Board of Directors

Christa M. Gannon is the Founder of Fresh Lifelines for Youth, Inc. (“FLY”). Christa has received numerous awards for her work at FLY, including the James Irvine Leadership Award, the Human Rights Award for the City of San Jose, Stanford Law School’s Inaugural Alumni Public Service Award, and more. After serving as CEO of FLY for two decades, Christa now serves in a formal Founder role as an advocate and ambassador for FLY, helping with fundraising and investor relations, and working on special projects for FLY’s strategic plan. Christa holds a B.S. in sociology and law and society, graduated with honors from Stanford Law School, and is a member of the California Bar. Christa is also a wife, mother of two teenagers, and basketball coach.

Veronica Goei has more than 25 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector developing programming and curricula in the areas of parenting, early literacy, oral language development and adult education. As Executive Director of Grail Family Services (GFS) for 18 years, she has provided direction and oversight for all GFS programming, including design, development, funding, implementation and evaluation. Over the years, Veronica has served as a consultant to many organizations including Stanford University, Western Illinois University, UCLA, the Children’s Bureau, and many NGOs. Veronica holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Chile. She is a graduate of the Harvard University Strategic Perspective in Nonprofit Management Program, and the HOPE (Hispanas Organized for Political Equality) Leadership Institute.

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Secretary

Poncho is the Executive Director of Sacred Heart Community Service, a grassroots antipoverty organization based in San José, California. A native of Santa Clara County, Guevara’s professional career has been geared toward the advancement of low-income families –from providing direct services and community organizing, to serving in executive management roles in nonprofit housing and human service organizations. By cultivating and creating bridges between diverse constituencies, he has helped develop and lead campaigns addressing critical issues in workers’ rights, children’s health care, homelessness, affordable housing, and immigrant rights. Poncho lives in San José with his two amazing daughters.

Board Chair

Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez is the Executive Director of MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana located in downtown San José, CA. She’s led transformative efforts at MACLA to build organizational capacity, secure a permanent facility, launch a youth digital media lab, and deepen engagement programs while ensuring artistic excellence and community relevance. Anjee’s areas of expertise include: creative placemaking, commissioning art work, program development, capacity building, economic and real estate development, fund development, and participatory evaluation. Anjee earned an MA in Visual Criticism from California College of the Arts and a BFA in pictorial arts from San Jose State University. She lives in downtown San José with her family and is a novice gardener and recovering karaoke performer.

Vice Chair

Anthony Lin is the Internal Communications Manager with Intuitive. Before his current role, Anthony was the Communications Manager with Kaiser Permanente San Jose and Santa Cruz County and a Senior Public Affairs representative with Kaiser Permanente’s South Bay Public Affairs Team. Growing up in the South Bay, Anthony found his calling with community affairs at De Anza Community College. Anthony transferred from De Anza Community College to UC Berkeley where he double majored in Asian American Studies and Political Science. Anthony also holds a Masters of Arts from UCLA in Higher Education and Organizational Change. Anthony currently serves on the Policy Board of San Jose SPUR.

Mark is the Vice President of Operations for American Leadership Forum –Silicon Valley(ALF-SV). Previously Mark served as Director of IT & Operations for United Way Silicon Valley. Mark grew up in Ohio, received a History degree from Swarthmore College and identifies as an Asian American as the son of an Indian immigrant and husband of a Filipina woman. Mark loves to play (especially volleyball) and follow (especially the NBA and the Warriors) sports and wants to help our world live up to the ideals of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, namely that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”

Treasurer

Victoria is the Director of Government and Public Affairs at Texas Instruments (TI), a global semiconductor company, where she leads public policy and corporate citizenship strategy. Prior to her role at TI, she consulted on technology policy for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Victoria spent over a decade in Washington, D.C. where she served as a political appointee in President Obama’s Administration as the Associate Director for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was the founding Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Throughout her time on Capitol Hill, Victoria played a significant role in shaping the Congressional policy agenda for AAPIs and people of color in our country. She is passionate about ending oppression through healing and facilitates workshops on healing and social justice with the Luna Jimenez Institute for Social Transformation. Victoria received her B.A. in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Past Chair

Jessica Weare is Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, partnering with corporations across the region to help address community challenges and advance strategic corporate philanthropy. Prior to SVCF, Jessica directed Microsoft’s philanthropic work in Silicon Valley, supporting nonprofits working in education, workforce development, and civic technology. In addition to sitting on the SVCN Board, she also sits on the board of California Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is also a senior fellow of American Leadership Forum.  Jessica received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, and she holds a doctorate from Stanford University.