2023 New Grantmakers Institute: Grantmaking for the 21st Century

Jamie Allison leads the Walter & Elise Haas Fund in partnership with trustees, ensuring our work expresses our values, resonates with community, and catalyzes the field. She focuses on organizational leadership, strategy, and governance. Her top priorities are to ensure that the Fund’s staff thrive in their roles and that our practices and grantmaking advance liberation and community transformation. Jamie’s 20 plus years in philanthropy combined with experience in the public sector and local government enables her to understand how these systems can be leveraged to make real change. Every day, she is inspired by the community leaders who endeavor to dream and make real a more just society by widening the circle of care to include all of us.

Jamie was born and raised in Chattanooga, TN but has called San Francisco home for more than 20 years. She is always ready for adventure. When she is not working, you can find her at music and film festivals, soccer matches, or awaiting a flight at the airport. It’s not a surprise then, that her favorite word in the English language is peripatetic, which means traveling from place to place, because she likes to travel, and also because p is her favorite letter.

Meaghan Calcari Campbell, Program Officer, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Meaghan works to promote the protection and resilience of Canadian ocean ecosystems and coastal communities. Previously, she worked on community-based conservation and economic development projects in the Philippines and Indonesia at Conservation International. She currently chairs the Environment Funders Canada Oceans Collaborative and was past chair of the Biodiversity Funders Group funder collaborative. She served as board secretary for both Environment Funders Canada and the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Meaghan received her B.S. in environmental science and psychology from the University of Notre Dame, Master of Environmental Management from Duke University, and M.B.A. in community economic development from Cape Breton University.

As executive director, Angie collaborates with the board, supports the team, and aligns the foundation’s efforts to shift systems toward a more equitable and just future. Most recently, she was director of programs at the Libra Foundation where she oversaw programs and communications. Previously she held leadership and grantmaking roles at multiple foundations and led a national funder collaborative. Angie has a Master’s of Public Policy from UC Berkeley and an AB in environmental science and public policy from Harvard University.

Raymond Colmenar is the new president of Akonadi Foundation. He comes to Akonadi Foundation from The California Endowment, where he spent 16 years playing various leadership roles that gave him hands-on experience in strategic planning, program design and implementation, and organizational redesign and development. Most recently, he served as The Endowment’s Managing Director of the Northern California regional team and the statewide Inclusive Community Development team, managing nearly $20 million in grantmaking annually.

Prior to joining The Endowment, Ray was one of the founding staff members who helped launch PolicyLink, and prior to that was at The Rockefeller Foundation. He received a bachelor’s degree in Management Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Ray was born in Manila, Philippines, grew up in San Diego, and now lives in Albany with his wife, Fatima Angeles. Their daughter, Isabela, and son, Alessandro, are currently studying at UC Berkeley and San Diego State. When time permits, Ray loves playing golf with his good friends.

Charles Sidney Fields joined the Irvine Foundation’s San Francisco office in late August 2016. He has more than a decade of leadership experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, funding and supporting social change organizations to achieve greater impact.

He previously served as a Senior Program Manager for The California Endowment. There he was responsible for strategy development, grantmaking, and leadership activities in Southern California. He also co-developed and managed Sons & Brothers, the Endowment’s $50 million grantmaking and leadership program focused on improving the health, wellness, and opportunity of boys and young men of color. During his tenure there, he co-developed a $260 million public-private loan fund, the FreshWorks Fund, to increase access to healthy foods and spur economic development in underserved communities in California.

Prior to the Endowment, Charles was a grantmaker at the Marguerite Casey Foundation, managing a $8 million portfolio of grants focused on community economic development, civic engagement, educational equity, violence prevention, and family support.

Charles was also an Initiative Coordinator and Neighborhood and Community Development Fellow at the San Francisco Foundation, where he provided day-to-day management of the West Oakland Initiative. Other positions of note include: Social Action and Policy Coordinator for The National Community Building Network in Oakland; Empowerment Zone Coordinator for the Transportation Resource Information Project in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Organizer and Economic Development Specialist for Welcome House (Northern Kentucky Welfare Reform Task Force) in Covington, Kentucky.

