Staff

Executive Office
Sandra R. Hernández, MD [bio]
Chief Executive Officer

Scott J. Owens, Jr.
Executive Assistant

Philanthropic Services
Chris Nicholson
Director of Business Development

Susan Shain
Director of Gift Planning

Lisa Rose
Donor Relations Officer

Sarita Ahuja
Foundation Relations Officer

Kristen Angel
Philanthropic Services Coordinator

Joshua Jones
Philanthropic Services Assistant

Courtney King
Gifts and Trusts Assistant

Public Affairs and Communications
Sara Ying Rounsaville [bio]
Director of Public Affairs and Communications

Talya Gould
Marketing Communications Officer

Alison Cross
Interim Public Affairs and Communications Assistant

Finance
Monica Pressley [bio]
Chief Financial Officer

Ron Phillips
Assistant to the CFO

Susan Frohlich
Controller

Charles Sloyer
Business Analyst

Susanne Ginn Meza
Senior Accountant

Elayne Chin
Senior Accountant

Simone Gonder
Accounts Payable Administrator

Grants Management
Jade Nelson
Grants Manager

Cynthia Gonzales
Grants Assistant

Human Resources  and Administration
Dee Dee Brantley [bio]
Director of Human Resources

Hidelita Sarmiento
Payroll/Benefits Administrator

Information Technology
Eddie Luu
Applications Database Administrator

Jim Breen
Technical Support Specialist

Office Administration
Jamillah Washington-Weaver
Administrative Services Manager

Angela Tompkins
Administrative Assistant

Kevin Seaman
Receptionist

Choi Man Wong
Maintenance Assistant

Program Department
James W. Head [bio]
Director of Programs

Nirmala Ramalingam
Program Coordinator

Yolanda Alindor
Multicultural Fellowship Program Coordinator

Andrea Zussman
Disaster Preparedness Project Coordinator

Juanita Hodge
Disaster Preparedness Community Organizer

Arts and Culture
John R. Killacky [bio]
Program Officer, Arts and Culture

Jaime Cortez
Program Fellow, Arts and Culture

Nicole DuPont
Program Assistant, Arts and Culture

Community Development
Carol Lamont [bio]
Program Officer, Community Development

Jessica Pitt
Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative Coordinator, Community Development

Gloria Bruce
Program Fellow, Community Development

Scott Nolan
Program Assistant, Community Development

Community Health
Denise Martin [bio]
Program Officer, Community Health

Josaphine Stevenson
Program Fellow, Community Health

Laura Grossmann
Program Assistant, Community Health

Education
Lisa Villarreal [bio]
Program Officer, Education

Tiffany Price
Program Fellow, Education

Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo
Program Assistant, Education

Environment
Arlene Rodriguez [bio]
Program Officer, Environment

Jeremy Madsen
Environment Program Initiatives Coordinator

Grace Ma
Program Fellow, Environment

Sarah Chun
Program Assistant, Environment

Social Justice
Ronald M. Rowell [bio]
Program Officer, Social Justice

Tessa Rouverol Callejo
Coordinator, FAITHS Program

Dennis Quirin
Program Fellow, Social Justice

Michelle Myles Chambers
Program Assistant, Social Justice

Koshland Program
Retha Robinson [bio]
Director, Koshland Program

Harmony Karp
Koshland Program Coordinator

Jason Torres Hancock
Koshland Program Assistant

West Oakland Initiative
Lisa Villarreal
Program Officer, Education

Tiffany Hood Price 
Program Fellow, Education

Staff Bios

Sandra R. Hernández, MD, is chief executive officer of The San Francisco Foundation. Dr. Hernández is a graduate of Yale University, Tufts School of Medicine, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to becoming CEO of the Foundation she served as the director of public health for the City and County of San Francisco. She is an assistant clinical professor at UCSF School of Medicine and maintains an active clinical practice at San Francisco General Hospital in the AIDS clinic.

Dr. Hernández currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foundations, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Corporation for Supportive Housing, and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health. She is also a trustee of the Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, and a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Implementation of Antiviral Medication Strategies for an Influenza Pandemic.

Her prior affiliations include President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry; the Pew Commission on Environmental Health; the Foundation Consortium for California's Children and Youth; Grantmakers in Health; American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR); the Volunteerism Project; Stern Grove Festival Association; the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance; Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Session on Philanthropy; Blackbaud, Inc., a leading provider of software and online services for the nonprofit community; the Latino Community Foundation, a supporting organization of The San Francisco Foundation; and the California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which is the governing body for California's Children's Health Insurance Program.

