For Immediate Release
June 22, 2001

Jessica Rothhaar
i.e. communications, LLC (415) 616-3930

Diego de la Garza
TCWF (818) 715-1978

PROGRAM DIRECTORS NAMED FOR EIGHT PRIORITY AREAS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND

Directors to Implement the Foundation’s Emphasis on Core Operating Support

Los Angeles, CA - The California Wellness Foundation announced the appointment of 12 staff to the position of program director. The appointments reflect the Foundation’s launch of eight priority areas, effective July 1, and its continuation of the Special Projects Fund. The Foundation recently announced the priority areas and the emphasis they place on receiving funding requests from nonprofit organizations for core operating support.

“The program directors have a diverse and valuable background in understanding the needs of the nonprofit sector in California,” said Gary L. Yates, President and CEO of the Foundation. “I am confident of their talents in seeking out organizations in our state that will benefit by receiving core operating support to help them address the health needs of Californians.”

While it will continue funding in two TCWF-driven grantmaking initiatives and other project funding, the emphasis on increasing core operating grants is an effort by the Foundation to achieve a balance in being responsive to the nonprofit sector, according to Foundation Executive Vice President Tom David.

“The ultimate success of a grantmaking program is dependent not only on talented staff but also on our ability to listen carefully and respond to grantseekers,” David said. “Our program directors will focus their efforts to find nonprofit groups that have self-identified ways in which the Foundation funding can strengthen and sustain their existing work.”

The new program directors and their corresponding grantmaking areas are:

Fatima Angeles, Environmental Health. Angeles has been with the Foundation since 1998, prior to which she was a program associate at The Hasbro Children’s Foundation. Angeles holds a master’s degree in public health and serves on the board of directors of Funders Concerned About AIDS, an affinity group of the Council on Foundations. Her other experience includes work with The Commonwealth Fund and the corporate philanthropy program of Pfizer, Inc.

Michael Balaoing, Violence Prevention. Balaoing joined the Foundation in June 1996, prior to which he worked with the Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council and the Family Violence Division of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. An attorney, he served on the Advisory Committee on Youth Crime and Violence Prevention of the Little Hoover Commission, chairs the public policy advisory group of the Council on Foundations and co-chairs the Southern California chapter of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy.

Ruth Brousseau, Mental Health.Brousseau joined the Foundation in 1996. Prior to that she served as a program executive in community health for the San Francisco Foundation, where in addition to grantmaking responsibilities in health and social services she oversaw several initiatives including the Lifeline Initiative for Children and Youth. She had previously served for five years as executive director of the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. Brousseau holds a doctorate in psychology.

Lucía Corral Peña, Work and Health. Before joining the Foundation in June 1996, Corral Peña worked for the National Economic Development and Law Center, and the neighborhood and community development program of the San Francisco Foundation. Corral Peña, an attorney, currently serves as a board member of Equal Rights Advocates, and board chair of Centro Legal de La Raza in Oakland.

Pauline Daniels, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention. Daniels joined the Foundation in 1998. Prior to that, she served as executive director of the Southern California Child Health Network and program manager for the Black Infant Health program of the Los Angeles County Health Department. She serves on the boards of the National Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting and Prevention and the Community Health Alliance of Pasadena. She was also a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. Daniels holds a master’s degree in public health.

Ruth Holton, Special Projects Fund. Before joining the Foundation in 1998, Holton served as a lobbyist for the California Children's Lobby, executive director of California Common Cause and director of the Peninsula Partnership for Children, Youth and Families. Holton's volunteer work includes serving as a board member of the California Common Cause. She holds a master's degree in educational administration.

Fran Jemmott, Women’s Health. Jemmott was formerly executive director of the California Self Help Center, a position she held from 1989 until she joined the Foundation in January 1996. She has more than 20 years experience in human service program development and is active on the boards of the California Black Women's Health Project and the Los Angeles Urban Funders. She studied romance languages at Howard University.

Tawnya N. Lewis, Violence Prevention. Lewis joined TCWF in 1996. Before that, she worked at the Community Clinics Association of Los Angeles County, and volunteered at the Holton Juvenile Detention Center for Boys, and at the Venice Community Clinic. Lewis is a member of the American Public Health Association and the Association of Black Foundation Executives, and on the board of managers for the Weingart YMCA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration.

Gary Nelson, Healthy Aging. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1993, Nelson served with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and taught at Central Michigan University, the University of Utah, the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He serves on the board of both Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families and the American Council on Exercise. He holds a doctorate in health science.

Alicia Procello, Diversity in the Health Professions. With a background in public health and adolescent development issues, Procello joined the Foundation in August 1996. She is an appointee to the Los Angeles County Health Facilities Authority Commission, and is a board member of the American Public Health Association's Black Caucus of Health Workers. Procello holds a master's degree in public health.

Cristina M. Regalado, Special Projects Fund. Regalado joined the Foundation in 2000. Previously, Regalado was the vice president for administration and programs of the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation. Regalado holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She sits on the board of directors of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, and is vice chair of the boardof the Women’s Funding Network, an international membership organization of more than 80 women’s funds.

Mercy Siordia, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention. Siorda joined The California Wellness Foundation in 1996. Her prior experience includes managing the Access for Infants and Mothers (AIM) program and as program manager for the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County at the National Health Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in health administration.

TCWF is an independent, private foundation created in 1992, with a mission to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. The Foundation provides funding in eight priority areas and health-related special projects. The California Wellness Foundation has awarded 2,302 grants totaling nearly $322.8 million since 1992. Please visit The California Wellness Foundation’s website at www.tcwf.org for more information.

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Note to reporters & editors: “The” in The California Wellness Foundation name is part of the Foundation’s legal name. Please do not drop or put the “T” in lowercase.