Staff

Reem Aranki (she/her) is a part-time Associate for the Community Investments and Partnerships (CIP) team and the Operations team at EBCF. She provides administrative assistance to the CIP team by monitoring general inquiries to the grantmaking requests, tracking grants EBCF provides to non-profit and community organizations, and completes expense reports. She aids the Operations team by also managing the team’s expense reports.

In addition to the support Reem provides for EBCF, she has worked as a Medical Social Worker extending therapeutic support to children, youth, and families in San Diego County. She also supports adults with severe mental illnesses, homelessness, incarceration, and substance abuse by participating in community work to ensure proper advocacy to meet their basic needs and mental health therapeutic support. She lives in San Diego with her beloved dog, Callie, and can often be found with her Bay Area love cheering for the Golden State Warriors.

She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare, where she earned her master’s degree in social welfare with a concentration in strengthening children, youth, and families, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of La Verne.

Chris Axley is the Managing Director of IT at East Bay Community Foundation. Chris is an adaptable and strategic-minded leader with a passion for using technology to increase the effectiveness of the community he serves. With more than two decades of experience, Chris has a wealth of knowledge managing cross-functional teams and implementing efficient IT solutions.

During his two-decade-long tenure at the Exploratorium, a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, Chris anticipated the need for a hybrid workforce in advance of the pandemic and smoothly moved the majority of staff to remote work. He also led the team to migrate CRM services from Raisers Edge to Salesforce, led the effort to design and move IT infrastructure to a new museum location, and implemented new transaction systems for admissions, membership, and events.

Chris earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute and enjoys spending time with his family, playing disc golf, and gardening.

Zakiyyah Brewer is a Program Associate with our Community Investments and Partnerships department — working on the ASCEND:BLO initiative. This is a crucial role as the initiative has grown immensely over its first year. Working directly with Byron Johnson, Capacity Building Initiative Officer, Zakiyyah will support the ASCEND:BLO Accelerator, Stabilizer, and Network components of the program, ultimately contributing to the support, guidance, and connections of black-led organizations across the Bay Area.

A recent graduate of San Francisco State University, before joining EBCF, Zakiyyah was with Five Keys Charter School and Programs in San Francisco, working both in the community and in San Francisco’s county jails. In her spare time, Zakiyyah enjoys going to concerts with friends and spending time with family.

Elizabeth Burger is the Manager, Impact Investing and works closely alongside the CFO on impact investing programs. She is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she earned her master’s degree in international studies with a specialization in refugee and humanitarian emergencies.

Prior to joining EBCF, Elizabeth wore many hats at Social Venture Circle, where she led operations, communications, and impact investing programs & events. She also served as the Regional Coordinator at the Anti-Defamation League’s San Francisco office. Originally from Florida, she is an alum of New College of Florida and spent a year living in Hanover, Germany on a Fulbright scholarship. Elizabeth has lived in the Bay Area since 2017.

As Lead Institutional Partnerships Officer, Son drives programs that create opportunities for corporations and foundations to be effective in their community investments, and to be actors in solidarity with movement leaders.

For over a decade, Son has facilitated collaboration across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to address racial and economic inequities across the Bay Area. Son began his career as an organizer in the labor movement in his hometown of San Jose. There, he realized the power of multi-sector, cross-racial coalitions to advance systems change, especially for working families and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. Son has since incorporated these values in stewarding nearly $1 Billion in charitable assets globally. In New York City, he consulted with corporate and private foundation clients at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, KIND Snacks, and BDO FMA. Upon returning home, he worked at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, advising donors on community philanthropy rooted in trust, racial equity, and racial justice.

Son holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from NYU Wagner and a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies and American Studies from UC Berkeley. He is certified in philanthropic advising as a CAP® at The American College of Financial Services and 21/64. Son also has a certificate in project leadership from Cornell University, as well as certifications in nonprofit finance and business analytics.

Based in Oakland, Son lives with his partner and their dog. He gives back to his alma mater by developing UC Berkeley alumni to engage in activism and mentorship. Beyond work, Son enjoys music festivals and the local foodie scene.

Laura came to EBCF after two decades working in youth development, education, and community development—first in South Central LA and then in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. She joined EBCF in October 2015 as Grants Management Associate and has been learning constantly ever since. Her tenure at EBCF, including in her current role as Director of Grants Management & Scholarships, allows Laura to deepen and expand her commitments to non-profit organizations and social justice issues in the East Bay and beyond.

