Board Member Bios

Coretta Harris

Coretta Harris has been a longtime volunteer at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the UCLA Alumni Association. As a student, she was active in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Upon graduation, she remained active with NSBE and SWE, establishing UCLA NSBE Alumni to support current NSBE students with financial resources, and access to mentors and speakers.

As a result of her involvement with NSBE, she was invited to join the Engineering Alumni Association (EAA) Board in 2000. She served on several committees and was elected the first female president of EAA in 2008 for a three-year term. In 2017, she began her second term on the EAA Board and currently serves as the chair of its Tri-Org Advisory Committee. Harris also contributes to UCLA Samueli on initiatives to increase student diversity and alumni engagement.

She serves on the UCLA Samueli Diversity Council as its alumni representative, and is a frequent speaker for Women in Engineering or WE@UCLA. In 2005, she established the Coretta Harris Scholarship Fund for incoming freshman and transfer students majoring in engineering. Harris graduated from UCLA in 1983 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering.

Lisa D. Cagnolatti

Lisa Cagnolatti is the retired vice president of Customer Service Operations at Southern California Edison (SCE), where she was responsible for revenue services and customer communications. Currently she serves as executive-in-residence at the ASU W.P. Carey School of Business where she provides mentoring and guest lecturing for the full-time MBA program.

Over the course of 33 years in the utility industry, Cagnolatti held various positions covering a broad range of management responsibilities including vice president of the business customer division where she oversaw the company’s relationships with its major industrial, commercial, and government customers. Her experience spans regulatory and environmental affairs, marketing, transmission and distribution, and customer service. She also led several cross-functional initiatives including outage management improvement efforts, streetlight strategies, and efforts to stimulate business development.

Since leaving SCE, Cagnolatti has begun a new career as a consultant serving philanthropic, educational, and community service organizations. She is a Board Member of the Valley of the Sun United Way and a member of the African American Women’s Giving and Empowerment Circle in Phoenix, Arizona. She also serves as president of both the newly chartered Alpha Alpha Iota Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and The Desert Pearls Foundation, a 501c3 community service organization. She is a long-standing member of the Dean’s Corporate Advisory Board at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.

Cagnolatti earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University. She is a graduate of the Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Fellows Program and is the 2021 recipient of the UCLA School of Engineering Professional Achievement award.

LaVant Wooten

LaVant Wooten has over 35 years of Engineering experience in Southern California. He worked over 17 years at Rockwell International’s Space Program, starting out as a Stress Analyst on the Forward Fuselage, was the lead Engineer in Applied Loads for the Vehicle Fleet, and provided load analysis for compatibility studies with International Space Station payloads with the Orbiter’s Payload Bay. He also was on team that provided damage assessment of debris impact during Shuttle missions.

Mr. Wooten joined the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in October 2001 as a field Engineer in the Infrastructure Platform in the Western Service Area, which include the States of California, Nevada, Arizona, and all the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, and Micronesia. He was promoted to manager of a team that oversee projects for the FAA in the area of Essential and Critical Power source installations, Shelter Replacements, HVAC, Lightning Protection and Grounding of FAA facilities, work necessary to allow for safe National Airspace System Operations in the region.

Mr. Wooten throughout his career has served on various philanthropic, educational, and community service organizations. Mr. Wooten is currently the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for the UCLA Black Alumni Association, a 501c3 educational organization, helped charter the Delta Sigma Theta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, is a Past Master New Hope Lodge #35 under The Most Worshipful Sons of Light AF&AM, was the 1st Western Regional Director of the Alumni sector of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and served as the Region 7 (Westchester) Boys U12 Commissioner of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). Mr. Wooten continues to serve as a committee member of the Winston C. Doby Legacy Scholarship and Dr. Lacey E. Wyatt Memorial Scholarship committees that offer financial aid for African American Students attending UCLA.

Mr. Wooten earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and was a Chancellor’s Award recipient for service to UCLA in 1986.

Eric D. Braham

Eric Braham is the Founder and CEO of GROWV, a personal development platform and Founder/Executive Director of Love at Scale , a social impact nonprofit.

Eric was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and attended college at UCLA where he began his studies as a Chemical Engineering student. In an effort to learn about and possibly help treat his grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease he threw himself into Neuroscience, Physiology and Applied Nutrition research and changed majors. He spent much of his early career working in Healthcare, Wellness and Public Health Research.

His lifelong interest in engineering and technology led him to Silicon Valley where he was truly inspired by the culture of innovation. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia where he continues to be energized by the soul of the city and the intersection of activism, entrepreneurship, creativity and technology.

Christian Duncan

Christian is a director in Verizon’s Corporate Strategy organization focused on Strategy Development and Risk. He has over 15 years of technology and business experience specializing in growth and innovation strategy for the telecommunications, media and entertainment industries.

At Verizon, Christian leads teams of data-driven problem solvers in developing strategies that span Verizon’s consumer and business groups. He regularly partners with the network, finance and marketing functions to mitigate risks, support growth and identify insights that highlight strategic connections between operational key results and external trends.

Christian is also passionate about inclusion, diversity and belonging. Throughout his life - both at work and outside of work, he has led and contributed to efforts to improve conditions for the underserved and underrepresented. Last fall, he facilitated a series of courageous conversations around Verizon’s Racial Justice and Equity learning plan with a cohort of his strategy peers. He also led a pilot course on racial reconciliation at his church - Liquid Church, where he was a former associate pastor. Recently, Christian completed McKinsey & Company’s Black Executive Leadership Program - a leadership development curriculum for Black executives.

Prior to his current role, Christian spent several years as a management consultant delivering projects for a diverse set of clients and industries. He has lived, worked and studied internationally in East Africa and Western Europe. This is also Christian’s second stint with Verizon, having worked as a network engineer on the FiOS video and data network immediately out of college.

Christian earned his MBA from Cornell University where he was a Roy H. Park Leadership fellow - a merit-based full tuition fellowship. He also holds a BS from UCLA in Electrical Engineering where he served on the national board of the National Society of Black Engineers. Originally from San Francisco, Christian resides in Southern California with his wife and three daughters and attends Saddleback Church. He is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. His pastimes include grilling and hosting an annual retreat for married and engaged couples.