We are thrilled that Raquel Donoso has joined Yellow Chair Foundation as Senior Program Officer for Equity in Education. Founded 18 years ago, Yellow Chair Foundation is a Palo Alto-based family foundation. The Foundation funds more than 50 local, national and global organizations working on advancing educational equity, with an emphasis on college access and success for low-income students, and support of public school teachers and school leaders as they build their practice and improve the learning environments for students who are most in need. Other focus areas include promoting civil liberties, civil rights and racial justice, advancing climate change solutions, supporting investigative public interest journalism focused on catalyzing change; focusing on maternal health in the US and elevating global women’s organizations working to build movements at the grassroots level to effect systemic change.
Raquel’s is a visionary, community leader that is passionate about creating a world that supports and empowers children, youth, and families to achieve their dreams. Her professional career has focused on increasing opportunities for first-generation and low-income students. Over time, she has successfully raised nearly $20M to improve education, health, and economic outcomes for low income communities. Raquel has a deep passion and commitment to educational equity, particularly on increasing college access. In her leadership roles, she has been successful in setting a vision and translating these ideas into tangible, flourishing results. Most recently, Raquel directed a $30M collective impact initiative, Mission Promise Neighborhood, a Pre-K-14 cradle-to-college-to-career pipeline for youth and their families in San Francisco’s Mission District. Prior to that, Raquel was the Chief Executive Officer of the Latino Community Foundation where she transformed a philanthropic organization into a leading national Latino identity fund. During her seven-year tenure, they granted over $3M through the Children and Youth Initiative to address parent education engagement, early childhood learning, and access to technology for California students. In her “spare time,” Raquel is finishing her Doctorate in Education at University of California, Davis.