Board of Trustees
Honorable Aida Alvarez, Chair
Honorable Arabella Martinez, Vice-Chair
Monica Pressley, Treasurer
Kim Rivera, Secretary
Maria E. Gallo
Aureliano Ruben Rodriguez
Serra Butler Simbeck
Sen. Art Torres (Ret.)
Raquel F. Donoso, Executive Director
Sandra R. Hernandez, M.D.
OFFICERS
Honorable Aida Alvarez, Chair
The Honorable Aida Alvarez has been an award-winning journalist, a successful investment banker, and a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet. She currently serves on the boards of Wal-Mart and Union Bank. She chairs the Latino Community Foundation in the Bay Area and is a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She was recently appointed by the Smithsonian Board of Regents to the Advisory Board for the Museum of American Art in Washington, DC. Appointed by President Clinton to head the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Alvarez was the first Hispanic woman to serve in a President’s Cabinet. She presided over record activity: $61.5 billion in guaranteed loans and venture capital financing over a four-year period. SBA’s lending to women tripled. Lending to minorities doubled. During the first Clinton term Alvarez was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). She was the founding director of the agency charged with regulating the nation’s largest housing finance institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Prior to her federal service, Alvarez was a vice president in public finance at The First Boston Corporation and Bear Stearns. She was also vice president for public affairs at the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. Alvarez started out with a career in journalism. She won a Front Page award for journalistic excellence while at the New York Post. She also earned an Emmy nomination and an Associated Press award for journalistic excellence while at Channel Five, the Ten O’Clock News, for her series on the war in El Salvador entitled, “The Morazan Diaries.” A Harvard graduate, Alvarez also holds honorary doctorates from Bethany College, Iona College, Mercy College and the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. Alvarez has served on the Harvard Board of Overseers.
Honorable Arabella Martinez, Vice-Chair
Ms. Martinez has over 40 years of experience in developing strong community directed institutions that support the economic self-sufficiency and empowerment of women and communities of color. Recently retired as Chief Executive Officer of The Unity Council in Oakland, she leaves as her legacy a 100 million national model of sustainable neighborhood revitalization linking land-use, transportation and community development that is considered exemplary. In 1969 she was appointed as the first executive director of the Spanish Speaking Unity Council. In those early years she created its initial economic development base of business assistance, education and employment training programs and secured financing for its first community facilities and housing development projects. In 1977 she was appointed Assistant Secretary for the Office of Human Development Services, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare by President Jimmy Carter, the first Latina appointed to a sub-cabinet level position in the history of the nation. After leaving the Unity Council, Ms. Martinez consulted with major foundations, and nonprofit agencies. Returning to the Unity Council in 1989 as its Chief Executive Officer, she provided innovative leadership as the organization expanded its vision of physical, economic, and social revitalization in Oakland. Over the years, many national and local organizations have recognized her dynamic leadership with awards and speaking engagements across the country. The broad range of her current and past board affiliations underscore the tremendous respect her name carries as civic leader and the high currency of her counsel. She received both her master’s degree in social work and her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Monica Pressley, Treasurer
Ms. Pressley is the Chief Financial Officer for The San Francisco Foundation and has deep experience in finance and accounting, information systems, budget administration, and strategic planning, in addition to 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. 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. Ms. Pressley 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 holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, graduated summa cum laude and a BA in Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.
Kim Rivera, Secretary
Kim Rivera is the VP General Counsel and Secretary of DaVita, Inc. Prior to joining DaVita, Kim was vice president and associate general counsel at The Clorox Company, responsible for Clorox’s global compliance program and the delivery of legal services to its businesses outside the United States. She has extensive experience in litigation, corporate law and compliance. She began her law practice in the litigation group at Jones Day. Following her time at Jones Day, she Joined Rockwell Automation (f.ka.Rockwell International) and immediately before joining Clorox was Rockwell’s Vice President Law and Chief Litigation Counsel. Kim is also an advocate for diversity. She promotes diversity in the legal profession and in corporations through participation and support for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the California Minority Counsel Program, and the National Hispanic Bar Association and through public speaking on the topic of diversity for local, state and national bar association programs. Kim is a passionate advocate for education, particularly for disadvantaged and at-risk youth. She believes that scholarships and access to money for an education are critical, but she is equally fervent in her support for programs and activities that create support networks and provide much needed guidance and mentoring for young Latinos. She does this through collaboration with organizations such as the Hispanic College Fund, which provides talented and underprivileged Latino youth with vision, mentors, resources and scholarships.
