Legend. Icon. Songstress. Diva.

Very few artists ever ascend to the rarefied heights that those four words symbolize. Toni Braxton is one of those few.

The multimillion-selling R&B/pop pioneer and seven-time Grammy Award-winner behind timeless hits such as “Love Shoulda Brought You Home,” “Another Sad Love Song,” “Breathe Again,” “Seven Whole Days,” “Un-Break My Heart” and “He Wasn’t Man Enough.” If that wasn’t enough, the multi-talented singer/songwriter has also expanded her skillset along the way: music producer, Broadway musical star, television actress/producer and best-selling author.

Braxton’s own mesmerizing voice remains constant with each project—the same sultry and smoky vocals that immediately turned heads in 1992. That’s when listeners first became aware of the newcomer who appeared on the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy box office smash Boomerang. Helmed by songwriter/producers and LaFace Records founders Babyface and Antonio “L.A.” Reid, the soundtrack featured Braxton on two songs: “Give You My Heart,” a duet with Babyface, and “Love Shoulda Brought You Home.”

That set the stage for Braxton’s 1993 breakthrough with her self-titled debut LaFace album that’s now 8x platinum. The project also garnered the singer the first three of her seven Grammy Awards, including best new artist. Braxton, who began singing professionally in the ‘80s with her three sisters as The Braxtons, has since banked an enviable number of career-defining moments. Between 1996 and 2010, she released six more solo albums (Secrets, The Heat, Snowflakes, More Than a Woman, Libra and Pulse) and charted a string of hits (including “You Mean the World to Me,” “You’re Makin’ Me High” and “I Love Me Some Him”/ “I Don’t Want To”) before teaming with Babyface 2014 for the critically acclaimed duets album that won her a seventh Grammy for Best R&B Album.

Along the way, Braxton reinvented her game as she effortlessly segued into a theatrical acting career in 1998 as Belle in Beauty and the Beast. That barrier-breaking portrayal—the first black woman to play a leading role in a Disney Broadway production—led to a stint in a second Disney Broadway musical, Aida, and later a special guest star engagement with another Broadway musical, After Midnight.

Since then, Braxton has starred in three TV films for Lifetime including Twist of Faith, Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart (adapted from her same-titled best-selling memoir) and, most recently, Faith Under Fire: the Antoinette Tuff Story. In between, she and her three sisters have become popular reality stars via WE tv’s flagship series Braxton Family Values. Diagnosed with lupus several years ago, Braxton hasn’t allowed that to slow her career momentum nor her role as the proud mom of sons Denim and Diezel. She devotes time as spokesperson for Lupus L.A. and Autism Speaks, the latter on behalf of Diezel who is living with autism.

Reflecting on her silver anniversary of her career, Braxton says she’s still in love with music and the possibilities it affords. “There have been moments when I felt defeated; felt I let myself down,” she says. “Even if I fail, music gives me enough strength to try something different. I’ve come full circle—yet there are still so many things to do.”

Lindsay Sustarsic Cafritz is 28 years old and was born and raised in Los Angeles. She attended George Washington University in Washington DC and graduated with a BBA in marketing and business administration. After graduation she moved to New York City to pursue a career in the fashion/beauty industry, specifically in retail marketing, social media and creative content. She successfully launched that career working for Valentino and Burberry until her already volatile health began to rapidly deteriorate. She was formally diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in late 2014.

Shortly after the diagnosis, Lindsay moved back to Los Angeles. For the 4 years since moving back west she has worked as a freelance writer while spending the bulk of her time focused on improving her health.

Thankfully, since starting Benlysta infusions, her health has greatly improved. Lindsay started to get more immersed in the lupus community in late 2018 and organized a fundraiser for the LFA for Lupus Awareness Month with her then fiancé’s company, which is based in DC. She also set up a charity fund in lieu of a wedding registry to support the national clinical trials for mesenchymal stem cell research. She was married in June of this year and has since focused on stepping up her involvement in the LA Lupus community and becoming more active in Lupus LA.

Born and raised here in Los Angeles, Roger and Debbi Cowan both graduated from Stanford University and returned to Los Angeles to join family businesses. While at Stanford, Roger played football during the glory days of their 1970 and 1971 Rose Bowl teams where they notched back-to-back victories. Roger and Debbi married in 1979 and had their son, Jeff, and daughter, Amanda while starting their own real estate company, Rockdyne Enterprises. They now own and manage multiple apartment buildings on the Westside of Los Angeles where they specialize in delivering superior apartments with unparalleled service. Debbi is also the General Manager for her family’s portfolio of apartments, Silton Group, based in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. Roger and Debbi joined Lupus LA soon after their daughter Amanda was diagnosed with lupus in 2006 and have been active members of the board. In addition to working closely on Lupus LA events, they enjoy traveling as much as possible, working out and staying in shape, golfing with friends, and attending cultural events in the city. Along with the joy they take in their daughter Amanda and their grand-dog Ketzi, they spend as much time as possible with their son Jeff and their two beautiful granddaughters, Clover and Clementine.

Born and raised here in Los Angeles, Roger and Debbi Cowan both graduated from Stanford University and returned to Los Angeles to join family businesses. While at Stanford, Roger played football during the glory days of their 1970 and 1971 Rose Bowl teams where they notched back-to-back victories. Roger and Debbi married in 1979 and had their son, Jeff, and daughter, Amanda while starting their own real estate company, Rockdyne Enterprises. They now own and manage multiple apartment buildings on the westside of Los Angeles where they specialize in delivering superior apartments with unparalleled service.

