GCIR Announces New Board Members and Officers

SEBASTOPOL, CA — The membership of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) elected to its board of directors Angie Junck, Director of the Human Rights Program at the Heising-Simons Foundation; Dominique Raymond, Strategy Director at Lumina Foundation; and Carolyn Wang Kong, Chief Program Director at Blue Shield of California Foundation. In addition, the GCIR membership re-elected Shawn Morehead, Vice President for Grants at The New York Community Trust; Robby Rodriguez, Program Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; and Luna Yasui, Senior Program Officer at Ford Foundation.

Shawn Morehead was elected to a two-year term as co-chair of the board. She joins Efrain Escobedo, Vice President, Education and Immigration, at the California Community Foundation, who will serve another year as co-chair. James Gore, Senior Program Officer at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, recently completed a two-year term as co-chair.

Luna Yasui will continue to serve as secretary, and Dina Merrell, Associate Director at The Chicago Bar Foundation, will continue to serve as treasurer. 

At the end of 2019, Ted Wang, U.S. Program Director at Unbound Philanthropy, and Betty Balli Torres, Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, each completed seven years of service on the board, including two years as co-chair.

Founded in 1990, GCIR works with member foundations and the broader philanthropic community to inform, connect, and catalyze funders to address pressing issues facing newcomers and the communities in which they live and work. GCIR’s thought leadership and expertise position philanthropy to adapt to demographic trends, respond to policy developments, engage with cross-sector partners, and support timely and innovative efforts to advance equity, inclusion, and justice for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Inside Philanthropy named GCIR the 2017 Funders’ Affinity Group of the Year for the key role we played in coordinating funder pushback to federal anti-immigrant policies. For more information, visit www.gcir.org.

CONTACT:       Dianna Truong, Director of Communications and Development
PHONE:           707-313-5367 Ext. 109
EMAIL:             [email protected]