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We only realize the full promise of democracy when all people participate

About FCCP

The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) is an innovative and thought-provoking network that shares an underlying conviction that all people deserve a voice in the democratic process.

We serve leaders in the philanthropic community working to further this vision with heightened attention to sociopolitical inequity and the systemic disenfranchisement of underrepresented communities. FCCP values transparency, encourages a diversity of opinion, bases our work on sound research, and encourages experimentation to improve impact.

What began as the “Ad Hoc Funders’ Committee for Voter Registration and Education” soon crystallized into the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation when the organization was officially founded in 1982. From advancing voter registration efforts in the 1980s, to supporting campaign finance reform in the 1990s, to investing in new voting technologies and election administration reform in the 2000s, FCCP has served as a catalyst for philanthropy’s growing civic engagement community.  Today, we work to build an effective network of grantmakers who are passionate about realizing our collective vision of a vibrant and inclusive democracy for all.

Through member-driven and field-informed programming, FCCP provides funders with a community in which to build connections, exchange ideas, showcase innovations, and collaborate to make smart funding decisions. Our members support non-partisan efforts to engage voters, eliminate structural barriers to voting, advance reforms to improve government and electoral systems, and increase public involvement in civic life. Our signature programs for grantmakers include an annual convening, regular virtual discussions, working groups that focus on a range of key issue topics, and member-only meetings.

Meet Our Team

Anita Banerji

Executive Director

Based in Chicago, IL, Anita brings an incredible wealth of experience and passion to the FCCP team. With a career centered around civic engagement, equity, and voting rights, Anita just recently served as the Senior Director for Strategy and External Relations at FCCP before becoming Interim Executive Director this spring. Prior to joining the FCCP team, she was in the role of Senior Program Director for the Media and Tech team at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Anita also previously served as a consultant to The Leadership Conference, has led digital equity outreach efforts nationwide and has been a consultant to census and redistricting projects at large. Her extensive background includes directing the Illinois Count Me in 2020 program as Director of the Democracy Initiative at Forefront, in Illinois, a statewide Census collaborative that united foundations and a diverse coalition of non-profit organizations across the State.

Having worked for over two decades in the U.S. Congress, Illinois state government, and the nonprofit sector, Anita’s expertise is a perfect match for our commitment to fostering inclusive civic participation. As a legislative director for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, she showcased her dedication to public service. As of Spring 2021, Anita currently serves as a Commissioner on the Illinois State Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes and is a proud Board Member of the South Asian American Policy and Research Initiative (SAAPRI) since 2021, in Illinois.

Tiffany Neilly

Operations Manager

Tiffany Neilly joined FCCP as Operations Manager in October 2023, bringing a diverse background in commercial property management, education program and project management, and B2B sales across healthcare and apparel industries. Known for her relationship-building skills and market adaptability, Tiffany is currently enhancing her expertise by pursuing Project Management credentials at the University of California, Irvine, with completion expected in late 2024.
Her career is complemented by a strong commitment to community service, where she has volunteered for the past 12 years, deepening her dedication to servanthood and community engagement. At FCCP, Tiffany is excited to apply her skills and passion to support the organization’s goals of fostering civic participation, equity, and democracy through philanthropic leadership.

Jenna Patel

Manager of Programs & Communications

Jenna Patel is extremely excited to be a part of an organization that centers their work around building an equitable democracy and achieving intersectional racial justice. Prior to joining FCCP as Program Coordinator, Jenna served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Buffalo, NY where she was able to help The Community Action Organization’s (CAO) Housing Development Office build program capacity and develop a resident-engaged neighborhood-level improvement plan on Buffalo’s East Side.
Jenna graduated from Rutgers University in May 2020 as a Public Health major, as well as a Planning and Public Policy minor. Throughout her college career, Jenna held several roles that revealed the true magnitude and depth of inequities shaping systematically oppressed communities, including her roles as a Research Assistant for The Essex and Passaic Health and Wellness Coalition and Director for Rutgers Model Congress. Jenna’s ideal day involves taking a spontaneous trip to the thrift store, going on a mini food crawl, and doing any and all things thrill-inducing!

