Board Members

Ernest Camacho, of Pasadena, founded Pacifica Services, Inc. in 1979 and currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. Pacifica Serves specializes in program, project and construction management services as well as civil and electronic engineering.

Emily Cohen is the Executive Vice President of United Contractors, overseeing organizational development, government relations, political advocacy, and communication strategy for California’s largest union-signatory construction trade association representing heavy civil engineering contractors.

Martha M. Escutia, former California State Senator, was appointed vice president for USC Government Relations, effective May 1, 2013. Ms. Escutia oversees the university’s federal, state and local government relations.

James C. Ghielmetti is Chief Executive Officer of Signature Homes, Inc., the Northern California land development and homebuilding firm, headquartered in Pleasanton, California that he founded in 1983. Signature is well known throughout the greater Bay Area and Sacramento regions for its diverse product offerings including residential, mixed-use, commercial and its master planned communities.

Henry Perea is a lifelong resident of Fresno, California. He spent 23 years in elected service in the heart of the state’s Central Valley. He served on the Fresno County Board of Education, the Fresno City Council and as a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

Lynn Schenk is an attorney and senior corporate advisor. She serves on the Board of Directors of Cambridge, Mass. based Biogen Idec,(NASDAQ BIIB), the Board of Trustees of the Scripps Research Institute, and the Board of the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. In 2006, she completed her term as a commissioner of the California Medical Assistance Commission.

Anthony C. Williams is Director of Public Policy for Amazon in California. He also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of the California High Speed Rail Authority, and previously was Governor Gavin Newsom’s first Legislative Affairs Secretary. His legislative experience includes serving two California Senate Leaders: John Burton and Darrell Steinberg for whom he was Policy Director and Special Counsel. He has also been a legislative advocate for the Judicial Council of California and a Senior Executive and Chief Lobbyist for the State Bar of California.

Senator Lena A. Gonzalez was first elected to the State Senate to represent the 33rd District in a special election in June of 2019 and was subsequently re-elected in the November 3, 2020 general election for her first full 4-year term. As State Senator, she represents nearly 1 million residents in Southeast Los Angeles, Signal Hill, portions of South Los Angeles and Lakewood, and her hometown of Long Beach.

On August 8, 2024, the Board of Directors selected Ian Choudri as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. He comes to the Authority with more than 30 years’ experience in the transportation sector, including working on high-speed rail projects in France and Spain. Choudri most recently worked as Senior Vice President for HNTB corporation. In his previous position at HNTB, Choudri worked with federal and state level partners on a variety of transportation and infrastructure issues. In California, he worked to develop future connections between the Ontario Airport with the future Brightline West terminus in Rancho Cucamonga.