Board of Directors

James serves as Senior VP and Market Manager for Citi Community Development in which he manages a multi-million dollar budget to develop the most underserved communities across Southern California and Texas.  James has a background in working in the private (corporate and small businesses alike), the public sector, and in non-profits. Previously, he has served on the founding team to establish a community bank.  He went on to work at a public affairs firm focused on enhancing brand awareness and building grassroots public support. His non-profit experience includes six years working at the Small Business Development Centers at which he founded a non-profit technology accelerator called Tech Futures Group.  He managed his family’s small business and helped it to triple its revenue in one year. He serves on the six governing boards and advisory boards: Southern CA Grantmakers, the Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges, the CA Latino Economic Institute, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), the LA Latino Chamber of Commerce, and the LA County Center for Financial Empowerment.  The innovative community engagement work done by James and his team have been recognized by three prestigious business organizations in Los Angeles all of which have selected Citi as their 2019 and 2020 Corporation of the Year for corporate social responsibility. James is a first generation college graduate with a degree from Stanford University where he twice served as president of his class.

Nike Irvin serves as Managing Director of the Civil Society Fellowship for next generation community and civil society leaders, a joint partnership between the AntiDefamation League (ADL) and Aspen Institute and new offering of the Aspen Global Leaders Network (AGLN). Based in Los Angeles, Nike led California Community Foundation’s (CCF) grantmaking for six years, overseeing grants to arts, education, juvenile justice and health. Before CCF, Nike served as president of The Riordan Foundation for seven years. She is a trustee for The Riordan Foundation, Southern California Grantmakers, High Resolves, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and The Broad Center.

Melissa Harman has been in public accounting since 1998. She provides professional services to a wide variety of nonprofits, primarily institutions of higher education, private foundations and other nonprofit organizations. Harman is the national not-for-profit practice leader for Moss Adams LLP.

Joe Lumarda is Senior Vice President and Investment Counselor for Capital Group Private Client Services and a Vice President of Capital Guardian Trust Company, a Nevada Corporation. Capital Group Private Client Services provides investment management and financial planning services for individuals, families, trusts, foundations, and nonprofit institutions. Prior to joining Capital, Lumarda spent 16 years at the California Community Foundation in various roles including Program Officer and Chief Operating Officer. He is the board chair of the Center for Nonprofit Management, and a member of the boards of Asian American and Pacific Islander Legal Center, Give2Asia, Drucker Institute, Pasadena Child Health Foundation, and St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation.

Adrienne Wittenberg is the Executive Director of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, Wittenberg was a senior tax accountant in the Los Angeles office of Deloitte & Touche, LLP. She is licensed in the State of California as a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the AICPA. She received a Bachelor's of Business Administration Degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Wittenberg has served as a member of the board of trustees of Alvemo Heights Academy in Sierra Madre, California. She was a member of the finance committee at Hill & Dale Family Learning Center in Santa Monica, California. She also served as a board member and president of the Los Angeles Running Club. 

Christine Essel joined SCG as President and CEO on February 1, 2013. As president, she sets the strategic direction and priorities for the organization, overseeing programming, communications, member services and public policy. Prior to joining SCG, Essel held leadership roles in the government, corporate, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, where she has shaped legislation and public and corporate policy. For over three decades, she worked at Paramount Pictures, serving as Senior Vice President, Government and Community Affairs, a department she built from the ground up. She has been named to numerous Boards and Commissions over the years, serving as chair of the California Film Commission, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, the Hollywood Community Advisory Council, Alternative Living for the Aging and Central City Association. She also served as Vice‐Chair of the California Workforce Investment Board and FilmLA and was a member of the powerful Los Angeles World Airports Commission, Grand Avenue Project Joint Powers Authority and Los Angeles Development Fund.

Kim Belshé was named Executive Director of First 5 Los Angeles in 2012. Prior to joining First 5 LA, she served as senior policy advisor of Public Policy Institute of California and as Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency in the Administration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Belshé previously served as Director of the California Department of Health Services and Deputy Secretary of the then-Health and Welfare Agency under Governor Pete Wilson. Belshé currently serves on the five-member board of the state's new Health Benefit Exchange, Covered California, and is a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

Marsha E. Bonner joined the Annenberg Foundation in September 2015 and has over 30 years of grantmaking experience. At the Annenberg Foundation, she is responsible for oversight of Programs, Grants Administration, the Alchemy program—a capacity building and training initiative, and the new impact investing program. She previously served as the Director of Grantmaking and Evaluation at the Marguerite Casey Foundation in Seattle, WA; Vice President for Programs at the Marin Community Foundation in Novato, CA; Associate Director and Program Officer at the Aaron Diamond Foundation in New York City; and Executive Director of the North Star Fund in New York City. A graduate of Princeton University, she is a member of the Board of Directors for Carlos Santana’s Milagro Foundation in San Rafael, CA.

Cara Esposito is the Executive Director of the Leonetti/O’Connell Family Foundation which funds innovative projects and initiatives that benefit Los Angeles County and improve the wellbeing of its communities. Prior to her role as Executive Director, Cara spent nine years as a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, with special emphasis in Juvenile Prosecutions.

Cara graduated with a BA from Harvard University, a JD from Loyola Law School, an MPA and a Doctorate in Policy Analysis and Planning from USC’s Price School of Public Policy where she is an adjunct instructor. She currently sits on the boards of Children’s Institute, Inc., The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, The Colleagues and The Center for Excellence in Education.

Michael Fleming is the Executive Director of the David Bohnett Foundation, a grantmaking foundation charged with "improving society through social activism".

Fleming has served on numerous boards and commissions including the Los Angeles Board of Water Power Commissioners―the five member panel that oversees the nation’s largest public utility. He previously served as the President of the East Los Angeles Area Planning Commission and as a Commissioner on the Board of the Los Angeles Convention Center. In 2010, President Barack Obama named Fleming to the White House Council for Community Solutions.

