Board of Directors
Jennifer Chavez
Corporate Services Program Officer,
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
As the Corporate Services Program Officer at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Jennifer contributes to the Foundation's corporate and endowment grant-making and to its community building efforts across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. She joined the Foundation from Genentech, where she was a Senior Program Officer with the Genentech Foundation and Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences. Jennifer also managed Genentech's employee volunteer and employee matching gifts programs and led community relations efforts.
Prior to her work at Genentech, Jennifer conducted Education grant-making and coordinated special initiatives at The San Francisco Foundation, where she also managed the Multicultural Fellowship Program, which aims to increase diversity in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors by providing young professionals of color with challenging work experiences and leadership opportunities in the areas of grant-making and community building. She was also Director of Education Programs at SOMOS Mayfair, formerly the Mayfair Improvement Initiative in San Jose.
Jennifer began her career as a bilingual elementary school teacher in East Palo Alto and Denver, where she is from originally.
Jennifer graduated from Stanford University and has a master's degree in Nonprofit Management from Regis University, where she was a Colorado Trust Fellow. She is an active community volunteer and serves as board member and advisor to a number of organizations and initiatives. She is particularly passionate about strengthening her Latino community and about finding innovative solutions to address issues facing Chicanas/Latinas. Jennifer is a passionate global traveler and has community relations, service learning, and educational experiences in many countries.
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Gloria Flores-Garcia Assistant Executive Director, El Concilio of San Mateo County
Nuestro Canto de Salud Project
In her position for over 10 years, Gloria has directed programs that promote health prevention, education, outreach, and case management for San Mateo County's Latino and other underserved communities. She is the co-founder of Nuestro Canto de Salud Health Project that is a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort that envisions all community as key stakeholders in the rhythm and harmony of a healthy community.
Gloria has a long history of working in the community and is committed to social justice issues. She has served on several boards and councils, including the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, West Bay Breast Cancer Early Detention Program, KCSM's Community Advisory Committee, and currently serves on the LifeLong Medical Care Board in Alameda County. She was a past KQED Local Hero for Hispanic Heritage Month as well as the private sector Local Hero award for Peninsula Interfaith Action . Gloria is a Past-President and is current Secretary of the Chicana/Latina Foundation, and resides in Berkeley.
Angela Castillo Assistant to the City Manager, Berkeley, CA.
Dr. Angela Gallegos-Castillo is currently the Assistant to the City Manager for the City of Berkeley, working on Youth Services and the Neighborhood Services Initiative. Prior to that she was Senior Research Associate at the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, where she conducted research and evaluation on juvenile justice and violence prevention initiatives.
Her areas of expertise include youth development, youth violence prevention, Latina/o health issues, domestic & family violence, alcohol prevention and general Latino population issues. She has worked and conducted local and statewide trainings; focus group facilitation, youth development, program planning, development and evaluation, as well as staff development training. She believes in the principles of community and individual empowerment and works from a strength-based perspective in her engagement with communities.
Dr. Gallegos-Castillo has been a dedicated community volunteer, with memberships in various organizations like the National Association for Chicano Studies, National Association for Women's Studies, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, Latinos Unidos, Por La Paz Network, Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social, a Chicana/Latina Academic Organization. She also serves as advisor to bay area agencies and organizations.
She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies, and a B.A. from Santa Clara University, Political Science. Her lifelong partner, Federico Castillo is Costa Rican. She has two children, Emma Alejandra (9) and Federico Daniel (2) and lives in Berkeley, CA. She was the proud recipient of the Chicana Latina Foundation Scholarship in 1988.
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M. Guada(Lupe) Gallegos-Diaz Director, Chicano/Latino Affairs
University of California, Berkeley, CA.
In her present position, Lupe advocates for Chicana/Latino undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and also serves as a community affairs liaison. She has a Masters from the University of California, Berkeley in Social Work and is a PhD candidate working on - Chicanas in the Nonprofit Sector: A Case Study of the Bay Area. As an instructor at UCB her courses include: Community and Leadership Development, and Fundraising and Philanthropy in Latino communities. She has served as a council member of the North Fair Oaks Advisory Council and commissioner on the Commission on the Status of Women in San Mateo County. Among many commitments she has also served as chair to the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies and is currently the national treasurer to Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) a national Mujeres higher education organization. Lupe is currently the Vice-Chair of the Chicana/Latina Foundation, and resides in Berkeley.
