All of Community Partners' current staff are listed on this page.

Please note that emails are provided, but with spaces on either side of the @ symbol -- this is to reduce the amount of spam we receive. To email a Community Partners staffperson, copy the emails listed below, paste into your email software and remove the spaces. 

Paul has spent the last 24 years working in the fields of management, planning, communications, training and organizational development for businesses, public agencies, foundations and public interest groups. He has advised on the management of corporate and foundation giving programs and facilitated strategy planning with executive teams and directors of business, grant making and community organizations. For eight years he served on the staff of the California Community Foundation, a major Southern California regional grant making institution. He left the role of executive vice president in 1990 to join the Newport Beach-based Wilson Consulting Group as a senior consultant chiefly working with management teams of small to medium-sized businesses in the home-building and commercial development fields. In 1992, the founding board of Community Partners asked Paul to lead the start-up effort that resulted in the establishment of Community Partners as a springboard for social and civic entrepreneurs, emerging groups and community initiatives in Southern California. He taught aspects of planning in the voluntary nonprofit sector to graduate-level masters candidates at the University of Southern California from 1996 to 2004. As a community volunteer, Paul chairs the board of directors of Pasadena-based Furious Theatre Company, serves on the executive committee of Coro Southern California’s board of directors, coaches soccer for AYSO’s Glendale-La Crescenta Region, and advises the multi-disciplinary performing arts organization known as About Productions.

Gina supports the Incubator Services Team in all activities pertaining to the management, support, and training of Community Partners' projects. She is also assistant to the President & CEO. 

Gina is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in International Development and English.  While a student, she was actively involved with Korean Campus Crusade for Christ, an international student ministry devoted to sharing the gospel message.  Through her involvement, she had the opportunity to teach English at Burapha University in Thailand, as well as volunteer at orphanages in Chonburi, Thailand and in Korea.  Gina also served for five years as staff and mentor to junior high and high school students at Irvine "All Nations" Church in Orange County.

 Prior to Community Partners, Gina interned at the U.S. Department of Education's Early Childhood and Reading Group, The Broad Foundation, and worked as a law clerk for Trabolsi & Levy, PC.

David assists the finance team with budgets, contracts and special projects. David grew up in Portland, Oregon and moved to southern California to attend Pomona College, where he studied political science. While a student, he volunteered with a variety of nonprofit organizations, working specifically with the homeless population of the city of Pomona. David and a group of friends began a program where students at the Claremont Colleges could donate a portion of their board money to provide lunches for homeless men and women. This project led to an internship with the Inland Valley Council of Churches, where he case managed families transitioning out of homelessness. In addition, David has volunteered with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the Los Angeles Urban Project, and America Reads. Before coming to Community Partners, David worked in finance with Wells Fargo Bank.  

Janet oversees all administrative and financial operations for Community Partners, including financial processing and reporting, human resources management, regulatory compliance and risk management.

Prior to joining Community Partners in 1994, Janet acquired 20 years of managerial and finance experience in trusts and estates with Bank of America and City National Bank. In addition, she has served for many years in a leadership capacity on the board and as an active volunteer of local nonprofit organizations including Soroptimist International of Los Angeles, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Janet is a Certified Financial Planner, has a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Linda oversees Community Partners’ programs, which provide assistance and support to nonprofit organizations, networks and collaboratives, and directs Community Partners’ communications efforts. Linda also manages Community Partners’ technology-related program activities and speaks publicly about issues related to nonprofits and technology. Linda has many years of nonprofit management experience, including program development and planning, leadership development, financial oversight, fund development, and training. Much of her focus has been in the areas of technology, education, children’s issues and building individual and organizational capacity. She has served as a consultant to many nonprofit and for-profit organizations, working with them on programmatic and administrative challenges and at various stages in their organization life cycles. Linda also worked in the banking industry specializing in real estate and corporate lending. She has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BA from Pomona College. Her volunteer activities include serving on several boards and advisory groups, and spearheading an organizing effort in her own neighborhood.

Cynthia oversees a portfolio of incubator projects and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining Community Partners, she worked as a policy director for a trade association of community-based human service agencies. Previously, she spent seven years in the field of philanthropy, making grants to community organizing, advocacy, and start-up projects in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods. She also planned new grantmaking and technical assistance initiatives and ran a summer internship in philanthropy. Cynthia has served as a consultant to nonprofit organizations and to the New York City Department of Homeless Services, and started her career as a community organizer and fundraiser for ACORN. She has served on the boards of Interfaith Funders and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy. Cynthia is a graduate of Brown University and has a Master’s of Public Administration in public and nonprofit management from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.  

Judy Harper is Program Director at Community Partners, responsible for managing a portfolio of nonprofit incubator projects and identifying, developing and leading new projects and strategic initiatives. Judy brings nearly 20 years experience in the non-profit sector, providing organizational development support, designing programs and developing resources for a wide range of nonprofit initiatives. Judy previously served as Associate Director for the Border Philanthropy Partnership at the Synergos Institute, directed community development programs at MAAC Project’s affordable housing communities, was Program Officer for San Diego Dialogue’s cross-border and regional collaborative projects and served as Associate Director for Development at the San Diego Repertory Theatre.  Judy was also an adult instructor at the Cesar Chávez Continuing Education Center. Judy is a founding board member of the Media Arts Center San Diego. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Occidental College and Masters of Art degrees in Latin American Studies and Regional Planning from UCLA. A former Fulbright Fellow in Mexico and San Diego Rotary Club Ambassadorial Scholar in Brazil, Judy speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese.

