SCG Board of Directors
Board Officers
Fred Ali, Chair
President and Chief Executive Officer
Weingart Foundation
Fred Ali is president and chief executive officer of the Weingart Foundation, a position he has held since 1999. He previously served as the executive director of Covenant House in Los Angeles, where he developed a multi-service program for homeless youth. Ali began his career as a volunteer teacher and counselor in Alaska, and served as vice chancellor of the University of Alaska, Anchorage and was the founding executive director of Covenant House in Alaska.
Latonya Slack, Vice Chair
Senior Program Officer
The James Irvine Foundation
Latonya Slack is a senior program officer with the James Irvine Foundation. She previously served as executive director of California Black Women's Health Project, Inc., where she established a mental health initiative and a health policy advocate training program for lay community members. She also worked for the Service Employees International Union, Local 399, and has served on a number of boards and committees committed to issues of equity and access.
William H. Ahmanson, Treasurer and Secretary
President
The Ahmanson Foundation
William H. Ahmanson oversees the Ahmanson Foundation's grantmaking, which serves Los Angeles County by funding cultural projects in the arts and humanities, education at all levels, health care, programs related to homelessness and underserved populations as well as a wide range of human services. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ahmanson was in the banking industry. He also serves on the boards of several major cultural and charitable institutions.
Sushma Raman
President
Southern California Grantmakers
Ms. Raman sets the strategic direction and priorities for Southern California Grantmakers, overseeing programming, communications, member services and public policy. Raman joined SCG as president in January 2007. She previously served with The Ford Foundation as program manager of the International Initiative to Strengthen Philanthropy and with the Open Society Institute in Los Angeles, as well as the Los Angeles Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
Board Members
Judy Belk
Vice President
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
As vice president, Judy Belk heads Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors' West Coast offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Previously, Belk spent 10 years as vice president of Global Public Affairs for Levi Strauss & Co., where she led the $120 million Levi Strauss Foundation. Under her leadership, the Foundation and company developed a global reputation for its work in the fight against AIDS and several nationally recognized anti-racism initiatives.
Kafi Blumenfield
President and Chief Executive Officer
Liberty Hill Foundation
Kafi Blumenfield is president and CEO of Liberty Hill Foundation. Since 2007 she has led the organization in its mission of bringing about change in Los Angeles through support of community and grassroots organizations. Before taking the helm at the Foundation she was involved in its LibertyVote! program, which is nonpartisan and increases turnout among low-income neighborhoods and disenfranchised groups.
Elise Buik
President and Chief Executive Officer
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Elise Buik is president and chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, focused on addressing critical issues driving social and economic trends in LA County. Under her leadership, the organization implemented a new community investment plan focused on comprehensive goals with measurable community and programmatic impact, and also developed key social reports. Buik is the first woman to serve as the organization's president.
Cathy Hession
President and Executive Director
Carol and James Collins Foundation
Cathy Hession is president and executive director of The Carol and James Collins Foundation, where she has served since 1998. The Foundation is a family foundation that does grantmaking in Los Angeles County in a variety of areas, with a special interest in education and youth services.
Rachel Levin
Associate Director
Righteous Persons Foundation
Rachel Levin is associate director of the Righteous Persons Foundation, which she helped establish with Steven Spielberg in 1994. The Foundation has made grants totaling almost $75 million to strengthen and revitalize Jewish life in the United States as well as the Foundation's recent Fund for Co-Existence. Previously, Levin worked in the California political scene. Levin is also a co-founder of Reboot and Joshua Venture: A fellowship for Jewish Social Entrepreneurs.
Alicia Procello Maddox
Director, Community Investment and Executive Director
Avery Dennison Foundation
Alicia Procello Maddox serves as director, community investment and executive director with the Avery Dennison Foundation. Maddox was previously corporate responsibility manager for Nike's Western Geographic Business Unit, where she oversaw grantmaking to promote physical activity in
youth. Maddox has also served as a program director for The California Wellness Foundation. Maddox has worked with Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Health Facilities Authority Commission, the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, and the American Public Health Association's Black Caucus of Health Workers.
Mary Odell
President
UniHealth Foundation
Mary Odell is president of the UniHealth Foundation. Established in 1998, the UniHealth Foundation is a private health care foundation that aims to support activities that significantly improve the health and well being of individuals and communities in Southern California. Prior to joining UniHealth, Ms. Odell served for eight years as president of The Riordan Foundation and its associated public foundation, Rx for Reading.
Alvertha Bratton Penny
Vice President for Programs
The California Community Foundation
Alvertha Penny oversees planning, strategy development and distribution in support of the California Community Foundation's 10-year strategic plan and manages a $20 million annual discretionary grants budget, as well as the Program Related Investment Fund and special initiatives totaling more than $27 million. Previously, Penny served as a senior advisor on community development issues with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Janice Pober
Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Janice Pober is senior vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility for Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she administers the studio's strategic philanthropic efforts and community outreach activities. She serves as trustee of the California State Summer School for the Arts, vice chair of Workplace Hollywood, and is on the boards of Camino Nuevo Charter School and the Los Angeles County Public Library Foundation. Pober serves on the executive committee for the Los Angeles County Blueprint for Arts Education.
Hugh J. Ralston
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ventura County Community Foundation
Hugh Ralston serves as president and chief executive officer of the Ventura County Community Foundation, and brings extensive nonprofit and private sector experience to his leadership role. Ralston serves on the board for the Planned Giving Council of Ventura County and serves on committees for the League of California Community Foundations, Scripps College, the Community Arts Music Association in Santa Barbara and the Community Commission for Ventura County.
Marcos Ramirez
Program Officer
The Fieldstone Foundation
Marcos Ramirez oversees The Fieldstone Foundation's grantmaking, leadership development programs, and philanthropic initiatives in Southern California. He has served as president of the Orange County Community Relations Council, and has been a member of Orange County Funders and the Orange County Council on Philanthropy. Ramirez has also been a professor on leadership development, an organizational development and management consultant and a community organizer.
Ray F. Reisler, Ed.D.
Executive Director
S. Mark Taper Foundation
Dr. Ray Reisler has held his position as executive director at the S. Mark Taper Foundation since its founding in 1989. He is the founder and co-leader of the Education Funders Group, which is comprised of Los Angeles-based foundations interested in public education, and serves as a member of the Los Angeles County Arts Education Advisory Group.