NONPROFIT
KidWorks, a California-based nonprofit, is proud to welcome four distinguished Orange County leaders to its volunteer Board of Directors, strengthening its mission to inspire purpose and expand opportunities for students in Santa Ana.
Valerie Torrey is a retired assistant superintendent of Special Education and Student Services for Garden Grove Unified. She was previously a director, elementary school principal and a classroom teacher. Torrey is a KidWorks program committee co-chair and participates as a KidWorks mentor with her husband. She has two adult children. She holds a master’s in education from USC and a bachelor’s in psychology from UCLA.
Longtime SoCal commercial real estate lender Mike Paris is an SVP with U.S. Bank Commercial Real Estate, managing its L.A. and O.C. commercial real estate offices. Previously, he worked with JP Morgan Chase and a Japanese commercial bank in L.A. He was a policy advisory board member at University of San Diego’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate and served on the YMCA of San Diego County Board. Paris graduated from UC Santa Barbara. He joined the U.S. Bank team for KidWorks’ Christmas decorating tradition with one of his daughters.
Marcus Bagley is a partner at Snell & Wilmer, specializing in commercial finance and represents clients in complex lending transactions. Licensed in California and Texas, he has been advising financial institutions and borrowers for two decades. He has a law degree from USC Gould School of Law and bachelor’s in political science and international relations from USC.
Bobby Gorby is a managing director in CBRE’s Media & Telecom Sector, leading strategies client solutions and overseeing complex real estate and operations portfolios. He was CBRE’s global solutions and regional director, supporting accounts like Nike and SoCal Edison. Previous experience is with Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust. His MBA in Finance and Real Estate is from the William & Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business and bachelor’s in business administration is from Flagler College. With his wife, Annie Gorby, he had previously attended KidWorks’ Festival of Chefs premier culinary event in Newport Beach that annually raisers over $1 million for the nonprofit and was inspired to join the event committee.
“We are honored to add these four outstanding professionals to our Board of Directors,” says David Benavides, KidWorks’ Chief Executive Officer. “We’re fortunate to have a dedicated Board that reflects a broad spectrum of talented individuals from various industries and walks of life.”
