Serving Families & Children in Need: Focus on North San Mateo County
Last week, on February 26, 2019, Atkinson Foundation, Give Local Silicon Valley, Sand Hill Foundation, Sunlight Giving, and Thrive Alliance brought philanthropy, nonprofit, corporate, and public leaders together for a unique gathering to learn more about needs and challenges of North San Mateo County communities, explore creative solutions, and discuss potential partnerships to strengthen the region.
Copies of the presentations that include more information about NSMC needs, challenges, and successful local initiatives are available below:
Needs of NSMC Families and Nonprofits That Serve Them by Georgia Antonopoulos, Executive Director, Thrive Alliance
San Mateo County Community Collaboration for Children’s Success by Shireen Malekafzali, Senior Manager for Health Policy, Planning and Equity, San Mateo County Health System
Build Up for San Mateo County’s Children by Michelle Blakely, Program and Planning Director, First 5 San Mateo County
A special thank you to our esteemed speakers and panelists for sharing their experiences and providing concrete ideas on how to best serve North San Mateo County communities and beyond!
Pat Bohm
Executive Director, Daly City Partnership
Executive Director since 2012, Pat first joined the Partnership as a Program Coordinator for the After School Academic Program (ASAP) division in 2000. Prior to joining the team, Pat worked as a Title 1 Instructional Technician, tutoring students in Math and Reading at John F. Kennedy and Garden Village Schools. Formerly, she was the Northern California Regional Operations Manager with Lifetouch Portraits, Inc. She currently serves on the board for Bayshore Childcare Services and the San Bruno Community Foundation, and is actively involved with the San Bruno/South San Francisco 4H Youth Development Program. She earned her B.A. degree in Creative Arts Interdisciplinary from San Francisco State University.
Heather Cleary
CEO, Peninsula Family Service
Heather Cleary is Peninsula Family Service’s Chief Executive Officer since January 1, 2016. A San Mateo resident and a Bay Area native, she joined Peninsula Family Service in 2010 as Chief Financial Officer. She received her degree in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and got her professional start as an accountant at Arthur Andersen where she earned her CPA license. She obtained her Master’s in Public Administration degree at San Francisco State University in May 2017.
Heather joined the nonprofit world 18-years ago, working at a private foundation and public charities. In 2015, Heather took on the added role of Associate Executive Director/CFO, overseeing our Early Learning Program. Upon her promotion to CEO, she focused on community partnerships to support our programs and advocacy for increased wages for early learning teachers. In addition, she continues to ensure strong financial and risk management and focuses on measuring and improving outcomes for all our program participants.
Heather uses her analytical and organizational skills as a PTA volunteer at her children’s school, and as a member of the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) for San Mateo. She also serves as a Board Member of the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce, is a Thrive Action Group steering committee member, and a member of the local Childcare Partnership Council.
Leslie Hatamiya
Executive Director, San Bruno Community Foundation
Leslie Hatamiya leads the San Bruno Community Foundation as its executive director. The City of San Bruno established SBCF to administer $70 million it received as part of its settlement with PG&E after a devastating gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno’s Crestmoor neighborhood.
Leslie has held leadership roles in building and managing organizations of many shapes and sizes. For eight years, Leslie was the executive director of the California Bar Foundation, transforming CBF into a vibrant center of philanthropy for California’s legal community. Leslie served as chief of staff and director of corporate communications at wireless broadband startup SOMA Networks. As deputy campaign manager for former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign, she helped build a national operation from the ground up and managed the day-to-day operations of the campaign headquarters. She also served as program director at Coro Northern California; as assistant to the president at Yale University; as a law clerk to Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and as special assistant in Bill Bradley’s U.S. Senate Office.
In the past, Leslie served as chair of the National Advisory Board of Stanford’s Haas Center for Public Service and as a member of Stanford’s Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the Stanford Alumni Association.