Katie Campbell Simons

FCCP Census Consultant

Katie is a Nonprofit Consultant and a Massachusetts native. She is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a BA in Religious Studies and Northeastern University with a Masters in Nonprofit Management. The last 25 years in Boston have brought Katie to Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger, One Family, Inc. and Episcopal City Mission. She has engaged in policy review and advocacy, community organizing, grant allocation and management and philanthropic collaboration.

Her work has focused on social justice issues including: child hunger, affordable housing and ending homelessness, immigrant rights and criminal justice reform. She is also committed to ensuring that all residents of Massachusetts are counted in the decennial Census and represented during the Redistricting process.

Katie began consulting in 2017 and has staffed several funder collaboratives; the Massachusetts Census Equity Fund, the MA Drawing Democracy Fund and the MA Democracy Funder Network. She continues to provide support to social justice organizations and philanthropists with grant writing, grant and program management and policy support. She lives in Boston with her husband, two sons and two kitties.

Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez (DP)

Communications Manager

Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez is a dynamic strategic communications leader with over 7 years of comprehensive writing, research, and editorial experience within government, nonprofit, and corporate sectors. With a background in journalism and Spanish, she brings a people-centric storytelling approach fueled by deep respect for human narratives. She has effectively led both internal and external communications initiatives, collaborated with subject matter experts, and partnered with diverse teams of 20+ to convey impactful messaging that drives social change. At her core, is a passion for crafting communications and sharing stories that advocate for and amplify diverse perspectives. Originally from The Bronx, New York, she is a first-generation college graduate from SUNY New Paltz, and based in the DC area. Fun Fact: Dynahlee is Puerto Rican and Guyanese, and obsessed with her golden retriever named Croissant.

Our Advisory Board

Estevan Muñoz-Howard, Co-Chair

Philanthropic & Organizational Consultant

Estevan Muñoz-Howard is a philanthropic and organizational consultant with over 15 years experience leading programs and coalitions in the nonprofit sector. He previously served as Director of Program Strategy at the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which supports leaders and initiatives focused on building power for communities of color throughout the country. Prior to joining MCF, he was a senior program officer at the Piper Fund, leading the fund’s Money in Politics Reform grantmaking program. During his tenure, Estevan organized donors, convened field partners, and helped raise and steward funding for community-based organizations working to build durable power for communities of color and create the inclusive democracy our nation has never had.

Estevan also serves as Treasurer for the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, as co-chair of the Democracy NW Funders Table, and as co-chair of the Progress Alliance of Washington.

Before joining the Piper Fund, Estevan worked as development director for Arts Corps and Social Justice Fund NW, and as executive director of the Youth Media Institute. He also helped lead the successful Honest Elections Seattle campaign of 2015—the historic initiative to implement the world’s first Democracy Voucher program. He is passionate about democracy, community organizing, and the diffusion of power. Estevan is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound.

Keesha Gaskins-Nathan, Co-Chair

Director for the Democratic Practice–United States program and the Racial Justice Initiative, Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Keesha Gaskins-Nathan is the director for the Democratic Practice–United States program and the Racial Justice Initiative at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Ms. Gaskins-Nathan is dedicated to advancing measures and ideas that improve democratic systems and engage democratic culture in the United States to support full and fair democratic and economic opportunity for all residents.

Ms. Gaskins-Nathan is a long-time organizer, lobbyist, and trial attorney. Prior to joining the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, she was senior counsel with the Brennan Center for Justice, serving as the director of the Redistricting and Representation program. Her portfolio included redistricting reform, voting rights, and elections, with a focus on voter suppression issues. Ms. Gaskins-Nathan is a frequent lecturer and writer on issues related to women and politics, movement building, and democratic transformation.

Ms. Gaskins-Nathan served as executive director for the League of Women Voters Minnesota and the executive director for the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus. She worked for several years as a civil trial attorney and served as a special assistant appellate public defender for the State of Minnesota.

She is the 2021-2022 Daynard Public Interest Fellow at Northeastern University School of Law, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, 2019 Aspen Ideas Scholar, and 2008 Feminist Leadership Fellow with the University of Minnesota, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs – Center on Women and Public Policy. She is a frequent commentator on voting rights and redistricting reform and regularly appears on numerous news and public affairs programming, including past appearances on Background Briefing, The Great Battlefield, PBS’s NewsHour, MSNBC, and Bill Moyers.

