Board

Kalia Abiade is the Vice President of Programs at Pillars Fund, where she is responsible for sharpening the organization’s strategy and collaborating across the team to execute Pillars’ mission to amplify Muslim leadership toward opportunity and justice for all people. She draws on nearly two decades of experience advocating for equity and racial justice in media, policy, and philanthropy.

Before joining Pillars, Kalia served as an organizer and policy advocate, advancing media accountability, immigrant and refugee rights, religious freedom, voter access, and civic participation. Through the Federal TRIO Programs—Upward Bound and Talent Search—she worked closely with high school students in Southwestern Virginia in their pursuit to become the first members of their families to graduate from college. Kalia began her career as a newspaper journalist and editor, and her analysis has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, National Public Radio, and the Associated Press, among other outlets.

Kalia currently serves as the co-chair of the board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, on the board of Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN), and on the policy committee of Independent Sector. She is also a Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellow with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations./p>

Kalia was raised in California, is a graduate of the University of Florida, and lives with her family in Chicago.

As Director of Programs and Grantmaking, Rosie Arroyo steers the Foundation’s grantmaking philosophy and oversees the integration of programmatic initiatives with operations and donor relations.

For two decades, Rosie has dedicated her career to the educational and civic empowerment of underserved communities. Since joining the California Community Foundation (CCF), Rosie has spearheaded a number of multisector, civic engagement initiatives to advance systems change policies centered on racial justice and equity. 

Throughout her work at the foundation, Rosie has led the foundation’s Immigrant Integration portfolio with the goal of empowering immigrants to thrive civically, economically, and socially. Promoting just and inclusive policies in Los Angeles County is at the center of Rosie’s work. In addition, Rosie has played a leadership role in the development of a regional, multi-sector coalitions centered on diverse issues including early childhood education, civic engagement and empowerment, health, and gender equity. 

Widely considered a coalition builder and change agent, Rosie began her career by working at LAUSD under the School Readiness Language Development Program (SRLDP).  She then went on to work for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund where she helped lead an unprecedented and historic national citizenship campaign titled Ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía!  As a key leader of the campaign, Rosie played a lead role in organizing more than 400 organizations nationwide to inform, educate, and motivate over 1 million legal permanent residents to apply for U.S. citizenship. 

In 2019, Rosie was selected to the California Influencer Series, an effort launched by the Sacramento Bee and CA newspapers to encourage conversations between the public and leaders and influencers about the state’s most pressing public policy challenges impacting Californian’s. Rosie served as Board Chair of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) where she served as HOPE's voice in Spanish-language media and steered the board to meet and surpass its fundraising and programming goals year after year. She is 2nd Vice Chair of Alliance for a Better Community, is an advisory member of the California Dignity Fund, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity Advisory Committee and is a fellow of the 2018 Latina Global Executive Leadership Program. Between 2014-2017 she served as Co-Chair for the California Immigrant Integration Initiative, a statewide funder table supported by Grantmakers Concerned for Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), working to advance the civic and economic integration of immigrants by strengthening the immigrant integration infrastructure in communities across the state. 

Rosie is a 2023 USA Eisenhower Fellow, is a graduate from the California State University of Los Angeles and is the proud daughter of immigrant parents. She has 9 siblings and is a mother to a young activist.
 

Nomzana Augustin is the Associate Director for Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at World Education Services’ Mariam Assefa Fund who are a binational immigrant and refugee funder in the United States and Canada through grants, impact investments, and co-funding partnerships. Nomzana leads the Fund’s external and internal engagements and partnerships, applying a racial equity and justice lens to fund solutions targeting immigrant and refugee students, social entrepreneurs, and proximate leaders. As an African immigrant to the United States, Nomzana brings a profound understanding of the needs and solutions required to integrate and support immigrants and refugees with a particular passion for economic opportunities in the global Black diaspora. Prior to the Mariam Assefa Fund, Nomzana oversaw and supported domestic and international economic development and equity-focused initiatives, grant programs, and partnerships at Save the Children, FHI360, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT). Nomzana received her master's degree in public policy from Johns Hopkins University. She currently lives in Washington, D.C.

For more than nine years in philanthropic intermediaries, Sheila Bapat has built grantmaking and capacity building programs to support grassroots leaders. Most recently she served as senior program officer at the RISE Together Fund where she supported grassroots BAMEMSA (Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian)-led advocacy and organizing throughout the country. Previously, Sheila served as Program Director at California Bar Foundation, where she launched a statewide Legal Fellowship program which helped to build capacity for legal aid while generating career entry points for law students and attorneys of diverse backgrounds. Sheila received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. from the University of Arizona.

