- (818) 377-6386
- info@ValleyGiving.org
Our mission is to inspire, encourage and to facilitate charitable giving for lasting impact on those who live in the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley.
As a small community Foundation that is locally funded, we have big plans to add paid staff in the Fall of 2022 that will allow us to grow and exponentially expand our grantmaking, branding, program initiatives and paid staff over the next few years. Over the past few years, we have accomplished the following:
Through our financial partner, the California Community Foundation (“CCF”), we have access to many of their financial investment services and can offer our donors maximum financial benefit simply not available to local donors anywhere else. For more information about the California Community Foundation, please visit www.calfund.org.
Marianne Haver Hill is a visionary leader who emphasizes innovation, collaborative decision-making, and excellence that lead toward transformational social change. She is currently the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of the Valleys, leading the implementation of a bold new strategic plan for 2022-2027 for CFV. The Plan is designed to inspire a culture of greater generosity in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, to foment increased charitable giving to our local nonprofits, and to convene SVC/SCV sectors to work together on some of our region’s greatest social challenges.
For almost three years, she was the Executive Director of PROPEL LA – the implementation of the Countywide Strategic Plan for Economic Development, housed at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. She supervised a team that worked with more than 500 stakeholders as they operationalized the Plan’s seven aspirational goals and 106 strategies that focused on investing in education and workforce development, creating more livable wage jobs, and building livable communities. The fundamental purpose of the Strategic Plan was to promote greater equity and prosperity for all residents who live in the region. Significant progress and completion were charted on 100 of the strategies, and several Plan-related and grant-funded projects were successfully completed.
Previously, Hill served for many years as the President and CEO of MEND–Meet Each Need with Dignity, a multi-service poverty relief agency in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. Under her leadership, MEND assisted an average of 37,000 applicants monthly, utilizing a volunteer work force of more than 5000 and a staff team of 34 individuals. In July 2012, MEND was named the California Nonprofit of the Year by the Governor’s Office for Volunteering and Service.
She is currently active in leadership roles in several regional and local organizations.
Marianne is the recipient of the 2017 Valley Economic Alliance Valley of the Stars Leadership Award, the 2013 Center for Nonprofit Management Leadership Impact Award, the 2008 California Association of Nonprofits Excellence in Leadership Award, and several other commendations. She has been an adjunct instructor in nonprofit management at the USC Price School of Public Policy.
CPA, Partner Emeritus Baker Tilly
CEO, ICON Wealth & Legacy Partners
Executive Director, Southern California Counseling Center
Director of Administration & Experiential Learning, UCLA Luskin Undergraduate Program of Public Affairs
Community Foundation of the Valleys
CEO, Valley Economic Alliance
Vice President Strategic Relations, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp
Thomas E. Backer, Executive Director
Valley Nonprofit Resources, CSUN
Heather Barrett
Kafi Blumenfeld, CEO
Alisyo
Tamara Gurney, CEO and Founder
Mission Valley Bank
Carol Kim
Alfred Landegger, Principal Managing Partner
Landegger Verano & Davis
Brigette Loden, Retired, Executive Director
Community Foundation of the Valleys
Pegi Matsuda
On Board Consulting
We believe that all people deserve to live with dignity and respect. We work to ensure all communities in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys have the resources they need to thrive. Our goal is to improve the quality of life for all Valley residents and recognize that some people have historically experienced and continue to experience discrimination, injustice and unequal access to basic resources, community spaces, economic opportunities. We believe our overall effectiveness is enhanced when equity and inclusiveness are practiced and protected throughout our organizational governance and staffing. We are, therefore, committed to being a catalyst to promote diversity, equity and inclusion across the many communities we strive to serve.
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Bill is currently Chairman of the Board of the Community Foundation of the Valleys. Previously, he served as Treasurer for 9 years. A few years ago, Bill retired from Baker Tilly, a national accounting firm. He was the managing partner of the Encino office and provided tax and accounting service to businesses and high net worth individuals. He also led the non-profit industry services group at the firm. One of Bill’s specialties was helping clients save income taxes by utilizing techniques that involve charitable contributions, such as charitable remainder trusts, where the tax savings often exceeded the gift to charity. He also promotes donor advised funds as a simple way to save taxes. He enjoys testifying as an expert witness regarding tax matters, damages, valuations, fraud, trust accounting issues, and standard of care for tax professionals.
