What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth, the belief that our destiny is shared, that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and the future generations so that the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for comes with responsibilities as well as rights and among those are love, and charity, and duty, and patriotism. That’s what makes America great.”  -President Barack Obama on the night of his re-election to a second term as President.

Elections allow us to look at contemporary issues of our day, soda/sugar and the extent to which it is exacerbating one of the worst epidemics of our time, or whether our moral convictions or confidence in our criminal justice system is so fool-proof that we are willing as a state to continue the practice of human executions, or whether we are ready to accept that who one loves should be honored equally in the eyes of the law.

As neighbors, as residents, as public servants, as social entrepreneurs we must remember that the change we want to see requires discourse and disagreement, and talking to people who don’t always agree with you.  And it requires that we keep working on our shared destiny. The new voter, the first time voter, the registered voter who didn’t vote, the eligible but not registered voter, these are voices we need to find, engage, and bring order to the dialogue.

On election night while watching the returns with friends,  a 12-year-old child asked me rather innocently, “what does this election have to do with me?” The answer of course was “everything.”

As a community foundation working in one of the most diverse regions in our nation, our role in fostering civic participation, civic dialogue, and of inspiring the next generation of civic leadership is work that is not done. It is work that has a long arc. An arc that we hold as an obligation for generations to come. The work is not done.

As Program Director for Public Policy, Community Health, and Civic Engagement, Mark Cloutier will lead the Foundation’s activities and initiatives to correct health disparities by expanding access to care, promoting community-based prevention, and advancing health reform. His background includes extensive experience in health policy, bioethics, healthcare consulting, public health, and executive management.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Mark most recently served as principal at Sellers Dorsey, where he managed the firm’s population and public health portfolio with a focus on LGBT health. Previously, 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/AIDS epidemic. He was also concurrently president of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, an affiliate of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Cloutier earned a bachelor’s degree from Lewis and Clark College, and has master’s degrees in Public Policy and Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.

As Program Officer for the Environment, Francesca Vietor will oversee the Foundation’s efforts to improve the environmental health and well-being of the Bay Area’s most vulnerable and impacted communities by addressing gender, racial, and socio-economic barriers to achieving environmental and ecological sustainability. She has been a leading advocate for the environment for more than two decades.

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. Previously, she was president of the Urban Forest Council, president of the Commission on the Environment, and chair of the Mayor’s Environmental Transition Team. She has served on the boards of the Center for Environmental Health, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, and the Goldman Fund. Francesca holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University and is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California College of the Arts. She also pens a blog for The Huffington Post.