Amalia Brindis Delgado has over 25 years of experience in global and US nonprofit organizational development, organizing, and legal advocacy. As Panta Rhea’s Chief Strategy Officer, Amalia builds strategy and facilitates the Foundation’s resources to partner with people building power to ensure communities, cultures, and natural environments thrive in the Caribbean and Americas. Previously, Amalia spearheaded Hispanics in Philanthropy’s initiatives and oversaw programs that intersected across migration, power building, and racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice across the US, Caribbean, and the Americas. She co-founded Asylum Access, a 20-year old international refugee rights organization in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Amalia is a trustee on the boards of the National Philanthropy Forum and PlanPais, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Venezuelan young people in the diaspora. Born in Venezuela and raised in the US Virgin Islands, Amalia is a California-licensed lawyer living in northern Virginia.

Juan Galeano is a Program Officer at The Clowes Fund, overseeing the Fund's grants for immigrant services and workforce development in Indianapolis, as well as managing a select portfolio of New England grants. He also works towards enhancing the Immigration Legal Services ecosystem in Indianapolis, providing strategic support for a pooled fund initiative. Previously, Juan served as a consultant for The Cleveland Foundation, where he led efforts for the 2020 Census and the initial COVID-19 vaccine outreach. He began his career as a faith-based community organizer in Central Florida, where he spent eight years working to reduce the over-arresting of children for minor first-time offenses and to increase access to primary healthcare for the uninsured. 

Juan’s family was part of the Colombian migration to Queens, NY, in the mid-1960s and early 1970s, where he was born and raised. Juan earned a BA from Temple University and an MPA from Baruch College Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. He currently lives in Indianapolis, IN.
 

Meghna Goswami is the program director of Civic Engagement at Houston Endowment. She leads the grants strategy to strengthen residents’ access to civic and electoral processes. Meghna collaborates with leaders from nonprofits, public entities, and philanthropy to increase immigrant civic integration and voter participation. Bringing the region’s best minds together to solve complex problems is among the most rewarding aspects of Meghna’s work. Collaborating across sectors to tackle tough issues is her lifelong pursuit. She has worked in community development, gender equity, immigrant rights, and affordable housing. Prior to joining Houston Endowment in 2010, Meghna led counseling and client services for Daya, an organization working with South Asian survivors of domestic violence in Houston. Originally from India, Meghna has called Houston her home since 2003. In her spare time, she loves exploring Houston, traveling off the beaten path to non-touristy destinations, and spending time with her husband and two sons. Meghna holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Delhi University, India, and a graduate degree in social work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India. She is a licensed social worker in the state of Texas.

Anthony Ng joined the Weingart Foundation in 2022 as a Program Officer. He brings a decade of immigrant rights advocacy, organizing, campaign, and coalition-building experience. Anthony is a nationally recognized leader in the immigrant youth movement who firmly believes that directly impacted community members have a key role in leading and shaping social movements. As an experienced advocate and organizer, he has worked on innovative campaigns at the local, state, and national levels. Anthony recently served as the Dream Resource Center Project Director at the U.C.L.A. Labor Center. Before joining the U.C.L.A. Labor Center, he led the immigrant rights portfolio of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-L.A. Some of his proudest accomplishments include co-founding UPLIFT—an undocumented Asian and Pacific Islander youth-led organization in Los Angeles—and being recognized by Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) as an “Emerging Giant of Justice.” Anthony is an alumnus of the Foundation’s John W. Mack Movement Building Fellowship program and graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. 

Shuya Ohno is the Director for the Just and Inclusive Society Project at Democracy Fund, an independent foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. In his role, Shuya helps to lead and strengthen the JIS project’s strategy on building social infrastructure and resilience to division and political violence, with a particular focus on supporting BAMEMSA communities, litigation/legal services/legal education, domestic peacebuilding efforts, and philanthropic partnerships.

Shuya joined Democracy Fund in 2022 after decades of experience as an organizer, communicator, and campaigner in racial, immigrant, and social justice. Prior to joining Democracy Fund, Shuya most recently served as the Managing Director of Strategy at the National Office of Advancement Project where he helped lead strategic campaign and capacity building with grassroots partner organizations across the country. He also helped lead crisis response efforts with impacted communities following major immigration raids in Massachusetts, Iowa, and more recently in Mississippi, and after the police killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Over his career, Shuya has worked in over 30 states to help build up community organizations serving African-American, Native American, Latinx, immigrant, refugee, and formerly-incarcerated communities.

Shuya has served on non-profit 501 (c)(3) and (c)(4) boards and is committed to building power among under-represented and under-served communities of color.
 