MEMBERS
Maria E. Gallo
Ms. Gallo is Senior Vice President and manager for Union Bank of California's Diverse Markets Administration. With twenty-six years in the banking industry, Ms. Gallo is a seasoned executive with a solid reputation in all major aspects of retail and small-business banking. Currently she is responsible for developing and managing various initiatives and community programs that deliver the bank's products and services to ethnic communities throughout Union Bank's customer base. Ms. Gallo is also in charge of expanding the Bank's strong record of client diversity efforts and community outreach in Northern and Southern California. In recognition of her leadership on behalf of Latinas, she received an award from the California Latino Civil Rights Network in 1998, Mission Language and Vocational School and Hispanas Organized for Political Equality in 2001. She's presently a board member of the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute and California Economic Development Lending Initiative. In the past, she served as a board member and President of the Chicana/Latina Foundation, Alumni Resources and the Unity Council and volunteered with the Hispanic Community Foundation and Mission Girls Service in San Francisco. Ms. Gallo received her BA from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an MBA from the University of Southern California.
James Gutierrez
James is a serial entrepreneur who is committed to helping 50-60 million under-banked people in the America build credit scores, enter the financial mainstream and achieve the American dream. In 2005, he co-founded Progreso Financiero, an innovative and socially responsible financial services company that offers $250-$2500 unsecured loans to Hispanic families that lack established credit scores and banking relationships. Using a proprietary scoring model built on 20,000 initial loans, Progreso lends money at fair rates and low losses, helping its customers build credit histories and move up the financial services ladder. Progreso is growing quickly with a national partnership with Sears and Kmart, thousands of customers, 100+ employees and over $26mm in venture capital backing from Greylock Partners, Charles River Ventures and Madrone Capital. Prior to Progreso Financiero, James worked as a distressed debt analyst at Morgan Stanley, a consultant at Bain & Company, and a venture capital investor in Europe. He also founded and served as CEO of Magic Beanstalk, a venture backed 3rd party recruiting company in 1999-2002 that helped match college grads with employers in 50 leading US universities. James serves on the Board of the Latino Community Foundation and the Advisory Board of the Core Opportunity Fund and the Political and Economic Research Council. In his spare time, James enjoys helping other entrepreneurs and has made early stage investments as a partner in Great Oaks Ventures in over 15 start-ups, including StubHub (acquired by eBay), Jumpcut (acquired by Yahoo!), Trulia and Zimbio. He is a Robert Toigo Fellow and alumnus of the SEO-Sponsors for Education Opportunity program in New York. James was invited to the White House in March 2009 as a leading young entrepreneur to share ideas on domestic and economic policy, and selected 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year by Hispanic-Net, the leading professional organization for Hispanic executives in Silicon Valley. He was also selected by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of the top “40 under 40” rising stars of 2009. James received his MBA from Stanford and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.
Luis Herrera
Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Luis Herrera as the City Librarian for the City and County of San Francisco in 1995. Prior to becoming San Francisco’s City Librarian, Mr. Herrera served as Director of Information Services for the City of Pasadena. As the Director of Information Services, Mr. Herrera was responsible for managing the City’s public library system, which includes a central library and nine community libraries. From 1989 to 1995, Mr. Herrera served as Deputy Director of the San Diego Public Library, where his responsibilities included managing the City’s 32 branch libraries, a division with a budget of over $8.5 million, 400 employees and six branch library-building projects. Between 1983 through 1989, he was Associate Director of Long Beach Public Library, where he managed the City’s eleven branch libraries and adult literacy program. Herrera is also a former middle school librarian. Mr. Herrera has served on many professional and community boards throughout his career including the American Library Association, Pacific Oaks College and the Bill and Melinda Gates Library Foundation. He has also served as president of the Public Library Association, the California Library Association and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library Services to the Spanish Speaking. Mr. Herrera holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Arizona. He also earned a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University, Long Beach where he received the Future Urban Administrator Award. Luis is married to Nancy C. Herrera, who is also a librarian.
