Philanthropy and Black Communities: From Crisis Response to Sustained Investment

Fred Blackwell is CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the country. San Francisco Foundation works with donors, community leaders, and public and private partners to create thriving communities throughout the Bay Area. Since joining the foundation in 2014, Blackwell has renewed its commitment to social justice through an equity agenda focused on racial and economic inclusion.

Blackwell is a recognized community leader with a longstanding career in the Bay Area. Before joining the foundation, he served as interim city administrator for City of Oakland, where he previously served as assistant city administrator. He was executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and director of the SF Mayor’s Office of Community Development; he served as director of the Making Connections Initiative for the Annie E. Casey Foundation in the Lower San Antonio neighborhood of Oakland; he was a Multicultural Fellow in Neighborhood and Community Development at San Francisco Foundation; and he subsequently managed a multiyear comprehensive community initiative for San Francisco Foundation in West Oakland.

Blackwell serves on the board of Independent Sector, Bridgespan Group, and Dean’s advisory council for UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. He previously served on the San Francisco Federal Reserve community advisory council, California Redevelopment Association, Urban Habitat Program, NCG, and LeaderSpring boards. He is a visiting professor in the City and Regional Planning Department at UC Berkeley. He holds a Master’s Degree in City Planning from UC Berkeley and Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Studies from Morehouse College.

Born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, Sam Cobbs moved to the Bay Area in 1991 and has been fighting poverty by working to create economic opportunities for individuals ever since. In January 2020, Sam became CEO of Tipping Point Community, a leading philanthropic organization that finds, funds, and strengthens the most promising poverty-fighting solutions in the Bay Area. Since being at the helm, Sam has expanded Tipping Point’s approach by pairing effective direct service grantmaking with policy work to disrupt the conditions that hold poverty in place. 

Having experienced poverty first-hand, Sam understands the combination of resilience, resourcefulness, and support that is required to live in a region that has become known worldwide for its high cost of living. When Sam speaks about his personal story, he is quick to acknowledge that it wasn’t only grit that led him to where he is now, but also a healthy dose of luck. Sam has made it a lifelong quest to help take “luck” out the equation so everyone has an opportunity to prosper. 

Over the past 25 years in the nonprofit sector, Sam has built a track record of designing and implementing programs with clear outcomes for California’s most vulnerable populations. Prior to joining Tipping Point, Sam served as Chief Executive Officer of First Place for Youth, where he helped grow the organization from a budget of $1.9 million to $28 million. Under his leadership, the organization’s impact increased significantly—from serving approximately 600 youth in one location in 2006 to being a national program operating throughout the state of California and four other states. Previous to his tenure at First Place for Youth, Sam served as Director of Program Services at Larkin Street Youth Services where he opened San Francisco’s first emergency shelter for young adults, and assisted in the design and implementation of two of the nation’s most innovative housing programs for youth. He also served in leadership positions at Juma Ventures and the Boys & Girls Club of Oakland. 

Today, Sam is a member of the Board of Directors for SPUR, Stupski Foundation, and New Profit. He was a recipient of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellowship from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, and was named a Social Innovator of the Year by the Ballard Center at Brigham Young University. A seasoned thought leader, Sam has published articles in publications ranging from the San Francisco Chronicle, to the San Francisco Business Journal, and the LEAP Ambassador network. 

Sam started his college career at Laney College before transferring to and graduating from California State University, East Bay, with a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Counseling with an emphasis in organizational development. 

In his free time, he enjoys cooking for family and friends and rarely hitting a golf ball straight.

Allen Fernandez Smith is the West Region Executive for Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase. In this capacity, Allen is responsible for the firm’s strategic philanthropy throughout the Western United States. His team supports eligible nonprofits focused on racial equity and building a more inclusive economy through community development, small business, workforce development, and financial empowerment. Fernandez Smith has been committed to issues of social, racial, and economic empowerment since his early years growing up in Chicago, where he got a firsthand look at inequality and the systematic exclusion of low-income families and communities of color from economic and political opportunities.