Dominique (Domy) Raymond is strategy director for partnerships at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. In that role, she is responsible for amplifying Lumina’s thought leadership, developing new relationships and coalitions, and identifying influencers and change agents.

She advises Lumina’s president on thought leadership opportunities and, at his request, directs strategic projects and emerging initiatives for his office.

Raymond has over 20 years of policy experience in higher education, state policy, and workforce development. She previously served as a senior program director of philanthropy at USA Funds (now Strada Education Network); vice president of alliance state relations at Complete College America; special assistant to the secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and; higher education policy analyst with the Maryland Higher Education Commission, where she co-chaired the state’s K16 workgroup. Her higher education experience began as an academic advisor at the University of the District of Columbia and the University of Maryland, consecutively.

She serves on the boards of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) and Inspire Success.

Raymond earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. In 2013, she was one of ten named to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s The Influence List.

Laura Speer was named the inaugural Director of Strategy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in February 2019. Prior to this role, she was the associate director for policy reform and advocacy and held primary responsibility for KIDS COUNT, including its annual publications and the KIDS COUNT Data Center. Having spent a number of years doing state- and local-level child advocacy work, Speer was a key liaison and resource person for the KIDS COUNT network of state advocates in the United States, as well as a growing number of child advocates in Latin America interested in data-based advocacy. Laura has a BA in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master's degree in public administration from New York University.

Nahir Torres is Senior Director of Leadership Programs, facilitating the design and implementation of Justice Funders' leadership development programs and initiatives to advance a Just Transition in philanthropy. She brings over 15 years in philanthropy and over 20 in the nonprofit sector, where she has honed her skills as a facilitative leader, convener, and field builder. Most recently, she served as Deputy Director of The Hyams Foundation, where her portfolio focused on education justice, criminal justice reform, youth organizing, and immigrant rights, to advance Hyams’s overarching goal of dismantling racialized economic disparities in Greater Boston and beyond. At Hyams, she played an active role in funder organizing to resource movement; spearheading the launch of the Greater Boston Immigrant Defense Fund, and advancing movement infrastructure through participatory design processes with movement partners. Nahir holds an Ed. M. in Human Development & Psychology from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a B.A. from Wellesley College.

Carolyn Wang Kong was the president and executive director of the Asian Pacific Fund and was responsible for leading the Fund’s strategy. Carolyn has worked for the past 20 years to create health equity for communities across California. Prior to the Fund, she served as the Chief Program Director at Blue Shield of California Foundation, a statewide philanthropy with a dual mission of increasing health equity and ending domestic violence. She has also held operational leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente, where she developed an award-winning program to meet the needs of 350,000 limited English-speaking members in Northern California. Carolyn holds a master’s in public health and public policy from UC Berkeley and a bachelor of science from UCLA. She is originally from East San Jose and spends her weekends driving her sons to basketball games around the greater Bay Area.

Sophy Yem (she/her/hers) serves as Senior Program Officer, Philanthropy at the Surdna Foundation.  

In this role, she leads Surdna’s grantmaking, engagement, and relationships to support the capacity, infrastructure, and equitable practices of nonprofit- and philanthropy-serving organizations, donor collaboratives, and other funders, especially family foundations. She also oversees the Andrus Family Philanthropy Program (AFPP), helping to engage and involve the 500+ Andrus family members, particularly its younger generations, in philanthropy and public service. Sophy believes that trust-based philanthropy, racial equity, and social justice are essential to effective grantmaking and develops opportunities for peers to connect, learn, and collaborate on these topics. 

Sophy joined Surdna in 2017 as Grants Manager, was appointed Program Officer, Philanthropy in 2019, and then promoted to Senior Program Officer, Philanthropy in 2022. Prior to joining Surdna, she worked as a Manager, Corporate Responsibility at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. There she advised a portfolio of corporate clients, such as LinkedIn, Yahoo and StubHub, on philanthropic strategies, employee engagement, and grantmaking programs. She previously worked at the NYC Department of Health as the Outreach Manager for the Heal 22 Program that encouraged behavioral health providers to adopt electronic health records. She was also a Program Officer at Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the corporate citizenship arm of Honeywell, Inc. 

Sophy received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Political Science from Brandeis University and Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She is currently working on an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from UPenn. She is a Council on Foundations 2022 Career Pathways fellow, a Boston sports fanatic, plant lover, and travel and food enthusiast. She sits on the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund advisory board and volunteers with animal rescue groups in her free time. While she misses Brooklyn, Sophy recently moved back to Boston with her husband, two boys, and rescue pup, Tofu.