Charles currently serves as the chair of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation and was recently awarded a German Marshall Memorial Fellowship to Europe.

Fields has his master’s in education and bachelor’s in organizational communications from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Desiree Flores brings 20 years of social justice grant making and program development experience funding social justice movement building at the local, state, and national levels. She was previously the Program Director of U.S. Social Justice at the Arcus Foundation, a global LGBTQ philanthropy, supporting policy and culture change determined by LGBTQ people pushed to the margins. Earlier in her career, she served as Director of Board Affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and as a longtime program officer at the Ms. Foundation for Women supporting more powerful gender and racial justice movements. Desiree earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

David Greco is a nationally recognized nonprofit leader, speaker, and author on creating a more sustainable and effective social sector. Today David serves as President & CEO of Social Sector Partners helping nonprofits and funders better understand what it really costs for nonprofits to be sustainable and achieve long-term impact.

David began his career working on political campaigns before moving into the nonprofit sector where he has worked to provide access to education for economically disadvantaged youth, built community coalitions around improving the social determinants of health for young people, and supported environmental education and wildlife habitat conservation. In all of his work, he has focused on helping organizations scale programs, expand services and increase impact.

Most recently, David served as Executive Director of All Stars Helping Kids providing early-stage investments in emerging nonprofits working to help break the cycle of poverty for youth in the Bay Area. Prior to leading All Stars, he created and led the Full Cost Project in California to increase the number of grantmakers providing full cost funding, served as Interim President and CEO for Northern California Grantmakers, was the Vice President of the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) for more than 5 years and Vice President of the Youth Leadership Institute. He regularly speaks at national conferences, has trained thousands of social sector leaders on financial sustainability, and he has partners with the staff, trustees and grantees for dozens of foundations.

David is a professor in the Masters in Nonprofit Administration program at University of San Francisco and is a Certified Board Governance Trainer with BoardSource. He is the author of “Nonprofit Financial Management” featured in “Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals” edited by Darian Rodriguez Heyman and Laila Brenner and "Think Money First! Ending the Culture of Scarcity and Achieving Real Impact.” David served for ten years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves and earned his M.A. in Political Science from Villanova University and B.S. in History & Politics from Drexel University.

Rebecca M. Hamburg is the Chief Network Officer for the California Donor Table and the California Donor Table Fund. Rebecca leads individual donor network strengthening and expansion as well as foundation engagement and alignment work for CDT/F.

Previously, she was the founder and principal consultant for Rebecca Hamburg Consulting, where she empowered organizations with the tools and knowledge to achieve their vision for a better world. She provided guidance to assist grantmakers in understanding how they can support and engage in advocacy and other nonprofit organizations to engage their communities in public policy efforts through an understanding of federal tax and election law. Prior to starting her consulting firm, Rebecca served as the West Coast Director for Alliance for Justice and Program Director of the National Employment Lawyers Association. She also spent several years litigating cases on behalf of public and private employees around the country, as well as victims of civil and human rights abuses in the U.S. and around the world.

Rebecca is a native Californian of Mexican and Jewish descent. She is mom to two boys, Rowen and Killian. Rebecca has served as Governing Board Member for the Wiseburn Unified School District since 2022. Rebecca received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A. in political science (with honors) from the University of California, San Diego. She is an active member of the State Bar of California.

Jamillah Hasan-Oliver, also known by her pen name Lila Imani, is an award-winning educator, artist and multidisciplinary storyteller. Best known for her work with youth, Jamillah brings over 29 years of experience in vibrant youth development, community engagement and cultural arts program design.

After 21 years of impactful teaching, Jamillah retired from the classroom to develop a space that embodied the needs she saw daily with youth and their families. In 2018, she founded BreakBox Thought Collective + Studios. BreakBox is an intergenerational, grassroots incubator and makerspace for holistic healing, expression and economic opportunity.

