The Michelson Philanthropies team is growing! We’re pleased to announce new staff members Vania Campos, Justin Chapman, and Michele Morris.
From left to right: Vania Campos, Justin Chapman, and Michele Morris.
Vania Campos is the new Marketing Administrative Assistant at Michelson Philanthropies.
In this role, she supports the Marketing team with all administrative tasks such as team calendar management, invoicing/billing marketing vendors, email communication with internal and external stakeholders, and analytics support.
Prior to MP, Vania worked as LA City Engagement Manager at Best Friends Animal Society where she gained six years of experience in animal welfare and nonprofits. Throughout her time there, she took on various roles including partner and community engagement, event planning, and operations management. With a BFA degree in Fashion Design, she also runs The Goodest Pet, an online shop offering handmade accessories for pets and their people. Vania currently resides in Los Angeles, but was born and raised in Lima, Peru. She is also a proud mom to two rescued cats, Fatty and Tiny, and a tiny Chihuahua named Cusco.
Justin Chapman is the new Digital Content Writer & Editor at Michelson Philanthropies.
In this role, he writes articles and produces content about the MP network of foundations for their websites, social media, and email newsletters.
Justin is an author, journalist, travel writer, actor, poet, musician, and politician. He most recently served as the Communications Officer at the Pacific Council on International Policy. He was the youngest elected official in LA County as a member of the Altadena Town Council at age 19. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications/Media Studies and from USC in 2018 with a Master’s degree in Public Diplomacy. At USC, he served as editor-in-chief and design/layout editor of Public Diplomacy Magazine and as staff writer at the Daily Trojan.
Justin has written hundreds of articles for two dozen print and digital publications, including Alta Journal, Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Berkeley Political Review, Pasadena Weekly, Pasadena Now, and many others. His book about his travels through Africa, Saturnalia: Traveling from Cape Town to Kampala in Search of an African Utopia, was published by Rare Bird Books in 2015. He is the writer, host, producer, and editor of the shows “Well Read with Justin Chapman” and “NewsRap Local with Justin Chapman.” He serves on Pasadena Media’s Citizens Advisory Committee and is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club (he came in 2nd place in the Hard News (one day’s coverage of a hard news story) category and 3rd place in the Obituary/In Appreciation (politics/business/arts personalities) category in the 63rd annual LA Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards in October 2021).
Justin also served as president of Men Educating Men About Health, as secretary of the West Pasadena Residents’ Association (and currently on the WPRA Advisory Board), as secretary of the ACLU SoCal Pasadena/Foothills chapter board, and as a member of the United Nations Association Pasadena chapter’s Communications Committee. He served as a commissioner on the city of Pasadena’s Northwest Commission from 2015-16.
As a professional child actor, he performed in dozens of commercials, television shows, and movies. He is also a golfer, snowboarder, skateboarder, soccer player, and father. Learn more about Justin here.
Michele Morris is the new Project Manager at the Michelson Medical Research Foundation.
Her responsibilities include supporting the Michelson Prize programs with project management, communication, and marketing activities. Prior to joining Michelson, Michele worked in public relations for a human services agency and spent 10 years as a public relations manager at Showtime Networks. She is in the process of closing her yarn shop, which she has owned and managed for the past 10 years.
Michele received a master’s degree from USC in Public Relations. She currently lives in Southwest Virginia where she serves on her town’s planning commission and is a member of local social justice organizations focused on bettering her community for all. In her downtime, she is an avid knitter and enjoys a good historical drama. Michele has two sons and is looking forward to returning to Los Angeles soon.