Laura received her Masters in Sociology from UC San Diego, with emphases in race relations, immigration, and popular culture. She loves cooking and eating all types of food, but especially any spicy Korean dishes. When not at work, she loves traveling and taking long rides on her motorcycle.

With more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, grantmaking, program design, and youth development, Alexandria Cooley, is Senior Advisor to the CEO at East Bay Community Foundation.

Alexandria previously served as the Chief Program Officer at Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), a Bay Area nonprofit. She spent 10 years in a variety of roles at AmeriCorps, a federal grantmaking agency, and most recently served as Deputy Regional Administrator of the Southeast Region. During her time at AmeriCorps, she and her team managed grant awards and project development of over $80 million across a six-state region. She was instrumental in supporting the agency through a transformation process that resulted in the development of new positions, a modification in grantmaking processes, and the hiring and training of 20 new staff members within her region. Alexandria also served in leadership roles at youth development and K-12-based institutions.

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Alexandria is a first-generation Haitian-Cape Verdean American, 2021 Council on Foundations Career Pathways Fellow, and a 2003 Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) fellow. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Connecticut College, a master’s degree in nonprofit management from The New School for Social Research, and a certificate in federal grants management. Alexandria is an active volunteer and mentor in her community and is committed to supporting the eradication of poverty and the development of equitable structures.

She and her husband, John, have two daughters and enjoy time with family, cooking, and kayaking.

Linda Cornett joined the East Bay Community Foundation in November 2020 as Senior Accountant-Investments & Funds. She began her career in Finance in 1991 as a Portfolio Accountant with State Street Corporation. Linda advanced to Assistant Vice President, Client Services over a 13-year span with State Street. Most recently, Linda was Vice President, Client Service, at Progress Investment Management Company. Linda spent 16 years with Progress promoting diversity and inclusion in asset management and servicing institutional investors. Linda holds a BSBA degree from the University of Phoenix. She is a CFA Institute Investment Foundations certificate holder (#5677). She is a founding member and past president of the San Francisco Chapter of the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP). Linda enjoys music, sports, traveling, reading and exploring the outdoors. She resides in Alameda, CA with her wife Vickie, where they raised four children and now have three beautiful grandchildren.

As Senior Digital Producer, Laura Domingo manages the EBCF’s website and email marketing, providing an engaging online experience for EBCF’s partners and supporters.

A seasoned digital marketer and project manager, Laura has led email marketing campaigns and website projects for national and international nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, Human Rights Watch, International Medical Corps, and the Be the Match Foundation. She also managed digital advertising strategy for non-profit arts organizations across the country, including East Bay institutions Berkeley Rep, Cal Performances, Aurora Theatre Company, Center REP, and The Crucible. Most recently, Laura served as the Interim Marketing Director for Silicon Valley Shakespeare in San José, where she developed the organization’s marketing plan and strategy.

Laura received Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Communication and Art History. She has proudly called Oakland home for the last decade, where she currently resides with her son. Outside of the office, you can find Laura on stages across the Bay Area, as an award-winning theatre actor.

Amy Fitzgerald, former Senior Program Officer, is Vice President of Community Investment and Partnerships at EBCF. As a Senior Programs Officer, Amy supported organizations that amplify community voice and exercise grassroots power to build a Just East Bay. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2017, Amy worked for 12 years as a community organizer and Executive Director of Oakland Community Organizations, the largest grassroots organizing network in Oakland. Amy is passionate about community-led, equitable systems change, faith active in the public sphere, and powerful multicultural coalitions. Along with her breadth of experience, Amy boasts a diverse educational background, receiving her Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and holding a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science from Santa Clara University. She lives in Oakland with her wife, and can often be found cheering for the Golden State Warriors.

Hannah Garcia (she/her) is a Senior Program Officer and co-leads EBCF’s community organizing, power-building, and movement-building strategy and grantmaking with a focus on Contra Costa County. She brings over a decade of experience in community organizing, racial justice facilitation, and nonprofit program management and is passionate about community-led decision-making and equitable systems change. Hannah’s earlier work focused on organizing with Latinx communities around immigrant and tenant rights, affordable housing, and juvenile justice. Prior to joining EBCF, Hannah served as the Grants Program Manager and Equity Catalyst for Arts Council Santa Cruz County where she worked to shift grantmaking and decision-making power to organizations and artists in BIPOC communities working at the intersection of social justice and the arts.

Hannah received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Chicano Studies from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She lives in Point Richmond with her partner and outside of work, enjoys dance, time in nature, and engaging in mindfulness practices that support the sustainability of social justice work.

