Svetlana Cherches is the Managing Director of Human Resources at East Bay Community Foundation. Svetlana brings experience across sectors designing and leading people and culture strategies. She believes equitable organizations are built from the inside out, through systems and practices that center employees, expand participation and agency, and recognize that people with different identities, experiences, perspectives, and forms of expertise all have something meaningful to contribute.
Her work is rooted in a commitment to community building and strengthening nonprofit and mission-driven organizations from within. She is particularly interested in the role HR can play in examining and reshaping institutional practices, addressing inequities embedded within organizational systems, and building structures grounded in transparency, accountability, belonging, and shared responsibility. Svetlana believes lasting structural change is collective work, and that investing in people, relationships, and more equitable ways of working strengthens both organizations and the communities they serve.
Svetlana holds a Master’s in Education in Organization and Leadership and a B.A. in English Literature. Outside of work, she loves live music, asking questions, traveling, walking her floofy dog, and bringing people together around a dinner table.
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