Katie Dixon

Why do you do what you do?

My work is rooted in my lived experience—my family, the community I grew up in, and the ways those experiences have shaped my understanding of justice, opportunity, and responsibility. I’m constantly asking myself where I can be most useful, what role I can play, and how I can help move resources toward the people and communities doing meaningful work. That sense of purpose is what grounds my approach to philanthropy: finding the space where I can contribute to something larger than myself and help create more good in the world.

What drew you to the foundation?

After years in nonprofit and community-based work, moving into philanthropy full-time felt like a natural next step—one that allows me to help connect resources, relationships, and institutional vision in service of lasting impact. That reality came as I served as a community advisor to a family foundation based in New York. That experience introduced me to the power and responsibility of philanthropy—partnering with donors to realize a shared vision for the future. When the opportunity arose to move into philanthropy full-time, it felt like a meaningful and natural transition into work that allows me to help advance an institutional vision for what a more equitable future can look like. Many of the nonprofit organizations I’ve worked with have been supported by the SF Foundation, which made the opportunity to join this foundation especially meaningful to me.

How would you describe your role?

I would describe my role as a resource connector. While I may not personally hold all the resources needed to address our most pressing challenges, I bring the ability to build relationships, create connections, and offer a different vantage point on how we close gaps and solve problems. For me, this role is about helping move ideas, people, and resources toward a more equitable future for the Bay Area.

What inspires you?

What inspires me most is being part of the resourcing process—being in the room where decisions are made and helping shape how resources move toward communities and solutions. Coming from a background shaped by poverty and oppression, it is deeply meaningful to now have the opportunity to represent an institutional vision for what a more just and equitable future can look like. That possibility—to help influence where resources go and what kind of future they help build—is what inspires me right now.