Debrah Giles is a philanthropic and non-profit management professional that serves as a Program Director for the East Bay Community Foundation in Oakland, CA. She specializes in supporting initiatives within EBCF that foster education, youth development, and arts and culture. In her role, she leads the foundation’s program strategy and grantmaking focused on arts and culture for social and racial justice, serves as the Senior Program Officer for the Clorox Company Foundation’s Responsive Grantmaking Program, and continues to lead the work that focuses on boys & men of color.

Before joining the East Bay Community Foundation, for nearly 15 years, Debrah worked for Sun Microsystems in their Global Community Development Group (Foundation). At Sun Microsystems, she managed all aspects of their national and regional grant-making programs and develop strategies to improve their grant-making procedures. During her tenure with Sun, she also developed and guided major funding programs, including their international disaster relief program, multi-year educational grants, and global gift matching programs.

Debrah received her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from St. Mary’s College. She is a native of Oakland.

Isaac Gonzalez has experience with many technologies and is a natural problem solver. He keeps future growth in mind while making well-thought-out technical decisions. Isaac is a people person who enjoys helping people and organizations grow and improve processes. He comes with a wide range of skills and technical experience gained while serving in a number of demanding jobs in the IT industry, including: Senior Project Engineer, Director of IT Operations, Systems and Network Operations Manager, and Systems/Network Administrator. He is MSCE certified in Windows 2000 and 2003 server, MCTS certified in SharePoint/Windows 2008R2, and is also an AWS Certified Solutions Architect. He also has experience with: various Windows operating systems, plus Linux, ESX server, and Mac OSX; Exchange Servers 2000 thru 2013; Cisco VOIP products; Knowledge Management applications (Confluence, SharePoint, Cisco QM); a number of various Networking/Firewall appliances (Cisco Meraki switches, Aironets, Fortinet, and Sonicwall); database systems (MS SQL 2000-2014, MySQL 4.x/5); various IT administration/monitoring tools; some programming languages (JavaScript, Matlab, HTML); a number of Cloud solutions (AWS, Azure, Egnyte, G-Suite, Office 365); and mobile device management (Sophos, Microsoft Intune). Besides his many IT-related accomplishments, Isaac also has a BA in Applied Mathematics with Computer Science from UC Berkeley.

In his spare time, Isaac is a father and an outdoor fitness enthusiast. He enjoys summiting high mountains over 13K feet, mountain biking, trail running, and swimming. You will often catch him outdoors doing something active.

As a Senior Philanthropic Advisor at East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF), Marta is responsible for supporting our professional advisors and legacy giving. She is committed to aligning her passion for advancement work with her commitment to addressing systemic inequality.

Marta is ​​an equity leader with extensive fundraising experience who centers major donor engagement through an anti-racism lens. Marta successfully raised funds for a $40 million and $24.5 million capital campaign and led a $4 million annual giving program. She also founded two community benefit organizations that prioritized serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families and has more than two decades of experience in schools.

Marta is a Bay Area native and first-generation graduate with a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Brown University and a B.A. in U.S. History from San Francisco State University. Marta enjoys gardening, hiking with her dogs in the Oakland Hills, and creating care packages to send to her daughter, who is in her first year of college.

Myra Haidari joined the Accounting team at East Bay Community Foundation in May 2022 as an Accountant. After having her children, she decided to embark on a new career that allowed her to maximize her love and talent with numbers. Prior to joining EBCF, Myra worked as a Project Accountant at an environmental firm and an engineering company.

Myra was born in Afghanistan and came to the United States as a refugee and has been living in the East Bay ever since.  She spends her personal time volunteering and serving newly arrived refugee communities. In her spare time, Myra likes to spend quality time with her family, read, and explore new restaurants. Myra holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology and a minor in Chemistry from San Jose State University.

As ASCEND BLO: Program Associate, Julius brings extensive experience as an educator, community leader, and social justice advocate. As Program Associate, Julius supports the department of Community Investments and Partnerships’ Black-led organization initiative, serving as the lead person for the initiative’s network and community engagement activities. He has managed and facilitated programs, brought diverse groups together, and partnered with numerous Bay Area community-based organizations. In all his work, Julius pursues the promotion of justice, healing, love, and liberation in the communities he is a part of and serves.

Before joining East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF), Julius worked for thirteen years as a classroom teacher in schools throughout the Bay Area. He has served on the Outdoor Afro Leadership Team in varying capacities and has served as a facilitator for the National Equity Project’s, Black Teacher Project program. 

