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.

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.

Raúl Bustillos is Senior Vice President, Community Relations for Bank of America’s Greater Los Angeles region.   Raúl provides business, civic and philanthropic leadership for Bank of America throughout Los Angeles County and the State of California and works to strengthen communication and integration among the company’s local business lines.  Raúl works to continuously improve brand favorability in the region and enhance Bank of America’s presence in the community.  

Prior to his current position with Bank of America, Raúl served for 10 years at the Los Angeles Times where he oversaw The Times’ philanthropic efforts including the Los Angeles Times Fund, Los Angeles Times Family Fund, Summer Camp Campaign, Holiday Campaign and Donor Advised Giving Fund. 

Raúl has volunteered his time with numerous organizations and served on various boards and advisory committees including Coro Southern California, La Plaza de Cultura Y Artes, Koreatown Youth & Community Center, Southern California Grantmakers, American Camp Association Southern California/Hawaii, Archdiocesan Youth Employment Services (AYE), and many others.  Raúl has a M.A. in Public Policy from Claremont Graduate University, a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows program in Public Affairs.   
 

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 Sol Price School of Public Policy where she is an Adjunct Associate Professor of nonprofit policy and governance. She currently sits on the boards of Loyola High School and she is the Chair of the Board of Councilors of the Sol Price School of Public Policy.

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.

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.

Shawn Kravich is the founding Executive Director of the Snap Foundation and a Trustee of the John N. Calley Foundation, where he served as Executive Director from 2015-2018.  In both roles he has explored collaborative giving models and innovation in the sector, particularly through the lens of participatory grantmaking. 
 
Prior to his entry into philanthropy, Shawn served as VP, External Affairs at Bet Tzedek Legal Services, founding Director of the Los Angeles HIV Law and Policy Project—an award-winning, wraparound legal services program in collaboration with UCLA School of Law, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and several legal and medical institutions—and Director of the Cancer Legal Resource Center, a national healthcare education and advocacy organization.
 
Shawn holds three bachelor’s degrees from the University of Southern California and a juris doctor from UCLA School of Law with specializations in Critical Race Studies and Public Interest Law and Policy. When time permits, he teaches coursework on topics of health care law and bioethics at various higher education institutions throughout Los Angeles.

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.

Jennifer Price-Letscher grew up in a household of strong, determined women. Raised by her mother, grandmother, and older sisters, Jennifer developed a sense of purpose and creativity from a young age. Her mother was a first-generation college graduate who worked tirelessly to serve others as an educator, social worker, and criminal justice legal advocate. Her grandmother was a concert pianist who gave her a keen ear, nurturing Jennifer’s musicianship and cultivating an awareness about the power of artistic expression.  Jennifer’s home life fostered a sense of creativity and justice, and she credits her mother with teaching the importance of seeing the humanity in everyone. It is no surprise that Jennifer dedicated her life to arts, education, and social change. 

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Jennifer began a career in the social impact sector following a visit to her sister’s home in Los Angeles in the early ‘90s. Her trip coincided with the city’s civil unrest, as countless Angelenos organized to demand racial justice. Seeing Los Angeles and its potential to be a place for all things possible, challenging, and just, Jennifer decided to stay. Soon after, Jennifer started working in the arts and became involved with prominent artists and art organizations, including 18th Street Arts Center and Highways Performance Space. Jennifer found herself immersed in a community of people exploring their identities and artistic voices at the height of the culture wars of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Jennifer advocated alongside these artists who demanded that marginalized voices in mainstream theater have equitable access and a seat at the table. “One of art’s greatest qualities lies in its capacity to elicit greater understanding and empathy, why wouldn’t we want to hear more voices?” Jennifer reflected. This experience building empathy and power shoulder-to-shoulder with underrepresented artists would later guide her work in the nonprofit sector. 

