Staff
John Fanestil (Executive Director)
Jean Fisher (Office Manager)

Board of Directors
Eric A. Isaacson (President)
Nicole Trombley (VP)
Curtis Lubben (Treasurer)
Jayme Fagan (Secretary)
Gordon Clanton, Ph.D.
Michelle Ciccarelli
Mary Cruz
Jeff Duby
Bob Hettiger
Leiana Naholowaa
Madelyne J. Pfeiffer, M.S.W
Olivia Puentes-Reynolds
Lou Terrell
David Weaver

Honorary Committee
Victoria Danzig, Founder, (Chair)
Hon. Bruce M. Abrams, ESQ
Francine Busby
Rabbi Laurie Coskey
Ira Lechner
Sara Moser
Judge Deborah Smaller
Molli Wagner
Arthur Wagner

Speakers Bureau
Eric A. Isaacson
Craig Levitt
Joni K. Craig (Executive Director Emeritus)

John Fanestil - Staff, Executive Director

John Fanestil is a native San Diegan with a long history of involvement in causes promoting peace and justice and with a lifelong passion for building bridges between people across the border between Mexico and the United States. Born and raised in La Jolla, California, Fanestil graduated in 1979 as valedictorian of La Jolla High School. That same year he was named to the San Diego City all-star basketball team. At the time he was more proud of his performance on the basketball court than he was of his accomplishments in the classroom.

As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College Fanestil played intercollegiate basketball and volleyball, and took advantage of opportunities to study abroad, spending time in both England and France. He also became the editor-in-chief of The Harbinger, a student-run magazine of progressive political opinion, committed to countering the influence of Dartmouth’s notoriously right-wing magazine, The Dartmouth Review. In 1983 Fanestil graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth with a degree in Government and was awarded the Salvador Allende Prize for excellence in the study of Latin America.

That same year Fanestil was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, given each year to only 32 college seniors in the United States. As a graduate student at Oxford University he traveled widely through Europe (including to the then-Soviet Union) as part of Oxford’s volleyball and basketball teams. He also helped to organize the International Students Fast for Peace in Nicaragua, a fundraising effort that saw students at 35 universities in seven countries raise funds for relief projects in Nicaragua. In 1985 he completed a degree in Politics and Economics at Oxford, with a concentration in the politics of developing countries.

Returning to San Diego in 1986, Fanestil worked for several years with Central America Information Center, a local grassroots group fighting Reagan Administration policies toward Central America. While leading a delegation of clergy to El Salvador in 1987, Fanestil was put in touch with his religious roots, and he began to explore the idea of a vocation in the United Methodist Church. In 1989 he enrolled at the Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California, from which he graduated in 1992 with a Masters of Divinity degree and the President's Award for Academic Excellence.

From 1992-2005 Fanestil worked as a pastor at United Methodist Churches in Southern California. His fondest memories are of his four years at a small bi-lingual church in Calexico, where he preached weekly in both English and Spanish, and where he served as President of the Board of Directors of the Calexico Neighborhood House, a community-based social services agency on the U.S.-Mexico border. Across his years as a pastor, Fanestil worked for non-profit organizations large and small. From 1995 to 2001 he served on the Board of Trustees at the Claremont School of Theology, a seminary and graduate school in Claremont, California. From 2000 to 2004 he served on the Leadership Team of the California-Pacific Conference, the regional denominational body of the United Methodist Church.

Fanestil’s work as a writer dates back to his writing for his high school newspaper. His writing has been published in The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Century, The Guardian (London), and in other publications. In February, 2006 Doubleday released his first book, Mrs. Hunter’s Happy Death: Lessons on Living from People Preparing to Die. In this book Fanestil tells the stories of people he came to know in his work as a pastor who finished their lives with courage and grace. To learn more about Fanestil’s work as a writer, go to www.johnfanestil.com.

Fanestil is very excited to join the team at the San Diego Foundation for Change, saying, “All my life I have dreamed of being a change-maker in the San Diego/Tijuana border region.”