Julius holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University in Sociology, and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of the Pacific. He lives in Oakland with his husband. In his spare time, he enjoys caring for his plants, going to museums, and connecting with the many beautiful outdoor spaces in the Bay Area, especially the Redwoods with family and friends.

Mahvash Hassan, is the Project Lead for the COVID-19 African American Education and Outreach Partnership, a national community-centered public-philanthropic project. She also manages the East Contra Costa STRONG Nonprofits Fund, a pooled philanthropic fund at EBCF with a mission to increase racial equity, economic justice, and public and philanthropic investments.

As an independent consultant, Mahvash designs and leads systems change efforts in support of equitable and engaged communities. She also develops and delivers equity and inclusion trainings for government agencies and public participation practitioners. Her clients include cities and counties in California, national and local nonprofits, philanthropy, and UN Agencies. At the Institute for Local Government, she facilitated multi-stakeholder planning processes to establish local government offices of immigrant affairs and developed curriculum and resources to drive equity, language access and immigrant civic engagement in California’s communities.

Mahvash serves on the Board of Directors for Welcoming America and is the former president and board member of a local community group committed to antiracist education and advocacy. Mahvash holds a M.P.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science from Bates College.

Andrew Hattori is Vice President of Marketing & Communications at East Bay Community Foundation where he builds awareness of and connection to the foundation’s work. He has more than 15 years of experience as a marketing and communications strategist, leader, and coach working at the intersection of public policy and social justice.

Prior to EBCF, Andrew led the marketing and communications team at San Francisco AIDS Foundation, a $40-million nonprofit organization delivering sexual health and substance use services to more than 25,000 people annually. Prior to that he served for nearly a decade at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he managed publications, events, and media affairs, among other areas.

Andrew is the proud biracial grandson of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. His passion for racial equity, social justice, and LGBTQ+ causes has defined much of professional and personal life, including his early advocacy for marriage equality and longtime fundraising efforts for HIV prevention.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College in Japanese studies, and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley-Haas School of Business. He lives in Berkeley, Calif., with his husband and their scruffy dog, and enjoys cycling and exploring the East Bay Regional Park District.

Clint Hayden began his new role as a Grants & Scholarships Specialist for EBCF in early 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies and a Master of Arts degree in Sociology. Clint has worked at EBCF for over 7 years, and prior to moving into his Grants & Scholarships Specialist position, he performed various roles in the Operations, Development, and Community Investment & Partnerships departments. As a Grants and Scholarships Specialist, he continues to work alongside Grants & Scholarships Manager Laura Choe and Grants & Scholarships Specialist Natalie Torres-Rosas in overseeing and administering daily grants processing, while taking a more active role with the Clorox and Kaiser funds. He also assumes the responsibility of establishing and administrating a larger number of scholarships, as EBCF looks to increase our involvement in this work.

Brandi Howard is the president and CEO of East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF), one of the oldest community foundations in the country. Named the “boldest community foundation” in 2019 by Inside Philanthropy, EBCF is known for its work advancing inclusion, fairness, and racial justice in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Howard is a collaborative and compassionate leader who brings deep experience as an equity and justice strategist rooted in community to the Foundation’s vision and framework for A Just East Bay.

Before EBCF, Howard led strategic planning and the development of the equity learning infrastructure as chief of staff and interim vice president of programs at San Francisco Foundation. Her leadership was critical in advancing the equity-centered grantmaking policy and systems change in the region. When she began there, she worked with the The Daniel E. Koshland Civic Unity Program, a community leadership program that works with grassroots risk-takers and makes a five-year investment in their community. Prior to that, Howard worked for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene where she oversaw two city-wide initiatives to reduce infant mortality and chronic disease and led the development of a division-wide framework to streamline implementation, staffing, and quality improvement processes for Neighborhood Health Action Centers.

Howard is a third-generation Oaklander who grew up in multicultural communities throughout the city, in a family with a heritage of Pan-Africanism and a global worldview. Conscious of the complexities of race, racism, and racial injustice, Howard began her career recognizing the linkage of all oppressions in the shared fight for liberation. She was drawn to advocacy and health equity work during her nineteen years as a doula working with Black and Latinx women. Decades-stagnant health outcomes for Black and Latinx mothers led her to speak out for systems change and her career shifted. As maternal child health subcommittee chair for the Alameda County Public Health Commission, she served as a liaison between public and nonprofit agencies, community members and the county board of supervisors to provide recommendations to support optimal maternal and child health in Alameda County. Howard also worked for First 5 Alameda County, and has advised a number of nonprofit organizations on strategy, sustainability, and equity as a consultant.

