Community-building Archives - Movement Strategy Center

Marilyn Lovelace-Grant

Chief People & Culture Officer

Marilyn has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years, and brings direct experience in fostering inclusive and empathetic cultures supported by structure and practices, strategic planning, employee relations and experience, communications, change management, public speaking, and building alliances. Her rich talent and culture experience includes roles as Vice President of Talent & Culture at Abode Services, Human Resources Director at Catholic Charities of the East Bay, Director of Human Resources and Operations at The National Writing Project, and Director of Human Resources at the City of Alameda Housing Authority and the San Lorenzo Unified School District. Marilyn holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, East Bay.

Mahalia Herbert

Board Member

Mahalia earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Lehman College, City University of New York and has nearly 15 years of experience in nonprofit accounting. Her career began with former President Clinton, where she dedicated almost a decade to managing accounting functions for his foundation and various initiatives. She previously served as an accounting manager at Chosen Care; their mission to help children heal from trauma by strengthening families and addressing community needs drew her to the organization. Mahalia currently brings her extensive nonprofit accounting expertise to Tides Advocacy. Having recently relocated to Atlanta, Mahalia is enjoying exploring her new city, listening to audiobooks, and spending quality time with her family.

Legacy Giving

By choosing to support MSC through your bequests and estate plans with a legacy gift, you are investing in a just future for everyone. Your support has the power to accelerate a Just Transition and connect you to our 100-year vision of transforming ourselves and transforming the future.

Connect with us if you are interested in exploring how you can have a profound and lasting impact on our communities. We welcome the opportunity to work with you and your professional advisor to develop a planned giving strategy that reflects your social justice journey and includes MSC.

Employer Matching Gifts

Many employers match qualified charitable contributions made by current or former employees and their spouses. If your company is eligible, please contact your HR department for instructions on how to activate a matching gift.

Retirement Distributions

Supporters who age 70½ or older can donate funds from their IRA accounts directly to MSC. This type of gift is called an IRA charitable rollover, or a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). Because the gift goes directly to the charity without passing through your hands, the dollar amount of the gift may be excluded from your taxable income up to a maximum amount annually, with some exceptions. Consult with your tax advisor regarding your specific situation.

To make a QCD, contact your IRA custodian (the institution that manages your account). You’ll have to fill out an IRA Charitable Distribution Form and submit it to your IRA custodian.

Stock or Security

We want to make it easy for you to support MSC in the way that is right for you. Contact us if you wish to make a gift to MSC in the form of appreciated securities — publicly traded stocks, bonds, and/or mutual fund shares.

If recommending a grant from a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), you may direct the DAF-sponsoring organization to make the disbursement* via ACH/wire, or make the check payable to “Movement Strategy Center” and mail to:

Movement Strategy Center
P.O. Box 511
Rodeo, CA 94572

Movement Strategy Center Federal Tax ID is 20-1037643
*Please include your name and address with DAF grants so we may thank you for your generosity and share with you the impact and outcomes.

Give by Check

MSC welcomes your contribution. Please make your check payable to “Movement Strategy Center” and mail to:

Movement Strategy Center
P.O. Box 511
Rodeo, CA 94572

Christine Juang

Projects & Partnerships Steward

Christine is a community builder, experienced nonprofit program manager, speaker, facilitator, and champion for change and liberation. She’s passionate about communities deeply engaging with issues of social and racial justice, and finding their unique place in the social change ecosystem. With over 10 years experience at various nonprofits focused on serving families and youth, Christine understands how issues of racial and social justice impact historically oppressed and marginalized communities, from individual to systemic levels. She’s worked as senior program manager for Safe & Sound, director of programs for Hate Is A Virus, and is training to become a certified liberatory life coach. Christine is a first generation Taiwanese-American and eldest daughter of an immigrant family. After living across 11 countries as an international nomad over the last 18 months, she now lives on Ramaytush Ohlone land, currently known as the Bay Area in California.

Allison Mudge

Communications Generalist

Allison joined MSC as a Communications Generalist in September 2024 after over a decade in public education. She is passionate about educational equity, strengthening mental health supports in schools, and ensuring all children see themselves represented positively in literature/media. Allison has an English degree from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Bridgewater State University. Her work history includes The Boston Globe, where she embraced her love of writing, editing, and researching. She is interested in environmental sustainability and loves combing through estate sales, flea markets, and antique stores to give pre-loved treasures new life. She enjoys tackling her never-ending “to be read” book list and considers herself one of Bruce Springsteen’s biggest fans.

