“Without Community Initiatives, California would not see the impact of hundreds of beneficial projects. They are an important part of our nonprofit landscape.”

Pamela H. David
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
WALTER AND ELISE HAAS FUND
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James Ball
Director of Financial Services
James@CommunityIn.org
415.230.7707


Bringing solid finance, accounting and management skills, James Ball comes to Community Initiatives with a unique variety of experience at many different organizations.  He began his career in the corporate sector developing and refining accounting policies and procedures at entities such as Shorenstein Realty Services and Fisher Development.  James moved into the nonprofit sector when he became a Government Grants Administrator at the Tides Center in San Francisco.  His most recent position prior to joining CI was at KCSM Public TV and Jazz 91 FM in San Mateo, serving as the Accounting and Business Operations Manager. He was responsible for all finance and business activities for both stations, broadcasting in the 6th largest television and radio market in the U.S.  He has participated in many volunteer activities with nonprofits throughout his career including United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties in Washington State.  James’ academic training includes a B.S. in Accounting from Central Washington University. He lives with his spouse William in Brisbane.

 

M. Melanie Beene
President & CEO
Melanie@CommunityIn.org
415.230.7733

During more than three decades of experience in the nonprofit sector, Melanie Beene has served as a management consultant, a development director, philanthropy program officer, board member and volunteer with hundreds of nonprofit organizations throughout the country.  For eight years she managed the Advancement Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. Her foundation clients included the Bush, Ford, Heinz and Packard Foundations, as well as the Pew Charitable Trusts, among others.  She served as Program Director, Arts, for The James Irvine Foundation and for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Her publication, “Autopsy of an Orchestra,” has become a classic case study, and she has written articles for The Reader, Grantmakers in the Arts Newsletter. Her board service includes Bay Area Lawyers for the Arts, Institute of Nonprofit Management (USF), and the Alliance of California Traditional Arts, among others. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Tennessee.  Melanie, a former member of the California Bar Association, lives in San Francisco.



Chris Heinold
Payroll & Accounts Payable Specialist
Chris@CommunityIn.org
415.230.7723

Chris Heinold has many years of experience in his field.  He held a similar position at San Francisco Conservation Corps and at Brience, Inc., a for profit company. Earlier in his career he was a staff accountant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLC.  An easterner by birth, Chris earned a B.A. degree in English at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.  He came west to study at the University of Arizona where he completed two B.S. degrees one in Accounting and one in Finance.  Chris lives in Oakland.



Prudy Kohler
Director of FSP and Philanthropic Services
Prudy@CommunityIn.org
415.230.7700

Arts and education have dominated Prudy Kohler’s career in the nonprofit sector.  For more than 20 years she taught arts and humanities and held administrative positions at the high school and the college level.  She then spent another seven years working in philanthropy as a Program Officer at The James Irvine Foundation.  Most recently Prudy served as interim executive director of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and as interim director of the Cultural Equity Program at the San Francisco Arts Commission.  She is the owner/founder of ART FOR LUNCH, a program that provides hands-on art making workshops for team building in businesses.  Her educational background includes a B.A. in art history from Pomona College and an M.A. also in art history from San Francisco State University. A practicing artist (photo-transfer techniques), Prudy lives in San Francisco.



Vince Peñuela
Accountant
Vince@CommunityIn.org
415.230.7729

Among staff accountant Vince Peñuela’s duties are the preparation of financial statements and accounts receivable. His experience has prepared him well for these responsibilities.  As an investor accounting analyst II for Countrywide Financial Corp., Vince ensured that portfolios and accounts were reconciled by deadlines, and he also ran required reports for investors.  During his accounting clerk internship at Slug Books Co-Op, Vince worked in A/R, A/P, budgeting, and general accounting.  He financed his university education by working in several small companies where he learned business skills. Vince left his native southern California to attend University of California Santa Cruz, where he earned a B.A. in Business Management Economics, with an accounting emphasis.  He lives in Oakland.



Ani Rivera
Compliance Specialist
Ani@CommunityIn.org
415.230.7710

With experience in several San Francisco nonprofit organizations Ani Rivera is well suited to her work with Community Initiatives’ FSPs.  She managed payroll and grant funds for the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and also supervised accounts and served as a teacher at the Cross Cultural Environmental Leadership (XCEL) Academy.  For several years Ani was the business-operations manager for Galleria de la Raza.  Her volunteer activities include participation and performance in the San Francisco Dyke March and events at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.  Fluent in Spanish, Ani also brings strong computer skills to CI.  She is currently enrolled in several courses at City College of San Francisco that will lead to an A.A. degree and eventually a BA.  Originally from southern California, Ani now resides in San Francisco. 



Susan Scarborough
Director of Human Resources & Administration
Susan@Communityin.org
415.230.7717

Susan Scarborough brings rich human resources experiences from a variety of sources.  Most recently she was the Director of HR at Gentiae Clinical Research where she designed and implemented a full spectrum of HR services.  She also served as VP of Human Resources at RadioCentral, Inc. and as VP at Bank of America where she was promoted rapidly into various HR positions.  Susan also provided consulting services in diverse business environments, owned and operated her own financial services search and consulting firm, and built an $18M regional business operation for ITT from scratch.  Her education includes a B.A. in Communications from Antioch College and courses completed toward an M.B.A. in Marketing Management at Golden Gate University.  A midwesterner by birth, Susan now lives in Mill Valley.