In the Red: Philanthropy’s Role in California’s Budget Woes, the Impacts and Solutions

Jacky Guerrero is the Director of the Equity in Community Investments team at Catalyst California. For over seven years, she has partnered with community-based organizations throughout the Central Valley, Inland Empire, and Southern California to support their efforts to repair the generational harm caused by underinvestment, criminalization, and harmful policies in communities of color by advocating for investments in youth development, health, housing, justice reinvestment, and park infrastructure. In this role, she has supported the development of budget equity demands by utilizing data and research from school district, city, and county budgets. During her time with Catalyst California, she has successfully secured equitable investments in youth development, language access, and justice reinvestment, while actively pushing for greater equity in the budget development process. Jacky graduated with a master’s in public policy from the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her wife and son and experimenting with new recipes!

Chris Hoene, Executive Director, leads the strategic direction of the organization, acts as primary spokesperson, and works with the board of directors and community partners to advance the organization’s values, policy directions, and development. Chris is a dynamic leader who strives to build relationships and a collective vision with a range of partners and people, including the Budget Center team, policymakers, advocates, organizers, the media, and funders to improve the lives of Californians, particularly those who have been barred from sharing in California’s prosperity. 

Before joining the Budget Center in 2012, Chris worked as the director of the Center for Research and Innovation at the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C. He also worked as an analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. and the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco. Chris holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of Idaho. In 2011, Chris was elected as a fellow into the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) in recognition of his service to the state and local community.

Chris is married to Darrene Hackler and, in their free time, they can be found hiking, playing tennis, paddleboarding, traveling, cooking, and seeking out good wine — not necessarily in that order, but ideally in the same day

Judi has worked for The California Endowment at the local level in San Diego, Imperial, and Orange counties and at the state level. She oversees the CEO office grantmaking and has just elevated Climate Resiliency as a focus of The Endowment’s Social Bond commitment. She supports the Impact Investing work and manages the grantmaking toward and equitable, inclusive, and just community investment ecosystem for people of color. Prior to joining The California Endowment Judi worked on community health projects for the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and Community Pediatrics by forging strong partnerships with a range of community-based organizations and system leaders to improve health conditions. She has worked on school-based health efforts to support student success for over 20 years-- including advancing youth and parent participation in school decision making. Judi is committed to supporting racial justice that builds unity and nurtures leaders at all levels.

She is the proud daughter of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador and enjoys travel, being active outdoors, and spending time with her children. She is an alum of San José State University where she earned a BS in Kinesiology and completed her Master of Public Health in Health Promotion at San Diego State University. She has completed two certificate programs in Health Executive Leadership at University of California, San Diego and Nonprofit Management and Leadership at the University of San Diego. The California Endowment is a private, statewide health foundation established in 1996 to address the health needs of Californians