East Bay Community Foundation

When an executive at a publicly held company decided she wanted to make a charitable contribution to her local community foundation, Chris Nicholson saw a great estate planning opportunity. Nicholson, the vice president of development at the East Bay Community Foundation, in Oakland, California, recommended that the executive donate a portion of the employer stock she held.

Christina Hurley is responsible for the overall management of the Foundation's Finance function and for the Operations function, which manages information technology, telecommunications, the Foundation's headquarters building and the Foundation's conference center. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2008, Christina Hurley worked in all aspects of not-for-profit administration for more than 20 years. Her work as a consultant and staff member have ranged through strategic and business planning, investment and financial analysis, development, planned-giving programs and capital campaign administration. As a consultant, she conducted reengineering studies at a number of educational institutions including Santa Clara University, Dominican College and Mills College. She has conducted marketing research for both not-for-profit organizations and for-profit businesses. Prior to establishing her consulting business, Christina was Treasurer of the University of California, Berkeley Foundation during the "Keeping the Promise" Capital Campaign -- at the time, the largest capital campaign undertaken by a public university. She was also a Vice President at Kaspick & Company, a firm that provides trust administration and investment management services to charities throughout the United States. She in addition served as the Assistant Director of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. She has served on the governing boards of charities in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the June Watanabe Dance Company. She holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles.

Diane Sanchez is responsible for the Foundation's grantmaking activities and programs as well as grantmaking services to the Foundation's donors. A veteran Program Officer and a former member of the Board of Directors at the East Bay Community Foundation, Diane Sanchez had a consulting practice in organizational development for 14 years before coming to the Foundation in 2000. Her clients included a wide variety of corporations and community-based organizations and much of her work focused on strategic change management as well as race and gender issues. She has also held senior management positions with J. Walter Thompson, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation, and Bedford Properties. Throughout her career she has been active in the community serving on the boards of La Raza Graphics, The Spanish Speaking Unity Council, The City of Oakland Civil Service Commission, and Goodwill Industries. Currently she is a Vice President of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts board. She serves as the co-chair of the Northern California Grant makers Arts Loan Committee and is a committee member of the Northern California Community Loan Fund's Performing Arts Fund.

Janet Y. Spears is responsible for the strategies and systems to support the Foundation's marketing, development of financial assets, and services to donors. Before coming to the Foundation, she was an Executive Director in AT&T Marketing. As an Executive Director in AT&T Marketing, she created an initiative focused on customer benefits associated with recent mergers. As a Vice President in Strategic Sales, Engineering & Operations, she led a national sales team of 75 professionals responsible for business development. She also has experience managing technical support functions, and marketing technical network solutions. In her spare time, Spears was Chief Financial Officer for a $2 million non-profit organization, in which she oversaw the budget, including raising revenue. She also organized volunteers and implemented community and school-based projects. She holds a B.S degree in electrical engineering from University of the Pacific, an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, and an Advanced Management Certificate from University of North Carolina.

As Controller, Denise Howell is responsible for the Foundation's sound and efficient financial systems and reporting. Before joining the Foundation in 2008, she was most recently Interim Chief Financial Officer for the Foundation for California Community Colleges in Sacramento, CA. While there, she re-structured the financial system and developed interim and annual financial reporting. She also developed and trained staff on new policies and procedures for internal controls. And she played a key role in securing the largest endowment for community-college education in the U.S. from the Bernard Osher Foundation, implementing the endowment's investment and communication structure. Before that, she served as Director of Contracts for Catholic Charities CYO in San Francisco, one of the Bay Area's largest providers of social services. Previously, she held positions with the Pacific Vascular Research Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank and Sutro & Co. She holds a B.S. in Accounting and Economics cum laude from the University of Idaho.

AMY SLATER joined the Foundation's Board in 2004. She serves on the Board's Investment Committee. She was an attorney specializing in intellectual property and other business matters for more than 20 years and was the general counsel of Ask Jeeves, Inc. (now Ask.com) from 1997 to 2000. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law and at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley. In addition to serving on the Board of the East Bay Community Foundation,she is president of the Board of Directors of Civicorps Schools and a member of the board of International House at UC Berkeley.

Nicole Kyauk works with prospective grantees to determine their eligibility and answers questions about the grant review processes. She also performs research for Foundation donors, schedules donor events and works on special projects for donors.

PATRICIA (PAT) M. JONES, who has worked in both the public and private sectors, joined the Foundation's Board of Directors in 2001. She serves on the Board's Community Engagement and Audit committees. She has worked in various capacities in local government both at the city (City of Richmond) and statewide (League of California Cities) levels. She also served as Public Relations Manager for AT&T. She was Deputy Regional Administrator of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she oversaw a $4.2 billion budget and 1,300 employees in a four-state region. She is currently Assistant Executive Director for the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). She served for 21 years on the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute Board of Directors and is past President of the New Oakland Committee. She has also served on the boards of Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, the East Bay Perinatal Council, and Dimensions Dance Theatre.

