In her role as executive vice president, strategy, policy and community action, Gina D. Dalma is responsible for leading SVCF’s public policy agenda at the regional, state and national level. SVCF’s California lobbying work is centered around education, affordable housing, immigration, equity and justice and economic security. In Washington, D.C., SVCF is a leading voice on topics that advance the philanthropic sector.
Gina was pivotal in the passage of the California Mathematics Placement Act of 2015, signed into law by Gov. Brown on Oct. 5, 2015 and sponsored by Silicon Valley Community Foundation. She serves as a member of the Council on Foundations’ Policy Committee, the League of California Community Foundations’ Policy Committee and Chair of its Housing Committee. She is a national expert on how philanthropy engages in public policy to drive impact.
Prior to her promotion to special advisor in 2015, Gina was SVCF’s director of grantmaking. In that role, she led the grantmaking team using a diverse set of tools, including strategic investments, to solve our region’s most challenging problems. She also led SVCF’s education grantmaking strategy, as well as the Silicon Valley Common Core Initiative.
Prior to joining SVCF, Gina was director of innovation at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. Before moving to the United States, Gina held several positions related to urban economic development and regulatory economics in the federal and state public sector in Mexico.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from ITAM in Mexico City, a Master of Science in economics from the University of London and a Master of Arts in international policy studies from Stanford University. She is an American Leadership Forum Fellow. She resides in Palo Alto with her husband and has two wonderful children whom are out exploring the world. Gina’s personal interests include politics, art, yoga and traveling. Follow her on Twitter at @ginadalma.