Roger and Debbi joined Lupus LA soon after their daughter Amanda was diagnosed with lupus in 2006 and have been active members of the board. In addition to working closely on Lupus LA events, they enjoy traveling as much as possible, working out and staying in shape, golfing with friends, and attending cultural events in the city. Along with the joy they take in their daughter Amanda, they spend as much time as possible with their son Jeff, his wife Shannon, and their new granddaughter Clover Belle.

Cara Dellaverson joined NBC in 2015 as Senior Vice President of Drama Development and was promoted to Executive Vice President for the network in 2018. In 2020 she was elevated to EVP of Drama Series across all platforms including NBC, Peacock, USA and SYFY. In this role she currently oversees development and current programming across all platforms and manages both teams of executives alongside co-department head Alex Sepiol. Together they are responsible for over 100 development projects and 20 current series in various stages of production and have been part of the leadership team crafting the strategy for both Peacock and NBC. Since joining the company she has helped develop hit series This Is Us, as well as The Irrational, Found, Quantum Leap, La Brea, Good Girls, New Amsterdam, Manifest, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist for NBC and Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, Mrs. Davis and upcoming series Long Bright River for Peacock. Before her time at NBC, Dellaverson worked in current series and development at Lionsgate from 2008-2015 ultimately rising to Senior Vice President. During her time at the studio she was creatively involved in several series including Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, Nashville, Manhattan, and Orange is the New Black and was featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation 35 under 35 issue as one to watch in Television.

As Senior Vice President of Current Programs at CBS Studios and Network, Amanda Palley has a proven track record of shaping impactful television. From the current mega-successes of Tracker and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage to beloved series like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Jane the Virgin, Walker, Young Sheldon, and The Big Bang Theory, her oversight spans a wide range of genres and audience favourites. Previous positions in entertainment include creative roles with writers Al Gough and Miles Millar (Wednesday, Smallville) and actor Hugh Jackman. She began her career at CAA. Amanda serves on the board of Lupus LA and lives in Valley Village with her husband and two energetic children. "Lupus LA is at the forefront of driving progress in lupus research and patient support. I'm honoured to be a part of an organization that brings not only hope but also tangible resources to the lupus community." - Amanda Palley

Adam Selkowitz is the founder and owner of Waterfall Films. He initially pursued an acting career, receiving a degree in Drama from Ithaca College. Adam then spent 6 years in New York, working mostly with an improv/sketch comedy group that he created called Spilt Milk. Spilt Milk performed across the country at comedy clubs, colleges and corporate events and was the official sketch comedy group at Caroline’s Comedy Club on Broadway for several years. Following his run with Spilt Milk, Adam moved to Los Angeles and switched from acting to production in creating Waterfall Films. The company’s original project, Greener Mountains, is an award-winning independent film available on Amazon Prime and other streaming services. Currently, the company has multiple projects in active development and has focused more recently on obtaining intellectual property rights around those projects.

In 1987 Adam was diagnosed with lupus and in 1999 he co-founded Lupus LA with Dr. Daniel Wallace and a small group of committed board members. Adam has led Lupus LA as Chairman of the Board for most of the last 20 years and has been at the forefront of the organization’s accomplishments, including raising over $10 million for lupus research, bringing a robust patient services program to Southern California and raising more global awareness for lupus than ever before. In addition, Adam is a member of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors and sits on their Leadership Council. He is also an Ambassador for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Adam is most thankful to his wife Laurie, a corporate attorney in Los Angeles, and most proud of their two children, 3-year-old daughter Lucy and 1-month-old son Parker, the real stars of the family.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon has taken an unusual path to her work in television. With a background in music and dance, she's performed with the likes of Michael Jackson and Chaka Khan, and toured the country as a member of a pop group with Motown Records. At Occidental College, she became heavily involved in theater and wrote several award-winning plays. She then went on to write on Oliver Beene for FOX, and created and executive produced the MTV series Dancelife with Jennifer Lopez. With her husband and writing partner, Jed Whedon, she created and appeared in the Emmy-award winning musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Together, their credits also include such shows as Dollhouse, Drop Dead Diva, and Spartacus. They also co-created and served as show runners and Executive Producers of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. The flagship Marvel Television series ran for seven seasons.

As an Asian-American female showrunner, her advocacy for diversity and representation is reflected in her work. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is not only touted as one of the most diverse shows on television, but as a show that celebrates layered, intelligent, powerful women. Maurissa is no stranger to adversity as she has been living with Lupus since she was fifteen years old. She is heavily involved in raising awareness and funds for those also suffering from this devastating illness. Maurissa still takes the occasional hip-hop class, makes music with Jed, and constantly marvels at their little superhero - their daughter, Benny Sue.

As a computer scientist, Sheba has spent the last 20 years working in a technical software role with the quality department of pharmaceutical and life science companies. Her role spans from pre-sales technical information to professional services post-sale with the goal of digitizing critical data that can affect patient safety. She speaks regularly at industry conferences on data integrity and contamination control strategies for aseptic drug manufacturers. She was recently President of non-profit organization – the Parenteral Drug Association, SouthernCalifornia Chapter – for an elected term of 2 years. It is an educational organization dedicated to the connection of science, people, and regulation in a non-bias platform. In June of 2006, Dr. Dan Wallace diagnosed Sheba with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Nephritis following struggles with frequent fevers, joint/muscle pain, debilitating fatigue, visibly swollen lymph nodes, and hair loss. Born and raised in Montréal, she soon moved to Southern California to be closer to her family and support system. After grappling with the side effects of strong medications and some tough love counseling from her sister, she started to take her health into her own hands and has spent the last decade avidly reading and educating herself on Lupus and optimal health. Today, Sheba lives in Santa Monica and leads a very active lifestyle as a certified yoga instructor, scuba diver, tennis player, skier, beach volleyball player, runner, and global adventure traveler. She is now working to give back to the community and advocate for Lupus.