Governance

The Great Communities Collaborative is overseen by a Funders Network, comprised of community, local, and national foundations that provide long-term vision, strategic direction, and priority-setting for GCC. The Funders Network also works to broaden the role of foundations in systems change around transportation, transit-oriented development, housing, and community development funding. 

Current Funders

• The California Endowment
• The Grove Foundation
• Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund
• JP Morgan Chase
• The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• San Francisco Foundation (Co-Chair)
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation (Co-Chair)
• The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Strong Prosperous and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC)*

*SPARCC is a national three-year, $90 million initiative. GCC’s SPARCC work is a collaborative effort between GCC, the 6 Wins for Social Equity Network (6 Wins), and the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII).

Staff

Ricardo G. Huerta Niño, Senior Initiative Officer

As the Senior Initiative Officer, Ricardo leads the GCC in strategy development and partnership to move the region toward a more equitable and sustainable Bay Area where low-income and communities of color can stay in place and thrive. He works together with funders, non-profits, and public sector partners to identify, implement, and leverage policy and financing strategies in the region. In addition, Ricardo leads GCC’s fundraising and development strategy, manages convenings and funder network meetings, and works to build greater alignment across partners. Before coming to GCC, Ricardo was working as a consultant to nonprofits, local governments, regional agencies, and philanthropic foundations. His most recent work was as a consultant for city planning and community engagement focused on racial equity, housing, transportation, workforce development, and pandemic response efforts. Ricardo served as Policy Director for Collective Impact in the Mayor’s Office in Oakland, leading multi-sector collaborative projects focused on education and youth development. His earlier experience includes working in philanthropy as a program officer and consultant focused on a range of issues including immigrant and refugee rights, environmental justice, leadership development, and criminal justice reform.

Bianca Juarros, Associate Initiative Office

Bianca’s diverse professional background spans the non-profit, public, and private sectors, within topic areas such as urban planning, environmental permitting, and community outreach and education. Bianca comes to SFF most recently from Recology as a Waste Zero Specialist where she managed waste collection services as well as coordinated in-kind sponsorship requests for special events in San Francisco. Before that, she worked at the consulting firm Dudek for nearly two and a half years, acting as a liaison between clients and the California Coastal Commission to facilitate the complex coastal development permitting process primarily for critical public infrastructure projects. Drawing from her time as an intern at the California Coastal Commission, she worked to ensure that these projects were consistent with the California Coastal Act, including policies related to land use, protecting environmentally sensitive habitat areas, and preserving public access. Bianca also supported several long-range planning projects by researching and analyzing demographic data, drafting outreach and presentation materials, and conducting stakeholder interviews for General Plan Element updates including Environmental Justice, Housing, and Safety. As a part of her internship with the City of Santa Monica, Bianca delivered a presentation to an underserved community about the incentive programs available for electric vehicles and interviewed community stakeholders about their experiences with extreme heat. Through her position with the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, Bianca worked with a council of governments and local vendors to coordinate a regional climate action planning forum. Additionally, one of her key roles at the non-profit Build It Green was to help coordinate logistics for in-person and virtual training events for building professionals across the state, primarily related to energy efficiency, utility rebate programs, and green building practices.

Originally from Southern California, Bianca currently lives in San Francisco and enjoys exploring all that the Bay Area has to offer, including spending time outdoors, attending local concerts, and riding her bike. Bianca Juarros holds a B.S. in Society and Environment as well as a minor in Public Policy from UC Berkeley, and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Impact

To assess the impact of our work, GCC has worked closely with evaluators over the years.  We’re currently working with Mesu Strategies and using a learning and assessment approach to support our work and our partners. Review the first summary of results here:

GCC 2019 Network Member Survey Results

Previously, ICF International helped assess our success in our first ten years. To learn more, please download and read summaries of ICF’s work:

GCC Evaluation 2014 Interim Report: Moving Forward to Implementation
GCC Evaluation 2015 Interim Report: Advancing Equitable Growth