James W. Head is the Foundation's director of programs and has over 20 years of experience in the field of community and economic development. For the last 17 years, Mr. Head has served as president of the National Economic Development and Law Center. A lawyer by training, Mr. Head has significant nonprofit management, programmatic, and legal experience and has worked on nonprofit legal issues, as a consultant to foundations and government, and as a professor of law. As director of programs, Mr. Head is responsible for guiding a broad range of program areas and sustaining the vitality of the Foundation's community grantmaking. He currently serves as legal counsel of the California Community Economic Development Association, on the community advisory board of Union Bank of California, as member and past board president of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, on the advisory board of the Open Society Foundation of New York, and on the board of Northern California Grantmakers. He has previously served as an advisor for the 2001 Race Commission in Cincinnati, Ohio, as member of the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board, and was a founding board member of the California Community Economic Development Lending Initiative. Mr. Head holds a Bachelors from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. He holds state bar memberships in Georgia, Florida, and California.

Monica Pressley is the Foundation's chief financial officer and has a strong background in financial planning and investment services. She previously served as a chief administrative officer for Barclays Global Investors, director of finance for Dividend Development Corporation, and as a consultant for Charles Schwab & Co. Ms. Pressley has deep experience in finance and accounting, information systems, budget administration, and strategic planning. Through her affiliation with Harvard Community Partners, she has completed consulting projects for Bay Area nonprofits including Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Enterprise for High School Students, and Global Aids Interfaith Alliance. She received the 2001-2002 Jim Stocker Award for Volunteer Excellence for consulting work done over the past ten years as a member of Harvard Community Partners. She earned her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors in Economics from UCLA.

Sara Ying Rounsaville serves as The San Francisco Foundation's director of public affairs and communications. With over ten years of communications experience in the private and public sectors, Ms. Rounsaville is responsible for the Foundation's media and government relations. Before joining The San Francisco Foundation, Ms. Rounsaville was director of public affairs at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. She has previously served as senior policy advisor to Lieutenant Governor Leo McCarthy, and producer, writer, and reporter for Asian Health Reports on KTSF-Channel 26. She currently serves on the boards of Asian Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and Planned Parenthood Golden Gate. She is also a member of the Independent Sector's Public Affairs Committee and The Council on Foundation's Media and Public Affairs Committee. Ms. Rounsaville holds a Bachelors in Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Retha Robinson is the director of the Koshland Program, a community development program that is working toward civic unity, leadership development, neighborhood partnerships, and encouraging civic participation and celebrating unsung community heroes. Under Ms. Robinson's guidance, each year the Koshland Program chooses a neighborhood in the Bay Area and makes a five-year commitment towards improving the quality of life. Ms. Robinson has been with the Foundation for two decades, working primarily in community building efforts throughout Bay Area neighborhoods. She is chair of the board of directors of the Girls Afterschool Academy and chief financial officer of Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy. Ms. Robinson is a member of the Association of Black Foundation Executives, the National Center for Black Philanthropy, and Neighborhood Funders Group, and an advisory board member of the Bay Area Women and Children's Resource Center. She received a Bachelors degree from San Jose State University.

Dee Dee Brantley is the Foundation's director of human resources. She has extensive background in business and human capital management. Her experience spans multiple industry sectors, geographies, and disciplines throughout the business community. Before joining The San Francisco Foundation, Ms. Brantley served in a variety of senior positions with Sun Microsystems, PeopleSoft Inc., and Korn/Ferry Futurestep, Inc. She is a current member of Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy and the National Center for Black Philanthropy and has previously served on the International Human Resources Information Management Board. Ms. Brantley is also on the HR committee of the Fiscal and Administrative Officers Group for community foundations. She earned a Bachelors in Business and Economics and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Holy Names College.

John Killacky, program officer for arts and culture, previously served as executive director of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for six years and curator of performing arts for the Walker Art Center for eight years. Other past positions include program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts, general manager of PepsiCo SUMMERFARE, and managing director of the Trisha Brown and Laura Dean dance companies. He received the First Bank Award Sally Ordway Irvine Award in Artistic Vision; the William Dawson Award for Programming Excellence from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters; Dance USA's Earnie Award as an "unsung hero;" a Gerbode Foundation Professional Development Fellowship; and a scholarship to Harvard Business School's summer intensive. Mr. Killacky has served as a panelist, lecturer, and consultant for a broad range of arts and funding organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts; California Arts Council; Jerome Foundation; Ontario Arts Council, MacArthur Foundation, Arts International, Irvine Foundation, Michigan Arts and Cultural Affairs Council, and the Japan Foundation. He has written numerous publications on the arts and written and directed several award winning short films and videos.