Estella oversees the monitoring and administration of government contracts and grants awarded to incubated projects and strategic initiatives. In addition, she reviews independent contracts, and provides assistance and overall support to the Human Resources and Administrative Departments.

Estella has five years experience in government grants and administrative needs. Prior to joining the Community Partners team, Estella spent eight years as part of a multi funded non-profit organization that provides entertainment industry related classes to at-risk youth. For the latter six of those years, Estella managed and reported on all accounting requirements, as well as provided support to the Administrative Director.   

Angela supports the administration of a variety of Community Partners’ projects. She is primarily engaged with the work of the Anne & Kirk Douglas Playground Award, a matching grants program for Los Angeles Unified Schools.

Angela’s interest in the nonprofit sector was sparked by an internship with El Centro de Accion Social, a local nonprofit organization in Pasadena.  It was there that she gained first hand experience in community outreach and grant research to better the community.  

Angela is committed to youth and education and has worked as a teacher’s assistant and tutor. Angela is an active volunteer with A.P.P.L.E / IDEPSCA, another Pasadena nonprofit organization. There she teaches an ESL class and works diligently to raise awareness about social injustices particularly in the Latino community.  Angela holds a Political Science degree from the University of California at Riverside.

Karen provides support to the Finance and Administration team and is responsible for accounts payable for all incubator and strategic initiatives projects.  

Her experience spans a variety of educational nonprofits with a history that includes not only programmatic work but development and maintenance of budgets of various sizes for several programs. Prior to joining Community Partners, Karen volunteered with an incubator project, developing a budget, tracking expenses, and assisting with grant proposals.  Karen worked at UCLA assisting in the administration of a system-wide outreach effort to increase the presence of underrepresented students at the University of California. Karen’s verve for education is further demonstrated by her passion for literacy which she has cultivated by coordinating a family involvement early literacy program and tutoring adult ESL students. Karen is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in Sociology.

 Eric conducts workshops on program and advisory board development, fundraising, and other topics designed to meet the needs of Community Partners’ projects. Eric also provides individualized technical assistance to Project Leaders on specific program planning and development issues. In collaboration with the Incubator Services team, Eric delivers monthly planning workshops which guide prospective project leaders in developing a Community Partners proposal.

Prior to joining Community Partners, Eric worked at ExED, a nonprofit organization that provides business services to developing and operating public charter schools in underserved neighborhoods. Eric assisted teachers, parents, and community groups interested in developing charter schools. He has also worked at Public Counsel Law Center on the Community Development Project and with the UCLA School Management Program. Eric holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California Santa Barbara.

 Shehzeen provides assistance to the Strategic Initiatives and Finance Department of Community Partners. Shehzeen is also in charge of greeting guests and the first line of response, fielding Community Partners inquiries.

Prior to Community Partners Shehzeen was an intern at CAIR-Council on American Islamic Relations. During her time there, she organized the first annual Public Policy Internship Luncheon, set up many “Know Your Rights Forums,” and helped plan CAIR conferences.

Shehzeen is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in Political Science and concentration in International Relations. During her time at UCLA, Shehzeen was involved with M.A.P.S, Mentors for Academic and Peer Support. While at M.A.P.S, she facilitated academic and community workshops, tutoring, community service oriented field trips, and parent events. As a peer advisor, Shehzeen would also hold peer advising sessions with students from a high school in Watts.

 Matt provides financial management, operations, human resources management and general administrative oversight to Community Partners. Matt also works closely with project leaders, teaching them how to develop project budgets.  

Before joining Community Partners, Matt was a Senior Manager of Finance and Operations for the Brookings Institution's Center for Executive Education in Washington, D.C. Matt has a Masters in Business Administration and Public Policy from Pepperdine University, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree from CSU Chico in Sociology. 

Lupe provides project leaders with individualized technical assistance and facilitates internal and external trainings in program planning, board development, proposal writing, and evaluation. Lupe is also instrumental in facilitating peer networking meetings for Pacific Life Foundation’s Capacity Building grantees.

In addition to her work at Community Partners, Lupe has served as a reader for the Proposition 10 Commission, a selection panelist for Public Allies LA and on the steering committee for the Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month for the City of Los Angeles. Lupe continues to be active in the community, serving on the board of the Asian Business League. She received a dual degree from the University of Southern California in International Relations and Spanish.

Patricia supports all activities of the Finance and Administration Team as well as helping the incubator program with any of their inquiries.

Patricia joined Community Partners with knowledge of the non-profit sector. She interned at Public Counsel, the largest pro bono law office in the nation, in the summer of 2005. There she learned the fundamentals of nonprofit projects. She is currently attending Los Angeles City College, with her goal of attending the University of Los Angeles.