Howard is a member of Chief, a network of senior women leaders built to strengthen their leadership journey, cross-pollinate ideas across industries, and affect change from the top-down. Howard is a lecturer for equity in practice at the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is also an advisory committee member. Howard is principal consultant at Beyond the Curve, a consulting firm providing organizational development, business strategy, and talent and crisis management.

Howard started her career transition journey at Merritt College after ten years in the workforce as a mother of three children. She transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies and a Master of Social Work. Now a mother of four, Howard is constantly inspired by her children’s creativity and relentless energy. Her children are her motivation to advance racial equity, and transform political, social, and economic outcomes for all who call the East Bay home.

Byron Johnson is a program director for the East Bay Community Foundation where he leads the ASCEND: BLO (Black Led Organizations) initiative to strengthen Black-Led organizations in the Bay Area. Before coming to the Foundation in 2017, he was as a Senior Project Director at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, where he designed and delivered cohort-based leadership development programs such as the Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color and worked with individuals, boards, and teams to increase trust and accountability during times of change and transition. Prior to CompassPoint, Byron spent over ten years in leadership and senior fund development positions for several Bay Area nonprofit organizations, including San Francisco State University and the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC).

Byron attended San Francisco State University and received his bachelor’s degree in English, with an emphasis in creative writing. He is also a professionally certified coach and fundraising executive. A proud Oakland native, he currently serves on the advisory boards of the California Black Freedom Fund and Dimensions Dance Theater.

Theresa Johnson is a professional accountant whose past experience is with startup and growth phase companies; a background that has provided her with valuable insight into many areas of finance, accounting and system implementation, as well as developed her ability to successfully work in a dynamic, fast paced environment. She holds a B.A degree in Sociology and has completed extensive coursework in accounting.

Theresa was born in Oakland and was raised in Ukiah. After living in a handful of other Northern California cities she eventually returned to live in the East Bay in 2012. In her free time, she enjoys hiking in the Walnut Creek Lime Ridge Open Space and spending time with her husband and five children.

Michele Johnson joined the Operations team at East Bay Community Foundation in August 2020 as a Receptionist & Operations Associate and now serves as the Marketing and Communications Project Associate. Prior to joining EBCF, Michele worked as an Administrative Assistant in the education field focused on project management, empathetic customer service, and organizational support.

Michele holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and has a passion for creative storytelling through Art and Marketing/Communication techniques. She is an advocate for raising awareness of racial, gender, and social justice issues through social media platforms. In her spare time, Michele loves contributing to her lifestyle blog, crafting new recipes from scratch, and creating collage art.

Anoop is an experienced grants administration and compliance expert. Prior to joining East Bay Community Foundation, Anoop Served as the primary lead for grants administration and compliance at Wells Fargo Foundation and across all grantmaking vehicles at Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF). She also oversaw staff development and training across process and compliance best practices. Anoop’s grantmaking experience ranges from supporting large corporate philanthropy efforts at SVCF to supporting small non-profits in developing internal structures to become viable funding partners at California Humanities. She is an expert in building teams, and developing and refining workflows. She strives to ensure every process is efficient in order to reduce the burden on grantees and on her team.

Anoop transitioned to the field of philanthropy after completing an M.A. in International Policy Studies at Middlebury College, where she studied gaps in development and funding resources across the world. She is also an enthusiastic potter and a cook, you can find her in a local pottery studio or her kitchen during her free time.

Brenda Laribee is a senior fund development executive who caught the fundraising “bug” towards the end of her graduate school tenure, especially in relation to social justice. The AIDS epidemic was her first call to action, first volunteering with the AIDS Action Committee in Boston in the early 90s, then transferring her passion to ignite a career in the AIDS community in the Bay Area. While several organizations Brenda worked for have merged or run their course, Shanti Project and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation remain, and continue their important work to cultivate compassion in our community and end the AIDS epidemic.

Brenda continued to build her fund development career in the Bay Area, holding positions at the Sierra Club, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and St. Anthony Foundation before launching her own consultancy firm, where she has brought her expertise in individual leadership giving programs, capital campaigns, annual fund development strategic planning, relationship building, mentoring, interim management, and project management to nonprofits that work towards social justice, provide affordable and accessible health care and social services, fight for human rights, promote the arts, protect the environment, and so much more. Recent clients include La Cocina, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Blue Bear School of Music, National AIDS Memorial Grove, Transgender Law Center, California State Parks Foundation, Alameda County Community Food Bank, SFJAZZ, Access Institute, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Raphael House and Year Up Bay Area.