Prior to his role at JPMorgan Chase, Fernandez Smith was a Principal for Low-Income Programs and Strategies at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), based in San Francisco, CA. At PG&E, he led the company’s comprehensive approach to support its 2 million low-income customers throughout California with energy savings tools, financial assistance programs, and community partnerships. Fernandez Smith also served as the President and CEO of Urban Habitat, an environmental justice non-profit dedicated to providing leadership and policy guidance to local governments and communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards. At Urban Habitat, Fernandez Smith focused on the intersections of transportation, housing, land use, and climate change in urban communities. Prior to his tenure at Urban Habitat, Fernandez Smith was the Executive Director of the California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC), a statewide organization dedicated to advancing the professional development of youth workers across the state through high-quality trainings, policymaking, and advocacy. As President of the Board of Directors and then as Executive Director, he led the organization in developing and implementing a multi-year strategic plan to realign the organization’s mission, vision, and direction. Fernandez Smith has worked for the City and County of San Francisco as a Senior Community Development Specialist in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Community Development and in the city’s Department of Children, Youth & Their Families. He worked closely with city agencies, local community leaders, and small business owners on promising neighborhood economic strategies and a citywide youth development system.

Fernandez Smith graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois, and was a graduate fellow at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund in Washington D.C. In 2011, he was named to The Root 100 national list of African-American leaders under 45 years old. He lives in Oakland, CA with his wife, Kay Fernandez Smith, Program Manager for the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative at Apple Inc, and their children, Malcolm and Malaya.

As Co-CEO, Mellody is responsible for management, strategic planning and growth for all areas of Ariel outside of research and portfolio management. Additionally, she serves as chairman of the board of trustees of Ariel Investment Trust, the company’s publicly traded mutual funds. Prior to being named Co-CEO, Mellody spent nearly two decades as the firm’s President. In 2021, she co-founded Ariel Alternatives, LLC—a new enterprise offering a patient, focused and non-consensus approach to private equity investing. Its first fund, Project Black, has a mission to scale sustainable minority-owned business enterprises to serve as Tier 1 suppliers to Fortune 500 companies—driving economic growth and equality from the entry-level to the boardroom. Outside of Ariel, Mellody has been a leader in corporate boardrooms. She is the former chairman of Starbucks Corporation and its current lead independent director. Mellody also serves as a director of JPMorgan Chase. She was a long-standing board member of the Estée Lauder Companies and chairman of the board of DreamWorks Animation until the company’s sale in 2016.

Mellody is a well-recognized financial literacy advocate. She wrote a New York Times bestselling children’s book, Priceless Facts about Money, to demystify money for young readers. Her community outreach includes her role as chairman of After School Matters, a Chicago non-profit that provides area teens with high-quality after-school and summer programs. Mellody is also co-chair of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and a board member of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Center for Strategic & International Studies. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Investment Company Institute, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past chair of the Economic Club of Chicago.

Mellody earned her AB from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. In 2019, she was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award, the university’s highest honor presented annually to a Princeton graduate whose career embodies a commitment to national service. Mellody has also received honorary doctorate degrees from Howard University, Johns Hopkins University, St. Mary’s College and the University of Southern California. In 2015, Time Magazine named her one of the “100 Most Influential People” in the world.

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 and Sectoral Change at Race Forward Race Forward. During his tenure, the membership network of local, regional, and state entities committed to advancing racial equity through the policies, practices, and public investments grew from just over 20 to nearly 200 participating jurisdictions.

Prior to GARE, Marsh spent six years as a senior advisor in the Office of Economic Resilience (OER) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There, he helped advance sustainable planning and development through interagency partnerships, departmental transformation, and funding initiatives managed through OER. He was OER’s principal coordinator for a $250 million grant program and led the development of capacity building resources that reinforced the work of pioneering grantees in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Under his leadership, OER prioritized equity as a foundational principal for its planning and investment initiatives.