Jamillah has produced music videos, PSAs, performed spoken word poetry, written plays and has received recognition for several of her short form documentaries. She co-founded Ashe Magazine with her daughter in 2019 to amplify the voices of young writers. As Editor in Chief of Ashe Magazine, Jamillah leads a team of 20 young writers, publishing more than 300 community stories. The youth publication is now in its sixth volume. 

In her role as Executive Director of BreakBox Thought Collective + Studios, Jamillah designs spaces that are redemptive, with an emphasis on restoring the imbalance and harm that racialized trauma has caused. Her work is grounded in traditional cultural practices that promote voice, visibility, interdependence and attunement for Black bodies, Jamillah works for just transitions that restore peace and reciprocity for equitable futures. Through storytelling, and critical conversations that honor indigenous ways of being and knowing, Jamillah hopes to inspire intentional shifts in the landscape of social consciousness. 

Jamillah has partnered and co-created with a number of foundations through grant awards and donor advised funds including: The California Endowment, the James B. McClatchey: (Lifting Local Voices Award,) Silicon Valley Community Foundation: (California Black Freedom Fund,) Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors: Grantmakers for Girls of Color (Black Girl Freedom Fund), Central Valley Community Foundation: (Informed Narratives for Community Healing Grant Award) and the Sierra Health Foundation: (Youth Suicide Prevention Media Campaign), and The Possibility Labs: (Wayfinder Grant.)

Jamillah has been honored for her innovative approaches to education, including Fresno Unified Teacher of the Year, (2011) Fresno County Office of Education Educator of the Year Finalist, (2011) Artist in Residence for Fresno County Office of Education, (2012-2013) African American Heritage Award for Excellence in Education from the State of California Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, (2013) California Arts Council, Established Artist Award, (2022) The James B. McClatchey Foundation, Lifting Local Leaders Award.

Jack is the Director for Movement- and Power-Building at Silicon Valley Community Foundation. He joined the foundation in early 2018.

Since joining SVCF, Jack has spearheaded several civic engagement initiatives across the organization. He led SVCF's support to implement the California Voter's Choice Act in Silicon Valley and worked with government partners in the City of San Jose and San Mateo County to establish voter engagement funds. Jack believes it is vital to support BIPOC leaders in order to advance systemic change and build long-term power in communities of color.

Early in his career, Jack worked as an organizer on progressive campaigns across the country and brings lessons from his experience into his work today. More recently, Jack worked in the international development field to promote good governance. He spent over five years at the Open Government Partnership, an international initiative started by the Obama Administration to bring governments and civil society together to build more transparent, accountable, and participatory institutions.

Jack holds a MSc in Public Management and Governance from the London School of Economics and a BS in Religious Studies and Political Science from Santa Clara University.

In 2014, Jacob founded Digital NEST—a technology workforce development hub providing youth in rural communities with high-demand technology skills, mentoring and hands-on experience so they can secure well-paying jobs. Prior, he spent nearly 10 years running a successful program funded by the National Science Foundation, encouraging underrepresented Latinos to study computer science. He is a 2020 recipient of the James Irvine Foundation “Leadership Award” and a 2018 Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation “Entrepreneur Fellow.” Jacob plans to open a Digital NEST in every overlooked community in California and to prepare youth to transform them into thriving economic centers.

Melissa Nop (she/her/hers) has been working in philanthropy since 2017 and currently serves at NCG’s Manager of Equity and Practice supporting work around culture and community, racial equity, social justice, and public policy – helping to develop networks, training cohorts, and programming.  

Based in the North Bay, she most recently worked at Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees as a Program Associate. As the proud daughter of Khmer refugees, she is passionate about addressing the challenges that immigrants and refugees face. Her interest in healing intergenerational trauma became central after taking a powerful trip home to Cambodia with her mom and brother, which led her to sit on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants. Melissa is also the Education Chair for the Asian and Pacific Islander Giving Practice which works on empowering API communities to take on challenges locally and beyond. 

Melissa hopes to bring this lens into her work with the NCG community. 