Brenda holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Simmons School of Management and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire. She is a long-standing member of the Development Executives Roundtable in the Bay Area, and has taught and/or participated in several classes at The Foundation Center, now part of Candid. She is a volunteer host and member of the Circle of Advisors at Bread & Roses where she has volunteered in various capacities for 25+ years, and recently served as chair of the Development Committee of the Board of Directors at Civicorps in Oakland.

Born and raised in Oakland, Joshua Lee has been leading grassroots organizations in the Bay Area for over ten years. A focal point of Josh’s work has been with youth organizing groups in the east bay such as Youth Together and AYPAL: Building Asian Pacific Islander Community Power, centering the voices and leadership of some of the most powerful yet vulnerable populations in the region in BIPOC young people. Josh recently completed his role as a Multicultural Fellow at the San Francisco Foundation (SFF), where he led their Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building and COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund grantmaking. Prior to his role at SFF, he was the Director of AYPAL: Building API Community Power for 5 years. He has a MA from the University of Michigan in Higher Education with a focus on Social Justice, and a BA from UC Santa Cruz in American Studies. After being in the field for many years, harnessing his perspective as both grantee and funder, he is driven by a commitment to building collective strategies towards racial equity, led by those most impacted, towards a Just East Bay.

Marlynne Leonardson joined the East Bay Community Foundation to increase the organization’s administrative support for the President & CEO, as well as the Board of Trustees. As a seasoned Executive Assistant with over 40 years of experience, Marlynne brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise across a broad range of responsibilities including project management, day-to-day operations, and executive correspondence.

When she is out of the office, Marlynne is heavily involved in planning and executing activities for alumni of a past local youth group founded by her parents. A Bay Area native, her favorite pastimes include walking her dog, reading, and visiting family and friends.

As Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Kaitlin Levenstrong focuses on building relationships with donors interested in aligning their giving with the Just East Bay vision. She has dedicated her career to helping people live into the change they want to see through boldly investing their wealth and resources, as well as their time and talents, towards critical issues of racial justice, gender equity, economic inclusion, and other structural inequalities. Most recently, she has served as the Director of Strategic Gifts and Business Partnership at Sojourners, a national nonprofit mobilizing people of faith around local & national social justice issues.

Kaitlin has developed a unique blend of fundraising, strategic partnership building, community organizing, and business acumen throughout her 13+ year career. In addition to Sojourners, she has worked on gender equity programs, social enterprise, and corporate partnership development for the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNA-GB), Prosperity Candle, and the Girl Scouts in Washington, DC. Her work and approach are driven by a deep belief in building authentic relationships that prioritize transparency and trust, in order to inspire people to become powerful participants and allies within their communities and broader movements.

Kaitlin is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she received a B.A. in journalism with concentrations in religious studies, politics, and African new world studies, and has also completed a certificate in professional fundraising at Boston University. Having been raised in the Midwest and headed East first for school and work, Kaitlin eventually found her way out West, making a more permanent home in California with her husband in 2020. Getting outdoors to explore the natural wonders of the Bay Area and beyond is what she seeks most in her downtime.

Mây (pronunciation) Nguyễn brings over 15 years of experience as a community organizer, attorney, and program director to her role as Senior Philanthropic Advisor at East Bay Community Foundation. She has been a leader in disaster and climate justice, co-authoring a white paper on the BP Oil Spill for the White House Initiative on AAPI, providing written testimony on the Oil Pollution Act for a US Senate Energy Subcommittee hearing, and appearing on NBC, NPR, and local Louisiana media. She published a revised second edition environmental law and policy advocacy guide and has taught an undergraduate program and trained over a thousand impacted people and local elected leaders to take action. And she received UCLA School of Public Policy’s Rishwain Social Justice Entrepreneurship Award for her transformative organizing work with Black, Indigenous, and Immigrant fishing communities to win recognition and damages for traditional fishing practices.

The proud daughter of refugees from Viet Nam, Mây grew up in New Orleans and east Oakland as one of seven children. She earned her BA from Amherst College and MA from Johns Hopkins University. And received a NAPABA Scholarship to attend UCLA School of Law, where she earned her JD with a certificate in Public Interest Law and Policy.