Malissa Netane-Jones
Director of Initiatives and Services, Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center
Malissa Netane-Jones, is the Managing Director of Initiatives and Services, at the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center where she has been for over 10 years. In her role she applies her education and experience to managing multi-stakeholder community programs focused on violence and public health prevention throughout San Mateo County. Malissa has been dedicated to transforming communities through youth and community leadership development using restorative practices communication strategies and cultural humility. The goal of her work is to bridge local government and institutions with the residents to work collaboratively and redistribute power equitably to make social change. Malissa has received numerous awards for her leadership in violence prevention, including, the Gil Lopez Award from the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California, the Mayors Diversity Award from the City of San Bruno and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
Aubrey Merriman
CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County
Aubrey Merriman is a proven leader who is known for his compassion, vision, and significant accomplishments. Aubrey brings to the Club a wealth of skills and expertise gained over the course of an exemplary 25 year career in nonprofit management, as well as demonstrated passion for the Boys & Girls Club Movement, borne out of his upbringing as a Club kid and former Youth of the Year. Under Aubrey’s leadership, Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County was recognized the Mayor’s Award from the City of South San Francisco and the Outstanding Community Service Organization Award from the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce. Aubrey recently completed the Stanford School of Business, Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders, and is currently a member of the Class XXXVII of the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley.
Before his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Aubrey was the Executive Director of Summer Search Silicon Valley from 2013-2015. Prior to this role, Aubrey spent over twelve years with Special Olympics Northern California. Aubrey was one of 15 researchers from throughout the country selected to attend the prestigious Community Fellows Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aubrey later moved to the Bay Area and accepted the Executive Director’s position with Camp Fire in 1999. In 2001, Aubrey accepted the position as the Silicon Valley Regional Vice President for Special Olympics Northern California and Nevada. Aubrey worked his way up to Chief Development Officer managing local vision, field offices, resource development programs, and initiatives throughout Northern California and Nevada. Aubrey graduated summa cum laude from the University of Hawaii with an MSW.
Michelle Blakely
Program and Planning Director, First 5 San Mateo County
Michelle Blakely, Planning and Program Director, provides executive leadership in all aspects of F5SMC’s work, including strategic planning, program development, evaluation design, budget planning, and Commission/Board engagement. She works closely with the Executive Director to implement the vision and mission, and serves on various steering committees and advisory groups.
Michelle currently serves as an early education consultant for a variety of projects including the Fatherhood Collaborative of San Mateo County and the Golden Gate Region Center. She is currently working with F5SMC to lead a collaborative process with over 15 organizations, government agencies and philanthropies for over $3 million in funding for special projects.
Shireen Malekafzali
Senior Manager for Health Policy, Planning and Equity, San Mateo County Health System
Shireen manages the Health Policy and Planning Program with a focus on achieving healthy, equitable places where all San Mateo County residents have the opportunity to lead healthy, prosperous lives. She brings over 15 years of experience advancing health and equity through multi-field partnerships, community leadership, policy advocacy, grant-making and research.
Kathy Jackson
Managing Director, Give Local Silicon Valley
Kathy served as Chief Executive Officer of Second Harvest Food Bank from 2009 to 2017. At the time of her departure, Second Harvest served more than a quarter million people each month and distributed more than 1 million meals per week. In 2014 Kathy was honored as Network Leader of the Year across the 202 food banks that make up Feeding America.
Prior to joining the Food Bank, Kathy served as Board President for the Foundation for the Future at Menlo-Atherton High School, growing donations more than 100%. Before entering the nonprofit world, Kathy spent 23 years in asset-based leasing and lending as a senior executive and business leader with Bank of America Leasing and Capital, GATX Capital Corporation and D'Accord Incorporated. She also served as Vice Chair of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, a trade association representing financial services companies and manufacturers.
She currently serves as Vice Chair, Cilker Orchards Management Corporation, and Director and Chair of the Compensation Committee, CAI International, Inc. (NYSE: CAI).
Kathy has an MBA in Marketing, Finance, and Accounting from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University.