Shaady Salehi is a strategist, facilitator, and network builder who has dedicated nearly 20 years to advancing social impact across various sectors. She currently serves as the director of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, a 5-year learning and advocacy initiative to make trust-based practices the norm in the philanthropic sector. She also is Principal and Founder of Skyview Strategies, a social impact consultancy for nonprofits, foundations, and changemakers. Previously, Shaady was Managing Director of Distribution and Impact at ITVS, where she led a team to advance the reach and impact of documentaries on public television. Prior to ITVS, she was Executive Director of Active Voice, a pioneering organization that uses storytelling to catalyze social change. Shaady is a 2014 Aspen Institute Fellow and sits on the board of Let It Ripple, a nonprofit that experiments with collaborative filmmaking for the common good. She holds an M.S. in Strategic Communications from Columbia University and an M.A. in Anthropology from UC Davis. 

I support and encourage the leadership shifts that are needed to achieve community resilience. I work to create the conditions in which people and organizations can be in effective service of a cause greater than themselves, and where all people can thrive. I strive to create spaces that fuel co-creation, engagement, impact, and liberation. Creating the space that builds trust and honors courage and risk-taking, that supports discomfort, and that allows for creativity to emerge and change to occur. 

My career has spanned the realms of program and workshop design, facilitation, leadership development, and coaching while working in the fields of philanthropy and food systems. I began my career co-founding and co-directing Puente a la Salud Comunitaria in Oaxaca, Mexico, an organization focused on public health, sustainable agriculture, and economic development, all through working with amaranth, a grain native to Mesoamerica and outlawed with the Spanish conquest. I have worked with numerous social justice, leadership development organizations since then. 

As I deepened my experience with leadership development and social change organizations, I realized that what I wanted to more deeply explore was the concept of inner and outer alignment of values and action. I began to study methods that incorporated both of these realms. Through that exploration, I have been deeply engaged with the Art of Hosting, the Center for Courage and Renewal, and the Authentic Leadership Center at Naropa University, calling upon these methods in my work as well as my life. 

My work of the more recent past has been in somatics and anti-racism, having been socialized with an awareness of my white body. This work, for me, is about acknowledging the impact that racism has had not only on bodies of culture but on white bodies, my body, as well, and building new culture to be in discomfort, to address harm, and to be in right relationship with myself and with others.  

Originally from San Francisco, I studied at Middlebury College in Vermont for my BA in Latin American Culture and Politics. I returned in the fall of 2013 to study a Master’s in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability in Sweden. I have lived for five years in different countries Latin America, and I relish travel, farm life, my homeland of California, and good cooking and food. 

Carolyn Wang Kong is the President and Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Fund. In this role, Carolyn works closely with community partners and funders to identify and act on the issues that are most pressing to the bay area’s Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Previously, Carolyn worked for 20 years to create health equity for communities across California. She served as the Chief Program Director at Blue Shield of California Foundation, a statewide philanthropy with a dual mission of increasing health equity and ending domestic violence. In this role, provided oversight of the Foundation’s strategy, design, and management of the Foundation’s programs and $40 million grantmaking portfolio. Carolyn has also held operational leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente, where she developed a nationally recognized language access program to meet the needs of 350,000 limited English-speaking members in the Northern California region.

Carolyn holds a master’s in public health and public policy from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science from UCLA. In 2021, Carolyn was awarded the prestigious Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy from Grantmakers in Health. She is an alumna of the Coro Fellows program in public affairs. She is originally from East San Jose and spends her weekends driving her sons to basketball games around the greater Bay Area.

Nancy Xiong grew up in Merced, CA as the youngest of ten siblings and is the daughter of Hmong refugee parents from Southeast Asia. These experiences fueled her passion for health and education equity for underserved populations. In her previous capacity, she worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA for a local nonprofit helping to build advocacy and organizational capacity in the Southeast Asian community throughout California. Her background also includes youth development, program management, community engagement and outreach, narrative change, and working closely with first- generation college students and young SEAA professionals.

As a first-generation college student herself, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health and a minor in Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies. In her spare time, she enjoys thrift shopping, DIY home projects, and making ice cream.