Pretend City Board of Directors

Hirad Emadi, P.E.
Chair, Pretend City
Co-founder and President
Innovative Construction Solutions (ICS)

Hirad earned his civil engineering degree from the University of California, Irvine in 1993 and is a licensed professional civil engineer, registered in the State of California. Hirad established ICS in 1999. The company provides soil and groundwater remediation, facility decommissioning, demolition and general construction services for projects complicated by environmental and regulatory issues. Hirad is the father of two young children.

Chad founded Chase Merritt, a privately owned real estate investment firm headquartered in Irvine, California, in 2005. Chase Merritt specializes in distressed, opportunistic, value add real estate investments. He previously served as the President of Newport Federal, a real estate investment company belonging to his father, Chuck Horning. Chad and his wife Kirsten have three sons.

Jill attended the University of Southern California where she earned her B.A. in Psychology. After graduating from USC, Jill began her 10-year career in title insurance at Fidelity National Financial. She is a Senior Member of the Major Accounts group headquartered in Newport Beach.

Kari holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from University Southern California. Kari has over 20 years of experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Her career has focused primarily on serving large domestic and multi-national public companies. Kari also served as one of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Sarbanes-Oxley experts where she advised companies on corporate governance matters.

Anne Marie holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine. She is also a member of the O’Neil/Avery/Moiso family, the second largest landholder in Orange County.

Bill has 34 years experience in teaching, coaching, site and district administration as well as 23 years of work with the senior management team of the OC Department of Education as Associate Superintendent of Instruction, Technology, Child Development and Outdoor Education Services. He received an MA in Education Administration.

Alexandra holds a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and has held senior level positions at several international advertising agencies.

Based in Irvine, Erin actively manages a portfolio of approximately 25 middle-market commercial banking clients. Erin received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She lives in Costa Mesa with her husband, Jack.

Darren and his team advise high net worth clients and foundations on a variety of investment and financial matters ranging from asset allocation and investments to trust and estate planning, philanthropic planning, and credit strategies. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.A. in English. Additionally, he received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with an emphasis in Finance. Darren and his wife Kym have five children.

Sinan holds a B.A. in Communications and a Master’s in Organizational Leadership, both from Chapman University. In 1998, he formed his first company, KCOMM, a web development and Internet marketing consultancy. In less than 10 years the company grew exponentially as a full-service Public Relations, Government Affairs and Event Marketing agency distinguished by its Internet expertise. In addition, Sinan founded the Internet Marketing Association, 8 years ago, a group that has grown rapidly to over 65,000 members nationwide.

Tom has extensive experience advising public and private companies, boards of directors and executives in a broad range of complex business, litigation and transactional matters. He received his B.A. in Economics and Business and his J.D. from the University of California Los Angeles. He is admitted to practice in the state of California, U.S. District Court, Central District of California and U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Bill, son of General William Lyon, has worked full time with William Lyon Homes since November 1997. He has been a member of the board of directors of William Lyon Homes since January 2000. Bill received a dual B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Product Design from Stanford University.

Scott is responsible for identifying development opportunities, project entitlement, and construction management. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and is a member of NAIOP, the trade association for developers, owners, and investors in industrial, office, and related commercial real estate.

Sandy, along with Alexandra Mars Airth, provided Pretend City’s vision. Sandy also served as the first Executive Director. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and received a B.S. degree in Hospitality Management from California Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Sandra Bolton is an attorney and RN, who recently served as Vice President of Professional Services at City of Hope. In that position she worked with the Chief Medical Officer to facilitate and develop clinical care and medical center programs. In three years, Sandra recruited over forty physicians and physician-scientists. Prior to City of Hope, Sandra served as the founding Executive Director of Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County. Under her leadership, the organization raised more than $7.5 million in its first four years, constructed a 7,000-square-foot dental facility and collaborated with the Children & Families Commission of Orange County, University of Southern California School of Dentistry and Children’s Hospital of Orange County to establish the first dental residency program in Orange County. Sandra started her career in pediatrics/neonatal at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach.

Sandra completed a fellowship in the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She received her associate degree in nursing from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, and her Juris Doctorate from Western State College of Law.