Aisha Shillingford

Board Member

Aisha is artistic director of Intelligent Mischief, a multi-disciplinary creative studio that unleashes the power of Black radical imagination to shape the future. Originally from Trinidad & Tobago, she is an anti-disciplinary artist, world builder, designer, and cultural strategist. Her written work has been published in Black Discourse and Grantmakers In the Arts. Her collage work has been commissioned by the Movement for Black Lives, Root. Rise. Pollinate!, and Creative Wildfire, and licensed by Nonprofit Quarterly and the Center for Third World Organizing. Aisha has a bachelor’s degree in environmental analysis and policy, a Master of Social Work in Social Innovation, and a Master of Business Administration in Social Entrepreneurship. She has been a community organizer at the Muslim American Society Boston Chapter and Close To Home, a domestic violence prevention agency. She loves sewing, cooking, and bike riding.

Shiva Patel

Board Member

Shiva Patel is an environmental and economic justice advocate, strategist, ecosystem builder, capital steward and capital advisor. He has launched and supported the development of alternative ownership enterprises, financial institutions, community-based organizations and public agencies, focused on climate justice, energy democracy, the solidarity economy and non-extractive finance. He is the Managing Director at the Justice Climate Fund and was previously a Senior Fellow at The Solutions Project and Full Spectrum Capital Partners. Shiva was the Founder of the Energy Solidarity Cooperative, a multi-stakeholder cooperative focused on renewable energy in underserved communities. He served on the Board of Directors for Planting Justice, Rooted in Resilience and the Oakland Climate Action Coalition and was nominated to the founding Community Advisory Committee of East Bay Community Energy. Shiva has supported the racial and economic justice organizing and advocacy work of the Energy Democracy Project, Southeast Climate & Energy Network, Tennessee Valley Energy Democracy Movement and the Rural Power Coalition. He is a history and heterodox economics enthusiast who enjoys music, cooking, futbol and the outdoors. He has a BS in Environmental Economics and Policy, BA in Interdisciplinary Studies: Energy and Food Sovereignty, and MBA from UC Berkeley. He was born into a South Asian immigrant family in London, England and currently lives in Washington, DC.

Wendi Gephart

Federal Contracts & Grants Compliance Manager

Wendi leverages her deep curiosity about grants and contracts to create management tools, training programs, and policies that ensure robust internal control systems and compliance with evolving funder regulations. With over 25 years of hands-on experience as both a grantor and grantee, she excels as a grant writer and manager. Wendi also spearheads projects aimed at capacity building through external funding. She is an active committee member of the National Grants Management Association, and serves on the advisory board for Thompson Grants.

Deanna Woodruff

Administrative Assistant

Deanna, who has over 20 years experience as an administrative professional for various nonprofit organizations, is proud to call the Bay Area home. Her journey includes involvement in local activism such as the Oscar Grant movement, where she honed her skills in organization and community advocacy. Currently pursuing studies in Chinese medicine in Berkeley, Calif., Deanna is passionate about expanding access to natural holistic medicine for communities facing barriers. Beyond her work, she cherishes time with her daughter and loved ones, and savoring moments filled with music, good food, and new experiences.

Impact Investing

Through our partnerships with leading organizations, MSC connects your passions and insights with cutting edge solutions that harmonize social and environmental impact with financial growth to align all of your resources with impact. Our partners — Full Spectrum Advisors and Adasina Social Capital — help us steward public and private market investments within our DAF ecosystem. MSC’s DAF program gives you the ability to combine impact investing in both private and public markets, aligned with your traditional grantmaking.

Our partners can support you in creating Community Wealth Private Investment Portfolios, magnifying the impact of DAF resources on community development and social justice, and investing in Adasina’s Social Justice Public Markets Portfolios that bring strong returns to the DAF portfolio while shifting our economy towards a more just future. With an MSC DAF, our partners can help you to craft comprehensive personalized capital strategies, helping you advance a full spectrum capital approach to impact through options as varied as grants, recoverable grants, loans, guarantees, and equity investments.

Join Us!

If you are interested in leveraging your resources for deeper, lasting impact, an MSC DAF is your philanthropic tool to drive change. Reach out to Simone Champagnie, Director, Individual Giving, at [email protected], to learn more about the DAF program and explore partnership opportunities.