Jennifer started her philanthropic career at the Whitecap Foundation, where she led capacity building programs before joining the Sterling-Dorman Foundation and spending a decade focused on college access and success. “Education can be a profound lever for transforming lives and lifting people out of poverty,” she noted. Today, Jennifer is Vice President for Grantmaking and Initiatives at The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, where she manages its responsive grantmaking and efforts focused on collaboration, organizational effectiveness, and systems change. Her grantmaking philosophy aspires to weave together all the strands necessary to create a strong community fabric. To realize her vision, Jennifer taps into a long-standing “spirit of inquiry” that allows her to listen to her nonprofit partners deeply and with humility and curiosity. She credits SCG and early philanthropic mentors with helping her see the importance of building strong relationships founded on trust. “Our nonprofit partners and their constituents know what's best for their communities and what’s needed to accomplish transformational change.” While she recognizes that not all foundations can immediately enact a comprehensive trust-based strategy, she is hopeful that the sector will gradually embrace more of its principles. “I hope some of our funder colleagues will let go of the ‘power over’ framework reliant on directives and bureaucracy and shift toward a ‘power with’ model founded on a collaborative spirit and willingness to make change together.  Community transformation requires all hands on deck.” 

Given the devastation wrought by the crises of this year, Jennifer is proud of the bold actions The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation has taken to support their nonprofit partners. At the beginning of the pandemic, they signed onto the Council of Foundation’s pledge advocating for more flexible and equitable grantmaking, canceled all their grant reporting, and distributed nearly half a million dollars of emergency funding outside of their typical board cycle. In June, the Board of Directors decided to increase the Foundation’s payout by 10%, bringing their total payout to $20.5 million for 2020. With the additional funds, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation doubled down on its support of the Nonprofit Sustainability Initiatives (NSI), a pooled fund designed to support nonprofits’ strategic restructuring. The Foundation also made one of its largest grants in its 40-year history: $2 million toward a pooled fund supporting relief and recovery for Los Angeles arts organizations.  Seeded with an initial $10 million investment from the Getty Foundation and housed at the California Community Foundation, the fund is nearing it’s $40 million goal and is poised to grow more before launching publicly in early 2021.   Given that one in seven jobs in Los Angeles is in the creative economy, Jennifer is confident that profound economic recovery can happen through supporting the arts and culture in this dire moment. Personally, Jennifer also knows that the arts will be necessary for our spiritual recovery. “We need to support creativity — it is one of our community’s greatest assets and it is essential for our collective wellbeing,” she asserted. “There are opportunities for healing that only the arts can provide.” 

When asked what is giving her hope at the moment, Jennifer elevated philanthropy’s recent recommitment to equity and racial justice. However, she’s also cautious, “I don’t want racial equity to be philanthropy’s bright and shiny object of the moment. I want the sector to stay true and committed in its demand for racial justice.” Jennifer hopes that funders maintain a bias toward action, moving beyond statements and taking concrete steps to keep equity at the forefront of their efforts. She encourages foundations to codify racial equity in their policies and practices while including those who have been most impacted by structural racism in decision-making processes. Looking ahead, Jennifer is hopeful that philanthropy can keep itself accountable to the values and aspirations it set for itself this year. Given the deep polarization fracturing our country, she believes the sector can play a role in promoting civic dialogue and exchange while protecting everyone’s integrity. 

Today, Jennifer couldn’t be more excited to join SCG’s Board of Directors. SCG’s aspirational vision, mission, and values are very closely aligned with her own and she is looking forward to helping the SCG network continue to grow and embrace the importance of the arts, racial equity, and trust-based philanthropy. She feels fostering meaningful dialogue on critical issues while working across differences and diverse perspectives can and should be at the heart of our collective work. “I believe SCG stands for the best of what we can be as a social impact sector,” Jennifer declared. “Our network holds so many brilliant people who are deeply committed to transformational change and equity in our community. By continuing to put the community first, each member in the SCG network can stand for something larger than themselves.  We are better together.” 

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.