Koshland Committee

The Koshland Committee is the formal oversight body of the Koshland Program. It consists of Koshland family members, a representative of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, representatives of the University of California Berkeley, and other concerned Bay Area residents who, following in the tradition and style of service established by Daniel E. Koshland, Sr., have made a commitment to improving the quality of life in the Bay Area.

Following are brief descriptions of the expertise and affiliations of current Committee members:

Midge Wilson (Chair) is executive director of the Bay Area Women’s and Children’s Center. She is a member of the board of trustees of San Francisco Day School and board president of the Tremors Youth Synchro Skating Team of the San Francisco Bay Area. Midge is chairperson of the Friends of the Tenderloin Children’s Playground. She is facilitator of the Tenderloin Network of Children, Youth and Family Services and chair of the Site Council of Tenderloin Community School. Midge is a former Koshland Awardee. She holds a Master's of Divinity Degree from McCornick Theological Seminary. Member since 1999

“Being a committee member provides the opportunity to work directly with low income communities and grassroots organizations that are diligently creating solutions to the challenges they are facing.”

 

-Teresa Mejía

 

Koshland

Committee

Member

Kurt C. Organista, Ph.D. (Vice Chair) is associate professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare, where he has taught for the past 18 years. Kurt is a member of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council of the National Institute of Health. He is also author of Solving Latino psychosocial and health problems: Theory, practice and populations, published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Member since 2006

Hedy Nai-Lin Chang is a consultant specializing in early childhood education, family support, and neighborhood transformation. In her previous job as a senior program officer for Strengthening Families at the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, she oversaw its grantmaking focused on helping families succeed economically and preparing their children for school through investments in low-income neighborhoods combined with local and state policy work. She is also the former co-director of California Tomorrow, a nonprofit that uses research, technical assistance, coalition-building, and advocacy to advance policies and practices that promote equal opportunity and healthy development of children and families in a diverse society. She is also the author of numerous publications. Member since 2007

Robert Friedman is founder, chair of the board, and general counsel of CFED, a nonprofit organization devoted to expanding economic opportunity. Bob’s current focus is on the Savings for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment (SEED) Policy and Practice Initiative, a multifaceted effort to create an inclusive system of children’s savings accounts. Over the decades of his involvement in economic development innovation, Bob and CFED have helped lead the US development of innovative economic development strategies including microenterprise, flexible business networks, individual development accounts, and economic health. He serves on the boards of CFED’s CDFI subsidiary, the National Fund for Enterprise Development, D2D Fund, EARN, the Friedman Family Foundation, and the Rosenberg Foundation. Member since 2003

Joy Hoffmann is group vice president for Community Development and Public Information for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) overseeing community development, economic and financial education, the Bank’s public website, media relations, community, public, and economic outreach programs throughout the nine western states that comprise the Twelfth District. Before joining the community affairs staff at the FRBSF in 1995, Joy worked for the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and earlier served as a research associate for Neighborhood Housing Services of America, a national secondary market for affordable housing. She serves on Operation Hope’s Corporate Council of CEOs and chairs their Regional Board of Directors of Northern California. She is also an advisor to BAYCAT, an educational and arts program based in the Bayview Hunter’s Point community. Member since 2007.

Teresa Mejía is executive director of The Women’s Building in San Francisco. She has vast experience in social activism, specifically women's issues and the issue of violence against women, both in her native Puerto Rico and in the Bay Area. She was a bilingual counselor and facilitator at La Casa de las Madres and San Mateo Women's Shelter, and in Puerto Rico she coordinated public housing and crime prevention projects with low-income communities. Teresa first came to The Women’s Building as a client looking for job information. Over the past fifteen years, she has held various positions within the organization, including receptionist, information and referral coordinator, community center director, and acting executive director, becoming executive director in 1999. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. Member since 2003

Michael Omi, Ph.D., is associate professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and the recipient of Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award. He is the co-author of Racial Formation in the United States, a groundbreaking work that transformed how we understand the social and historical forces that give race its changing meaning over time and place. He is an editor of the book series on Asian American History and Culture at Temple University Press, serves on the editorial board for Contemporary Sociology, and is a founding board member of the Opportunity Agenda based in New York and Washington, D.C. Member since 1999

Ron Rowell, MPH, is program officer for social justice at The San Francisco Foundation. He was the founding executive director of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center. Ron serves as president of the board of directors of Friendship House Association of American Indians and as a board officer of Native Americans in Philanthropy. Member since 1999

Rev. Kelvin Sauls was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was senior pastor of Downs Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland from 1999 until 2006. He serves on the board of directors of the Pacific School of Religion (Berkeley) and Interfaith Coalition of Immigration Rights (San Francisco), and serves on the clergy advisory board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Rev. Sauls is a founding member and trustee emeritus of the United Religions Initiative (San Francisco). Rev. Sauls currently serves as the national director for congregational development for the general board of discipleship of the United Methodist Church. Member since 2006

Lateefah Simon is director of re-entry for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.  Lateefah is a member of the Board of Directors of the Women's Foundation of California and serves on the San Francisco Juvenile Detention Alternates Executive Committee and the Advocacy Institute.  In 2003 she was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and the Visions for a Changing World Award. Her work has also been recognized by the California State Assembly, the Ford Foundation, Girls Inc, the National Organization for Women, and Oprah Magazine.  Member since 2006

Deborah A. Sims, Ed.D., a former Koshland awardee, is assistant superintendent for elementary instructional support and operations at the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). She serves on the board of the San Francisco Principals' Center at SFUSD, of which she was a founding member. Deborah is a member of the District Language Arts Standard Task Force and of the Elementary School Leadership Steering Committee of the SFUSD. Member since 1999