Pricing

Administrative fees from your MSC DAF are reinvested to support MSC’s critical movement building work, rather than corporate profits. By putting your capital in an MSC DAF, you are also funding a BIPOC-led and community-accountable organization.

MSC utilizes Ren Inc., a trusted DAF technology provider, to administer our donor advised funds. Ren Inc.’s platform offers you 24-seven access to fund information and the ease of requesting distributions online. Ren Inc. charges a small fee for administration, which is integrated into the overall fees.

The fees also include an allocation of an amount equivalent to one percent (1%) of the value of the DAF assets to MSC’s general fund to support MSC’s vital charitable and social change work.

For more information on fees click here.

Liyen Chong

Development Assistant

Liyen is a culture bearer and movement builder with a deep desire to bring awareness of decolonial, liberatory, and trauma-informed frameworks to shift power. She is a proven community organizer who has built broad-based coalitions centering the interests of BIPOC and historically marginalized communities. She is an organizer for More Than Grant Writers, Arts Accountability Houston, and Community-Centric Fundraising’s Texas Chapter. As an artist, she is passionate about equitable community access to the arts in conjunction with a whole, fulfilling life of agency. Liyen was born and raised in South East Asia and spent time in New Zealand before moving to the U.S. She loves cats, local city and state politics, and of course, anything art or craft-related.

Shannon Cunningham

Operations Specialist

Shannon is a creative systems thinker and operations-focused professional who has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years. Her commitment to social justice is exemplified by her background in creating and providing the robust support and infrastructure that is crucial to movement work and allowing movement leaders to focus on what is most important. Shannon lives in Oakland and loves her Bay Area community. She enjoys spending time with loved ones and animal friends, making art, sewing, listening to music, dancing, adventuring along the coastline, hanging at the river, and wandering the forests.

Lalaine Nocum

Finance Director

Lalaine is an experienced Certified Public Accountant with over 18 years of expertise in finance, auditing, and accounting. Lalaine joined Noble Accounting, LLC, in April 2023. Previously, she held positions at nonprofit, technology, and consumer product organizations as a controller and director of financial reporting and compliance, handling annual budgets of up to $30 million. She takes pride in providing financial leadership to various organizations.

Anastasia David

Senior Grantmaking Program Manager

Anastasia is a passionate social, justice, economic, and environmental equity leader with over a decade of experience across philanthropy and nonprofits, including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, and Teach For America. She is a race, justice, and equity coach with experience developing national programs in support of social impact leaders and organizations. Anastasia holds a master’s degree from the Quantic School of Business and Technology and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on structures of opportunity and inequality. She lives in the Bay Area and loves catching up with her siblings, listening to SOCA music, and enjoying outdoor adventures with her pup.

Andrea Granda

Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer

Andrea, an east coaster at heart, moved to the Bay Area from New Jersey in 2009. She pursued her calling as a public servant during her time as an AmeriCorps intern at a youth center and clinic. Before joining MSC in 2023, Andrea was a part of the Tides and Tides Advocacy community for 12 years, designing and delivering solutions-based services for those who believe in challenging the status quo and dismantling inequities with a pro-Black framework. Andrea has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University, and is a 2017 New Leaders Council fellow. She loves exploring the beauty of the Bay Area, traveling to new destinations, and yelling at the TV while watching Jeopardy.

Sally Miller

Executive Assistant & Board Liaison

Sally joined MSC in 2023 with over 20 years of executive administrative experience across corporate, startup, and nonprofit organizations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and began her career at the Denver Rescue Mission. Sally was raised in Denver, Colo., with her three siblings and a yard full of chickens, rabbits, dogs, and cats. Over the years, she has volunteered with animals, senior citizens, elementary school children, and at various programs for the unhoused. Now based in Los Angeles, Calif., her passions are animals (especially her own furry, four-legged children), international travel, live music, exploring, art, and daily walks with her pups.

Errika Moore

Board Member

Errika is the inaugural executive director of the STEM Funders Network (SFN), a fiscally sponsored project of MSC. She previously worked as senior program officer at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, leading a team focused on equity in education and workforce development for over 900,000 students. Other past roles include positions at Technology Association of Georgia Education Collaborative, IT Senior Management Forum, The Gifted Education Foundation, Southwire, BMC Software, and IBM. Errika serves on numerous boards and committees, including the National Million Women Mentors initiative, Project Scientist, Sankofa Montessori, and the National STEM Honor Society. Among her many honors, Errika was named Outstanding Georgia Citizen by the secretary of state, Woman of the Year by Atlanta’s Women in Technology, and was one of Inspire Magazine’s Top 40 Inspirers in America.

