2022 WJZ Award Selection Committee:

Ashley Gallegos
Ashley Gallegos is the Belonging Coordinator at the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley. Ashley approaches Belonging through the lens of a growth mindset and believes that we can all contribute to a world where we all belong. She works to steadily learn from belonging research as well as through the application of the concepts in real life expressions. Ashley finds great joy in learning from others on how they are implementing belonging and coordinating collective efforts towards its attainment.

James W. Head, Esq.
James W. Head is a seasoned & entrepreneurial leader with executive-level managerial and legal experience in the fields of philanthropy and grantmaking; nonprofit management and technical assistance; community and economic development; public/private/philanthropic partnerships; and social justice and public interest law.

James served as President & Chief Executive Officer of the East Bay Community Foundation for nearly 7 years, an Oakland California based Community Foundation that partners with donors, social movements, and the community at large to eliminate structural barriers, advance racial equality, and transform political, social, and economic outcomes for all who call the East Bay home. Prior to that, he served for 10 years as Vice President of Programs for the San Francisco Foundation, where he spearheaded regional initiatives on race, equity, poverty, housing, economic development, and youth development.

Under James’ 7 years of leadership at East Bay, while doubling the assets of the Foundation, EBCF was one of the first Community Foundations in the country to establish a donor grants policy that prohibited donor grants to organizations identified as engaging in hate and/or discriminatory activities. Also, EBCF was one of the first Community Foundations to design a leadership and financial sustainability program for Black-Led Organizations (ASCEND-BLO) in the Bay Area. Lastly, in 2019 EBCF was named “The Boldest Community Foundation in the United States” by Inside Philanthropy for its grantmaking focus on movement building and organizing.

As a social justice advocate and lawyer, James has devoted his life to supporting the power and voice of people of color, and in particular the building of relationships among and between people and Communities of color. In 2021 EBCF, in collaboration with the New Breath Foundation, was among the first foundations in the Bay Area to publicly call out the rising incidents of hate and violence towards AAPI Communities in a joint letter that was signed on by numerous other Bay Area foundations. We then worked together to immediately identify strategies and resources to support both the AAPI victims of violence, as well as funding for AAPI advocacy and policy organizations. Key to the collaborative message in the letter was the need for deeper dialogue and commitment between the African-American and AAPI Communities to work together to address hate and violence, and to support each other.

James is a nationally known speaker and resource in philanthropy and law, with special expertise in economic development, racial diversity/inclusion, and racial/gender equity, and lives in Oakland, California with his wife, Bernida Reagan.

Mahvash Hassan
Mahvash Hassan facilitates collaborative equity-centered systems change efforts and develops and delivers equity and inclusion trainings for government agencies and public participation practitioners. Her clients include state and local governments, philanthropy, and nonprofits. At the Institute for Local Government, she facilitated multi-stakeholder planning processes to establish local government offices of immigrant affairs and developed curriculum and resources to drive equity, language justice and immigrant civic engagement in California’s communities.

Mahvash’s practice is informed by her lived experience and projects that aim to center the voices of people of color including immigrants and refugees. Recent projects include: developing a Racial Equity Action Plan and Racial Equity Toolkit for a state agency, leading the COVID 19 African American Education and Outreach Partnership, a national community-centered public-philanthropic project and facilitating the East Contra Costa STRONG Funders’ Collaborative, a collaboration of six Bay Area foundations working to increase racial equity, economic justice, and public and philanthropic investments.

Mahvash serves on the Bates College Alumni Council, is a mentor with Oakland Promise, the former board chair for Welcoming America and former president and board member of a local community group committed to antiracist education and advocacy. Mahvash holds a M.P.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science from Bates College.

Retha Robinson
Retha Robinson has been the Director of the Koshland Program of The San Francisco Foundation since 1999. The Koshland Program is a neighborhood leadership program that is working toward promoting civic unity and leadership development, encouraging civic participation, developing neighborhood partnerships, and celebrating unsung community heroes. Through her work with the Program, Retha has witnessed its evolution and pioneered some of its lasting innovations.

Retha works primarily in community building efforts throughout Bay Area neighborhoods. Before working with the Koshland Program, she felt a strong affinity to the central values of the program and watched it take shape at The San Francisco Foundation. She was drawn to working with community leaders and the direct engagement within the neighborhoods.

Retha understands her role as director only goes as deep as her roots in the community. She was born and raised in San Francisco, and she is motivated by her memories of growing up on a block where neighbors looked out for one another. She wants to reinvigorate that sense of community in the Koshland neighborhoods.

Retha is a member of the Black Funders Network, the Association of Black Foundation Executives, Neighborhood Funders Group, and Leadership Funders Network She is an advisory member of Bay Area Women and Children’s Resource Center, California Black Freedom Fund, D.R.E.A.M. Financial Academy, and Magic Cabinet.

Tom Zellerbach
Tom Zellerbach is the Board Chair of the Zellerbach Family Foundation, which for over 65 years has sought to be a catalyst for constructive social change by initiating and investing in efforts that strengthen families and communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tom was a partner at the international law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP where for 30 years he represented both Fortune 100 and emerging companies in protecting their intellectual property. He also represented individuals and non-profit organizations pro bono in diverse matters ranging from tenants’ rights in San Francisco to appellate work before the Missouri Supreme Court in a case that resulted in a landmark decision allowing gun sellers to face liability for negligently selling firearms. Tom received his Juris Doctor degree cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Colorado College.
Before attending law school, Tom worked for eight years at Progress Foundation, a San Francisco non-profit organization helping those experiencing mental illness to effectively maintain their life in the community.

Tom is a fifth-generation San Franciscan whose great grandfather, grandfather, and father all passed down the imperative to give back to the community for the opportunities provided to the family starting when Tom’s great great grandfather emigrated from Germany and arrived nearly penniless in San Francisco in the mid-1800’s.