He is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of public radio powerhouse KCRW, a Trustee of the NPR Foundation and is an adjunct professor of organizational development and public policy at UCLA and NYU.

Wendy Garen became President and Chief Executive Officer of The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation in 2008, after working for the Foundation in increasing levels of responsibility for more than 20 years. She was a founding staff member of the nonprofit Crystal Stairs and headed the Los Angeles Child Care and Development Council. Garen is a member of the Philanthropy Leadership Group and The Trusteeship, and serves on the California advisory board of the Milken Institute.

Shane Murphy Goldsmith is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Hill Foundation. Goldsmith previously served as Liberty Hill's Vice President and Chief Program Officer. Prior to joining Liberty Hill, she was the Executive Director of PATH Ventures, an affordable housing development agency. Before that, Goldsmith served as a Senior Advisor to then-City Council President Eric Garcetti, overseeing a variety of field and legislative projects, including housing, economic development, the city budget, public safety, and LGBTQ issues. She currently sits on the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and is the co-chair of the California Executive Alliance for Boys and Men of Color So-Cal Region. Goldsmith is on the Steering Committee of Hope and Heal: The Fund to Stop Gun Violence in California. She also sits on the Board of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) and the selection panel for the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship.

As Vice President, Programs, Joanna is responsible for the management of Weingart Foundation’s responsive grantmaking program and staff, as well as oversight of learning and assessment and strategic planning. Joanna joined the Foundation in 2008 as a program associate, and most recently held the position of Director, Grant Operations. Prior to joining the Foundation, she accumulated more than a decade of experience in the nonprofit, philanthropic and public sectors, most recently serving at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Joanna holds a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College, The City University of New York, where she was a National Urban Fellow, and received her bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alex M. Johnson is a program director at The California Wellness Foundation where he manages a broad portfolio focused on environmental justice, community safety, gun violence prevention, and youth justice. Prior to Cal Wellness he served as managing director of Californians for Safety and Justice and as executive director of Children’s Defense Fund-California. Alex previously led education, youth development, and public safety efforts for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. He began his career in New York City advocating for domestic violence victims as an assistant district attorney in Bronx County and previously clerked at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Alex serves on the Los Angeles County Board of Education, California Advisory Board for the Trust for Public Land, and the Wiley Center for Speech and Language Development. A graduate of Morehouse College and American University, Washington College of Law, Alex’s writings have appeared in Huffington Post, The Guardian, Los Angeles Daily News, San Jose Mercury News, and Sacramento Bee.

Deidre has previously served as the President of Pfaffinger Foundation, one of the oldest private foundations in the region. Deidre has also served as the President of the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles where she drove public/private partnerships for the City. She formerly served as Director, Corporate Affairs for Mattel, Inc., and Executive Director of the Mattel Children's Foundation. She was responsible for leading Mattel's global sustainability programs and philanthropic presence internationally in support of building Mattel's reputation as a responsible corporate citizen. Previously, Lind served as Kaiser Permanente’s California Division associate director for government and community relations and worked on social policy for the chief of staff to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

Connie Archbold Malloy serves as Executive Director of the Panta Rhea Foundation (PRF), a private foundation devoted to building a just and sustainable world. The Foundation advises and partners with individual donors and other charitable entities on grantmaking strategies.

Connie previously served as Portfolio Director at The James Irvine Foundation's Los Angeles office. During her seven-year tenure she deployed over $200 million in grants to support economic and workforce development, voter and civic engagement, Pay for Success, and the foundation’s annual Leadership Awards.

Connie serves as a Commissioner on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, on the national Advisory Board of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, and on the local board of Southern California Grantmakers.

Connie earned her master’s degree in urban planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree from La Sierra University in Riverside, CA. She lives in Pasadena, with roots in San Andres, Providence, and Santa Catalina: Colombia’s Caribbean islands.

Steve Nissen is President and CEO of Nissen Consulting Group. From 2008-2020, he served as Senior Vice President of Legal & Government Affairs at NBCUniversal. Prior to that, Nissen was a partner in the national law firm of Manatt/Phelps, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Gray Davis, Executive Director of the State Bar of California and President/CEO of Public Counsel Law Center. Nissen previously served as Chair of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce (2017-18), Central City Association (2014-15), FilmLA (2014) and LA BioMed/Lundquist Institute (2012-16). He is incoming Chair of the L.A. Economic Development Corporation (2020-2021) and serves on the Board of the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

Gabriela Robles is the Vice President of Community Partnerships at St. Joseph Health, a 16-hospital health system serving California, West Texas, and eastern New Mexico. She is responsible for defining strategic direction and executing grantmaking programs. Her areas of specialization include strategic planning, community investments, program evaluation, and community building. Robles has two master’s degrees, one in Business Administration from NYU Stern School of Business and one in Urban and Regional Planning with an emphasis in Community-Based Planning for Health from UC Irvine.

Tara Roth is the President of the Goldhirsh Foundation. Prior to this role, Roth bridged the worlds of marketing, media, and philanthropy as the founding Chief Operating Officer of GOOD and as a Social Strategy Advisor. Roth began her career in marketing and business development for NBCinternet and Infoseek. She has worked with organizations such as Participant Media, Fifteen Foundation, and the New Schools Venture Fund. As a Senior Advisor to GOOD, Roth helped launch the Pepsi Refresh Project. She is a member of the LA n Sync Bell Commission and serves on the Advisory Boards of 826LA and the Imagination Foundation.

Gerald Solomon serves as the Executive Director for the Samueli Foundation overseeing Samueli Philanthropy. Prior to this position, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Foundation Enterprises (PHFE) for seven years.