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Beatriz Leyva-Cutler Executive Director, The Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement (BAHIA)
Beatriz Leyva-Cutler is the Executive Director of The Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement, Inc. (BAHIA) located in West Berkeley. BAHIA is one of the only full time bilingual child development programs providing vital early to school age care services to the Hispano/Latino familias in Northern Alameda County. She has been with BAHIA since 1980 and the Executive Director for over 18 years. Her primary responsibility is supervising, administering and managing three programs, Centro VIDA, Bahia School Age Program and La Academia.
Beatriz has taught Child Development in Spanish in local community colleges as a way to bring more Latinas into the position of Teachers and Directors, she is a mentor to early childhood Directors and a member of the Latinos Unidos de Berkeley (LUB) and United in Action (UIA). Both LUB and UIA are groups that advocate for the improved quality of life and education of Latino and African America students and their families living in Berkeley. Beatriz was honored in 1997 as Berkeley's Outstanding Woman, in 2004 as Exemplary Child Care Worker in Berkeley, and in 2005 recognized as Woman of the Year by Honorable Assemblywoman Loni Hancock and in 2006 as KPFA's Peace and Social Justice Awardee, recently elected as Democratic delegate for District 14. She graduated with her BA from San Francisco State in La Raza Studies, received her Master of Arts in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California. Beatriz is also the Board Chair of the Chicana/Latina Foundation which provides scholarships to undergraduate and graduate Latina students in nine surrounding counties. She is graduate fellow of LeaderSpring which provides a two year fellowship for non-profit Executive Directors and currently a fellow with Emerge California which prepares democratic women for political office.
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Ludmyrna Lopez Principal Financial Analyst
City of Oakland
Ludmyrna Lopez was recently elected to the Richmond City Council and is currently the Principal Financial Analyst for the City of Oakland. Previous to this, she served as the Assistant Chief of Finance and Administration for the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services. Ludmyrna has worked for Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. as a fiscal analyst for the City and County of San Francisco, advising department heads, the budget director, and the mayor during all phases of the budget, including fiscal planning of new programs. Prior to this position, she served in several leadership positions within the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. in particular related to the Superfund and Brownfields programs. She has also worked with the California State Assembly. Ludmyrna works with the Chicana/Latina Foundation because it encourages and validates Latinas' pursuit of higher education as a way to increase economic and political empowerment for the Latino community.
Ludmyrna holds a Masters of Science in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. She first began her association with C/LF as a scholarship recipient while a student at California State University, Hayward.
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Ortensia Lopez Executive Director, El Concilio of San Mateo County
Ortensia has been directing El Concilio, an umbrella organization of Latino service providers that improve the quality of life for Latinos, for over 10 years. Previously she was a co-founding member and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bay Area Latino Non-Profit Association, and CEO of the North Peninsula Neighborhood Services Center. In these capacities she was responsible for developing and managing successful and innovative programs for the poor and disadvantaged. She serves as Chair of the CPUC Low-income Oversight Board and on the Advisory Committees for Comerica Bank and One California Bank. Among the organizations for which Ortensia performs volunteer work are the Greenlining Institute, Latino Issues Forum, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, California Energy Efficiency Commission, California Community/Business Partnership on Diversity, and many more. Ortensia has received awards from Hispanic Magazine (Hispanic Achievement Award), Woman's Foundation, the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame, and many more. Her most recent recognition is The Women Who Could Be President award. Ortensia is a Past-President and Vice President and currently serves as Treasurer of the Chicana/Latina Foundation, and resides in Belmont.
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Maria X. Martinez Deputy Director of Community Programs
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Maria X. Martinez is currently Deputy Director of Community Programs, a division of the San Francisco Department of Public Health that includes prevention, behavioral health, primary care, maternal/child, supportive housing, and urban health services. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Ms. Martinez has provided leadership for many regional and community-based initiatives and public policy developments on behalf of the Department of Public Health, including the 2001 Latino Health Summit, Families with Children Living in SRO's in San Francisco, SSI Advocacy, and welfare-to-work health programs. Ms. Martinez has worked for many years as a performance improvement consultant serving healthcare and financial organizations throughout the United States.
She is a 2004 recipient of the Iron Advocate Award from Positive Resource Center given in recognition of her advocacy on behalf of people affected by or at risk for HIV/AIDS. A community arts activist since 1991, she championed public policies, legislation, and charter reform to ensure long-term cultural equity in arts funding. She has served as a San Francisco Arts Commissioner, former President of the San Francisco Consortium of Community Cultural Centers, past President of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, past President of the San Francisco Arts Democratic Club, and past board member of BRAVA for Women in the Arts. Most importantly, she is the proud mother of her nine-year-old daughter, Paloma.
