Los Feliz Arts

Gabrielle Samuels has served as the fundraising co-chair at LFCSA since 2007.  Her education started in Redding, CT where she was a student in an experimental section of her public school, called The Non-Graded.  There she experienced first hand the benefits that come with open classrooms.  Her higher education is in theatre arts, receiving a bachelor’s degree with honors from UC Irvine’s drama department.  Her acting career prepared her (barely) for the challenging, yet rewarding, field of parenting. After the birth of her second child, she saw that there were a lot of classes for babies, but not many that focused on the mommies.  With that in mind, she brought Stroller Strides to Los Angeles in 2004.  Stroller Strides is an exercise class that parents can do with their babies in strollers, so that new parents (mothers in particular) can get back in shape, be with their children, and find the support of other new moms.  In 2006, before the birth of their third child, she and her husband, Roger, opened Wonderland Treatment Center, an individualized drug and alcohol treatment center in the Hollywood Hills.  Constructing and implementing the fundraising calendar with the help of the dedicated parents at LFCSA has been an amazing journey for Gabrielle.  The team has consistently met their financial goals every year. Being able to witness the LFCSA community’s passion for creative education and the lengths it is willing to go for the betterment of education has been nothing less than inspiring for Gabrielle.