Erica Olsen

Erica Olsen is an Emmy-winning On-air Host and Producer for CBS News and Stations. She is the Host and Executive Producer of Inside SoCal, a weekly 5-minute lifestyle series airing on CBS & KCAL Los Angeles. Erica is the Past President of Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) SoCal Affiliate. She has her Intermediate Sommelier certification and completed her Winemaker Certification from UC Davis. She was born and raised in Nebraska but now calls Los Angeles home. When she's not working, she loves hiking with her dog, Caesar, trying new wines, being in the kitchen and traveling the world.

Champion of Hope Award, Rich Valenza

Rich Valenza is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RaiseAChild Inc., the nationwide leader in the recruitment, retention, and support of LGBTQ+ and all prospective resource parents. His motivation for starting the nonprofit was based on the discriminative comments he experienced on his path to foster-to-adopt his two children. As a result, Valenza founded RaiseAChild to help ensure that all people would be welcomed and respected throughout the foster and adoption process. In its thirteen-year history, RaiseAChild has served more than 95,000 prospective and current respite, foster, and foster-to-adopt parents across the United States.

In establishing RaiseAChild, Rich drew on 30 years of success in marketing and development for major television networks, U.S. Olympic sports teams, international apparel brands, and nonprofit organizations. Today, Valenza continues to use his expertise in working with leading national corporations and regional businesses to form innovative strategic partnerships with community service agencies and organizations.

Valenza is a licensed contractor who enjoys the challenge of fixing and flipping houses. After living in Los Angeles for 36 years, Rich and his family now live between Sonoma County and the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area. His current remodel project is the family's home in Santa Rosa which includes planting a small vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Jonathan Werner joined Aviva's board of directors in 2012 and has served as its chair since 2021. He has supported Aviva in a multitude of ways including significant monetary contributions and by providing human resources expertise on a broad range of day-to-day employment matters.

Outside of his role on Aviva's board, Jonathan is a partner at Frost Brown Todd, a Midwest-based law firm with offices throughout the United States, where he focuses his practice on labor and employment law.

Jonathan lives in Irvine, California, with his wife, Eileen, and is a proud father of three children: Robert, a sophomore studying electrical engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; and twins Timony and Olivia, both high school seniors getting ready to go off to college. The Werner family is also fortunate to have been adopted by their rambunctious, elderly Shih Tzu, Noodle.

In his free time, Jonathan enjoys undertaking various home improvement projects. Over the years, he has completely remodeled a kitchen, taken down to the studs and renovated a bathroom, installed doors and windows, tiled floors, and undertaken other projects. He anticipates working as a neighborhood handyman in retirement.