Jesse Beason, Emeritus

President and Chief Executive Officer, Northwest Health Foundation

Jesse leads the Northwest Health Foundation in pursuit of its vision of health for everyone in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Jesse has worked at Northwest Health Foundation since 2013. Before becoming President in January 2019, he served as Vice President of Strategy & Public Affairs. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2013, Jesse served as Executive Director of Proud Ground, as Senior Policy Director of Housing, Culture and Planning for then-Commissioner Sam Adams and in public affairs at Metro.

Jesse is a graduate of Neighborhood Partnerships’ Future Leaders Initiative, a Marshall Memorial Fellow of The German Marshall Fund of the United States, and recognized by Portland Business Journal as a top 40 under 40 and Portland Monthly as a Rising Star. He was a 2014 cohort member of the African American Leadership Academy.

Jesse serves on Proteus Action League’s and Color PAC’s boards of directors, the Steering Committee of the Portland African American Leadership Forum and Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation’s Advisory Board. He is also chair of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Community Advisory Board. He’s member emeritus of the Portland Housing Advisory Commission, Regional Arts & Culture Council and National Community Land Trust Network (now Grounded Solutions).

Jesse moved from Denver, Colorado to Portland to attend Lewis & Clark College two decades ago. He’s a proud uncle, a semi-closeted sci-fi geek and a middling beekeeper. Jesse and his partner live in North Portland.

Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones

Senior Program Officer, Long Island Community Foundation

Sol Marie has been with the Long Island Community Foundation (LICF) since Spring of 2009. As senior program officer, she manages the Foundation’s competitive grantmaking programs in the areas of Education, Youth Development, and Community and Economic Development. She also leads the Foundation’s strategic initiatives, including ensuring an accurate census count, developing regional solutions to racial and economic inequities, advancing fair and affordable housing, improving the performance of minority-owned small businesses, and helping to combat Long Island’s opioid crisis.

Sol Marie has more than 25 years’ experience in nonprofit management, community building, program development and evaluation. Prior to LICF she worked at Sustainable Long Island where she directed the organization’s community revitalization and brownfield redevelopment programs. She also served as director of the Fight for Families Coalition, an alliance of health and human service, community-based agencies working to enhance service delivery systems in Nassau County. Before her employ on Long Island, Sol Marie spent 17 years working in New York City: 12 years overseeing youth development programs at Sponsors for Educational Opportunity and five years as a community liaison in Governor Mario Cuomo’s Office of Hispanic Affairs.

Sol Marie is an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare. She is co-chair of Engage New York, a network of foundation leaders across the State working to advance equity, social justice, civic and community participation, and chair of the Funders’ Census Initiative, a working group of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation that mobilizes philanthropic engagement towards a fair and accurate Census. Additionally, she is on the Board of Directors of the Regional Plan Association and served on its Steering Committee for the Fourth Regional Plan. In 2022, Sol Marie was elected to serve on the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council state panel on business aid. She also served as a member of the NYS Health Foundation Community Advisory Committee which reports to NYS Health’s President and CEO and broaden community input and perspectives on the development and implementation of activities related to NYS Health’s strategic priorities.

A graduate of the University of Rochester, Sol Marie received a B.A. in 1987. She is a member of the Energeia Partnership’s class of 2011, a leadership academy dedicated to identifying and addressing complex and multi-dimensional issues challenging the Long Island region.
Sol Marie lives in the hamlet of New Cassel with her husband and two daughters.

Evan Bacalao

Amalgamated Foundation

Evan Bacalao is a nonprofit and philanthropic consultant, working primarily with foundation and funding intermediaries. He brings almost 20 years of experience designing and leading programs at the intersection of policy and community participation, with equal time as a field leader and as a grantmaker.

Evan previously served as Director of Growth and Impact for the Amalgamated Foundation, and prior to that was a Senior Program Officer/Team Manager with the Open Society Foundations (OSF). With OSF, Evan managed a range of projects and portfolios to strengthen U.S. democracy and build power in communities via voter engagement, leadership development, a full 2020 Census count, and fair redistricting.

Prior to joining OSF, Evan was a senior director for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, where he led and grew the organization’s community-facing civic engagement department focused on promoting U.S. citizenship, mobilizing Latino voters, and protecting voter rights through direct services, original research, and capacity-building initiatives.