Carol Lamont, program officer for community development, focuses on anti-poverty strategies to expand economic security, increase affordable housing opportunities, and end homelessness. She actively creates partnerships to impact community needs by addressing funding barriers and structural problems. She leads the formation of the Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative, a public-private venture with California's Employment Development Department and thirteen foundations, to invest in efforts in the Bay Area to get low-wage workers into better jobs. She co-founded the Bay Area Foundation Advisory Group to End Homelessness to increase investments in homeless solutions. Previously she served as a HUD community builder and co-chair of the Federal Regional Council's East Palo Alto Task Force, and earlier as housing director for the City of Fremont where she was instrumental in adding over 1,300 affordable housing units and many community facilities for low-income households. Ms. Lamont was recognized as the 2005 Outstanding Foundation Professional by the Northern California Grantmakers and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter. She has a Masters of Urban & Regional Planning degree.

Denise (Denny) Martin program officer for community health, focuses on programs designed to improve the health of communities, particularly underserved populations, by expanding access to services, promoting prevention to reduce illness, and advancing health policy reform. Most recently Ms. Martin served as president and chief executive officer of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) and its affiliated research foundation, the Safety Net Institute. She has worked on initiatives to increase access to healthcare, expand the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs, and secure adequate funding for safety net hospitals and clinics. Under her leadership CAPH worked closely with the Administration and other major stakeholders to craft the state’s first historic five-year Medicaid waiver, helped launch the state’s two-plan Medi-Cal managed care system, and served as the representative for the Local Health Plans of California during its initial start-up. Ms. Martin previously served as a clinical manager at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital, as well as other facilities working with substance abuse clients. She has served on a variety of advisory committees, including the Attorney General’s on Charity Care, the Frequent Users Campaign, the Insure the Uninsured Project, and the UCSF Health Care Improvement for Diverse Populations project. Ms. Martin also served as a guest lecturer at the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. She received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing at Northwestern University and her Masters in public health policy and administration from UC Berkeley.

Arlene Rodriguez is the program officer for the environment and promotes environmentally sustainable development practices by addressing urban and natural environmental issues that focus on ecosystems protection, climate change, equitable growth and development, the reduction of toxins, and advancing environmental health and justice for the San Francisco Bay Area. Ms. Rodriguez has extensive experience and strong leadership in organizational development, program planning, community development, and the environmental field. She served as senior program officer for the environment at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, was the director of community programs and founding director of the Crissy Field Environmental Center with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and served as urban program director for the western region of The Trust for Public Land. She is president of the board of trustees for the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, and serves on the boards of the Marine Mammal Center and Courtney Foundation. In the past, Ms. Rodriguez also served as board chair of the San Francisco Education Fund and was a commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco Department on the Environment. Ms. Rodriguez has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois. She also holds a Bachelors of Science in Landscape Horticulture and Masters in Landscape Architecture, with a minor in Urban Planning, from North Carolina State University.

Ron Rowell, program officer for social justice, is responsible for the design and implementation of social justice programs at The San Francisco Foundation, including responsive grantmaking, public policy work, and special initiatives that impact under-served and under-represented populations in the Bay Area. Mr. Rowell focuses on the issues of community organizing, human and civil rights, civic engagement, race relations, immigration, indigent legal services, adult and juvenile criminal justice, and nonprofit sustainability. Mr. Rowell has a history of leadership in the public and nonprofit sectors, including experience in community development and organizing, public policy, and advocacy. Most recently, he was executive director of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center in Oakland, California. Previously, he was the director of the San Francisco Refugee Health Agency and associate director of Catholic Social Service in San Francisco. Mr. Rowell also served as coordinator of HIV antibody testing for the San Francisco Department of Public Health AIDS Office. His community service includes his work as board member of the Friendship House Association of American Indians Healing Center, Native Americans in Philanthropy, the National Network of Grantmakers, and the French-American Cultural Foundation of the Consulate-General of France, San Francisco, and an advisory board member of the Foundation Center. Mr. Rowell has published extensively on Native American health issues and HIV/AIDS. He earned his Bachelors of Arts and Masters of Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. He is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Lisa Villarreal, program officer for education, is an education professional with over 25 years of experience as a teacher, counselor, and administrator, with expertise in collaborative programs, professional development, and grantmaking. She has worked with students, teachers, parents, administrators, community partners, and funders at the local, regional, state, and national levels. Lisa previously served as executive director for the Center for Cooperative Research and Extension Services for Schools (CRESS Center) at the UC Davis School of Education. Lisa's background includes local work at the San Mateo County Office of Education; high school, middle school, elementary school, and preschool teaching; and extensive counseling, intervention, and youth development experience. Her national experience includes serving as vice chair for the National Coalition for Community Schools and consulting for the Annenberg Institute on School Reform at Brown University, as well as for the Council of Chief State School Officers. She has written on and published a range of education, counseling, and youth development subjects. A California native of Mexican-American descent, Lisa earned her Bachelors in Psychology from Simpson University and Masters in Education from San Francisco State University.