Bridgette Bell

Director of Human Resources

Bridgette joined MSC with 28 years of human resources experience, including 23 years in healthcare, where she started as a coordinator and later became district director of human resources. Bridgette was born and raised in Fort Worth, Tex., where she was involved in community initiatives including the North Texas Food Bank, Cowtown Marathon, Texas Clean Up, and feeding the homeless. She loves walking; especially the annual 2.5 mile Opal Lee Walk. She enjoys family, praise dancing, learning sign language, and outdoor adventures — but what she holds most dear are her three daughters.

David Malinowski

Senior Coordinator of Advancement & Communications

David is a media and communications professional with a passion for the environment and building small, interdependent communities. Originally from Vermont, he graduated from Castleton University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in media and communication, and began his career at a mental health agency in his hometown. As part of the LGBTQIA+ community, David cares deeply about celebrating historically marginalized people. David moved to Florida in 2022 to be closer to family and friends. He enjoys running and biking, listening to copious amounts of music, and spending as much time as possible outdoors.

Lauren Wheat

Chief Operating Officer

Lauren is a strategic problem solver with over a decade of operations experience at varied nonprofit organizations, including ZACH Theatre, Austin Community Foundation, and Austin Ed Fund. Lauren holds Bachelor’s degrees in theatre and public administration from Texas State University. She lives in Austin and loves catching a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse, taking her dogs to neighborhood parks, and checking new places off of her travel bucket list.

Karmella Green

MIIC Project Advisor

Karmella has spent her professional career in Austin, Tex., working with local nonprofits, community stakeholders, and artists to curate shows, engage diverse audiences, and support the local cultural arts scene. Her expertise is in grant writing, multicultural programming, community outreach strategy, and actively cultivating partnerships that sustain our culture, our stories, and our future. With over a decade of experience in direct client services and program administration, her professional practice has exposed her to a wide range of responsibilities and individuals.

Alejandra García Lezama

MIIC Project Advisor

Ale is a social justice, mobilization, and fundraising professional with over 10 years of experience in organizing, storytelling, marketing, and development strategy for nonprofits and international organizations, including Save the Children, United Way for Greater Austin, and LifeWorks. Ale joined MSC in August 2022 and has a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and a juris doctor from the University of Guanajuato. She lives in Austin, Tex., where she enjoys trying new restaurants and listening to live music with friends, and planning her next adventure somewhere in the world.

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Noble Accounting

Financial and Accounting Services

Noble Accounting is a values-aligned firm providing six years of award-winning client services to local, state, and national nonprofit organizations. Founder Kevin Matthews has more than 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. With expertise, advanced technologies, and a highly personalized approach, Nobel Accounting serves as a fractional chief financial officer supporting MSC’s accounting functions. Noble Accounting is located in Torrance, Calif. Learn more about Noble Accounting.

Daniel Parada

Director of Fiscal Sponsorship

Daniel Parada joined MSC in April 2021 with a background in operations, employee experience, and learning and development specialist. One of Daniel’s many social imperatives is to give voice to marginalized communities, leading him to help establish DEI, Pride+Allies, Embajadores Lingist@s, and Women in Culinary mentorship committees throughout his career. Daniel and his husband are proud owners of a home in East Oakland, where they play an active role in the neighborhood watch. Daniel loves working on construction projects at home, tending to his urban farm and chickens, and is always down for some good grub!

Sophie Hou

Innovation and Design Lead

Sophie is a design strategist, facilitator, and artist who works to transform challenges into opportunities for design and social innovation. Rooted in Buddhist practice and with over 20 years of experience in community empowerment, organizational development, and socially engaged performing and visual arts, Sophie has worked on projects with the United Nations and the Magnum Foundation, as well as an educational initiative for first-generation Chinese students. She joined MSC in February 2020 and has a master’s degree in transdisciplinary design from Parsons School of Design at The New School. She lives in Oakland and enjoys delicious meals, time with nature, and making art.

Frank Gargione

Communications Director

Frank is a social justice and sustainability-focused storyteller with over 15 years of experience in writing, visual storytelling, product design, and marketing strategy for lifestyle brands, publications, agencies, and nonprofits, including The Boston Globe, Tommy Hilfiger, Warby Parker, and Racked.com. Frank joined MSC in February 2021 and has a master’s degree in sustainability and social impact in business from Glasgow Caledonian New York College, and a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and journalism from Northeastern University. He lives at the Jersey Shore with his partner and three rescue dogs, and is passionate about community gardening, birding, cooking, and live music.

