In the spirit of collaboration, the Foundation's Collaborative Change Initiative invited a distinguished group of advisors to take part in program development and candidate selection. We are grateful to the advisors for helping to guide this exciting Initiative.
Community Panel Advisors
Kevin Grumbach, MD is the Hellman Endowed Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He is a Founding Director of the UCSF Center for Excellence in Primary Care and Co-Director of the Community Engagement and Health Policy Program for the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Dr. Grumbach has been an influential advisor to government agencies at the national and local levels.
Susan Mayer Hirsch is a leader in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, with particular expertise in forging innovative partnerships to address underfunded community needs. As Founder and CEO of Hirsch Philanthropy Partners, Susan has been instrumental in helping individuals, families, and foundations leverage their giving to generate major social impact.
Kym Johnson is the CEO of BANANAS, Inc., a cornerstone early care and education organization that provides resources for families and childcare providers to support and educate our youngest learners in Oakland. Her prior experiences include CEO of Harambee Community Services and Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Oakland. Kym currently provides leadership to two Collaborative Change Initiative projects – as a founding lead of Alameda County Families United CARE and a member of the executive committee of Oakland Starting Smart and Strong. She is also the chair of the Alameda County Early Care and Education Planning Council.
Dan Kingsley is a respected community and business leader. He is Founder and Managing Partner of SKS Partners, a real estate development firm with a commitment to a triple bottom line: positive social, environmental, and financial returns. Dan also serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Arriba Juntos, the Greenbelt Alliance, and the Committee on Jobs.
Zea Malawa, MD is a mother, pediatrician and public health professional committed to improving health outcomes for children of color. Upon completing her undergraduate degree at Columbia University, she earned a medical doctorate from UCLA and a master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley. Currently, Dr. Malawa is the director of Expecting Justice, a public health program that uses systems change and justice-oriented approaches to close the racial gap in birth outcomes; she also sees patients at Mission Neighborhood Health Center in San Francisco, teaches anti-racism at UC Berkeley, and is the Vice Chair of San Francisco's First 5 Commission.
Sonia Mañjon, PhD is the Executive Director of LeaderSpring Center. Possessing a deep commitment to racial and gender equity, social justice and decades of experience leading systemic change, Dr. Mañjon’s career spans more than 25 years in higher education, nonprofit management, government administration, and public and private sector consulting. Since becoming Executive Director of LeaderSpring Center (LSC), she has steered the organization to deepen its commitment to elevating and strengthening the vision, voice, power, and leadership of women of color. With a passion for promoting leaders of color, she led LSC’s collaboration with the Kapor Center to research the lack of advancement and promotion of women of color in the technology workforce. She enjoys yoga, swimming, and spending time with her sons Zyan and Ezra, and grandson Josiah.
Melanie Moore, PhD is the Chief Executive Officer of Oakland Thrives, an ambitious public-private collective impact initiative that seeks to create the conditions for Oakland's children, families, and communities to be the healthiest in the nation. Her prior experience was as a professional evaluator and nonprofit and philanthropic executive director, creating, evaluating and implementing strategies for achieving community and population-level results in governmental, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations. Melanie was also a founding partner of ALL IN Alameda County, a current Collaborative Change Initiative partner. She is a member of the Community Advisory Board for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland and serves as Co-President of the Board of The Crucible.
Kyriell Noon is the CEO of Hamilton Families—the leading nonprofit service provider to families experiencing homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kyriell joined Hamilton Families as the CEO in October 2020. Prior to Hamilton Families, Noon served for 20 years in the SF non-profit sector at Juma Ventures, Youth and Family Enrichment Services, STOP AIDS Project, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and GLIDE. As Chief Impact Officer at GLIDE, he oversaw the organization’s Programs, Church, Center for Social Justice, and Data, Strategy, and Evaluation teams. As part of their Senior Leadership, he provided critical strategic leadership on matters related to GLIDE’s community-facing programming. Originally from New York City, Noon attended Vassar College and Harvard University, is engaged to be married, and has two teenage sons.
Previous Advisors:
Curtiss Sarikey is an educator, innovator and community advocate with over 20 years of experience in leadership positions at the Oakland and San Francisco Unified School Districts and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the East Bay. He currently serves as Chief of Staff at the Oakland Unified School District. Curtiss also brings invaluable perspective to our advisor team as a previous Collaborative Change Initiative grant recipient.
Ben Hur is a prominent San Francisco attorney and active community leader. He is a partner at the law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. Ben previously served as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in San Francisco and as chair of the San Francisco Ethics Commission. He is also an active supporter of local and statewide non-profits and a SFUSD public school parent.
Mary V. Hughes is a highly acclaimed political strategist. She is co-founder and President of Hughes & Company, a strategic communications and political consulting firm. Mary is also founder of Close the Gap CA, a campaign to recruit progressive women to run for seats in the California legislature.
Sandra R. Hernández is a celebrated philanthropic and public health leader who also maintains an active clinical practice at San Francisco General Hospital’s AIDS clinic. In January 2014, Sandra became President and CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation. Prior to taking on this new role, she served for 17 years as CEO of The San Francisco Foundation.
Tomiquia Moss is a highly respected local leader and a lifelong advocate for social justice and economic equality. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Hamilton Families and previously served directly under the Mayors of both San Francisco and Oakland, leading key initiatives and change efforts within government and in collaboration with other sectors.
Sean Elsbernd is a fourth-generation San Francisco native and life-long public servant. He is well known for his integrity, candor, and deep knowledge of city finances. Prior to his current position as Deputy State Director for Senator Dianne Feinstein, Sean served for eight years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing the neighborhoods west of Twin Peaks.