DEBORAH ALVAREZ-RODRIGUEZ, Board Chair-Elect, serves on the Board's Executive and Community Engagement committees. She has 20 years of experience as a senior executive in the fields of public health and children's needs in The Bay Area. Currently President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin, Ms. Alvarez-Rodriguez leads an organization of 450 employees with a $22 million budget. Before that, she was Vice President of the Omidyar Foundation, the family foundation of e-Bay founder Pierre Omidyar; was Director of the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families for the City and County of San Francisco; served as Senior Manager in The Lewin Group, a health-care consultancy; and held management positions at the San Francisco Unified School District, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and the Women's Alcoholism Center in San Francisco. She was the founder and CEO of the Every Child Can Learn Foundation in 1996. She serves on the Advisory Board for the John Gardner Center at Stanford University and on the Steering Committee for the Noe Valley Ministry Center for Community in San Francisco. She holds a B.A. degree from Harvard-Radcliffe College.

ALFREDO TERRAZAS joined the Foundation Board in 2001 and currently serves as Board Vice Chair. He also serves on the Board's Executive, Governance, Community Engagement and Audit committees. He has served on the Foundation's Livable Communities Initiative and Equity & Inclusion Task Force. He is a Senior Assistant Attorney General for the State of California, Department of Justice. He is in charge of the largest section, the Licensing Section, statewide, in the Division of Civil Law. In this position he oversees a staff of more than 90 attorneys and paralegals representing over 30 licensing agencies from the State Board of Accountancy to the Board of Veterinary Medicine. His prior experience includes representing the Medical Board of California and Allied Health Boards such as the Acupuncture Committee, Respiratory Care Examining Committee, and Board of Psychology, among others. He is a member of the State Bar of California and has a long list of community activities, including: Former President of the University of California at Berkeley Alumni Association, University of California Regent '02-03, and current member of The U.C. Berkeley Foundation. He is also President (on leave) of the Steering Committee of the Multi-Cultural Institute, Franciscan School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley.

For many years, John's avocation was choral music. He conducted a large church choir which became nationally known. His interests include classical music, reading, foreign languages and trout fishing. John serves on several volunteer boards and committees. He is a trustee of the East Bay Community Foundation and of Holy Names College and is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Oakland Museum of California Foundation. He was one of the founders of the California Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums and currently serves as a Board member and Secretary. He is active in the planning for the construction of Roman Catholic cathedrals in both Oakland and Los Angeles. He is a member Board of Counselors of the University of San Francisco School of Law. He is a volunteer advisor to several charitable organizations on estate planning and planned giving.

Karen Stevenson, Director is prsident of the East Bay Community Foundation. She was previously the Chief Legal Officer and Assistant to the Chairman of Knight Ridder, a national newspaper publishing company for which she had also served as Vice President and General Counsel. She was Executive Director of Legal Aid of Napa Valley from February 2005 to March 2006, and became a director of Legal Aid in March 2006. From 2001 through 2006 she was a director of the East Bay Community Foundation, and serves on its governance and finance committees. Karen was formerly Vice President-Law and Secretary of Transamerica Corporation, as well as partner and chair of the corporate department of the San Francisco-based Howard Rice law firm. She has served on the boards of The Breast Cancer Fund and the Transamerica Foundation, and also chaired the development committee of Equal Rights Advocates, a public interest law firm.

Kirsten E. Weisser joined Mechanics Bank in 2005, and serves as Executive Vice President of the Wealth Management Group, which includes private banking, investment management, trust and estate services, and retail brokerage. A fourth generation Berkeley native and Cal graduate, she began her banking career in 1982 with Crocker National Bank, which was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1986. After the acquisition, she remained with Wells Fargo until 1997, when she joined U.S. Trust Company, where she served as the senior fiduciary officer in Northern California, responsible for managing the trust and estate business, the post she held until joining Mechanics Bank. Weisser serves on the Council of Friends for the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, and on the board of the Oakland Community Pools Project, which provides recreation and leadership opportunities for youth in the West Oakland and East Oakland communities. She is also a member of the professional advisory committees of the San Francisco Ballet and the East Bay Community Foundation. She and her family are residents of Oakland.

TIMOTHY H. SMALLSREED joined the Foundation's Board of Directors in 2005 and serves as the Foundation's Assistant Treasurer and on the Board's Executive and Finance & Budget committees. He is a partner with the law firm Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLP, Oakland, and a member of the firm's Business and Corporate Transactions, Estates and Trusts Practice, and Nonprofit Groups. He received a B.A. degree from Pomona College, an M.P.A. from Syracuse University, and an M.B.A.-Tax and J.D. from Golden Gate University, San Francisco. Tim has served as an adjunct professor at St. Mary's College and California State University, Fullerton. Prior to practicing law, he served as a budget and program analyst in the Office of the Governor, State of Illinois, during both Republican and Democratic administrations.