Mây lives in the Bay Area, California with her husband and two young children, and enjoys traveling, ice skating, and making music. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of a community foundation in Louisiana, and Lowlander Center, a climate justice participatory action group.

She looks forward to meeting more funders and donors and co-creating philanthropic strategies to realize a just east bay for all of us that call this area home. Her specific areas of interest include Trust-Based philanthropy, Regenerative philanthropy, faith-based giving, crowdfunding, and centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPoC) philanthropy. She is fluent in Vietnamese and proficient in Spanish.

As Senior Grants Specialist, Kaitlin Ostlie brings over 10 years of experience in philanthropy and grants management to her work with the Kaiser Permanente funds at East Bay Community Foundation.

Before joining EBCF, Kaitlin worked with the Minnesota Council on Foundations and went on to become the grants manager for the Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing (formerly InFaith Community Foundation) overseeing due diligence on over $40 million in grants annually. She is currently the Co-Chair of Minnesota Chapter of PEAK Grantmaking and has previously served as the programming chair for six years.

Kaitlin earned her BA in East Asian Studies from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She received the 2019 James L. Oberstar Fellowship for Excellence in Public Service and recently completed a Master of Public Affairs from The Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. She resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota where she enjoys volunteering as a Master Naturalist and wildlife rehabber specializing in bats.

Sandra is a first-generation immigrant from Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. She is also a first-generation college student who transferred from City College of San Francisco where she double majored in Math and Science, and Behavioral Science to the University of California, Santa Cruz where she completed her BA in Latin American & Latinx Studies. She has an extensive and diverse background in administration support, database and file management, internal and external customer service, scheduling and event planning in a variety of business and organizational settings.

Outside of her professional environment, Sandra really enjoys being Tia to two little humans, volunteering, learning how to garden and cook, camping, and exploring the California coastline

VALERIE RED-HORSE MOHL, of Cherokee ancestry, is the former CFO of East Bay Community Foundation and currently serving the Foundation as a Senior Advisor. She has more than 25 years of in-depth experience in the financial services and investment banking industry with a unique expertise in the Native American tribal government sector.

Red-Horse Mohl has raised, structured, and managed over $3 billion in capital and holds seven FINRA registrations. Red-Horse Mohl is the former Executive Director/CEO of Social Venture Circle, a non-profit leading the way in the field of social impact investing and sustainable business. She is also the CEO/founder of Red-Horse Financial Group and Red-Horse Native Productions.

Red-Horse Mohl serves as an inaugural member of the U.S. Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, formed in 2022 to advance racial equity in the economy. She is the Advisory Board Chair of Stanford University’s Center for the Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and teaches two undergraduate courses on Entrepreneurship for Social Impact and Racial Equity at Stanford. She also serves as Board Chair of the National Boys and Girls Clubs Native American Division, as an Advisory Board Member for NDN Fund, a Board Member of the Crane Institute of Sustainability (Intentional Endowments Network), and as a Board Member for the Northern California Chapter of the International Women’s Forum.

Red-Horse Mohl earned a B.A. with Cum Laude honors from UCLA and has founded several nonprofit ministries nationwide. Red-Horse Mohl has been married since 1982 to former NFL professional Curt Mohl and they have three children, Courtney–Stanford University ‘07; Derek–California Lutheran University ‘12; and Chelsea–Stanford University ‘21.

Melody Rooshen is a Program Manager for Community Investments and Partnerships (CIP) team at EBCF. She is interested in advancing social change by bridging her two worlds of tech and non-profit together to center and uplift BIPOC communities.

Currently, in her role, she strategically focuses on identifying the needs and gaps in our grantmaking by building authentic relationships with our community thought partners. Her role intersects arts and culture for racial and social justice and supports our corporate partnership’s grantmaking.

Melody received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Riverside. Her personal interests include ambitiously binge-watching Netflix, getting that 12-step skincare regimen down to a tee, and drinking chai with her loved ones. Melody lives in the East Bay with her partner and toddler.

Kristen Summers joined the Grants Management team at East Bay Community Foundation in April 2022 as Grants & Scholarships Manager. She joined the Foundation because she is inspired by its commitment to justice in all aspects of the work. Kristen values streamlining processes with an eye toward equitable grantmaking and is happy to bring her skills in trust-based philanthropy and data analysis/visualization to the team.

Kristen started her career in grants management six years ago at Saint Luke’s Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a long-standing member of the professional association PEAK Grantmaking and served in a leadership capacity for the PEAK Mideast Chapter from 2018 to 2022. Kristen also serves on the board of Social Venture Partners, Cleveland, and is a co-chair for the Equity Committee.

