Contributor

John Matthew Sobrato is part of the fourth generation of Sobrato family members working within Silicon Valley. For the past seven years, John has worked as both a teacher and administrator at the Latino College Preparatory Academy, which serves the community in east San Jose. In 2014, he helped to found an ed-tech startup, Alloy Learning, to empower teachers through… Read More

Sandy Herz serves as President of Sobrato Philanthropies, where she helps to guide the Sobrato family’s individual, collaborative and collective philanthropy. Prior to joining Sobrato Philanthropies, Sandy was Vice President, Partnerships & Engagement at the Skoll Foundation, where for 16 years she spearheaded flagship partnerships and provided leadership, integration, and alignment across Skoll activities to create broader impact from the work of… Read More

Irene joined the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in 2008 as the first director of the Local Grantmaking Program. Irene currently leads the Foundation’s team that annually invests $20M in five CA counties, and closely works with community partners to ensure that families remain strong, youth can thrive, and communities are vibrant. Irene brings over two decades of community leadership… Read More

Dwayne S. Marsh assumed the position of President and CEO of Northern California Grantmakers on September 9, 2020. He brings 27 years of experience in the public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors with a career commitment to advancing racial and economic equity. Dwayne recently completed a four-year turn as co-Director of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) and Vice President of Institutional… Read More

Born and raised north of NYC, Pam has lived in the Boston area for 25 years. Following training and career in forestry and environmental consulting, early positions included the US Forest Service, Town of Hingham and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, followed by heading the Environmental Dept. at BSC Engineering in Boston. Currently, Pam serves on the boards of the Radical Imagination… Read More

Sam Vinal grew up south of Boston on occupied Wampanoag Land. He currently directs documentaries and produces fictional films, making films in partnership with social movements. He uses the transformational medium of film for the beautiful struggle of social change. Sam also keeps five to seven toes in the world of philanthropy, organizing family and peers to move more resources… Read More

Hanna Mahon is the former President of the Pink House Foundation, a small family foundation (now donor-advised fund) based in Washington, DC. From 2015-2020, they helped shift the foundation’s grantmaking strategy away from service-based work and toward intersectional grassroots social movements with racial justice at the center. They also helped start Families Organizing to Resource Movements (or the FORM Collective) in… Read More

Annie Mahon is an author, ordained Buddhist mindfulness teacher and founder of the Circle Yoga Cooperative, Opening Heart Mindfulness Community, Making Visible, DC Community Yoga, and DC Yoga Week. Annie has been writing and teaching about mindfulness in daily life and Engaged Buddhism since 2004 on her blog, rawmindfulness.com, Elephant Journal, and Medium, and in her book, Things I Did… Read More

Nora (she/her) joined RG in January 2019 as the High Net Wealth and Family Philanthropy Coordinator. She was born in DC, raised in the Colorado mountains and has come back to DC as her home. She was politicized in the environmental justice movement and has deep respect for land and indigenous peoples from whom it was stolen. The student climate… Read More

Gwen Walden is a senior managing director in Arabella’s San Francisco office, where she leads the firm’s West Coast practice. In this capacity, she engages with a range of clients on strategy, evaluation, and impact investing work, implementing programs and projects and managing donor collaboratives. She has expertise in the arts, health, early childhood, and education, and works to meet… Read More