Bill and his wife, Therese, live in Sherman Oaks. They still live in the same home that they purchased 48 years ago. They raised two boys here and are now the proud grandparents to seven grandchildren, whom they try to visit as often as possible in Cleveland and Seattle. Bill has worked as a CPA in the Valley since 1990. He has had a successful career in the Valley and wants to give back to Valley residents in need of help, hence his involvement with the CFV.
Bill has been an avid boater most of his life. Lately, he spends much of his time cruising Mexican waters on his power boat during the winter and enjoying SoCal waters during the summer.
Heath Goldman is the President/CEO of ICON Wealth and Legacy Partners. Heath acts as your financial architect. Prior to joining ICON, Heath was a member of Sagemark Consulting’s Financial Planning team and worked for PaineWebber in their Private Client Group.
With his experiences, Heath is able to serve as a valuable resource to his client’s planning team by systematically addressing each need and helping to aid in achieving his client’s objectives before implementing specific recommendations. With his on-going commitment to community service in his life outside of the office, Heath is well versed to provide charitable planning advice in his daily discussions with clients.
Heath holds FINRA series 7, 63 and 65 registrations and is currently insurance licensed in CA (OB98871) and TX for life/health/disability.
Heath is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he was a Rhodes Scholarship nominee. He is currently a board member (program chair) of The Association for Corporate Growth 101 chapter and a founding member and current President of Zeta Beta Tau Southern California Alumni Association. Heath is married to Wendy and they have two children, Sydney and Riley. Heath enjoys sports and traveling with his family
Michael is a visionary business and non-profit executive. Michael has a proven track record creating and implementing innovative models and start-ups that are transformative and drive large-scale change, improve systems, and achieve greater social impact. Currently, Michael is the Executive Director of the Southern California Counseling Center (SCCC). Prior to joining SCCC, Michael was a Program Director at Community Partners. He helped develop a program to provide hospice care to individuals experiencing homelessness. Prior to Community Partners, Michael was President and COO of the UniHealth Foundation. He also co-founded CaliforniaKids, a non-profit that provided over 90,000 children access to the medical, dental, vision, and behavioral health care services they deserve. Michael is recognized as a champion and tireless advocate dedicated to promoting social justice, inclusion, and shaping public policy with the goal to reduce inequities and improve the health and well-being of under-resourced and vulnerable populations.
Michael grew up in the San Fernando Valley and is passionate about ensuring all residents of the Valleys have the opportunity to thrive.
Jocelyn Guihama is the Director of Administration and Experiential Learning for the UCLA Luskin Undergraduate Program of Public Affairs.
In addition to managing the program which serves up to 600 students, she oversees the major’s internship program which requires seniors to have a year-long placement in government agencies, nonprofits or community-based organizations. Previously, she was Deputy Director of the Institute on Inequality and Democracy, which supported programs and research on housing justice and criminal justice reform.
At UCLA, she also managed research on the nonprofit sector at the Center for Civil Society. Before joining UCLA, Jocelyn worked at various nonprofits serving youth and immigrants. Jocelyn has served as board chair of MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity), president of the Balboa Magnet Parent Association, and as a member of the advisory board for Cal State Northridge’s Center for Southern California Studies. She studied English and Chinese Studies at UC Berkeley and earned a Master’s in Public Policy from UCLA.
Sonya Kay Blake is the President & CEO of The Valley Economic Alliance based in Sherman Oaks, California. In this capacity, she is a leading catalyst facilitating economic development in the San Fernando Valley region, a vital and burgeoning are comprising 5 cities, over 2 million residents and over 160,000 businesses. The Alliance’s activities include promoting business vitality, efficient mobility, workforce development, affordable housing, and other aspects of establishing and maintaining livable, sustainable, and equitable communities.
