An ardent defender of children and families, CCRC President and CEO Dr. Michael Olenick has been named one of the most influential people in Los Angeles.
The honor was awarded by the Los Angeles Business Journal in its 2024 roundup of “200 Most Influential Leaders.” Olenick will appear on the cover of the Valley 200 edition alongside other esteemed leaders.
He will appear on the cover with: Dr. Chandra Subramaniam, CPA, CMA, who currently serves as the Dean of David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University Northridge; Danone Simpson, EMBA, GBDS, who is the founder and CEO of Montage Insurance Solutions, a full service insurance brokerage firm; and Michelle Gaskill-Hames, the president of Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Hawaii.
“It’s a recognition of CCRC and nonprofits,” said Olenick. “It’s a team effort: The people in programs doing their programs well, the people in support doing their part to make sure we have staff coming in, the IT folks making sure all our computers and systems work, the people in communications making sure our message is amplified, the research people making sure we can document what we’ve been doing, the government relations team having legislators come to us and asking what we think – we’re trusted advisors at the state level and have input nationally, as well. It’s everyone working together, regardless of what your role is. It doesn’t matter what your position is, it just matters that you believe in what we’re doing.”
And this isn’t the first time he’s been honored as a leader of influence. For six years in a row, he made the list in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Olenick said the agency’s longstanding reputation as a trusted partner has earned the agency new responsibilities, partnerships, and influence. One example is our recent referral by a local lawmakers to a group looking to further its reading campaign.
“We just met with a national group doing a reading campaign. The way they got to us was with the board committee of Supervisor Katherine Barger. The group approached Katherine Barger’s children’s deputy and said they wanted to talk to some agencies that could help spread the reading program they have and she said, ‘Oh, talk to CCRC.’ It’s nice having people know who you are and sending people your way.”
