Board of Directors

We are a membership organization with an all-volunteer Board of Directors. Monthly board meetings are open to the public. Our Executive Director is currently our only full-time employee. Please support our efforts to grow our Board and our Staff to benefit the L.A. community.

Executive Director: Caroline Wilson, RN, BSN, Nurse, & Special Needs Advocate. Caroline and her husband Dean are the parents of two young adults on the autism spectrum. Their son, Merritt, and daughter Eliza. Born and raised in Southern California, Caroline received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing at California State University, Long Beach and worked as a Medical, Surgical, Oncology, and Labor and Delivery nurse for more than 15 years. She became a School Nurse for the Long Beach Unified School District in 1997, and earned a credential in school nursing from California State University, Los Angeles in 2000.

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President: Emily D. Iland, MA, Educational Consultant. Emily is an author, advocate, researcher, and leader in the autism field. Her son Tom, now 24, has ASD, She is the co-author of Autism Spectrum Disorders from A to Z, (Future Horizons, 2004) with her sister, Barbara Doyle. The book contains essential information that parents and professionals need to know about ASD. Emily translated their book into Spanish and published the Spanish version in June, 2005. Los Trastornos del Espectro de Autismo de la A a la Z is the winner of the 2006 Outstanding Literary Work of the Year from the Autism Society of America. In April, 2007 both books were awarded the Exceptional Parent Magazine Symbol of Excellence Award.

Vice President: Danny Delgadio, is the father of a 12 year-old boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He began his journey through the autism world when his son Danny, Jr. was diagnosed at 3 years of age. Since then he has worked at the Westside Family Resource and Empowerment Center as a Bilingual Family Support Specialist and has truly become a parent-professional in the field of special needs services and information.

Treasurer: Dean C. Wilson, PharmD., is a Critical Care Pharmacist at Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, CA. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California in 1980. He has been on the local, state and national boards of the Autism Society and was on all three concurrently in 2005-2006. He served as the President of the Autism Society of California for many years.

Dr. Wilson and his wife Caroline have two children with autism: Their son, Merritt, and daughter Eliza.

Director: Lars Perner Ph. D., is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He holds a Ph.D. in marketing from Marshall and currently teaches the Marketing Fundamentals course. Lars has previously taught at the University of Maryland, George Washington University, U.C. Riverside, and San Diego State. His research interests focus on consumer behavior, non-profit marketing, “win-win” deals, and product branding. Lars currently teaches the Marketing Fundamentals course and accompanies M.B.A. students on a trip to Japan to study Japanese firms and culture. His other teaching experience includes Consumer Behavior, International Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Internet Marketing, Food Marketing, and Distribution.
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Chair of the Government Relations Committee: Judy Mark, is an active volunteer in the autism community in Los Angeles. In addition to serving as Government Relations Chair of the Autism Society of Los Angeles, Judy serves as Board President of the Leaps n’ Boundz Foundation and Board Vice Chair of Kris’ Camp, non-profit organizations that provide recreational and therapeutic services to children with autism and their families. She is also active with the Nes Gadol Jewish education program at Vista Del Mar. Judy has a fourteen-year‐old son who has autism and an 11‐year-old.

Judy’s professional experience includes over 25 years of work with non‐profit organizations providing expertise in communications, development and management. She spent most of her career in Washington, DC with national advocacy organizations representing immigrants and low‐income families.