Officer and Board Biographies

(Alphabetical Order)

Jane Albrecht                                                                            Board Member

Jane is a Democratic activist, film industry executive, strategist, attorney and international relations expert. Jane began her career at the US International Trade Commission in Washington, DC, working on trade disputes between countries and industries. She continued practicing international trade law in private practice, representing US interests before the White House, the Executive Branch, Congress and the Federal Courts. She subsequently spent 13 years in Brussels and London, representing US interests. For 10 years, she served as a Vice-President in the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) headquarters for Europe, Africa & the Middle East, where she worked with filmmakers, distributors, studios and governments in the region. After returning from Europe, she founded The Albrecht Group for political and policy work in Washington, DC, and the Global Entertainment Network (GEN), a consultancy to help film-makers, producers and creative talent get their projects developed, produced and distributed. Jane has volunteered for many political and charitable efforts, including efforts to stop apartheid in South Africa, and serving for 10 years on the Board of  the Hartley-Merrill International Screenwriting Prize for screenwriters in Eastern Europe. She has worked for every Presidential campaign since the Clinton campaign of 1992, and has supported several Congressional and state campaigns. She served 2 terms as President of Democrats Abroad Belgium. 

Hap Henry                                                                                     Co-President 

Born and raised in Malibu, Hap has developed a keen understanding of local history and political issues. After attending local public schools and serving as President of Malibu High School’s Associated Student Body, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Hap briefly attended law school before pursuing a career in business, and has volunteered to serve on numerous public commissions and non-profit Boards. He recently co-founded an online marketplace for art and media sales and licensing, and enjoys spending his time gardening, hiking, cooking, and bodysurfing. 

Garen Kosoyan                                                                                Board Member 

Garen Kosoyan is a California attorney and alumni of Malibu’s Pepperdine University. At his alma mater, he helped revitalize the College Democratic Club and encouraged the use of civil discourse to reach across the political aisle. Garen has conducted work and research regarding international human rights, genocide, the freedom of religion or belief and the right of self-determination. Garen has been a board member of the Malibu Democratic Club since 2019.          

David M. Kramer                                                                                      Treasurer

David spent most of his career as CFO and EVP for Budget Rent-a-Car of Southern California. A very complicated business.  David retired in 2016. David brings to the Club over 45 years of business, financial, accounting, and operating experience. He is an IRS Enrolled Agent and has a great tax background. He has strong organizational skills and helped build Budget Rent-a-Car of Southern California into a successful operation with well over 100 million dollars a year in revenue  from franchising and operations. He and his wife Shelley Kramer (self-employed) have lived on Point Dume in Malibu for over 30 years. They raised their son Andrew here. He has been part of numerous Malibu school and other organizations.

Lou LaMonte                                                                           Vice-President

Lance Simmens                                                                                  Vice-President

Lance currently serves as Public Works Commissioner for the City of Malibu, is a member of the Malibu Community Emergency Response Team (“CERT”), a regular contributor to the Malibu Times column From the Left, and is past President of the Malibu Adamson House Foundation.  Lance has spent four decades in senior level positions in public policy, politics, and government. He has served in two Presidential Administrations (Carter and Clinton), two U.S. Senators, two Governors, the Georgia State Senate, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the Presidential Commission on Year 2000 Conversion. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Georgia Southern University, his Masters in Public Administration from Temple University, completed his doctoral courses at George Washington University and has received certification in Environmental Economics from the Harvard Institute   or International Development and the Senior Managers in Government Executive program at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard.

William Swartout                                                                             Board Member

Bill is Chief Technology Officer at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies. He is also a research professor at USC’s Computer Science Department.   Prior to helping found the ICT in 1999, Swartout was the Director of the Intelligent Systems Division at USC’s Information Sciences Institute.   Swartout was the Principle Investigator for the ICT’s New Dimensions in Testimony Project which recorded Holocaust survivors in an interactive, conversational format, preserving their stories for future generations.  He is currently leading the ONR-funded Personal Assistant for Lifelong Learning project, which is developing a learning coach to help service members with career transitions and knowledge decay.  Swartout is a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), and in 2009,  received AAAI’s Robert Engelmore Award  for his contributions to knowledge-based systems, groundbreaking research on virtual human technologies and outstanding service to the artificial intelligence community. He has served as a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the Board on Army Science and Technology of the National Academies and the JFCOM Transformation Advisory Group.  Swartout received his Ph.D. and M.S. in computer science from MIT and his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.  A 30-year resident of Malibu, Swartout has volunteered for over 20 years with LA County’s Disaster Communications Service, serving Malibu and surrounding areas. 

Ted Vaill                                                                        Vice-President/Treasurer