ABOUT ARTISTS for a BETTER WORLD

| ABOUT | EXECUTIVE BOARD | ADVISORY BOARD |

Mission Statement

Artists for a Better World International is a network of artists who uplift, inspire and create positive changes in society through social media, events and special projects, as well as the support of top social betterment groups.

Executive Board

Barbara Joy Cordova ~ Executive Director, President

Singer, songwriter, novelist, event producer and founder of Artists for a Better World International

Barbara Joy Cordova has been in the arts her whole life primarily as a musician and songwriter starting at the age of ten. In her twenty’s she got into event production, working on various shows with a variety of artists. It was then that she had the idea for a magical story entitled Mission of the Artist – taking place on a breathtakingly beautiful planet named Athena where artists created together by painting the sky, dancing in the air, propelling notes for miles and other feats which showed that whatever the imagination prompted could become reality. Of course Earth is a far cry from Athena, and in her story she shows what happens to the artists to divide them and bring them to our saddened planet. Over the years Barbara has done book signings at Barnes and Nobles stores, and also produced the story as a musical in Hollywood, California. Her songs have aired on several radio stations. She also performed Mission of the Artist at a Human Rights rally in Frankfurt Germany in 1997 for an audience of 8000 people.

Barbara knew that one big problem is that artists can tend to think they operate best on their own, however this is false as they often fall prey to those who don’t have their best interests in mind. While simultaneously writing her story she came up with the idea of a true united group of artists who work together as a team to bring back more of an ideal world, and thus in the 90’s the name Artists for a Better World was born. This group was also inspired when Barbara was studying the works of L. Ron Hubbard, who knew the true value of the artist to society.

And thus she put the group there and immediately started producing events utilizing the talent of such “better world” artists. The group got momentum from the start and many came on board to become members and take part in the groups many art festivals, community fairs, music showcases, art shows, and seminars for the various art fields. Barbara knew that by artists being part of such a strong team it would greatly help their influence as artists too – and so it has to this day, with artists who take part in the group’s events getting more notice, and creating a bigger impact.

There have also been hundreds of awards given to top artists in the field who had stellar achievements in the arts and in helping mankind.

And over the years AFABW also has supported top social betterment programs such as The Way to Happiness, Drug Free World and Youth for Human Rights – Barbara has produced numerous events whereby these charities were supported. She also led her team of artists out on the streets and at fairs handing out thousands of such books in today’s chaotic world.

Barbara has established active chapters in Los Angeles, California, and Clearwater, Florida, with others forming in Nashville, Tennessee; Toronto, Canada, and more to come.

Her theory is that with all the chaos and confusion happening in the world the arts are a calming and uplifting influence that everybody relates to and communicates directly to the spiritual being – as we are truly all creators, whether actively practicing or not.

And the more we achieve our aims, the better the world is becoming.

Barbara can be contacted at AFABWpresident@gmail.com

Lallah Rowe ~ Deputy Executive Director, Board Secretary

Lallah Rowe considers herself an incurable romantic. In her words, “I am always charging off to save the world and can’t imagine living any other way.” As a young child, Lallah was introduced to the world of music by her father, who was a dancer and trumpet player in a Latin Jazz band. Early on she showed a good ear for music and good dancing ability.

At the age of nine, Lallah began writing music, poetry, and stories. She wrote an instrumental piece for her school orchestra which became the climax piece for the school district’s music department annual recital.

She continued her creative endeavors in school. However, she was discouraged from these fields professionally. Still, she never stopped singing and writing for her friends and family. She submitted several stories to the prestigious Writers of the Future Contest. Of six stories submitted, four achieved Finalist status and Lallah was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2001 contest.

During her career for a large non-profit corporation, Lallah used her writing skills for everything from company policy to instruction manuals to ghost writing for company executives. After retiring she began writing and publishing her own stories. She currently has seven books published including a cookbook, a beauty secrets book, four sci/fi novellas and a fantasy novel.

In 2019 Lallah discovered AFABW. She knew that the arts were key to the uplifting of society and began volunteering on events. Shortly afterwards she became the Deputy Executive Director. She wanted to help the group expand and initiated getting the group’s 501(c)(3) non-profit status from the IRS. Lallah became the Board Secretary and Legal Officer for the new non-profit. She began creating the promotional pieces and newsletter and is the designer of the annual calendar.

Lallah can be contacted at AFABWdirector@gmail.com

Rob Oliver ~ Treasurer

Rob is an electronics technician, heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) tech, amp and guitar tech, and guitar and bass player.

Rob’s interest in electronics goes back to early childhood when he was always trying to figure out how things worked. Over the years he has gotten training in the repair of various devices such as amplifiers and guitars, TVs and radios. Later, he excelled in mechanical and electrical repairs in the US Navy. Then after the Navy he landed a job at Peavey Electronics in Meridian, Mississippi.

Rob is also a trained HVAC technician and acquired an EPA license to handle refrigerants.

About three years ago, he discovered a niche market where he could apply his electronics skills in the vintage electronics market which included guitar amps and vintage Hi-Fi equipment.

