Shawn Ginwright and Bishop Minerva Carcaño
The California Endowment announced the election of Shawn Ginwright, PhD, a leading national expert on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development, as the private, statewide foundation’s Board Chair. Also elected as Vice Chair is Bishop Minerva Carcaño, Sacramento, California-based Bishop for the United Methodist Church (UMC), California-Nevada Conference, with expertise in theology, social justice, immigration, youth issues, advocacy, and race relations.
Dr. Ginwright serves as the CEO and Cofounder of Flourish Agenda, a social impact company that supports schools and community organizations with building well-being and healthy school climates. He is a Senior Research Associate at the Cesar Chavez Institute for Public Policy in San Francisco, California and Professor of Education in the Africana Studies Department at San Francisco State University. Dr. Ginwright currently also serves on the board of directors at Confluence Philanthropy.
He has received numerous prestigious awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship from the U.S. State Department. In 2017, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California’s premier arts institution, named him as one of the nation’s 100 Most Influential Thought Leaders for shaping the future of America by “promoting radical healing, hope, and imagination.” He has spoken to audiences at Carnegie Hall, the Aspen Institute, Harvard University, Columbia University, and brings a renewed urgency to support American’s young people.
He is the author of “Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Activists and Teachers are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart”, “Black in School- Afrocentric Reform, Black Youth and the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture”, and co-editor of “Beyond Resistance!: Youth Resistance and Community Change: New Democratic Possibilities for Practice and Policy for America’s Youth” and “Black Youth Rising, Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America.” Mr. Ginwright’s research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and justice in their schools and communities.
Bishop Carcaño serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Council on Foreign Relations Religious Advisory Committee, the Southwest Industrial Education Fund Advisory Board, the Africa University Board of Trustees, and the General Council on Finance and Administration of the world-wide United Methodist Church. While serving as the bishop of the Los Angeles Area of The United Methodist Church she was an active member of the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders.
She is an internationally recognized immigrant rights advocate and an Auburn Senior Fellow. She has published articles on the rights of migrants in the Huffington Post and The Hill and has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. Bishop Carcaño has also long been an advocate for the full rights and inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons joining her efforts to the work of such organizations as the Human Rights Campaign. She also collaborates with the work of the Children’s Defense Fund.
Bishop Carcaño has been honored with the New Mexico Council of Churches Turquoise Award, Order of the Sisters of Loretto’s Mary Rhodes Award, Auburn School of Theology’s Lives of Commitment Award, the Arizona Interfaith Movement’s Golden Rule Religious Award, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles’ Women Leading Change Award, and the Leadership Award of the Los Angeles United Methodist Museum of Social Justice. A water station in the Sonoran Desert bearing Bishop Carcaño’s name was placed there by the Humane Borders organization in recognition of her efforts to save the lives of immigrants crossing this often-treacherous land seeking life and hope.
Contact: Jeff Okey
Phone: 213.928.8622
Email: jokey@calendow.org
Jennifer Lin
Jennifer Lin has been promoted to Program Officer at Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Ms. Lin joined the foundation in early 2018 as a Senior Program Manager, and she quickly established herself as a vital partner on many projects in support of its mission. In her new role, Ms. Lin will lead its Collaborating for Healthy Communities initiative, working to advance multi-sector collaboration as an approach to address the complex root causes of poor health and domestic violence in communities across California.
Ms. Lin brings an incredible thoughtfulness and empathy to her work—qualities that are essential for understanding the complexities we seek to address. The foundation team looks forward to seeing her take on this new role, and to having her leading an area so critical to improving the health and safety of California communities.
Contact: Carolyn Wang Kong
Email: bscfpublicaffairs@blueshieldcafoundation.org