Inside the Foundation: Meet Angie & Ashley
Our small-but-mighty staff team at The Libra Foundation has grown to three! Meet Angie Chen & Ashley Clark and check out their responses to a few casual questions.
Angie Chen, Senior Program Officer
Q: What is your role at The Libra Foundation?
A: My primary role is to build relationships with our existing grantee partners to understand how we can better support their work to build community power and advance social justice. I also apply the learnings from our grantee partners to work with our team in refining the Foundation’s grant-making approach. And, I explore new organizations and coalitions in the Foundation’s program areas.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working at The Libra Foundation?
A: I *really* enjoy my conversations with our grantee partners. There is so much going on in our world right now that is disheartening and disturbing. When I walk out of a meeting or get off the phone after chatting with one of our grantee partners (and I’m doing a lot of those right now!), I feel so energized and hopeful. It’s an honor to support their work and learn from them.
Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: I love being outside! My childhood dream was to be a park ranger, and I spent one summer working with the National Park Service in Yosemite. Closer to home, you can find me most days on Bernal Hill with my big, enthusiastic dog.
Ashley Clark, Knowledge & Grants Manager
Q: What is your role at The Libra Foundation?
A: I manage the operations of the Foundation with a focus on refining our processes to be as clear, respectful, and streamlined as possible for our grantee partners. I manage our grants database and knowledge management efforts, and I am the captain of our emerging communications efforts.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working at The Libra Foundation?
A: The Libra Foundation has been making grants for 15 years, but in so many ways we’re also a startup. We’re a brand new team figuring out new processes and making decisions about which systems to use. We’re designing a new team culture, and there’s a great appetite for testing new approaches and eliminating practices in philanthropy that don’t serve anyone well. That’s such a breath of fresh air! Being a part of a small, nimble team also means that we have the opportunity to work on a range of diverse projects, which I really enjoy.
Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: Two things: I am in my happy place when I am on my yoga mat. I try to practice as much vinyasa flow as I possibly can! The other thing I love to do is go for walks or hikes near the ocean with my family.
You can find a press release announcing Ashley & Angie as new hires here.