Two Top Educators, Venture Capital Specialist, Award-Winning Journalist & Author

Oakland, CA, August 10, 2009 – The East Bay Community Foundation has appointed to its Board of Directors the Vice Chancellor for Administration, at University of California, Berkeley; the President of Los Medanos College; a noted specialist in venture capital finance; and the former Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine.

"We are thrilled to strengthen the Foundation’s governing board with the addition of these prominent and highly skilled individuals, all of whom are deeply committed to the Foundation’s role as the center of philanthropy in the East Bay," said Board Chair Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, the President & Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin.

The Foundation manages about $325 million in charitable funds for some 500 individuals, families and corporations, and advises those fund holders on their philanthropy. It also focuses grantmaking from its own endowment and organizes initiatives on advancing economic opportunity for adults and families in need and on ensuring very young children are successful in the education system so they have economic opportunity when they become adults.

The four newly appointed board members are:

NATHAN BROSTROM, Vice Chancellor for Administration at University of California, Berkeley (UCB). He is responsible for advising the Chancellor and the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost on matters relating to budget and resource management, health and human services, and fiscal planning -- both operating and capital. Before joining UCB, he served for 10 years as Managing Director and Manager of the Western Region Public Finance group of JP Morgan. He has also served as a banker for higher education and cultural institutions such as the University of California, Stanford University and the Getty Trust. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford and holds an M.A. degree in public and international affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.

PETER GARCIA, President of Los Medanos College in Pittsburg. Garcia has also served as the college’s Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, Dean of Economic Development, Dean of Humanistic Studies, faculty researcher, philosophy instructor, and offensive line coach during his 23 years of service. His professional experiences include ministry and stints as a drug counselor, job developer, and community organizer. His understanding of eastern Contra Costa County comes from his community involvement as the President of the East County Boys and Girls Club Board, a member of the Sutter Delta Medical Center Board, and the Board President of One Day at Time – a gang prevention program with local youth. He is a graduate of Pittsburg High School, and a long time resident of the community. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Dominican School Of Philosophy and Theology, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from St. Albert’s College and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from California State University, Chico.

DONALD C. REINKE, a Partner at the law firm of Reed Smith, LLP. He is a Deputy Chair of the firm’s Global Emerging Company/Venture Capital practice. He has extensive experience as a corporate lawyer in the areas of venture capital finance, public securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and other general corporate representation of technology start-up and emerging growth companies, as well as venture capital and private equity funds. He has previously been designated as a Northern California "Super Lawyer" by the publication Law & Politics and his work has been published in a number of journals, including California Business Law Practitioner. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, including the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center and Board member, past Board Chair of Inner City Advisors and member of the California State Bar Corporations Committee. He holds a B.A. cum laude from Pomona College and a J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law.

HELEN ZIA, an award-winning journalist and scholar who has covered Asian American communities and social and political movements for decades. She is the author of Asian American Dreams:The Emergence of an American People, which was a finalist for the prestigious Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize. She is co-author, along with Wen Ho Lee, of My Country Versus Me, which reveals what happened to the Los Alamos scientist who was falsely accused of being a spy for China. Zia is a former Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine. Her articles, essays and reviews have appeared in many publications, books and anthologies, while her work against hate crimes and anti-Asian violence is documented in the Academy-Award-nominated film, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" Her work has won many journalism awards for her ground-breaking stories, including subjects such as date rape and women who join neo-Nazi organizations. She is a member of Princeton University’s first graduating class of women. After completing two years of medical school, she quit and worked as a construction laborer, an autoworker, and a community organizer before becoming a writer. She has an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the City University of New York for her work in bringing matters of law and civil rights into public view.

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