Dana Katz, Co-Chair

Dana was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Tufts University in 1987 with a degree in Political Science, then returned home to start a career in commercial real estate. After 17 years, primarily involved with landlord and tenant representation at CBRE, Dana retired to focus on family and volunteer work.

Throughout her career at CBRE, Dana’s service work was primarily focused at the Westside Family Y, now the Collins & Katz Family Y, where she is in her 24th year on the board and served two non-consecutive terms as Board Chair for a total of 11 years. She and her husband also volunteer one week each summer to direct a YMCA resident camp program in Big Bear, California.

In 2007, the Katz Family Foundation established its most important philanthropic achievement to-date: the creation of UCLA Health Operation Mend, a program for our nation’s most severely injured warriors requiring specialty medical and psychological health care. At the outset, Dana and her husband, Todd, created a component of this program known as the Operation Mend Buddy Family Program which has grown tremendously over the years. Dana currently serves as UCLA Operation Mend’s Volunteer Director of Community Engagement & Buddy Programs, building opportunities for organizations within the Los Angeles community to engage the program’s participants. Most impactfully, Dana oversees the Buddy Program’s 300+ volunteers who are specifically matched with wounded warriors and their families in order to provide them with social support when visiting Los Angeles for evaluations and treatment at UCLA. In addition, she plays an active daily role in strategic initiatives and development.

In addition to still serving on the board of the Collins & Katz Family Y, Dana also sits on the Board of Directors of the UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and UCLA Women & Philanthropy.

Dana’s husband, Todd, is an active partner in all of her work, as are Dana’s two children, Gracen

(24) and Sara (22), and Todd’s two children, Hailey (24) and Sean (21). They live in West Los Angeles with their three dogs and a tank full of fish!