Marsh brings to the movement his expertise and considerable experience in coalition building for regional equity and leadership development for policy change. He provides technical assistance and capacity building knowledge to equitable development initiatives that address continuing disparities in affordable housing, transportation investment, and environmental justice. Before HUD, Marsh spent a decade at PolicyLink, the national organization committed to economic and social equity. Before PolicyLink, he directed the FAITHS Initiative for eight years at The San Francisco Foundation, building a nationally renowned community development and capacity building program that continues to this day. His career has been defined by supporting communities traditionally marginalized from full participation in our economy and society to build power and leverage lasting systems transformation.

Marc was named executive director of the California Black Freedom Fund in April 2022, bringing more than a decade of leadership in advocacy working with grassroots organizations to build power for racial justice.

Prior to joining the California Black Freedom Fund, Marc led the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color. Under his leadership, the Alliance successfully advanced more than 100 state policies and established powerful partnerships with the California Senate and Assembly Select Committees on the Status of Boys and Men of Color and the California Funders for Boys and Men of Color. Through Marc’s leadership, the Alliance broadened its focus to include fighting for gender justice and ending intimate partner violence by addressing misogyny and patriarchy, as well as racial equity.

Through these experiences, Marc has gained deep campaign and policy expertise across a wide array of issues, including public health and violence prevention, community safety, education, youth justice, economic equity, and civic engagement. Marc serves on the board of directors for the California Immigrant Policy Center, Partners for Dignity and Rights, the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and is on the advisory committee for the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute.

Marc serves on the Board of Directors for the California Immigrant Policy Center, Partners for Dignity and Rights, and is on advisory committees for the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute and The Colorado Health Foundation’s Locally Focused Work.

Nicole Taylor is the president and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation–the country's largest community foundation with nearly $2 billion in annual grantmaking and a deep commitment to solving its region’s toughest challenges through advocacy, research, policy and grantmaking. Nicole brings together a rich background in Bay Area philanthropy, nonprofit and higher education administration and fundraising with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. Since taking the helm of SVCF in late 2018, Nicole has led the organization to renew its focus on the many challenges facing residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. She has championed efforts to increase local giving from SVCF donors and offer donors new avenues for working with the community foundation so they can be effective philanthropists.

Nicole received both her M.A. in Education and A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University, and she began her career as an educator in Oakland public schools. She served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for six years and is currently a board member for Common Sense Media and co-chair of Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Board of Directors.

As the leader of the award-winning Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF), Nichol Whiteman serves as the Chief Executive Officer where she guides LADF in tackling the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles. With a mission to improve education, health care, homelessness, and social justice for communities across Los Angeles and beyond, Nichol sees herself in the population she serves and works to narrow access gaps. Tasked with relaunching LADF in 2013 with just a $600,000 budget, a new name, and logo, Nichol’s leadership has resulted in $204 million raised in the last 11 years alone— including a $100 million pledge in 2024 by our Chairman Mark Walter and Dodgers Ownership. Creating lasting impact for Los Angeles, LADF has invested $60 million in community programs impacting over 10 million children, including $6 million in 2022 AllStar Game Legacy Projects. Under her leadership. 

Nichol also led LADF in rebranding its signature initiative now known as Dodgers Dreamteam, a program that soared from 2,700 participants in 2014 to 11,000 as of 2023. Prior to joining LADF, the Spelman alumna served as the Vice President, Western Region Officer for the Jackie Robinson Foundation and continues to nurture a relationship between the two iconic brands. 

A product of Nichol’s vision, the Dodgers Foundation is the proud owner of an ESPY—having been named the 2020 ESPN Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. She led LADF in receiving the 2020 Beyond Sport Award for Reducing Racial Inequalities and has been featured in Forbes Magazine, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and the L.A. Times to name a few. An unwavering advocate for sharing best practices through mentorship, Nichol guides students and young professionals as she fights for the opportunities that all communities deserve. She resides in Los Angeles with her two sons, Timothy Jr. and Nicholas.