Denise Cardinal

Executive Director, WIN Minnesota

Denise Cardinal is the Executive Director of WIN Minnesota, a state-based donor collaborative that has been operating in the North Star for over a decade. She has held several communications and political positions for various progressive candidates, causes, campaigns, and elected officials for more than 20 years. She was the Executive Director of ProgressNow, the network of communications-centered advocacy organizations, after founding and running the Minnesota affiliate – Alliance for a Better Minnesota – in 2007. Denise has also served as a Senior Press Officer for the National Education Association and as Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) after beginning her career as a newspaper reporter. She was on the board for the Minnesotans United for All Families, which was the first statewide campaign to beat back an anti-gay-marriage amendment in 2012, was on the board of the State Innovative Exchange, serves on the Minnesota Voice c3 table board, on the Advisory board for the Funders Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP). She is the first in her family to attend and graduate from college (Drake University), and lives in Saint Paul with her two kids, two cats and one brown rescue dog.

Keely Monroe

Program Officer - U.S. Programs Team, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

Keely Monroe (she/her) serves as Program Officer on the U.S. Programs Team at the Susan T. Buffett Foundation, focusing on the foundation’s legal grantmaking. Prior to joining the foundation, she was Democracy Program Manager at Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) where she was responsible for the strategic implementation and management of FCCP’s Funders Census Initiative and Money in Politics working groups.

As a passionate advocate for reproductive rights, health, and justice (RRHJ) issues, Keely has served these movements in a variety of roles since graduating law school focusing on policy advocacy, supporting law student engagement, and then as Counsel for the Bolder Advocacy Initiative at Alliance for Justice where she consulted with and supported RRHJ nonprofits and foundations on the rules and strategies for legal and effective advocacy. She has previously served on the Advisory Board for Women Engaged and the National Board of Directors for Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

Keely holds a B.A. from Fordham University and a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She is licensed by the State Bar of California.

Julie Fernandes

Rockefeller Family Fund

Prior to joining the Rockefeller Family Fund, Julie served as Advocacy Director for Voting Rights and Democracy at the Open Society Foundations, as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in the Obama administration, and as Special Assistant for Domestic Policy to President Bill Clinton. From 2002 to 2008, Julie was Senior Counsel at the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights where, among other things, she led the coalition’s successful campaign to reauthorize the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Julie currently serves on the Advisory Board of Analyst Institute, the Ad Council, the Media Democracy Action Fund, and the New American Majority Fund at the Democracy Alliance. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Georgetown Day School. Julie received both her J.D. and A.B. degrees from the University of Chicago and clerked for the Honorable Diane P. Wood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Domenico Romero, Secretary

Consultant

Domenico Romero has over twenty years of experience supporting movements for social justice in Mexico and the United States, with an emphasis on increasing the quality and breadth of people’s participation in the political and economic arenas. He holds a PhD in political science from the CUNY Graduate Center and the focus of his research are social movements, participatory democracy, and participatory economics. Prior to joining Veatch Domenico worked as a consultant doing research, policy analysis, and political education on projects that support grassroots movements, and also taught political science at Queens College, CUNY. Before this, he coordinated leadership building, campaign development, and electoral organizing in various organizations led by low-income and immigrant communities, such as Neighbor to Neighbor MA, the Long Island Civic Participation Project, the Organizing Support Center, and the Latino Workers’ Center. Before migrating to the U.S., he also organized for democratization, human rights, and economic justice in urban and rural regions in Mexico.

Jill Cartwright

Program Officer, Heising-Simons Foundation

Jill Cartwright is a grassroots organizer-turned-philanthropic leader based in Atlanta, GA. They have over a decade of organizing and campaign experience, including historic electoral campaigns like Stacey Abrams’ historic bid for governor in 2018 and the successful effort to flip Georgia blue for the first time in the 2020 presidential election. Jill first joined the progressive funding community as the inaugural Program Officer for the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. Now, as a program officer at the Heising-Simons Foundation and Heising-Simons Action Fund, Jill leverages her grassroots partnerships, strategic vision, and Aries sun/Libra rising superpowers to resource the powerbuilding efforts of communities on the frontlines of democracy in the South and beyond.

