S. H. Cowell Foundation is expanding - it's announced the addition of four new members to its grants program team: Zuleika Godinez, Pajouablai Monica Lee, Blia Moua, and Brittany Redelfs. Welcome to the NCG member community! Learn more about the new additions below.
Zuleika Godinez, Program Officer, will be assuming a lead role in managing Cowell’s Youth Development grants program.
Zuleika joined the Foundation’s program team in 2019. Previously, she was the Policy Manager for Ensuring Opportunity Campaign to End Poverty in Contra Costa, a policy and advocacy initiative housed at the Richmond Community Foundation. In this role, Zuleika worked with local elected officials, government agencies and non-profits, as well as faith leaders, businesses, labor and philanthropy, in a collective effort to ensure all county residents have what they need to thrive.
She has also served as Youth Program Associate at the James Irvine Foundation, working to increase the number of low-income youth in California who earn a postsecondary credential; as a Policy Fellow at the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C.; and as a Program Coordinator at Next Generation Scholars, an educational nonprofit that serves disadvantaged youth and families in Marin County.
Pajouablai Monica Lee, Program Assistant, supports all aspects of the Foundation’s grantmaking activities with a particular focus on Education and Youth Development.
Pajouablai Monica Lee joined the Cowell grants team in July 2019 after nearly five years in program management at OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. While there, Monica implemented national programs that focused on the professional development and advancement of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) professionals and youth, with emphasis on the importance of civic engagement. Her work also involved education on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in AAPI and non-AAPI spaces. As Program Assistant, she supports all aspects of the Foundation’s grantmaking activities and serves as a main point of contact for applicants and grantees, with a particular focus on Education and Youth Development.
Blia Moua, Program Officer, will be assuming a lead role in managing Cowell’s Families & Communities grants program.
Blia joined the Foundation’s program team in 2019. As a child of former refugees, Blia understands the value and benefit of receiving support from the community. That is why she dedicated more than ten years of her career to working in family resource centers in San Francisco and other family-focused organizations in Sacramento. Blia held many roles in the social services sector. She was a social worker in private and public agencies and a manager of programs supporting under-resourced communities, and she led collaborative groups that consisted of public and private stakeholders with a shared goal to improve the lives of children, families, and the community.
Brittany Redelfs, Program Assistant, serves as a main point of contact for applicants and grantees, with a particular focus on the Families & Communities program area.
Brittany joined the Foundation’s program team in 2019. As a Program Assistant, she supports all aspects of the Foundation’s grantmaking and serves as a main point of contact for applicants and grantees, with a particular focus on the Families and Communities program area. Brittany joined Cowell with the desire to learn about philanthropy and the nonprofit sector after several years of administration roles in healthcare and property management. Her volunteer experience includes a development internship with the Orange County Child Abuse Prevention Center and one year as a mentor and academic tutor in the Lowell neighborhood of Fresno in California’s Central Valley.