New hires bring strategic planning and information technology expertise to support SVCF’s mission of driving enduring community change in Silicon Valley and beyond
Mountain View, CA, Feb. 9, 2022- Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) has hired Gihani Fernando as Vice President of Strategy and Board Affairs and To Tsang as Senior Vice President of Information Technology and Knowledge Management.
“I am thrilled to welcome Gihani and To to our team. They each bring a wealth of expertise and valuable perspective that will be instrumental in helping SVCF build a more equitable region,” said Nicole Taylor, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. “Following a record-breaking year of grantmaking to vital community organizations, this is a critical time for us to expand our team and ensure we have the best talent to address our region’s toughest challenges.”
Drawing on her deep expertise in strategic planning, systems design and partnerships development, Fernando will support strategy development and implementation efforts across SVCF in addition to managing a variety of board engagement activities.
Prior to joining SVCF, Fernando served on the executive leadership team at Playworks, a national nonprofit that focuses on the power of play to help kids stay active and build valuable life skills. Before that, she worked for almost a decade at The Bridgespan Group, where she led strategic planning engagements for several mission-driven organizations and foundations focusing on education and youth development clients.
Tsang brings over three decades of information technology experience and 20 years of managerial experience developing high-performing IT and interdisciplinary teams to lead modernization and transformation, advance mission strategy and achieve operational goals. He will oversee all aspects of the community foundation’s information technology, cybersecurity and knowledge management.
Prior to joining SVCF, Tsang served as Director (Head) of Information Technology at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. He oversaw all facets of information technology, including infrastructure, operations, security, enterprise applications, data and integration solutions and portfolio management. Before the Packard Foundation, Tsang served as Area Chief Information Officer for Kaiser Permanente, leading overall strategic positioning, solution services and information technology operations to support hospitals, medical centers and corporate functions in Northern California.
SVCF recently announced the hiring of Judi Powell, Ph.D., as Executive Vice President of Donor Engagement and Corporate Responsibility and the addition of three new board members: Scott Kupor, Van Ton-Quinlivan and Jennifer Urdan. The foundation also recently announced that it distributed $2.27 billion in grants in 2021 to nearly 6,000 nonprofits and community organizations supporting education, youth and community development, health, public safety and other important community issues.
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About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a regional catalyst, connector and collaborator. We bring together the resources and skills of donors, business, government and community to solve some of our region’s toughest challenges. We promote philanthropy in our region and support philanthropists to invest with impact. Through advocacy, research, policy and grantmaking, we seek systemic solutions to drive enduring community change.
More than 1,800 individuals and families and over 60 companies partner with Silicon Valley Community Foundation using our donor advised fund (DAF) and corporate advised fund services. The minimum amount required to open a DAF at SVCF is only $5,000. More than a third of donor advised funds held at SVCF have balances of $25,000 or less. We encourage and advise donors to be active philanthropists andto give on a continual basis. Under our rigorous policy to discourage inactive funds, if after two years a donor has not recommended any grants from their DAF, SVCF will pool and distribute the funds through our Community Endowment Fund.
Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.