Smart Growth California

SJVFC Members

Meet the San Joaquin Valley Funders’ Collaborative

The SJV Funders’ Collaborative works to support funder learning and collaboration to promote healthy, equitable communities and sustainable natural systems in the San Joaquin Valley.

Members

Jazmin Segura

COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION

Jazmin Segura brings over twelve years of experience in immigrant rights and social justice movements in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. She has a passion for racial and social justice and a deep commitment to grassroots organizing, advocacy, and movement building to bring about systemic change for low-income, immigrants and communities of color. Most recently, Jazmin worked at The San Francisco Foundation (TSFF) where she developed and launched the foundation’s first Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building, providing timely resources to grassroots organizations that are on the front lines of organizing around issues of racial and economic justice in the Bay Area. Jazmin worked across the Foundation’s departments including the Development and Donor Services team to increase resources for immigrant and youth-led grassroots organizations.

Prior to her work at the Foundation, Jazmin was the Policy Manager at Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC). Under her direction, E4FC developed its first advocacy platform and created a leadership team of undocumented youth who led a successful statewide policy campaign to make career licenses accessible to all Californians regardless of immigration status. She also worked as a Policy Advocate at Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) where she co-led a diverse coalition of immigrant rights, criminal justice, and faith-based groups to pass one of the most progressive immigration detainer policies in the nation which later became a catalyst for the California Trust Act.

Jazmin’s commitment to building community power is inspired by her family’s immigration journey to the United States. She was born in Mexico City and migrated to the United States at the age of nine to be reunited with her father. She grew up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles and graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a Bachelor of Art’s Degree in Political Economy. Currently, she sits on the Board of Directors for the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley and is a former commissioner for the Human Relations Commission of Santa Clara County.

Reyna Villalobos

Sierra Health Foundation

Bio and photo coming soon!

Janaki Anagha

11TH HOUR PROJECT

Janaki Anagha is a Grantee Liaison with the 11th Hour Project and the Director of Community Advocacy at Community Water Center. She has worked at California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. in Fresno enforcing environmental justice and worker protections such as access to clean drinking water for unincorporated communities and assisted in the creation of Community Alliance for Agroecology based in Delano. Janaki holds a J.D. from UC Davis School of Law and a B.S. in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis.

Sidra Fatima

KRESGE FOUNDATION

Sidra Fatima is a program officer for the American Cities Program at The Kresge Foundation. She supports Kresge’s place-based programs and cross-city knowledge exchange. Sidra joined the foundation in 2019.

Previously, Sidra held positions with the City of Boston’s Community Preservation Department and was involved with creating the Community Development Learning Initiative at Harvard University. She also served as an associate environmental planner at Parsons Transportation Group, where she ensured environmental compliance and prepared environmental reports for transportation projects.

A native of southern California, Sidra earned a Bachelor of Science in urban and regional planning from California State Polytechnic University and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Craig Martinez

The California Endowment

Craig Martinez joined The California Endowment in May 2012 as a program manager tasked with supporting policy and system change efforts to create healthier neighborhoods. Prior to joining The Endowment, Craig served as a health policy advisor in the Majority Health Policy Office of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, first under the Chairmanship of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and subsequently under the Chairmanship of Senator Tom Harkin. His legislative portfolio on the HELP Committee included issues relating to public health, disease prevention, health disparities, mental health, HIV/AIDS, and public health preparedness. Craig currently serves as co-chair of Smart Growth California.

Artie Padilla

Central Valley Community FOUNDATION

Artie was born and raised in Fresno California. After earning a degree in Business Administration from CSU Northridge, he returned home where he has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 28 years. Over the last 15 years, he’s been working closely in Fresno’s 92 public elementary school neighborhoods serving both youth and families. This work led him to create Every Neighborhood Partnership, a community-based organization that mobilizes and equips neighborhood building teams that actively serve on school campuses and in their surrounding community. Recently, Artie transitioned over to the Central Valley Community Foundation where he is overseeing the Neighborhood Development portfolio of their DRIVE Initiative.

As part of his community-wide work, Artie helped to create the Fresno County Trauma & Resilience Network in 2017. This growing collective of 120+ individuals have been learning and strategizing on how to develop a more “trauma informed” Fresno County. He also helped create the Fresno Community & Economic Development Partnership which is a cluster of 15 place-based organizations that serve the felt needs of the families in their geographical footprint.

All this work helps Artie in leveraging the overall collective impact work DRIVE is focused on in the Fresno region.

 

Marni Rosen

Tao Rising

Marni Rosen is a philanthropic and non-profit consultant with nearly 30 years of experience in philanthropy, non-profit and inter-governmental work.  Marni served for over 16 years as the Executive Director of the Jenifer Altman Foundation (JAF), a private foundation supporting creative work in health, education, the environment and justice. In 2005, in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Marni co-founded the Gulf Coast Fund, to support the sustainable and just recovery of the region. In partnership with the Global Greengrants Fund and four international NGO networks, she initiated the Global South + Program to support environmental health and justice work globally. Marni has co-founded numerous initiatives at the intersection of health, environment and justice, and continues to play a leadership role in the field.

