Villa Esperanza Services Elects New Members to the Board of Directors

L-R: Villa Esperanza welcomes 3 new board members. Alexis Casillas, Jeri Wright and Phil Davis.

Villa Esperanza Services is pleased to welcome Alexis Casillas, Phil Davis and Jeri Wright as the newest members to the Board of Directors.

Alexis Casillas is a special needs advocate attorney with Newman Aronson Vanaman. She has been committed to special education advocacy since her brother was first diagnosed with autism. She attended Columbia Law School where she was trained to work with special-needs families by Advocates for Children of New York and volunteered with the Autism Legislation Project. Alexis spent her final year as a law student at Stanford where she participated in YELP, a clinic devoted to providing free legal assistance to low-income special-needs students. Alexis also served as an extern to the Honorable Kim Wardlaw on the Ninth Circuit.

Phillip A. Davis is a partner with Sheppard Mullin in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He specializes in corporate and securities litigation, director, officer, shareholder and partnership litigation, real estate litigation, and creditor’s rights. Phil received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University and Trinity College, Oxford. He volunteers as Judge Pro Tem and arbitrator for Los Angeles Superior and Municipal Courts and is active in philanthropy serving on two foundation boards.

Jeri Wright served as Managing Assistant City Attorney for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office from 2001-2010. There she advised City Council, City Planning Commission, Area Planning Commissions, Board of Building and Safety Commissioners and Building and Planning Departments. Jeri was primary advisor to Planning and Land Use Management Committee handling litigation, legislation and advice for the division. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School with her Bachelors of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles, Cum Laude. Jeri is now retired and enjoys family, travel and volunteering.

Newly elected Board Chairman, Jay Henneberry, welcomed the members sharing, “We are delighted to have Alexis, Phil and Jeri join Villa’s Board. They bring great knowledge and expertise to the organization. We are grateful to have them supporting Villa and advocating for those that cannot speak for themselves.”

Villa serves infants to seniors with intellectual/developmental disabilities including more than twenty different diagnoses. Our wide variety of programs and services assists more than 600 individuals and their families each year in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Since 1961 we have been a leader in advocating and advancing services for individuals with special needs. Villa excels in offering progressive and innovative approaches and solutions. Our ability to forecast and meet the changing needs of our clients has established us as a unique service provider, offering individualized programs and a continuum of care over the course of a lifetime. To learn more about Villa’s collaborative approach, log on to www.VillaEsperanzaServices.org.