partnership programs. Shawn also works as a liaison between strategic clients and Caliber’s Operations team to ensure world-class delivery of Caliber’s innovative operating and Marketplace Solution models, focused on unsurpassed consumer experience.

Shawn has 34 years of hands-on experience in the collision repair industry. His expertise runs from operations to client services to mergers and acquisitions, as well as numerous startups in the collision repair industry.

Shawn is a graduate of UCLA’s Anderson School for Executive Management and serves on a number of industry boards including Nationwide and Farmer’s advisory boards.

Shawn currently resides in Southern California and is a proud father of two girls.

Emmy nominated Creative Director Howard Nourmand has produced artwork for countless artists, musicians, and filmmakers. Throughout the course of his career Howard has worked closely with such creative forces as Oliver Stone, Brett Ratner, the late Robert Abel (best known for his special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tron), Kenneth Anger (the American underground avant-garde film-maker) and Lena Dunham (creator and star of Girls). Howard’s capacity to mesh live-action and animation, have won him recognition in the world of contemporary storytelling.

Jason L. Haun is Vice President of ZOM Living where he is responsible for pursuing and overseeing ZOMʼs multifamily development activities in the Southwest region. Over the past 15 years, Jason has directly overseen the ground up development of more than 4,000 residential units and over 1 million sf of commercial space.

Prior to joining ZOM, Jason developed affordable housing projects for one of the largest LIHTC developers and before that developed shopping centers throughout the country for one of the largest privately held shopping center developers/ owners. Over the past 15 years, he has been directly involved in the investment and/or ground up development of more than 6,000 residential units (garden, mid and high rise) valued over $2 billion and over 1 million sf of retail space (single tenant, grocery, big box and mixed-use).

Jason holds dual degrees in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona, where he graduated magna cum laude. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Real Estate Council, is a member of the Urban Land Institute where he has served on various committees and is a licensed real estate associate in the state of Florida.

Jonathan Hakakha is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Quantum Capital Partners. Recognized as one of the premier commercial mortgage professionals in the nation, Jonathan has coordinated the placement of more than three billion dollars in debt and equity financing across a variety of property types, including office buildings, retail shopping centers, ground-up construction, multifamily and industrial properties. His transactional experience along with capital markets expertise has made Quantum Capital Partners one of the fastest-growing, private companies in Southern California.

Prior to founding Quantum Capital Partners, Jonathan was a top producing mortgage banker with a boutique firm in Calabasas, California. Jonathan has also held the position of financial advisor with UBS Wealth Management in Century City, Los Angeles.

Jonathan is a member of California Mortgage Bankers Association, International Council of Shopping Centers, Mortgage Bankers Association and Urban Land Institute. He has participated in the Milken Institute’s Young Leader Circle, NAIOP’s Young Professionals Group, AIPAC’s Leadership Training Initiative, and the Geller Leadership Program through the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

Richard Ratner is a Senior Vice President in CBREʼs West Los Angeles office specializing in providing real estate advisory services, corporate transactional and management services to clients on a local, regional and national basis. Mr. Ratner specializes in advising and representing law, finance, real estate and technology companies, both public and private.

Prior to joining CBRE in July of 2010, Mr. Ratner held executive roles at Cushman & Wakefield in their West Los Angeles office. Prior to that, Mr. Ratner spent 10 years in Midtown Manhattan providing advisory and consultative real estate services. In years 2013, 2014, and 2015 Mr. Ratner has been involved in negotiations involving over $500,000,000 in transactions on behalf of his clients. He is involved in various civic and charitable organizations including the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, Southern California board member of The American Technion Society and the 2010 Co-Chair of the Jewish Federationʼs Young Hillcrest Division.

Scott’s experience with the firm covers all aspects of our practice. Scott handles all ranges of client services, from performing reviews and compilations to complex tax matters. Scott also is technically proficient with many accounting software packages and has assisted clients in installing, maintaining and customizing those programs. He began his career as an intern in 1991, joined on a full time basis in 1996 and became a partner in January 2005.

Scott is also involved in charitable endeavors, and provides support for those impacted by Multiple Sclerosis.

Chris Frank is the Founder and Managing Partner of 55×11, LLC, an innovative advisory organization with deep expertise in strategic planning, finance, entrepreneurship, and venture and private equity investing. In his current role he serves as strategic advisor to multiple high-growth organizations representing several market sectors. Prior to launching 55×11, Frank was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, Market President for Bank of America, and was one of the youngest Executive Directors at Morgan Stanley.

As a lifelong athlete, Chris is a Category 1 competitive road cyclist, multiple California State cycling Champion, and avid golfer. He has a BA degree in Economics from UCLA and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. A native of Wisconsin and Green Bay Packers fan from birth, he has been married to Tracy for 22 years, and is the father of 2. Chris has served on multiple non-profit Boards, including as Chair of The Children’s Bureau, and a Board member of The Los Angeles Opera, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and The California Science Center among others.