Sandra Bass

Board Member

Sandra has facilitated social change through public policy, community engagement, and education for over 25 years. She is associate dean of students and director of the Public Service Center at University of California, Berkeley; where she is on the boards of the Student Affairs Civic Engagement Advisory and the Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund. Previously, Sandra worked for University of Maryland, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Teach With Africa. She serves on the boards of Multiplying Good and East Point Peace Academy, among others. Sandra holds Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Berkeley. She is an avid traveler, voracious reader, and unapologetic tree hugger.

Carla Dartis

Executive Director

Carla has spent over 30 years providing support to vital community building efforts in nonprofit management and economic development. Prior to joining MSC in October 2020, Carla was senior vice president at Tides Network, vice president of community investment for the East Bay Community Foundation, and a program officer at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Carla has a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Science in public policy from California State University, Long Beach. Carla enjoys Creole cooking and traveling with her teenage son and her jazz musician husband.

Anasa Troutman

Board President

Anasa is a writer, producer, and entrepreneur who has dedicated her work to the importance of culture and the power of love. As CEO of Culture Shift Creative, Anasa works to build and execute strategies for artists and organizations aligned with her belief in creativity as a pathway to personal, community, and global transformation. Best known for her work as strategic advisor and executive producer for long time friend India.Arie, Anasa awakened to her life’s work during her time in Atlanta, Ga., attending Spelman College and founding Groovement/EarthSeed Music, a successful record label and collective of cutting edge, visionary musicians, performers, and writers.

Jacqueline Patterson

Board Member

Jacqueline is founder and executive director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, a resource hub for Black frontline climate justice leadership. She spent time in Jamaica as a Peace Corps volunteer, worked as senior director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, and is coordinator and co-founder of Women of Color United. Jacqui has worked as a researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate, and activist for women‘s rights, HIV and AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice. She currently serves as a member of the U.S. Social Forum’s international committee and the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate’s Steering Committee. Jacqui holds masters degrees in social work and public health from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, respectively.

Judith LeBlanc

Board Member

Judith is a member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma and director of the Native Organizers Alliance, a national Native training and organizing network. She previously worked with MSC’s Transitions Lab. At the core of her work is the belief that organizing a grassroots, durable ecosystem of Native leaders and organizers — who share a common theory of change rooted in traditional values and sacred practices — is necessary to achieve tribal sovereignty and racial equity for all. Since 2016, she has worked collaboratively to assist Oceti Sakowin tribes in the Missouri River Basin in regaining co-management of the bioregion.

Tomás Garduño

Board Member

Tomás, a social justice strategist, most recently served as national field director for Mijente, an independent political home for Chicanx/Latinx organizing. With over 20 years experience in political strategy and campaign development, Tomás has worked as a strategic advisor for 22 grassroots social justice organizations, four candidate campaigns, and five institutes and universities. His most formative experiences were time spent as co-director of the Southwest Organizing Project and organizer of the People’s Climate March. A Native New Mexican Chicano, Tomás was born and raised in Albuquerque. He currently lives in Brooklyn.

Sihle Dinani

Board Treasurer

Sihle is chief financial officer at Tides Advocacy, and previously worked as finance director and interim deputy director of operations at MSC. With over 20 years of finance and operations experience, she is passionate about supporting highly impactful nonprofit infrastructure. Sihle currently serves as board treasurer for Urban Tilth, and has worked with the YMCA of San Diego County, the Garment Worker Center, and other grassroots organizations. A mother, consummate volunteer, and novice gardener, Sihle is dedicated to efficiency and accountability within social justice organizations. A California native, Sihle earned a degree in economics and accounting from Claremont McKenna College.

Taj James

Vice Chair, Co-Founder

Taj is a father, poet, strategist, designer, and philanthropic and capital advisor. He is the founder and current board president of MSC, founding partner at Full Spectrum Capital Partners, and co-founder of The Good Life Pledge. Taj thrives on connecting community and capital stewards to bring financial value into alignment with sacred values in ways that build community wealth. A graduate of Stanford University, Taj was a recipient of a Next Generation Leadership fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation and was named a “Local Hero” by The San Francisco Bay Guardian. Taj and his family live in Oakland.