Aureliano Ruben Rodriguez
Mr. Rodriguez is the Associate Director of Development for the Division of Equity and Inclusion at UC Berkeley. As the former Vice President of Development at the United Way of the Bay Area he managed the financial portfolio for 17 years. He is the director of OLIN de Contra Costa, a Mexican folk-dancing group for children and young people for the past 18 years. He has served as the Chair of the Diocesan Pastoral Council for the Diocese of Oakland, is member of the Asociacion Nacional de Grupos Folkloricos and is actively involved with his parish community of St. Peter Martyr of Verona in Pittsburg. Most recently he received the Youth Supporter Award from CCISCO (Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization).
Serra Butler Simbeck
Ms. Simbeck was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Latino Community Foundation. Prior to her appointment she directed the Corporate Partners Program at the Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. She spent over five years in Mexico City first directing the Mexican Investment Board projects related to Asia and textile/apparel projects and then leading the Morelos Investment Board, which included the Nustart Textile City project that created 5,000 new jobs and a $70 million investment for the state of Morelos. Ms. Butler Simbeck is a native of San Francisco. She received her BA in Government from Harvard University and MA in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. She lives in Portola Valley with her husband and three sons.
Sen. Art Torres
In a career spanning more than three decades, Senator Art Torres (Ret.) has distinguished himself as a public servant determined to tackle complex policy issues and stand up for those without a voice. He has been involved in crucial bipartisan initiates in the fields of healthcare, education, the environment, and human rights and has been a leader in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. In March 2009, Senator Torres was unanimously elected statutory Vice Chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the governing Board of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). CIRM, established in 2005 following the passage of Proposition 71, is charged with allocating $3 billion to California universities and research institutions to support and advance stem cell research. Between 1996 and 2008, Senator Torres served as the Chairman of the California Democratic Party. Under his leadership, the State Party experienced unprecedented growth and achieved substantial electoral successes at the local, state, and national level. Senator Torres previously served twenty years in the California Legislature, eight as a member of the State Assembly and twelve as a State Senator. Well respected for his policy acumen, Torres chaired the Senate Insurance Committee, the Assembly Health Committee, the Senate Joint Committee on Science and Technology, the Senate Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry, the Senate Committee on Tourism and Aviation, and the Joint Committee on Refugees. A longtime leader on health issues, Senator Torres co-authored the unprecedented and extremely successful California Clean Water Drinking Act, known as Proposition 65, and established a cancer reporting system in 15 Central Valley and coastal communities to help hospitals form a computer network. He secured direct funding for university research programs as well as structural support for industry-sponsored work, and funded early HIV/AIDS research in conjunction with Dr. Marcus Conant, before most public officials recognized the severity of the epidemic. His legislative accomplishments also include the most successful anti high school dropout law in California’s history, SB 65. He also created the only national Japanese American Museum located in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles and co-authored legislation to create the Museum on Tolerance in Los Angeles. He led international delegations to release Vietnamese prisoners from "education camps” in Hanoi, Vietnam and to assist Soviet Jewish refugee efforts in the former Soviet Union. In 1990, he assisted in drafting Pope John Paul II’s environmental message, and along with Nobel Laureates and international environmental leaders presented their document to the Holy Father in the Vatican before it was delivered in St. Peter’s Square on New Year’s Day. He also worked with the German Marshall Fund to deliver a paper on Western European immigration issues.
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS
Raquel F. Donoso, Executive Director
Ms.Donoso is an accomplished community and public policy leader with over a decade of policy advocacy experience at the state and regional level. She has devoted her career to policy issues affecting women and families. Prior to joining LCF she served as the Associate Director of Latino Issues Forum, a statewide policy and advocacy organization. At the Latino Issues Forum she championed campaigns to increase health access, improve environmental conditions and address education equity in the Latino community. She also authored four publications, including pioneering primary research on reproductive health issues. Ms. Donoso is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, a statewide reproductive health rights coalition. She serves on the boards of the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation and the RYSE Center, a Richmond-based youth center chaired by Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia. In 2006, Ms. Donoso was appointed to the California Department of Health Services Women's Health Advisory Council by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ms. Donoso holds a Master's degree in public health and an undergraduate degree in Anthropology both from the University of California Los Angeles.
Sandra R. Hernandez, M.D.
Dr. Hernandez is Chief Executive Officer of The San Francisco Foundation. Prior to becoming CEO for 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. Hernandez is a graduate of Yale University, Tufts School of Medicine, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Sandra Hernandez, MD, is an ex-officio member of the Latino Community Foundation board.
