Deborah Swan
Administrator and Founder
Deborah is the Founder and Administrator of the Hefflin Legacy Foundation.
She retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District after 20 years of outstanding contributions to teachers and students to pursue the endeavor to inspire more students in a creative and unrestrictive environment.
Deborah is the recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Educational Achievement Award. The AIAA is the world's largest technology organization. It only gives this award to a few teachers in the nation every two years during an elegant gala held in Washington DC (Pictures highlighted below!)
She has two specialized teaching credentials on top of a Masters's Degree and countless trainings from various NSTA conferences around the country. She also completed the selective Ascent to Orbit training through the California Science Center, conducting almost the entire program with a Science Academy for 4th and 5th-grade gifted students. Her classes were actively involved with the NASA Airborne Science program, in which her students would chat in real-time with
scientists doing experiments and research in the atmosphere, learning about global warming and pollution. The students would be learning as data was collected before reports were given to Congress.
Deborah’s prized accomplishment was winning a professional development grant from UCLA in which she created the Black Wings Children’s Museum on the Windsor Hills Math, Science, and Aerospace elementary school campus to highlight African-American contributions to aerospace. Her passion for science is based on her 20-year career, before becoming a teacher, as an Engineer at Rockwell International, where she worked on building the first Space Shuttle. The museum opened on October 10, 2012, the same week the space shuttle was delivered to Los Angeles. The Hefflin Legacy Foundation is now supporting the museum, and one of HLF's primary activities is to host the anniversary celebration of the opening of the Museum.
The former principal of Windsor Hills, Kathy Crowe, described “her enthusiasm, her innovativeness, and her dedication to math, science, and aerospace in education are exemplary. Because of Deborah’s hard work and efforts, our school now has an aerospace museum providing a culturally relevant and hands-on experience for our students to enjoy for years. She has been instrumental in establishing school partnerships with Boeing, JPL, Columbia Space Center, and many more”.
Debbie Brown
Secretary
Debbie grew up in the Air Force and lived across the United States and Europe. She graduated from Central Missouri State University with a degree in business administration. After relocating to California, her first position was for Architectural Digest and Bon Appetit magazines. She's held various positions with the City of Compton in Parks and Recreation, the Police Department, and Compton College. Debbie retired from Oaktree Capital Management after 23 years, where she was responsible for closing bank loans for par and distressed trades with major investment firms and banks This involved reviewing credit agreements, coordinating loan closings with counterparties and banks, resolving trade-related issues, and communicating effectively with traders and portfolio managers.
She is a member of Faith Inspirational Church in Compton.
Patricia Valenzuela
Treasurer
Patricia is an Angeleno born and raised. She attended St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA, and majored in Accounting with a minor in Art. She left St. Mary’s to support her parents when her father had a stroke and her mother, who paid daily visits to the convalescent hospital. She continued her studies in accounting and landed accounting jobs in the entertainment industry and later with the Los Angeles Lakers, where she retired after 18 years. Patricia is also currently a member of Adams Normandie Neighborhood Association as Treasurer.
Deborah Swan is shown with fellow recipients of the AIAA Award in Washington D.C.
Deborah Swan is with her husband, Keith, at the AIAA Gala in Washington D.C.