Kyle Rojas Legleiter

Senior Director of Policy Advocacy, Colorado Health Foundation

Kyle Rojas Legleiter (he/him) serves as the Colorado Health Foundation’s Senior Director of Policy Advocacy, leading strategy to work together with community to influence public policy and shift public discourse to advance health equity and racial justice. He also serves as the Colorado Health Foundation’s Senior Director of Advancing Equity and Justice, deepening the Foundation’s commitment to racial justice in the strategies and practices of all its strategic and functional teams. Prior to his thirteen years working the philanthropic sector, Kyle previously held key roles in both nonprofit organizations and local and state government, focusing on civic engagement, movement building, advocacy, and public health.

FCCI Leadership Team

Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones

Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones joined The New York Community Trust in 2009. She is a senior program director who manages the Trust’s competitive grantmaking programs on Long Island in the areas of education, youth development, and community and economic development.
With 30+ years of experience, Sol Marie leads strategic initiatives to ensure an accurate census count, develop regional solutions to racial/economic inequities, advance affordable housing, and support an inclusive and representative democracy. Previously, she worked at Sustainable Long Island, the Fight for Families Coalition, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, and in Governor Mario Cuomo’s Office of Hispanic Affairs.
Sol Marie is an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare. She is on the executive committee of Engage New York, chair of the Funders Committee Census Initiative, a board member of the Regional Plan Association and the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, and a member of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and the Long Island Continuum of Care Governance Board.

Meredith Higashi

Meredith (she/her) is a multidisciplinary organizational leader guided by equity, community and personal growth. She is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years in the social sector spanning national and regional work in public policy, legal advocacy, strategic communications, cross-sector partnerships and engagement with diverse communities. Meredith is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and the University of Washington School of Law.

May Yang

May Yang is Director of Democracy Programs at the Minnesota Council on Foundations, where she leads statewide efforts to strengthen democracy and civic participation. She convenes the Minnesota Census and Democracy Partnership, a cross-sector network building lasting census and democratic infrastructure, and serves as Director of Press Forward Minnesota, supporting strong local news and information across the state. With more than a decade of experience, May brings people together to advance community-led solutions through policy, advocacy, grantmaking, and program development. Her work is grounded in equity and spans education, civic engagement, and the nonprofit sector

Matthew L. Evans

As Vice President of Advocacy & External Relations, Matthew L. Evans leads the Forum's comprehensive external engagement strategy, integrating policy advocacy, strategic communications, and partnership development to advance philanthropy's impact for the common good. With more than 17 years of experience in public policy, advocacy, and external affairs, he has been instrumental in expanding the Forum's influence and establishing it as a leading voice for the philanthropic sector.
Before joining the Forum, Matthew served as the inaugural Director of Public Policy and Special Projects at the Southeastern Council of Foundations (now Philanthropy Southeast), where he pioneered the organization's legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts. His career, shaped mostly in Washington, D.C. has included direct experience working with elected officials, corporations, and national associations, developing deep expertise in strategic advocacy and stakeholder engagement.
A recognized leader in the field, Matthew currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Nonprofit VOTE Board of Directors and is a member of the organization's Leadership Council. He also contributes his expertise to the Funders' Committee Census Initiative Leadership Team and the Charitable Giving Coalition Steering Committee. His previous service includes public policy committees for Independent Sector and the Council on Foundations.

Kiki Jamieson, Ph.D.

Kiki Jamieson, Ph.D., is an entrepreneurial leader with 25 years of experience in philanthropy, nonprofits, and higher education, developing innovative and engaged partnerships to strengthen democratic practice and advance a diverse, inclusive, and just society.
Kiki provides strategic guidance to philanthropic and nonprofit organizations and their leaders. She is an expert in mission-forward and inclusive leadership, strategic planning and execution, nonprofit governance, organizational evolution, community engagement and organizing, coalition building, and structural analysis to advance advocacy and social change.
Until January 2024, she was President of The Fund for New Jersey, a private foundation that supports progressive public policy and multiracial democracy. She also taught at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
Before joining The Fund in 2011, Kiki directed the Pace Center for Civic Engagement and taught in the Politics department at Princeton University, and before that at the University of Pennsylvania, Haverford College, and Rutgers University. She was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study. She is the author of Real Choices: Feminism, Freedom, and the Limits of Law.
She is a trustee of Bryn Mawr College and chaired its committee on investment responsibility. She has significant board experience and is past chair of the boards of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the Princeton Public Library. She earned degrees at Bryn Mawr College (A.B.) and Rutgers University (M.A., Ph.D.).

