Board Transitions at NFG
Neighborhood Funders Group is steered by a passionate and talented board of directors who help fulfill our mission of organizing philanthropy to support grassroots power building so that communities of color and low-income communities thrive.
This year, we will sadly bid a fond farewell to Andrea Dobson, Chief Operating & Financial Officer of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, as she finishes her term serving as Treasurer of the board. Fortunately, we are also welcoming three new NFG members to the board: Cory Anderson, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation; Judith Bell, The San Francisco Foundation; and Sandra Martínez, The California Wellness Foundation.
Rev. Cory S. Anderson is the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation’s (WRF) executive vice president responsible for the cultivation of local and national partners, special initiatives, and strategy development. Previously, Cory supported state-level child advocacy organizations and helped lead the KIDSCOUNT Initiative at The Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to working for The Annie E. Casey Foundation during his time away from Arkansas, Cory was manager of partner development at the Forum for Youth Investment in Washington, D.C. Cory is married to Dr. Phillis Nichols-Anderson, CEO of a national educational management organization. He is pursuing a master’s degree in theology from Anderson University.
Judith Bell is the Vice President of Programs at The San Francisco Foundation. Judith brings extensive experience in strategic planning and policy development, with a focus on economic and social equity. Previously, Judith was the President of PolicyLink, where she worked to develop the organization into a national leader on a range of equity issues, with her particular focus being policy development and campaign strategy at the local, state, and national levels. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s of public administration from Harvard University.
Sandra J. Martínez is Director of Public Policy at The California Wellness Foundation. In this capacity, she plans, coordinates and oversees Cal Wellness’ public policy activities as a means of advancing its mission, achieving its goals and amplifying the impact of its grantmaking. She is responsible for grantmaking related to advancing public policy, which addresses health issues from a systemic perspective and supports efforts focused on improving policies or conditions using activities such as education, advocacy, civic engagement and policy analysis. She received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and her master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Andrea Dehlendorf is Co-Executive Director of United for Respect, a national organization building power for people working in low wage jobs by centering their voices, experiences and solutions in the national movement fighting for the future of work, our economy and corporate regulation. With Andrea’s fierce leadership, United for Respect organizes people employed at the country’s largest employers to amplify their demands on corporate leaders in the service economy and policymakers to provide family-sustaining jobs. United for Respect leverages technology — social media and a new digital platform, WorkIt — to support people working in retail by bringing them into communities of support and action with one another. Through online peer networks and on-the-ground base-building strategies, United for Respect scaffolds the leadership and stories of working people to advocate for solutions to the pressing needs of the country’s massive low-wage workforce.
A native of Nashville, Odessa Kelly works diligently to bring positive and equitable change to the Nashville community by serving as co-chair for Stand Up Nashville, a coalition of community-based organizations and labor unions that represent the working people of Nashville who have seen our city transformed by development, but have not shared in the benefits of that growth. She also serves as Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH), Economic Equity & Jobs task force chair. Her work with NOAH has included building one of the largest and most powerful social justice movements in Nashville. She has advocated for the working class and underserved communities in Nashville, issues ranging from affordable housing to establishing the first ever Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in the state of Tennessee. She believes that Nashville has the potential to achieve a progressive paradigm shift -- a cultural shift in how a traditional southern city becomes a leader in the progressive movement across the country.
Enrique "Kike" Balcazar immigrated to the United States from Tabasco, Mexico when he was 17 years old. He joined his parents on a dairy farm in rural Vermont and worked for years on farms across the state. Enrique joined Migrant Justice and became a leader in the successful campaign to expand access to driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants in Vermont. He became part of the organization's Farmworker Coordinating Committee and is now an organizer and spokesperson. Enrique is one of the principal architects of Milk with Dignity, a worker-led program securing human rights and economic justice in dairy supply chains. In 2017, during a national campaign calling on Ben & Jerry's to join the program, Enrique and fellow organizer Zully Palacios were arrested by ICE agents while leaving the Migrant Justice office. A wave of protests won their release from detention, though Enrique remains in deportation proceedings. Despite the government's persecution, Enrique continued to lead the Milk with Dignity campaign to victory, signing a historic contract with Ben & Jerry's in October, 2017. 
Luna Ranjit’s work is rooted in the community. For more than a decade, Luna guided Adhikaar's programs, research, policy advocacy, and partnerships, building visibility and power for the emerging Nepali-speaking immigrant community. As a co-founder of the New York Healthy Nail Salons Coalition, she helped lead the way for the sweeping changes to improve working conditions in the nail salon industry. She also served on the advisory board of the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salons Alliance. Luna has been quoted and featured in print and broadcast media on the issues related to workers’ rights, immigrant rights, language justice, and civic engagement. Her groundbreaking work has been recognized by many community organizations and elected officials. In 2016, she received the Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize created to support and inspire innovative social change makers throughout the world.
As an organizer in New Orleans, Alfred works to win back power for structurally unemployed and underemployed Black men and women through campaigns to achieve higher wages and better standards in his community. Through Alfred’s tremendous organizing campaigns, he has helped win local hiring on post-Katrina public construction and development projects, a “Ban the Box” rule, and a living wage and paid sick leave ordinance for individuals employed under city contracts. “By sitting down and talking with other workers at the New Orleans Worker Center, I realized that we’re in this together,” Alfred said. “New Orleans won’t stop. I won’t stop. This award is bigger than I am. It’s all about doing the work on the ground. We’re shaking this world up."
