John Vandenburgh - President/Executive Director

John Vandenburgh began his career as a High School Teacher in Southern California, where in 2002 he was honored as one the California League of High Schools Educators of the Year. His career transitioned into a focus on Violence Prevention in schools when he became a Safe Schools administrator.  He has served on the California Department of Education’s Gang Task Force where he helped develop the Getting Results Update on Gang Violence for schools in the state of California. In 2007 he received the Ananda Guruge (Ger – Gay) Lifetime Commitment Award for Violence Prevention, presented by Stop the Violence, Increase the Peace Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. He has served as the Vice President of the California School Resource Officers Association. John Vandenburgh is a nationally recognized speaker, program developer and trainer on violence prevention and youth development approaches in education.  He is the author of the PLUS Program, Peer Leaders Uniting Students, and the creator of a software based application called CyberBully Alert.  His latest work, has gathered international attention as an innovative strategy for addressing online safety and cyberbullying.

Regina Siez, Secretary

Regina Siez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has worked with children and families for over 20 years. She has experience in working with foster youth, tribal communities, and students in local school districts. She has extensive knowledge in dealing with death and dying, loss, trauma, and various other mental health issues. Currently, she is a Social Worker for the Temecula Valley Unified School District. She is also an adjunct lecturer in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California.

 

Julia Gabor -Member

Julia has worked  with esteemed organizations such as the LA-All Stars, the Tiger Woods Foundation and WRiTE BRAiN BOOKS.

Julia was awarded the Women Making a Difference by U.S. Senator of California Lou Correa for her contributions in youth programming in Orange County, CA, in 2014. In, 2013 Julia received the OSTI award from BOOST for her contribution to out-of-school time individuals by providing innovative approaches to support students, families and communities. Julia launched a national college internship program for sports management, hospitality and marketing majors from universities across the country. Additionally, she managed a mentor program for first -generation college students, attending private and liberal art universities. Julia also managed a national character education program called Tiger's Action Plan (TAP). TAP served close to 10 million students from 2003-2009.

Julia is a graduate of the State University of New York, Fredonia receiving her bachelor's degree in the Fine Arts. She received her Master’s in Educational Leadership from Antioch University.

Dean Lesicko - Board Member

Dean Lesicko brings more than 35 years of experience in education, serving as a teacher, school counselor, administrator, and university adjunct professor. Throughout his career, he has held central office leadership roles where he secured multi-million-dollar grant funding to develop award-winning student support programs. Dean is a former President of the California Association of School Counselors and continues to serve the profession as a mentor and advocate. Appointed by the California Department of Education to statewide policy workgroups focused on student mental health, he has helped shape initiatives that strengthen support systems for youth. As an educational consultant with school districts across California and a presenter with Just ListenED at professional conferences, Dean specializes in building tiered systems of support that improve student outcomes and foster healthy, connected school communities.

Staff

Kevin Cloyd - Chief Strategist Officer

Kevin M. Cloyd: Cloyd brings to PCE and its affiliates 30 plus years of U.S. based financial services and executive management experience while working with many of the globally based investment banking firms in the mortgage banking arena. Of recent note, he is the President and CFO of ECC Capital Corporation where he led the recent, April 2024, capital raising efforts of the firm and subsequent acquisition of Kemmerer Holdings Co., a Wyoming based coal mining operation. Prior to his engagement at ECC Capital he held several executive roles with various financial services companies located in Southern California. Cloyd holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cal State Fullerton and Masters of Management degree from the University of Redlands.

Barry Busler – Chief Technology Officer

Barry Busler brings more than 25 years of experience in technology research and development to Protect Connect Educate Solutions. He began his career at IBM as a lead design software engineer for DeveloperWorks, helping scale the platform into a global resource. Throughout his career, Barry has led major initiatives for IBM, Dell, and Microsoft across the finance, healthcare, government, and startup sectors. He has directed multinational teams spanning India, Poland, Belarus, Costa Rica, Argentina, the UAE, and the United States, demonstrating both technical depth and global leadership. A former CTO for multiple organizations, including Big Data and AI companies, Barry also served as the architect of one of the world’s largest OSINT platforms for the UAE government—a multi-hundred-million-dollar initiative. His expertise in scalable systems, advanced analytics, and innovation leadership strengthens PCE’s mission to deliver cutting-edge tools that support safe and connected school communities.