The San Francisco Foundation Welcomes New Leaders in Community Health and Environment

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, The San Francisco Foundation opened its doors to introduce to the community two new additions to our program team: Mark Cloutier, MPP, MPH, program director for Public Policy, Community Health, and Civic Engagement, and Francesca Vietor, program officer for the Environment. More than 160 guests—including grantees, donors, and friends of the Foundation—came to toast Mark and Francesca and learn about their visions for advancing community health, policy, civic engagement, and environmentalism for a better Bay Area.

The San Francisco Foundation believes in transparency and access in philanthropy. The Open House event gave grantees and potential grantees an up-close introduction to our program staff. The event also allowed us to keep our ears to the ground of the community, and learn about the challenges facing residents. It is through such interaction that we partner with the community to brainstorm solutions and have genuine impact.

Referring to the nonprofit leaders crowding around him, Mark stated that “the solutions to our most important problems are in this room.”

Mark and Francesca are both respected in their program areas. Before joining the Foundation, Mark Cloutier was principal at Sellers Dorsey, where he managed the firm’s population/public health portfolio with a focus on LGBT health. Prior to that, he was CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, where he led its transformation into a thought leader on evidenced-based strategies to control and end the HIV epidemic. As program director of the community health, Mark leads The San Francisco Foundation’s activities and initiatives to correct health disparities by expanding access to care, promoting community based prevention, and advancing health reform.

Francesca Vietor oversees the Foundation's efforts to improve the environmental health and well-being of the Bay Area's most vulnerable and impacted communities while protecting and preserving the region's natural environment. Francesca is also president of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, where she leads policymaking for the City and County of San Francisco’s water, wastewater, and municipal power services. Most recently, she was executive director of the Chez Panisse Foundation, where she advanced nutrition education.

To view more photos from the Open House visit our Flickr page.