Prior to working in philanthropy, Kristen worked in the international education field having earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in French Translation from Kent State University. In her spare time, Kristen enjoys spending time with her husband and energetic young son and hiking the many beautiful trails in Ohio.

Natalie Torres-Rosas joined the Donor Services and Administrative Support team at EBCF as a Donor Services Associate in June 2019, and now serves as a Grants & Scholarships Specialist. In her new role, she works alongside Grants & Scholarships Manager, Laura Choe, and Grants & Scholarships Specialist, Clint Hayden, in administering daily grants processing, and supporting scholarships administration and processing – as EBCF increases our involvement in grant-making and scholarships.

She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Criminal Justice and Sociology. She hopes to continue helping EBCF with our mission, given her educational and personal background, and strong interest in improving the criminal justice and social systems. Before joining EBCF, Natalie was with Development at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley. She also volunteered at different organizations in San Francisco, both in the community and in San Francisco’s and San Mateo’s county jails.

During her free time, she enjoys going to the dog park with her two pups, reading mystery and crime, listening to vinyls with her partner, and exploring Oakland. You can most likely find her at a taco stand!

As the Managing Director, Operations & Facilities, Carlos Velasquez oversees the Operations Department which is responsible for day-to-day management of IT and network operations, the headquarters building, and the Foundation’s conference Center. He also serves as the liaison to the Foundation’s outside professional HR administrative services group.

Carlos has more than 30 years of technical and operations experience. Prior to joining to the Foundation in 2009, Carlos worked in various managerial capacities at the Educational Testing Service, Snap Technologies/Embark, The Princeton Review, and the California Nurses Association.

Carlos holds a B.A. in Humanities from U.C. Berkeley.

Sabrina Wu is a collaborative leader who has focused her career on advancing social justice and equity. As a Senior Fellow at East Bay Community Foundation, she leads the foundation’s emerging work on building an inclusive and equitable economy for a Just East Bay.

Sabrina brings over fifteen years of experience in program planning and management, alliance building, community and youth leadership development, and evaluation in the non-profit and public sectors. Prior to joining EBCF, she served as Director of HOPE (Health for Oakland’s People and Environment) Collaborative, where she built partnerships between public and private sectors and community to advance racial and economic equity in Oakland’s food system and built environment. She has also launched and led many community programs working with and on behalf of low income communities of color, focused on health equity, youth development, and food justice.

Sabrina holds a Bachelors degree from Barnard College of Columbia University and a Masters degree in Agriculture, Food and Environmental Policy from Tufts University.

Ellie Young joined the East Bay Community Foundation as the Development Associate. She is originally from Irvine, California and moved to the Bay Area in 2020. Ellie graduated from the University of Vermont where she majored in both History and Political Science, and minored in Religion. Her specialties included European History, the American Political System, and Religions in Asia. At UVM Ellie worked for the Department of Residential Life as a Resident Advisor.

After graduation, Ellie moved back to Orange County where she briefly worked in education before beginning her career in politics. She got started managing the field and volunteer operations for campaigns as a staffer. Ellie then began working for candidates as a fundraising consultant. In that role she acted as the call time manager, planned dozens of fundraisers, and implemented small dollar and grassroots fundraising campaigns. Throughout her career in politics, Ellie worked on campaigns for Parks Board, School Board, Community College Board, City Council, County Supervisor, Superior Court Judge, and State Senate.

Ellie enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, patronizing her local Indian restaurant, game nights, and going to and performing in theater productions. She lives in San Jose with her partner and their adorable cat, Rue.

Genevieve (Gennie) Zaragoza, CPA (inactive) currently serves as Interim Chief Financial Officer of East Bay Community Foundation. Her career of 30 plus years has been entirely devoted to accounting in the nonprofit sector, including more than 10 years as the Managing Partner of the Oakland based CPA firm Ghaffari Zaragoza LLP. She has experience with a wide variety of organizations using her broad in-depth experience to help organizations achieve financial clarity, efficiency and compliance. Most recently she served as the Controller for the Global Fund for Women where she implemented a cloud based paperless accounting system. She graduated from Mills College with honors earning a B.A. in Economics.

Gennie was born in Pennsylvania, she moved to Berkeley as a one year old and has been an East Bay resident ever since. In her free time, she enjoys decluttering and organizing the home she shares with her husband and two children and exploring all the vegan food options the Bay Area has to offer.