Family First Foundation President & EDU/AI Leader Lea Awni Sworn In as City of Glendale Commissioner

Glendale, CA - Family First Foundation proudly announces that its President, Lea Awni, has been officially sworn in as a Commissioner for the City of Glendale, marking a significant milestone in her long-standing commitment to public service, education, and community leadership.

Awni currently serves as President of Family First Foundation, one of the region's most impactful nonprofit organizations 'that you have never heard of in her words, with a 20-year track record of creating academic all-stars and future leaders from inner-city and under-resourced communities.

Under her leadership, the Foundation operates three flagship divisions focused on at-risk advanced academic enrichment, technology education, and the state's first Ethical AI Certified Academic Enrichment program designed for 4th-6th grades that rolled out earlier this year in GUSD across 20 sites.

In addition to her new role as City Commissioner, Awni is also the PTA Council District President, overseeing 24 individual school boards, and is a credentialed educator by training. While she no longer teaches in a traditional classroom, she is 3 years into her Cybersecurity degree she chose to pursue during covid, and her work now reaches thousands of students through district-level programs designed to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving educational landscape.

One of Awni's most notable achievements is the launch and expansion of Tech Hub, a high-impact academic enrichment program created at the direct request of school superintendents to serve the top 2% of middle-school students-those who master standard instruction quickly and need deeper, more challenging learning environments. Since its launch approximately two and a half years ago, Tech Hub has partnered with industry leaders including Warner Bros, Google hanger, the Los Angeles Rams, Dodgers, Disney the U.S. Space Force, others.

In a rare distinction, Tech Hub students were also granted access to SpaceX's private education programming, a platform typically reserved exclusively for SpaceX employees and their children-underscoring the program's rigor, credibility, and national relevance.

More recently, Awni has played a central role in guiding the development and pilot rollout of California's first district-certified Ethical AI academic enrichment program for fourth through sixth graders. Designed to be scalable nationwide, the program teaches students how to use artificial intelligence responsibly, ethically, and creatively-before habits are hard-wired.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Awni is also the mother of two high-achieving students who reflect the Foundation's values in action. Her eldest son is currently in his second year of aerospace engineering at Penn State University, while her younger son is an 11th-grade student at Crescenta Valley High School. Together, they founded the Space Explorers Club at Crescenta Valley High School, a student-led initiative now run by the younger son, focused on science, space, and future-forward thinking.

"This appointment is deeply meaningful to me," said Awni. "Public service, education, and ethical leadership have always been intertwined in my life. I'm incredibly grateful to my family-especially my husband, and to the community that has trusted me to serve in this new capacity."
Family First Foundation leadership emphasized that Awni's appointment reflects the organization's broader mission: building ethical, capable leaders at every level-students, families, and civic institutions alike.

With her swearing-in as City of Glendale Commissioner, Lea Awni now brings her experience in education, nonprofit leadership, and emerging technology policy directly into public service-at a moment when thoughtful leadership has never been more essential.

Lea Awni
2733 Montrose Ave #2, La Crescenta, CA 91020
lea@familyfirstamerica.org
familyfirstfoundationcorp@gmail.com
310-893-5733

Family First Foundation mission is to uplift underserved youth through education, innovation, and opportunity, breaking socio-economic barriers to transform lives one student at a time.

This release was published on openPR.