He has been working on his own line of guitar amps, as well as repair of amps and guitars, (Beast Amps & Axes) as well as working on his clients’ equipment, including repairs for “Caveman Vintage Music.”

Rob has also performed bass and guitar in bands and has often performed at various AFABW events. He also helps with setups of some of the groups’ major events and fairs.

Rob had also spent seventeen years working in the Treasury Department of a major organization, and was a fully hatted Audits Officer.

As Treasurer for AFABW he keeps up with the accounting and invoicing of all the group’s memberships, properties sold as well all disbursements and keeping accurate records.

Rob can be contacted at AFABWtreasurer@gmail.com

Lynda Ellen Hubbard ~ Marketing & Seminars, Board Vice President

When Lynda was four years old the first art form she remembers is drawing, and kept going at that through high school and art college. She tried all mediums, and also got into sculpture and photography. As a kid she drew portraits for twenty dollars, and later for thousands of dollars. She has sold dozens of original paintings in five states and in Canada.

Everything changed after Lynda traveled the world, getting a scholarship from Art College in Minnesota to England! She went drawing and snapping photos all over Europe and Canada and then half-way around the world, from Greece to Nepal. She wrote a book on her adventures with the Lama. Then she went searching for some answers to life and finally found them when she signed up to work at a new group making courses and movies that honor spiritual values, worked with the non-profits in Scientology, and met L Ron Hubbard. That was the second time her life changed, and she found the answers she was looking for. Lynda went into marketing for films and then for any business, big or small.

Lynda has been President of Trendsetters and now TrendCreators (TrendCreators.com) for over 25 years and has helped lots of businesses with promotion and marketing so they could expand their reach and become more successful.

She also raised her two girls who are now both happily married, and is a grandmother of three amazing kids.

Lynda met Barbara Cordova (founder of AFABW) in the 90’s and was one of the first members of the group. More recently, when the group went non-profit Lynda became the Vice President of the Board. She is also over the Marketing and Seminars in AFABW and has booked successful artists to hat others on how to market their art. She has also done over twenty interviews of artists who shared their art forms, and talked about how they have achieved their goals.

She believes that art permeates all the things we do, in one way or another. For the next generation of kids, she wants them to have a chance to create their art. She says the world desperately needs it. Art uplifts the culture beyond the physical.

Lynda can be contacted at AFABWvp@gmail.com

Randall Michael Tobin ~ Media Director, 2nd Vice President

Randall Michael Tobin has been on the creative side of producing music since the mid 1970s when he set up his first project studio in the barracks of the Air Force base where he was stationed in Bitburg, Germany. Recording and playing in various extracurricular groups with fellow airmen, Randall spent hundreds of hours learning and honing his art and craft including composing, songwriting, engineering and production.

After completing his service commitment, Randall established Theta Sound Studio in 1977 and right from the start it evolved into one of the most versatile and comfortable recording environments in the Los Angeles area.

Since 1988 Theta Sound has been operating in a purpose-built facility located near Walt Disney Studios in the peaceful equestrian district of Burbank, California.

Randall has produced, engineered, arranged, collaborated and/or written material for hundreds of independent artists in myriad genres including: Mel Carter (R&B/Jazz quartet and big band); Ray Manzarek (spoken word documentary about The Doors with piano music, produced by Harvey Kubernik), Art Podell (indie folk artist, founding member of the New Christy Minstrels, resident of Laurel Canyon in the 60s; his album, From the Village to the Canyon (co-produced by RMT) was featured at the Music of Laurel Canyon exhibit at the Grammy Museum in 2014); Vocalessence by Amy (Pop/Adult Contemporary debut album); Harriet Schock (various projects including movie soundtracks for Henry Jaglom’s films). Randall has also worked with some of the top indie artist/writers to emerge from the L.A. creative community including: Morgan Grace (Kibby); Alison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy); Zooey Deschanel; Chris Drizen; Dale LaDuke; Terry Steele (Here and Now – a major hit by Luther Vandross), Michael Duff (Chalk FarM).

Randall also composed, performed and produced the soundtrack for The Snow Queen Ballet, a full-length winter holiday dance production commissioned by California Contemporary Ballet, that played for 18 successful seasons between 1998 and 2019, 16 of them at the prestigious 400-seat Glendale College Theatre of the Performing Arts. The music ran the gamut from classical and hip hop to gypsy and world beat and was featured in the 42nd Grammy Awards Entry List in the Best Classical Contemporary Composition field.

Randall has been a voting member of the Recording Academy since 1981 and has garnered industry awards for songwriting, composing, producing, engineering, and film editing.

Another side of Randall’s creativity showcases his visual art in the form of graphic design, typesetting, photography and website design for artists and entrepreneurs.

He connected up with Artists for a Better World early on, contributing his time and expertise in support of their AFABW Awards event as well as delivering a Music Industry Music Production seminar and workshop at their annual Arts Festival in Hollywood.

Currently, Randall is the designer and webmaster for the AFABW website as well as video editor and promo editor. Besides producing numerous videos documenting the positive activities of AFABW, Randall hosts many of this group’s monthly and executive meetings at Theta Sound Studio.

Randall can be contacted at rmt@thetamediagroup.com

Advisory Board