Kylie Clark, Policy & Advocacy Manager, SVCN
Kylie is an experienced advocate who has always had a passion for nonprofit work. After getting her start as an outreach case manager for people who are homeless, she realized that the power for true and lasting change lies in the world of advocacy and policy. This led her to build a new advocacy program at West Valley Community Services. She took a break from policy to get a Master’s in Human Rights from Columbia University in New York City, focusing on homelessness and mass incarceration. Outside of work, Kylie is deeply involved with many community groups and nonprofits.

Georgia Farooq, CEO, Thrive Alliance
Georgia is a seasoned nonprofit executive with deep experience leading organizational growth and cross-sector collaboration. Since 2016, she has served as Executive Director of Thrive Alliance, strengthening the nonprofit, public, and private partnerships that support San Mateo County and beyond. Previously, she was CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside and held senior roles with the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership and Stonehill College. She serves on the boards of the Palo Alto Community Fund and Leadership Council San Mateo County, advises AbilityPath and the SF Urban Film Festival, and is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, Class XLI.

Kyra Kazantzis, CEO, SVCN
Kyra has been a long-time nonprofit professional, community leader, and public servant in our Silicon Valley community. Previous to her role at SVCN, she was senior policy advisor in the City of San José’s Mayor’s office, focused on housing and homelessness, and, before that, directing attorney at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, leading teams of public interest attorneys in high impact policy advocacy and litigation. Kyra has a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and a BA from the University of Arizona. Kyra is an American Leadership Forum senior fellow, a recipient of the SCCBA Professional Lawyer of the Year, and a Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Influence.

Gianella Ordoñez, Policy & Advocacy Associate, SVCN
Gianella is a South Bay native born and raised in Sunnyvale, CA. She is a proponent of socioeconomic equality and affordable housing development and earned her B.S. in Political Science and Communication from Santa Clara University. She began her nonprofit career as a Communication Intern for The Harvest Fund, managing their blog and writing stories on successfully utilizing agriculture to support female farmers in Zambia. Before joining SVCN, Gianella worked as a Marketing and Research Assistant for the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship upholding values of global citizenship and economic empowerment. She also had the opportunity to intern for Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff in San Francisco researching legislation on affordable housing and immigration.

Yajaira Ortega, Policy and Equity Senior Manager, Thrive Alliance
Yajaira is passionate about bringing innovative social change to her community. In the last couple years she received her bachelor's degree and completed a year in the Coro Fellow Program in Public Affairs, a full-time, graduate-level, experiential leadership program focused on building effective leadership through 6-week consulting projects in government, nonprofit, labor, and business. She is excited about the opportunity of continuing her growth and development with Thrive. Yajaira works on Civic Engagement & Redistricting Initiatives for communities of the Peninsula.