Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor - Building Successful Futures in the Harbor

Mike Lansing is Executive Director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Los Angeles Harbor. He started his work with youth teaching and coaching middle school students at the age of twenty and continued in that profession for eighteen years.

In 1995, Mike became executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Pedro and eventually the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor when the struggling Wilmington Boys & Girls Club was merged in with the San Pedro organization.  During his 22 year tenure, the organization has grown from 1 to 13 program sites, serving over 2,200 youth per day and developed comprehensive youth development programs including “Arts Academy” and “College Bound”. 

In 1999, Mike was also elected to serve on the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District representing District 7.  He was elected to two terms (8 years) on the School Board before retiring in 2007. 

Mike is a graduate of San Pedro High School (1974) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance from California State University, Long Beach.  He received his California Teaching Credential and Master of Arts in School Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Karina Dorado is the Wilmington College Bound Coordinator for Boys and Girls Clubs of Los Angeles Harbor. She first immigrated to the United States from Mexico at the age of four and was raised in San Pedro. She found support to fulfill her dreams of going to college at the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club where she participated in the College Bound program in its early years. Through the program, Karina was accepted into UCLA. College Bound connected Karina with opportunities like the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Club scholarship program which helped fund her education.

Through hard work to fund her own education and get good grades, Karina graduated from UCLA in 2012 at the top of her class with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chicano Studies. She returned the Boys & Girls Club in 2013 to help lead the College Bound program in Wilmington where she works with students, their parents and school leaders to help create paths to success for students facing uncertainty.