About me
I have always been interested in giving back but wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. After years of giving when asked, I started to want to be part of a community and give both time and money to the areas that I cared about. As a financial advisor, I would often help clients with the same decisions. I joined the San Francisco Foundation three years ago as a member of the Professional Advisors Council and it was a eureka moment. This was the community I was looking for and the guidance to help with my philanthropic journey. I opened my donor advised fund shortly after, and I am continuing to gain the confidence to steward my charitable giving.
What is an organization you are passionate about?
The issue that I am most passionate about is education. As a first-generation college student, and the daughter of immigrants, mentorship of young people is deeply important to me. This led me to get involved with an organization called the Posse Foundation Bay Area, I joined their Advisory Board about a year ago.
Posse is a leadership, merit-based scholarship program that awards full-tuition scholarships to Posses: groups of 10 exceptional students who may be overlooked by traditional college recruitment processes. Posse identifies and supports talented students from diverse backgrounds with the goal of developing leaders who better represent the diversity of the American population. What I love about Posse is that it achieves diversity impacts, while still recruiting based on merit, just by finding students in Bay Area public schools and through their unique interview process.
These students, Posse Scholars, then go on to one of Posse Bay Area’s four partner colleges and universities and bring their unique perspectives and experiences to campus.
Being a part of the Posse Foundation has given me the opportunity to connect with exceptional young people in the Bay Area and support them during their college journey. I have been able to do this as a writing coach, career coach, a board member, and by just cheering them on and celebrating their successes.
Closing thoughts
Learning about philanthropy and what works for me has been a process. Opening a donor advised fund at the San Francisco Foundation has helped me to understand what works for other donors, and to meet incredible people and the organizations that they are passionate about.
