Leatricia (Lea) Michelle Cash Since a very young age, it was Ms. Cash's ambition and dream to serve the needs of abused and abandoned children and to become an entertainment reporter. 

As an entertainment reporter for 21 years, Ms. Cash has interviewed and/or written about the great and the small in today’s entertainment fields. Bringing together both passions was her goal when she was hired in 1984 as a residential counselor for McKinley Home for Boys aka McKinley Children’s Center in San Dimas, CA.

She remained at McKinley for ten years and from time to time invited celebrities and civic leaders to meet, greet and encourage the boys to follow their dreams. 

In 2005, Ms. Cash returned to McKinley Children’s Center (MCC) to increase the awareness of MCC’s outstanding history, mission and purpose of providing immediate and long-term care, needs and attention to children who have been abused and abandoned. It was during this process that she started the Brightest Star Program as a community outreach endeavors bringing accolades and honors to the century old orphanage foundered by Mr. & Mrs. Uriah Gregory. 

Four years later, the program has grown into its own volunteer non-profit organization serving the needs of abused, abandoned and neglected children in multiple residential treatment settings and foster family agencies.  

Ms. Cash’s motto is “Dream and Dream Big!”

She states, “All individuals who have achieved their goals and ambitions have been great dreamers. There is a special light that is dim in abused and abandoned children and when they discover the power of their self worth that light begins to shine like a bright star in the universe.”

Ms. Cash has Master Degree(s) in Public Administration and Communication Studies and a Bachelor of Art Degree in Business Management. She has 41-years experience in working with children who have been abused, severely troubled and/or traumatized including experience in clinical interventions, setting limits, crisis invention and is Professional Assault Crisis Training (PRO-ACT) trained. She has also worked with several non-profit agencies serving the needs of at-risk youth populations. Ms Cash is also an adjunct faculty and teaches courses in Business Communication and Organizational Behavior. 

Currently Ms. Cash is seeking a doctoral degree and desires somehow…someday to start all over and become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT).   She is also currently working on a book titled "It Starts with a Dream: 100 Letters to Children and Youth in Foster Care. 
 
Ms. Cash has recieved numerous awards and honors for journalism and working with foster youth.