Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

Frances Caballo joined GCIR in 2007 as the research and communications director. She studied at the University of Madrid, has her BA from UC, Santa Cruz, and is bilingual in Spanish. Previously she was the executive director of Social Advocates for Youth in California, the director of development and communications for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa--an agency with programs in six Northern California counties--and a staff writer and editor at a number of Northern California publications. Her board commitments have included the American Lung Association and the Western States Youth Services Network.

Vanessa G. Cedeño, summer intern, is currently a third-year undergraduate at the University of Chicago working toward a major in International Studies.  She is fluent in Spanish and is currently working at the University of Chicago Survey Lab on a study that is researching the relationship between Latino, Hispanic and Asian parents and schools in immigrant neighborhoods around the U.S.  Her studies have focused around issues relating to immigration and HIV/AIDS. 

Rebecca Dames joined GCIR as a research and program associate in 2008. She graduated from UC San Diego with a B.A. in International Studies: Political Science and completed two minors in International Migration and Spanish Literature. She is fluent in Spanish and also studied at the University of Alcalá de Henares in Spain. As a result of the field research she conducted in rural Yucatán, Mexico, she co-authored a chapter titled "Impacts of U.S. Immigration Policies on Migration Behavior" in the book Mayan Journeys: The New Migration from Yucatán to the United States. Rebecca is also a member of the steering committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP).

Alison De Lucca joined GCIR as program coordinator in 2003 and was promoted to program director in 2005. She has 13 years of experience providing organizational support to nonprofit organizations, both in the United States and Central America. She is a founding member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) and currently sits on the national EPIP board of directors. Alison holds an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA, is bilingual in Spanish, and is author of Rising with the Tides: Capacity Building for Small, Emerging Immigrant Organizations.

Amanda Graves, membership and administration associate, earned her BA degree from Sonoma State University and attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Most recently, she was a project administrator with an architectural and inspection firm. From 1999 to 2004, Amanda worked in a variety of capacities for GCIR to support administration, membership, and information resources functions.

Daranee Petsod, executive director of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), has worked on social and economic justice issues for the past 20 years. Prior to joining GCIR in 1999, Daranee was a consultant working with foundations and nonprofits on program planning and communications. She previously served as interim executive director and development director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and was a program officer for the Sophia Fund and the Field Foundation of Illinois, Inc. She has also worked as a policy analyst for the United Way, a social worker at a child-welfare agency, and an outreach worker for a refugee women's services program. Daranee's areas of expertise include immigrant integration, immigrant and refugee grantmaking, and building the capacity of immigrant-based organizations. Daranee has authored and co-authored a number of publications, most recently Investing in Our Communities: Strategies for Immigrant Integration in 2006. Other publications include: Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian Communities in the San Francisco Bay Area: An Introduction for Grantmakers (2004), Newcomers in the American Workplace: Improving Employment Outcomes for Low-Wage Immigrants and Refugees (2003), and Moving from Welfare to Work: The Experiences of Refugee Women in Illinois (1999). Daranee holds a master's degree in social policy from the University of Chicago.