Resourcing Resilience Report: a Briefing on Aligning Public and Philanthropic Funding for California Communities

Beatrice Camacho is a first-generation Mexican-American woman born and raised in Sonoma County, California to low-income, working-class parents who immigrated to Sonoma County from Northern Mexico in 1985. As a lifelong renter, growing up on Section 8 Housing, she personally understands the importance of dignified and affordable housing. Beatrice studied Business Management at Sonoma State University and is trained in Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices. She is an organizing committee member for Sanación del People/The Peoples’ Healing Clinic, which offers mutual aid in the form of free healing modalities to community members in Sonoma County who otherwise would not have access to them. She has been a Tenant Organizer with North Bay Organizing Project since 2018 and helped organize the Sonoma County Tenants Union. Beatrice is now the first-ever Director of UndocuFund. UndocuFund was created in 2017, as a form of mutual aid that provides direct monetary assistance to undocumented community members in Sonoma County during times of disaster. Undocufund has disbursed over $16.5 million in direct assistance to Sonoma County’s undocumented community members impacted by wildfires, floods, power shutoffs, and COVID-19.

Christiana DeBenedict serves as Senior Director of Environmental Initiatives at San Diego Foundation (SDF) and oversees a portfolio of environment initiatives with a focus on environmental equity, supporting our most vulnerable communities facing air and water pollution, climate change impacts and lack of access to green spaces.

Since 2021, she has managed the Climate and Outdoor Initiatives; led the establishment of the Binational Resilience Initiative, which has supported over $2 million in funding for binational coastal resilience projects; co-led the Climate Funders Collaborative (San Diego / Baja / Imperial); and currently serving as lead applicant for a Transformative Climate Communities grant of $22 million and an Environmental Protection Agency Community Change Grant of $20 million to facilitate over $42 million in funding to community-driven climate projects benefiting the historic central barrios of San Diego.

Prior to her tenure at SDF, Christiana worked at The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego, managing The Equinox Project and the Outdoor Leaders Initiative. She also directed the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, a network of cities and public agencies working to advance local climate solutions. She was Assistant Director of Climate Education Partners, a $5 million National Science Foundation funded project that engaged and informed government, business and community leaders on local climate impacts.

Christiana graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Languages and Bilingual Issues and holds an International MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.

Kaying Hang serves on the executive team for Sierra Health Foundation and The Center as the Senior Vice President of Programs and Partnerships. In this role, Kaying is responsible for strategic program and partnership development, and oversees management of the foundation’s and The Center’s programs and initiatives. She joined the foundation in 2013. 

Before coming to Sierra Health Foundation, Kaying served as associate director for Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, where she worked with foundations, affinity groups, public policy groups and immigrant rights organizations. Previously, she served as senior program officer at the Otto Bremer Foundation in Minnesota, and a program officer and senior consultant with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. 

In addition to institutional philanthropy, Kaying worked in state government as the state coordinator of the Refugee Health Program for the Minnesota Department of Health, and as assistant regional coordinator for the Refugee and Immigrant Health Program for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. 

A native Hmong speaker, Kaying received a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University and a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University. Originally from Minnesota’s Twin Cities, she is the oldest of seven children and comes from a refugee family dedicated to social justice and racial equity. She and her family are proud to call Sacramento home.

Jessica serves as Chief of Staff and VP of Strategic Initiatives at Nonprofit Finance Fund where she leads the development of innovative strategic partnerships and programs that further NFF's commitment to connecting nonprofit organizations with the capital and resources needed to build community wealth and power.

As Chief Business Development Officer for NFF’s Advisory Services practice, she raised $7-9 million in annual revenue to deliver consulting services for mission-based organizations and their funding partners and was part of the leadership team overseeing the operations and strategic evolution of a national consulting practice. Previously, as VP of Strategic Innovation, she led NFF’s work in the Pay for Success (PFS) arena, spearheading outcomes-focused funding to addressing social challenges. And prior, as NFF's California Market Director, she led growth of NFF's consulting services in California.
 
Before NFF, she served as a Vice President at Citi Community Capital, a division of Citigroup, where she provided structured financing and impact investment to national nonprofit and CDFI clients. She holds a Master in Public Administration in nonprofit management from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Virginia.

Hoi-Fei Mok (they/them) is the Deputy Director of Equity and Government Transformation at the California Strategic Growth Council, based in Chochenyo Ohlone lands in the Bay Area. Fei brings more than 14-years of strong interdisciplinary experience across environmental science research, climate policy, and social justice to their work on developing equitable community-driven strategies for local resilience to climate change. Greenbelt Alliance recognized Fei for their climate resilience work with the Hidden Hero of the Greenbelt award in 2022. Prior to this role, Fei was the sustainability manager at the City of San Leandro, where they worked on numerous climate action projects including supporting resilience hubs, expanding the urban tree canopy, installing solar and EV chargers, and planning for sea level rise. They served on the executive committee for the Bay Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN) and the equity advisory committee for the California Adaptation Forum and National Adaptation Forum. Their past research work spans global climate change, population genetics, wastewater reuse, ecological modeling, and fieldwork in Costa Rica, Tibet, and Australia. Fei’s organizing experience includes co-founding the California Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Climate Network, facilitating conversations around racial justice solidarity and collective liberation, and building queer and trans Asian Pacific Islander community. Fei completed their Ph.D. in Agriculture and Food Systems at the University of Melbourne and a B.A. in Biochemistry from Wellesley College with summa cum laude honors.

Sabine Talaugon was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in August 2024 to serve as Deputy Secretary of Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to joining CalEPA, Sabine worked at nonprofit organizations including First Nations Development Institute and the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health. She also provided consulting services through Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies and Iwex Consulting. She began state service in 2020, leading tribal affairs work at California State Parks.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy and a Master of Public Policy degree from Mills College at Northeastern University. Sabine is a Shamala Chumash descendent.
 

Lul Tesfai joined the Irvine Foundation as the Director of Program Development in November 2022. Lul brings more than a decade of experience leading education and workforce policy development, program implementation and evaluation, with the goal of supporting the economic advancement of marginalized youth and adults. 

Prior to Irvine, Lul was a senior advisor with the Center on Education & Labor at New America, where she helped shape federal, state, and local policies related to high-quality education and training models, workforce development, and worker protections. In this capacity, Lul also worked directly with communities and stakeholders to design and implement systems that improve educational and economic outcomes. 

Lul previously served as the Director of Policy in the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education (ED). There she oversaw ED’s career and technical education, adult education, community college, and correctional education and reentry portfolio. She has also worked as a policy consultant for the California Senate Office of Research, an educational consultant to several school districts across the country, and a public school teacher. 

Lul holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Studies from Northwestern University.