Board of Trustees
Board President
A strategic thinker, focused on both relationship building and the bottom line, Halina Avery has long served nonprofits with arts and educational missions. As a professional opera singer for many years, navigating gig work, while separately and simultaneously serving as a trustee at the Durfee Foundation, Halina developed experience sitting on “either side of the table” in the nonprofit world. At decision making tables she advocates drawing upon diverse perspectives in the service of finding best solutions. She has seen especially, how artists and the arts offer insights to unearth and tackle problems and wants to see arts representatives involved in more decision making conversations, specifically in non-arts focused fields.
Most recently, Halina became a Founding Donor of Angel City Impact (the giving initiative of LA’s National Women’s Soccer League team, Angel City Football Club). In 2018, along with two brothers, she launched the Under the Sun Foundation and Candlewood Arts Festival. Halina sits on the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Music, is a founding member of Columbia Business School’s Women’s Circle and serves on the board of Opera on the Avalon, a woman founded and led company focused on developing new works both live and recorded.
Halina holds a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She resides in Santa Monica, CA with her wife, Kim, and their teen daughter.
Board Vice President
Theo works as an attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana. He obtained his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 2014. Prior to that, in 2010, he graduated from University of Redlands with a B.A. in Philosophy. Theo enjoys hiking, reading, movies, and spending time with his family.
Treasurer
Michael Newkirk is an alumnus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and the Ph.D. program in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology. He resides in Pasadena with his wife, Olivia Garfield, and three children.
Michael’s previous work in physics includes a two-year postdoctoral position in the Optoelectronics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories (now Nokia Bell Labs) in New Jersey. His most recent work is at Emcore Corporation in Alhambra, California, where he is Senior Staff Scientist in the Advanced Development Department.
Secretary
Paula Daniels is Co-founder, Chief of What’s Next, and Founding Chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, a social enterprise non-profit founded in July of 2015 as a national spin-off from the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, which Paula founded in 2011. After decades as a successful private-sector attorney, Paula transitioned to a full-time role in the public and social sectors. Her areas of leadership are in environmental food and water policy. Paula served as Senior Advisor on Food Policy to Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles; as a Los Angeles Public Works Commissioner (a full-time executive position overseeing a large city department); a commissioner with the California Coastal Commission; board member of the California Bay-Delta Authority (overseeing the California State Water Project); and as a commissioner with the California Water Commission.
Trustee
Saundra Bryant is the former Executive Director of All Peoples Community Center, a position she held for forty years. All Peoples is a multi-service non-profit serving children, youth, and families in South Central Los Angeles since 1942. Her first experience with All Peoples was as a two-year-old in their daycare facility. Saundra attended Cal Poly Pomona and received her BS in Social Work. She attained her Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration and Planning from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She retired in 2023 and looks forward to spending more time with her husband and grandchildren. Saundra enjoys reading, cooking, and traveling.
Trustee
Doug Newkirk represents the fourth generation of trustees. He holds an English degree from Colby College and is putting his writing and communication skills to use as an elementary teacher. He lives in the SF Bay Area with his lovely wife Thais and their many pets.
Trustee
Debra Suh has worked for nonprofit organizations for over three decades to build a safer and more equitable society. As the executive director of the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF), an organization founded to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence in the immigrant Asian/Pacific Islander community, she addressed the intersections of gender and racial/ethnic inequity for over 23 years. In November 2024, she became the CEO of the YWCA of Glendale and Pasadena, cities where she raised her two children and grew up, respectively. Debra also serves on the board of the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence and Sequoyah School.
Staff
Chief Executive Officer
Maria Cabildo (she/her) is a lifelong Angelena. Born and raised in East Los Angeles. She has a long career in public service. She has held positions in the philanthropic, nonprofit, private, and government sectors, including co-founder and CEO of the East LA Community Corporation (ELACC) from 1999 – 2015. She received both a Sabbatical and Stanton fellowship while CEO of ELACC. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, a master’s degree in Urban Planning from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a Certificate in Advanced Environmental Studies from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She lives in Eagle Rock with her two adult children and their cats, Milk & Andaluza.
Director of Programs and Operations
Stella (she/her/hers) currently serves as Director of Programs and Operations at the Durfee Foundation. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communications in 2016 and a Masters of Public Administration in 2017 from the University of Southern California. She was a recipient of the U.S. Fulbright Award in 2017 to serve as an English Teaching Assistant in South Korea.
She is co-chair of the LA API Giving Circle and formerly served on the steering committee of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy’s Los Angeles Chapter. In 2021, she was a recipient of Women Cross DMZ’s inaugural Feminist Korea Peace Fellowship, awarded to young leaders dedicated to creating peace on the Korean Peninsula. She has previously held positions with the Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Koreatown Youth and Community Center, and USC Annenberg’s Metamorphosis Project.
Program Manager
Yvonne Macias (she/her/hers) is a Program Manager at the Durfee Foundation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in science management-public health from Claremont McKenna College in 2022.
During her time in college, she worked as a Research Assistant, and later as a Program Manager, at the Kravis Lab for Social Impact. She also participated in the Second Day Impact Fellowship, a program that supports college seniors as they find a career related to social change. Additionally, she completed various internships with nonprofit organizations across the U.S., helping her learn about the important work nonprofits strive to accomplish.
During her spare time, you can find Yvonne planning out her next adventure.
Manager of Learning and Communications
Elmer (he/him/his) currently serves as Manager of Learning and Communications at the Durfee Foundation. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2020 from Harvard University.
Prior to working for the Durfee Foundation, Elmer was an analyst at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), a non-profit organization that provides data and insight to help philanthropic funders improve their effectiveness. In this role, Elmer analyzed large-scale quantitative and qualitative data sets, managed client relationships, and presented assessment insights to a range of foundation clients in the U.S. and abroad. Before CEP, Elmer served as a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he helped examine the precarious working conditions of U.S. service sector workers and the consequences of employer practices on various employee outcomes. In his spare time, Elmer enjoys photography, listening to music and podcasts, and eating desserts.