Marni is co-founder of the Health and Environmental Funders Network (and a past co-chair) and of the Funders Network on Trade and Globalization (now EDGE Funders Alliance).

Marie Sanchez

KAISER PERMANENTE

Marie Sanchez is the Community Benefit Manager for Kaiser Permanente’s Central Valley service areas. As the Community Benefit manager, Marie is responsible for investments in communities served by the Kaiser Health Plan and Hospitals, focusing on improving the health and well-being of underserved populations and creating healthier communities in the Central Valley communities within San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.  

Marie has lived in the central valley for over 25 years. She has worked for Kaiser Permanente for over 16 years. Prior to working at Kaiser Permanente, she worked as the health education manager for Federally Qualified Health Center – Community Medical Centers, Inc. located in Stockton, CA.

Harkiran (Kiran) Sandhu

KAISER PERMANENTE

Kiran Sandhu is the Community Health Manager for the Kaiser Permanente Fresno Service Area. She is responsible for the development, implementation, and management of local Community Health investments and initiatives.  She has partnered with local nonprofit, public health, and human service organizations to address the critical health and social needs of vulnerable and underserved residents in the communities of Fresno, Madera, Kings, and Tulare Counties. 

Kiran has extensive experience providing safety net and protective services for children, families, older adults, and those with disabilities. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, she served as a Deputy Director with the Madera County Department of Social Services for public assistance programs where she helped to implement Home Visiting and Housing Support services for CalWORKs families. Additionally, she spent over 15 years with the Fresno County Department of Social Services as a Program Manager on the expansion of CalWORKs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal programs and as a Senior Staff Analyst focusing on grant and contract management, community partnerships, and fiscal oversight.

Elizabeth Söderström

The Water Foundation

Elizabeth Söderström is a senior program officer at the Water Foundation. She has spent the last several decades working at the nexus of program strategy and philanthropy delivering resources to address environmental issues in the water sector. Previously, as part of the Strategic Partnerships team at the Water Foundation, Elizabeth helped develop and deliver on fundraising strategies.Before joining the Water Foundation, Elizabeth was senior director of conservation and development at American Rivers. Prior to that she was director of the Sierra and Africa Rivers Program at the Natural Heritage Institute. Elizabeth serves on the boards of the Consensus Building Institute, the Stockholm Environment Institute, and CHIRP, a non-profit is guided by the Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council. She also sits on the advisory board of the South Yuba Citizens League. Elizabeth received a BA in English Literature, a BS in Biological Sciences, and an MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, as well as a PhD in Wildlands Resource Science and River Science from UC Berkeley.

Steering Committee 5

Mark Valentine

ReFrame It Consulting

Mark Valentine is the founder and principal of ReFrame It Consulting, which works with foundations and individual donors on grantmaking program design, implementation, and evaluation across a diverse array of issues, including: smart growth and sustainable land use, environmental health, energy and climate, marine and coastal conservation, and conservation finance. Amongst his clients is a private donor advisory service for which he manages a portfolio of grants focused on advancing sustainable land use policy in key regions of California.

Prior to founding ReFrame It, Mark was a program director with the Packard Foundation where he helped establish the nation’s largest conservation grantmaking program with initiatives across the western United States, Mexico, China, and the Western Pacific. In addition, he created an innovative interdisciplinary grantmaking initiative that highlighted the opportunities for strategic synergy between reproductive health, environment, and community development initiatives in select geographies within the Foundation’s global portfolio.

Max Vargas

Latino Community Foundation

As Vice President of Economic Justice, Max Vargas leads the Latino Community Foundation’s efforts to catalyze and grow the economic security, mobility, and power of the Latino community.

He brings a range of policy, legal, and community experience to LCF and previously served as Deputy Director of First 5 California, where he oversaw initiatives supporting child care, paid family leave, and other essential needs. Prior to that, Max was Senior Policy Advisor to Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs where he supported legislation to address housing access, coordinated COVID-19 response measures, stewarded the expansion of after-school programs, managed climate justice initiatives, coordinated pilots for economic security and opportunity, and contributed to legal briefs in defense of immigrant families, an effective Census count, and health equity.

Max has also worked for the State Senate, State Assembly, workforce development and transportation agencies, and the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS). He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of the Pacific and a J.D. from the McGeorge School of Law.

Max is a former unaccompanied minor and political asylee from Peru whose personal story and career arc are rooted in reimagining the values and systems we uphold and for whom we uphold them. He is a loving father of three, husband to a proud Chicana, and enjoys travel, wine tasting, hip hop, and salsa dancing.