California Community Foundation

California Community Foundation

"Established in 1915, our mission is to strengthen Los Angeles communities through effective philanthropy and civic engagement. The California Community Foundation was formed as a charitable giving option within the trust department of Security Pacific Bank. For the next 65 years, the foundation, affectionately known as the "typewriter foundation,'' stayed relatively small, making small grants mostly for equipment and capital.

"In the 1980s and '90s, the foundation grew tremendously under the leadership of Jack Shakely, from $20 million in assets in 1980 to $530 million in assets in 2000. Fueled by a strong stock market and escalating Southern California real estate, donors and their advisors increasingly used the foundation as a primary philanthropic vehicle.

"Reflecting this growth, grants also grew during this time, and the foundation built a reputation of philanthropic entrepreneurship and risk-taking. In the 1990s, the foundation decided to move from broad and general grantmaking to a focus on specific issue areas.

"In February 2004, Antonia Hernandez became the foundation's president and chief executive officer. She brings extensive experience with community-based, advocacy and philanthropic institutions, together with a love for Los Angeles and a passion for inspiring pride of place in the philanthropic and nonprofit community.

Directors
Accessed December 2008:


 * Chair - Jane B. Eisner - President, The Eisner Foundation
 * Chair-Elect - Reveta Bowers - Head of School, The Center for Early Education
 * David Bohnett - Managing Member, Baroda Ventures LLC
 * David W. Fleming - Counsel, Latham & Watkins, Environment, Land & Resources Department
 * Dennis Gertmenian - Founder and Chairman, Ready Pac Produce
 * Preston Johnson - President and Founder, Johnson Martin Advisors, Inc.
 * Joanne Corday Kozberg - Partner, California Strategies
 * Quan Phung - Former Senior Vice President, Twentieth Century Fox Television
 * Carolina Reyes - Executive Director, Los Angeles Best Babies Collaborative/Center for Healthy Births
 * James Rosser - President, California State University Los Angeles
 * Paul Schulz - Chief Executive Officer, The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles
 * Jean Bixby Smith - Chairman and President, Alamitos Land Company
 * Melanie Staggs
 * Sheldon M. Stone - Principal, Oaktree Capital Management LLC
 * Cynthia Ann Telles - Director of the Spanish Speaking Psychosocial Clinic, UCLA School of Medicine
 * Catherine L. Unger - Consultant, Public Affairs
 * Tom Unterman - Managing Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners
 * Sonia Marie De León de Vega - Executive Director, Santa Cecilia Orchestra
 * Ronald T. Vera - Partner & Attorney, Gutierrez & Vera

General Counsel - Rodriguez, Horii, Choi & Cafferata LLP

Contact

 * Web: http://www.calfund.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Albert Einstein Institution
 * International Rescue Committee: Funders
 * DiCaprio Foundation
 * Joseph M. Lumarda - former COO
 * Jack Shakely - former CEO (1980-2004)