Prior to her leadership of the Alliance, Sonya served as Director of Community Business in Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Economic Development. Sonya has also served as CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners – Los Angeles, Director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate in the office of former Governor Gray Davis, Assistant Dean of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, and Director of Corporate Giving at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Sonya graduated from Yale University and the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. She has lived in Valley Glen since 2003 with her husband, Stephen, and has three school-age children.
David Flaks has devoted the last decade of his professional career to building economic development leadership organizations that help forge and further regional economies that are more just and equitable, that serve and strengthen all communities, and that work for and uplift all residents.
Most recently, David was the President of Invest Vancouver, the Metro Vancouver region’s economic development leadership organization, providing economic research and applied policy analysis for key decision makers, investment attraction strategies for target industries, and regional, cross-system collaboration on economic development priorities of strategic importance to the Metro Vancouver Regional District, a political federation of 21 municipalities, one Electoral Area, and one Treaty First Nation. As Invest Vancouver’s founding president, David led Invest Vancouver from ideation, to operationalization, to launch, and to aggressive program delivery and execution. David continues to serve as a Director on the Invest Vancouver Management Board, as well as a strategic advisor to Invest Vancouver executives.
Prior to Invest Vancouver, David served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), Southern California’s premier economic development leadership organization. In this role, he brought together and mobilized the capabilities of the LAEDC’s mission-delivery department areas into a single powerful and collaborative force, integrating expert economic research and applied analysis teams with a highly effective “idea to export” capacity building program, along with the public policy, advocacy, and key message delivery systems.
Prior to the LAEDC, David served as Communications Director for the Democratic nominee in a high-profile “red to blue” House race in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, and previous to that, served as President of a DC-based financial advisory services firm, where he directly arranged for the placement of hundreds of millions of dollars in equity and debt securities for small cap medical technology companies. David was also a partner in a San Francisco Bay Area-based financial advisory services firm, and served in securities law positions with large Miami- and New York City-based law firms and the Attorney General of New York State.
In her role as Vice President of Strategic Relations, Melissa Kham oversees membership, events, marketing and communications, as well as vital relationships with LAEDC Board of Governors, Executive Committee, government, philanthropy, and the larger external business community to ensure ongoing revenue and community support. Melissa and her team are responsible for the recruitment and retention of valued LAEDC members, sponsors, and donors that represent LAEDC’s mission to collaboratively advance growth and prosperity for all. The Strategic Relations team curates and leads groundbreaking initiatives, programs, and events including the annual Eddy Awards, Select LA Summit, Economic Forecast, Future Forums, and 88 Cities Summit. Melissa’s extensive experience of revenue generating activities and strategic planning ensure LAEDC’s ongoing success and infrastructure. Melissa and her team create and implement long-term strategies for funding opportunities and ensure consistent private and public growth.
Melissa has expertise in fundraising campaigns, donor cultivation, grant writing, event planning, marketing, external relations, public policy, and strategic planning. Throughout her career, Melissa has raised more than $55 million for grassroots and large nonprofit organizations that include PATH, Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, Youth Speak Collective, and Southern California Grantmakers.
Melissa enjoys being an ambassador, recruiter, and connector for the organizations with which she works. She also has considerable experience working with media in both English and Spanish. Melissa received her Bachelors of Art from Loyola Marymount University and her Masters of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from the California State University Northridge.
Reach Melissa at melissa.kham@laedc.org
Malki’s passion lies in serving nonprofit organizations, personally and professionally. He is a Partner and Shareholder at IOA Insurance Services, the 4th largest independent retail insurance agency in the U.S. Since joining Insurance Office of America in January 2018, he has applied his enthusiasm for nonprofits to his book of business, partnering with his clients to tailor their coverage to their niche needs. Malki has had the opportunity to speak on a panel at a PLUS event to share his expertise on exposures unique to nonprofits, as well as lead webinars regarding Employment Practices Liability Insurance and Cyber coverage. In his free time, he chairs the board of one nonprofit and is an Executive Planning Committee member of another.
