CENTRAL VALLEY FOUNDATION
Priscilla Enriquez to Lead Central Valley Foundation (CVF)
Sacramento, CA. March 27, 2019
For Immediate Release
After a comprehensive national search, the Board of Directors of the Sacramento-based Central Valley Foundation (CVF) has announced that Priscilla Enriquez has been named the chief executive officer. She joins CVF having served at the Sacramento Region Community Foundation as the Chief Impact & Strategy Officer for the last 11 years.
CVF is a philanthropic foundation founded in 1994 by the late James B. McClatchy and Susan McClatchy, who serves as vice chair of the Board of Directors. The mission of CVF is to support education programs for English Learner (EL) students and to promote First Amendment awareness, especially the freedoms of speech, expression, and the press. The foundation’s service area is California’s Central Valley, from Placer County to Sacramento County in the north to Tulare and Kings counties to the south.
“We are at an exciting transitional stage and need experienced leadership to successfully implement our philanthropic strategies. Priscilla is a visionary leader with a deep understanding of the Central Valley and who has the ability to bring people together,” said Susan McClatchy. CVF Board Chair Alex Brown added that “We are fortunate to have someone of Priscilla’s caliber and experience to lead CVF.”
“The opportunity to provide strategic philanthropic investments in the Central Valley supporting the bedrock tenets of our democracy and advancing equity in education, especially now, is an incredible honor. I look forward to working with the board, staff, and its grantee-partners in meeting its mission to lift community voice, to improve education access, and to ensure all people, especially children, have pathways to a fulfilling life in the Central Valley,” said Enriquez.
As Chief Giving Officer and Chief Impact & Strategy Officer of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, Enriquez guided the launch of four strategic initiatives grounded on a “listening and learning” partnership with board members, civic and nonprofit leaders, funders, donors, and stakeholders from all walks of life. She brings talent and success in forging successful large-scale collaborative efforts, such as the Big Day of Giving, which has raised $30M in the last 7 years, and the Capital Area Promise Scholars program, focused on expanding equitable access to higher education for low-income and first-generation students, especially young men of color who have traditionally faced barriers to higher education. This program achieved a 57% college acceptance rate by its young male students of color cohort in its second year.
“This is a significant time for Priscilla to lead CVF and is an excitement we share at the community foundation. While we are sad to lose her, we know she will bring dedication with the community in mind to CVF’s philanthropy. We have aligned values as foundations and look forward to working in partnership with Priscilla and CVF,” said Linda Cutler, CEO, Sacramento Region Community Foundation.
Enriquez is a thoughtful leader in the philanthropic space and has served on many nonprofit boards, previously providing board leadership in the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera turnaround and recently joined the Fairytale Town board as it expands its park including the Story Center which will foster early literacy in young children. She also serves on the Advisory Council of the Unity Center at The California Museum, and the United Way’s Steering Committee for the Square One Project to increase the number of kids graduating from high school ready for college success and beyond. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and is an American Leadership Forum – Mountain Valley Chapter Senior Fellow.
Enriquez will assume her duties as CEO on May 20, 2019.
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Contact: Annette Leifer
559 493-8522
aleifer@centralvalleyfoundation.org