The Hellman Foundation is deeply committed to community centered approaches grounded in the values and practices of trust-based philanthropy and participatory grantmaking. In 2022, with a goal to advance community leadership and cede grantmaking power to local Bay Area leaders, the Hellman Foundation team created a Community Panel to collaboratively review proposals and determine funding recommendations. We continue to learn from, evolve, and apply our Community Panel model, which has already strengthened the impact of our collective work. ​

Scroll down to learn more about our Community Panel.

Community Panel

Jordan Akerley (they/them)
End Hep C SF 
​Kym Johnson (she/her)
BANANAS, Inc.
Sonia Mañjon, PhD (she/her/ella)
​ Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Steven Chen, MD (he/him)
​ Recipe4Health - Alameda County
Bonnie Kwon, JD (she/her)
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Agnes Ubalde (she/her/siya)
PNC Bank 
José Corona (he/him/el)
​Rebozo Ventures
Zea Malawa, MD, MPH (she/her)
Expecting Justice
Laney Whitcanack (she/her)
Coro Northern California

Community Panel Biographies

Jordan Akerley (they/them) serves as the Strategic Director at End Hep C SF (EHCSF), a multi-sector Hepatitis C (HCV) elimination initiative. Jordan is co-chair of the California Hepatitis Alliance (CalHEP) and a member of the statewide End the Epidemics coalition. Jordan has 10 years of experience working with and for San Franciscans living with HIV and HCV. Prior to joining EHCSF, they served as the Director of Government Compliance and Program Policy for HIV Programs at the Shanti Project where they led the expansion of services to include HCV navigation. Jordan has dedicated their career to the field of public health and has previously held research roles at UCSF and Duke and worked at the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. They attended Wellesley College and are currently a candidate for a Master of Public Health degree from University of California, Berkeley.

Jordan Akerley serves as the Strategic Director at End Hep C SF (EHCSF), a multi-sector Hepatitis C (HCV) elimination initiative that has been a Collaborative Grantee Partner since 2017.
Dr. Steven Chen (he/him) is Chief Medical Officer of Alameda County Recipe4Health, an award-winning “food as medicine” model. Steven’s experiences as a son of immigrants and a second-generation Taiwanese American have informed his commitment to serve vulnerable populations. He developed integrative medicine services to offer acupuncture and osteopathic manipulative medicine services in Federally Qualified Health Centers. Steven also serves on the Board of Integrative Medicine for the Underserved, is active on California’s Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition Steering Committee, has helped craft two bills for the California legislature, and has testified to the U.S. Congressional House Rules Committee Roundtable on Food as Medicine. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University and Stanford School of Medicine, Steven is a board-certified family medicine physician who completed his residency training at UCSF San Francisco General Hospital. ​

​Dr. Chen joined the Community Panel in 2024.
José Corona (he/him/el) has held senior leadership roles in organizations spanning the nonprofit, philanthropy, private, and public sectors. Recently, José founded Rebozo Ventures, a consultancy practice grounded on humility, compassion, honor, and respect (for self and others). Prior to Rebozo, José led the grantmaking, partnership, and programmatic efforts for Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. José also served as the Director of Equity and Strategic Partnerships under Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, where he co-founded the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation. José is an Aspen Fellow, a Ricardo Salinas Scholar, and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of The Unity Council and Senior Advisor with Raise for Good. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oakland Museum of California and the San Francisco Giants Community Fund.​

José  joined the Community Panel in 2024.
Kym Johnson (she/her) 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 Oakland’s youngest learners. Her prior roles include CEO of Harambee Community Services and Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Oakland. Kym is a member of the Executive Committee of Oakland Starting Smart and Strong, Collaborative Change Initiative Grantee Partner. She is also the Chair of the Alameda County Early Care and Education Planning Council.

Kym joined the Community Panelist in 2022 and serves as the Founder of Alameda County Families United CARE, a multi-sector collaboration that has been a Collaborative Grantee Partner since 2019
Bonnie Kwon, JD (she/her) serves as Policy Officer at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Previously, Bonnie was Co-Founder and Partner of reimagine collective, a consulting firm for mission-driven organizations. In addition, she held senior roles at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. She has a JD from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. ​

Bonnie joined the Community Panel in 2024.
Zea Malawa, MD (she/her) is a mother, pediatrician and public health professional committed to improving health outcomes for children of color. Upon completing her undergraduate studies at Columbia University, she earned a Medical Doctorate from UCLA and a Master of Public Health from UC Berkeley. Currently, Zea is Director of Expecting Justice, a public health program that works to close the racial gap in birth outcomes. She also practices medicine 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. 

Dr. Malawa join the Community Panel in 2022 and serves as the Director of Expecting Justice, a multi-sector collaboration that has been a Collaborative Grantee Partner since 2019.
Sonia Mañjon, PhD (she/her/ella) serves as the Chief Academic Officer for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia, PA, she oversees educational opportunities offered through PAFA's school and museum, including art education, K-12 school and community partnerships, public programming, continuing education, certificate programs, and graduate studies. PAFA, established in 1805, is the first art school and museum in the United States to focus on American art and to collect and exhibit art by women and artists of color. Dr. Mañjon's unwavering commitment to promoting racial and gender equity and social justice is evident in her extensive experience leading systemic change. With over 30 years of experience in the SF Bay Area and east coast, in higher education, nonprofit management, government administration, and public and private sector consulting, she has consistently championed these causes. 

Dr. Sonia Mañjon joined the Community Panel in 2022.
Agnes Ubalde (she/her/siya) is the Senior Vice President at PNC Bank for Community Development Banking in California.  She is a highly accomplished and seasoned cross-sector leader with over 30 years of experience spanning corporate, community philanthropy, government, and social innovation to advance economic inclusion, racial equity, and social justice through data-driven systems change and public policy.  Before PNC, she held positions with BBVA, Wells Fargo, City and County of San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office serving with the Brown & Newsom administrations, Alameda County General Services Agency, and Deloitte Consulting. She serves on the Board of Directors of East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC). 

Agnes joined the Community Panel in 2024.
Laney Whitcanack (she/her) serves as the CEO of Coro Northern California. Under Laney’s leadership, Coro has created more than twenty new programs and partnerships, training thousands of leaders across Northern California. With more than two decades of experience as a social impact leader in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors, Laney has a rich history with Coro and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. Before returning to Coro as CEO, Laney was a founder and executive in the tech sector and worked as the Special Assistant to the City Attorney of San Francisco, Louise Renne. Laney received the Jefferson Award for Public Service and frequently speaks and writes about leadership and value visibility. 

​Laney joined the Community Panel in 2024.
Emeritus Advisors
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.  
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. 
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. ​
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.
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.  ​
​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. 
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.