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Delfina Martinez Geiken Employment Programs Administrator
City of Berkeley
A native of El Paso, Texas, residing in Berkeley since 1990, Delfina is the Employment Programs Administrator for the City of Berkeley, overseeing adult and youth employment programs since 2001, administering multi-faceted Adult and Youth Workforce Development programs in the Office of Economic Development and Department of Health & Human Services. In addition to program design, planning & development, Delfina has also provided leadership on special projects and initiatives such as, the Cesar Chavez commemorative period activities, working with Day Laborers and Latino Health Month/Bi-national Health Week.
Prior to joining local government, she worked in the non-profit sector for thirteen years, managing the Center for Employment Training, a full-service job-training program targeting individuals with multiple barriers to employment. As the Director of CET in San Francisco, she served on Private Industry Council as the Community-based agency representative, participated on the Program Coordinating Committee for the San Francisco Housing Authority's Family Self-Sufficiency Program and was a Board Member of the Central Employment Brokerage Association.
Currently, Delfina serves as Vice President of Public Employees Local One, City of Berkeley Chapter; is a community representative of the Berkeley/Albany YMCA Head Start Policy Council; Healthy School Food Advisory Group of the Berkeley Unified School District; and serves on the Parish Council of St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley, CA. She resides in Berkeley with her husband, a middle-school Spanish teacher, and her teenage son.
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Olga Talamante Executive Director, Chicana/Latina Foundation
Olga Talamante became the first Executive Director of the Chicana Latina Foundation in January 2003. Prior to this position, she was the Western Region Vice President of INROADS, a career and leadership development organization aimed at Latino, African American and Native American college students pursuing careers in business and engineering. In that position, she supervised the organization's 12 regional offices located throughout the western United States and in Mexico.
Ms. Talamante is well known for her community activism and has worked with several service-providing and public advocacy agencies, including Head Start, the YMCA, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Argentine Commission for Human Rights.
Some of her awards include: "Most Influential Latinos in the San Francisco Bay Area", from the SF Business Times and SF Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, "Heroes and Heroines of the Latino Community", from KQED-TV, the Diversity Award from Hispanic Magazine, the San Francisco Bay Girl Scout Council DAISY Award, and the "Women Making History Award" from the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women.
Currently she serves on the boards of the National Center for Lesbian Rights; El Concilio of San Mateo County, and the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women. She is also active with GELAAM, a Latino LGBT organization in San Mateo County and with the Latino Forum of the San Francisco LGBT Center.
Ms. Talamante's family came from Mexico to Gilroy in the early 1960's and worked as farmworkers in the Santa Clara Valley. She received her B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
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Olga E. Terrazas, Ph.D. Educational Psychologist
Olga works with preschool through middle school students, with an emphasis on primarily non-English speaking students. She is a spiritual advisor, and performs meditation and Reiki workshops. Olga has been employed as an employment counselor and college instructor. She is committed to performing volunteer work with Latino organizations. In the past, she has volunteered with Comision Feminil, Spanish Speaking Unity Council, Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, and United Way. She is one of the founders of the Chicana/Latina Foundation, and chairs the Scholarship Committee. Olga resides in El Cerrito.
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M. ZamoraAdministrator: Stanford University Program in Feminist Studies
Michelle Zamora, or "Zamora", is currently an administrator at Stanford University's Program in Feminist Studies. She has had a history of being a Chicana feminist writer and campus organizer while studying transnational feminisms and postcolonial theory at the New School for Social Research where she received her M.A. in Gender Studies and Feminist Theory. Zamora has been an active organizer in the Chicano, Native American and LGBT communities. She has been awarded the Jerry I. Porras Award for Visionary Leadership in 2003 and The Renato Rosaldo, Jr. Award for Intellectual Leadership in the Chicana/o Community in 2005.
She is currently writing her dissertation and finishing her Ph.D. in Modern Thought & Literature at Stanford University. Zamora's dissertation work examines the indigenous painted books of central Mexico and focuses on a set of Mexica symbols/ideas from these codices related to women's sabiduría and female knowledge carriers. Her work traces indígena knowledge and leadership, specifically in spiritual and performance traditions, through a genealogy of ideas about the body's relationship to spirit.
Zamora, currently resides in the East Bay where she is a ceremonial singer/drummer within her prayer communities of the Bay Area and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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