Gina Gallo

Gina Gallo is the Principal and Owner of Gallo Nonprofit Solutions, providing strategy and project consulting services to nonprofits and philanthropic institutions. She spent the early part of her career working in out-of-school time, followed by a decade in the United Way system, where she focused on collective impact projects, operations, strategy, and planning. Most recently, she served as a Program Consultant for Tampa Bay Thrives before founding her own firm. She has an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business & Technology and a BA in International Affairs from The George Washington University. Gina is a Project Management Professional (PMP)®, a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®), and is a Prosci Certified Change Management Professional. She loves to partner with people and organizations who are doing great work so they are able to maximize their resources, further their missions, and improve their communities.

David Martinez III

David Martinez III (he/him/his) is Vitalyst Health Foundation’s Director of Strategic Community Partnerships. In this role, he oversees the foundation’s capacity-building and grant programs and Civic Health portfolio. This includes leading the Vitalyst Grants & Partnerships Team to build and steward community and partner relationships.
David is on the Steering Committee of the Arizona Together for Impact Fund, serves on the board of the Arizona Democracy Alliance, and is Vice Chair of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) Census Initiative. He is also a Community Advisor on the Council of Directors for the National Trust for Civic Life, an effort born out of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.
He is a Flinn-Brown Fellow with the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership, a Young Talent Advisor for the Center for the Future of Arizona, an appointee to the City of Phoenix Fast Track Cities Initiative, and a Trustee of the Desert Botanical Garden. Before joining Vitalyst, David was a Project Manager with the Center for the Future of Arizona, Community Engagement Manager for St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, and a lobbyist and organizer for the Arizona Students’ Association.
Born and raised in Marana, Arizona, and one of six children, David is a first-generation college student earning a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education, Political Science, and Journalism from The University of Arizona. He served as Student Regent on the Arizona Board of Regents, worked at the UA Office of Institutional Equity, and was an intern with Congressman Raul Grijalva.
David currently lives in Central Phoenix and loves to travel and explore Arizona.

Christian Arana

Christian strongly believes in the promise of America, and that begins first with California’s estimated 15 million Latinos. As the Vice President of Civic Power and Policy at LCF, Christian leads the foundation’s efforts to advance policy solutions that will improve the lives and political power of California’s Latinos.
Christian served as the Senior Governance Specialist at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) in Washington, D.C. During his tenure, he worked with the nation’s top political, corporate, and nonprofit leaders to develop the next generation of Latino leaders in policy. He also managed CHCI’s transition towards the use of impact metrics and led two successful strategic planning sessions with CHCI’s leadership. Prior to CHCI, Christian worked at the Aspen Institute for the College Excellence Program. He helped administer the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Competition honoring the top performing community colleges in the nation. Dedicated to the advancement of Latino communities, Christian began his career as an AmeriCorps member where he served as a college counselor at Cristo Rey New York High School in East Harlem, New York.
Christian received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from UC Berkeley and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University in International Politics. In his free time, Christian enjoys cooking, watching Dodgers baseball, and traveling.
If you’d like to invite Christian to speak at your event, please email him at: carana@latinocf.org.

Brandon McKoy

Brandon McKoy is an established leader in public policy analysis and advocacy statewide and nationally. Prior to his current position, he worked as the Vice President for State Partnerships and Co-Leader of the State Fiscal Policy Division at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C.
Brandon is well known for his accomplishments from his time at New Jersey Policy Perspective, where he held several roles over the course of seven years, first as a State Policy Fellow through the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ program, next as a Policy Analyst, and then as Director of Government and Public Affairs, before assuming leadership of the organization as NJPP’s President from 2019 through late 2021. Throughout those years, he researched and promoted a variety of issues including the minimum wage, paid sick leave, equitable taxation, public budget processes, the legalization and regulation of cannabis, and much more. Returning to The Fund for New Jersey in 2024 served as a homecoming given that Brandon worked as a Program Associate at the organization and served as its first philanthropy fellow from 2012 to 2014.
Brandon completed his bachelor’s degree at The College of New Jersey and earned a master’s degree from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. He is a lifelong New Jerseyan and now resides in Hunterdon County with his family.

Amanda Whalen

Amanda is the Chief of Staff at Seeding Justice and lives in Portland, OR. Hailing from the South Side of Chicago, Amanda was briefly a juvenile defender before leaving the formal practice of law to focus on education. She spent 15 years working in school districts, including as the Chief of Staff at Portland Public Schools, where she provided leadership and strategic support for key district policy initiatives.

Amanda entered the world of philanthropy as the Chief Impact Officer at the United Way of the Columbia Willamette. There, she led programming and strategic community investment in culturally specific and responsive organizations through grantmaking, convening, policy work, and volunteerism, and supported the 2020 Census "We Count Oregon" campaign.

At Seeding Justice, she supports community-led, community-driven grantmaking and the Center for Social Justice.

Alana Vega

Alana brings a very strong commitment to racial justice as well as expertise in public policy, research, and data analysis. Prior to joining The Fund, Alana worked at Advocates for Children of New Jersey as both Health Policy Analyst and Kids Count Coordinator. She has experience covering topics including health care access, maternal and infant health, and childhood lead poisoning. Alana also co-led the statewide Census 2020 NJ campaign, a complex partnership that resulted in a more complete count of New Jersey residents. She received a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and earned her Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

Theory of Impact

We  seek to create a society where impacted communities have the power to make a difference on issues that affect their lives, a culture participation that inspires their engagement, and an open + equitable democracy, which offers meaningful opportunities to exercise their voice.

FCCP members, leadership, and staff intend to increase our impact as a modern affinity group, ensuring every dollar counts in a time of threat to our democracy. To become, as former FCCP co-chair Connie Malloy put it, “what the field needs right now,” we articulated a theory of impact that refines our goals and better defines our levers of change.

In 2017, FCCP created an explicit and transparent Theory of Impact, which operates as an evolving framework drawn from the collective wisdom of our membership body. The graphic and narrative that follow was developed with extensive feedback and input from members during the summer of 2017.

We created this Theory of Impact to:

  • Clarify FCCP’s evolving purpose and outcomes with existing members, new members, and our partners;
  • Define a common set of values and goals that unites our diverse membership;
  • Communicate our network’s values and role to external audiences;
  • Provide a framework for our programming, outreach, partnerships and staffing decisions.
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FCCP provides year-round learning, strategy and collaborative opportunities and resources in critical areas of civic participation–including census, voting rights, emerging electorate, and philanthropic practice.

Through regularly scheduled programming, education, resource development and distribution, technical assistance, and monitoring major public policy developments, FCCP mobilizes philanthropic partners to meet collective goals.

Our work is rooted in the following values:

  • Participation and representation – Protecting and expanding the right of all people to participate and be represented in our democracy.
  • Justice for all – Prioritizing equitable outcomes that lead to liberation for systemically oppressed communities.
  • Reparative and intersectional – Repairing current and past wrongs, including the use of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, nationality, place, class, and other identities – both alone and in combination – to exclude people from our democracy.
  • Creative, rigorous, and transformative – Supporting an innovative, iterative, and thought-provoking network that welcomes experimentation and invests in effective tools for transformation.
  • Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation – Leading with strength and understanding about the lived experiences of those who have been systemically oppressed, being honest about what is at stake, and creating pathways to restore trust.

Census

Funders’ Committee Census Initiative (FCCI) galvanizes philanthropic grantmaking and direct action through outreach, education, and mobilization. FCCI reinforces census investments as a pathway for foundations to improve their grantmaking, deepen their institutions’ commitment on a range of democracy issues, and strengthen civic infrastructure.

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Voting Rights

The fight to build a just democracy has become even more difficult. Democratic institutions and norms have come under attack and restrictive voting measures have been codified in states across the country–disenfranchising the most vulnerable communities. It is more important than ever that the full spectrum of philanthropic institutions leverage their collective power to ensure our democracy is more reflective of and in deeper service to communities.

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Emerging Electorate

Recognizing the critical importance of engaging youth voters, immigrant communities, and formerly incarcerated individuals, our emerging electorate program aims to create an inclusive and representative democracy by focusing on these key groups.

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Philanthropic Practice

FCCP supports our community with the practical aspects of grantmaking to ensure effective and impactful philanthropy. Our philanthropic practice priority focuses on the “nuts and bolts” of grantmaking.

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Become a Member

Join us in the fight to shape a democracy where justice and equity prevail. Give a voice to historically disenfranchised communities and drive impactful change through philanthropy.

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