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Jean Fisher - Staff, Office Manager

Jean Fisher was hired at San Diego Foundation for Change (SDFC) as an Office Clerk/Accountant in November of 2002. After moving to San Diego from Wisconsin in July of 2001, Jean began volunteering with progressive activist groups, including Activist San Diego, Clean Elections San Diego, PFLAG, San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, and SDFC. As an avid Beach Boy fan in the 60’s, the move to San Diego fulfilled a life-long dream of someday living in California. The opportunity arose when Jean took early retirement from S. C. Johnson (SCJ) in Racine, Wisconsin.

Having missed the age of becoming a “surf diva”, it was not too late to commit to a life of progressive activism. The “seeds of change” were planted during her undergrad years at Alverno College – a unique and progressive college in Milwaukee, where critical-thinking was a base learning skill. After receiving a B.A. in Business at Alverno in 1992, Jean went on to receive an M.S. in Cultural Foundations of Education and a Certificate in Peace Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Jean has served in a variety of volunteer roles with many organizations in the last 35 years. Before moving to San Diego, Jean served as a Board Member on the Friends of Peace Studies at UW-Milwaukee; worked with the Milwaukee/Cuba Sister City Association and the Dismantling of Racism – Study Circles program; and co-facilitated inner-city forums with Sustainable Racine. At SCJ, Jean served on the Gay and Lesbian Business Council and co-facilitated diversity-training workshops for employees.

Currently, Jean is on the Steering Committee for Activist San Diego and continues to volunteer as much as possible to help with other groups, including the support of progressive candidates running for local, state, and federal offices. Among Jean’s many passions, she advocates LGBT rights, legalizing hemp, and the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peace; promotes “progressive economic development”; and participates in “armchair activism”. A major concern for Jean is the rampant growth of corruption in government, media, and corporations, which is at the core of the erosion of democracy.

As progressives, Jean believes that it is critical to solidify a strong, cohesive base and not to become complacent. No matter what individual passions are, working together is the key for effective social change and justice.

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Victoria Danzig - Honorary Committee Chair and SDFC Founder

Victoria Danzig, LCSW, is the founder of San Diego Foundation for Change. This happened in 1984, when she moved to San Diego and called Liberty Hill Foundation in Los Angeles, to explore starting a chapter of Liberty Hill Foundation. In 1994, this new chapter of Liberty Hill became San Diego Foundation for Change, and she became the President of the Board from 1994-2000. Currently she is Chair of the Honorary Committee.

Victoria is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Private Practice in La Jolla. She earned her MSW from University of Southern California in 1979. She worked from 1979 to 1984 in a County Mental Health clinic as a Psychiatric Social Worker and was the Alcohol and Drug Administrator in Mammoth Lakes, California. She has presented at numerous workshops on Thought Field Therapy, fundraising and philanthropy. Currently she trains therapists in Seemorg Matrix Work, which is a cutting edge trauma therapy in the emerging field of Energy Psychology.

Victoria was awarded “Clinical Social Worker of the Year” 2000 by the Society for Clinical Social Work. She received “The Philanthropy Award” by the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology, and the “Peace Veteran” award by The Peace Resource Center of San Diego. She was recognized as a “Social Visionary” by Sun and Moon Productions and has received special commendation by the City Council of San Diego as well as a special resolution by the Board of Supervisors from Mono County. San Diego Foundation for Change also has honored her with the “Danzig Award” given in her name yearly in recognition of an exceptional community organizing effort in San Diego.

Victoria’s dream is to change the decision making process for grant making by taking it out of the hands of donors and boards and putting it into the hands of activists, thereby making it a truly democratic process.

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Eric A. Isaacson - President

Eric is a San Diego lawyer who has been a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Foundation for Change since January 2004, serving as Board President since March 2005. He earned an A.B. summa cum laude from Ohio University in 1982, and a Juris Doctor degree with high honors from the Duke University School of Law in 1985. At Duke, he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as Note and Comment Editor of the Duke Law Journal. Following his graduation, Eric clerked for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Eric is a member of Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP, a national law firm representing investors and consumers in class actions against corporations that mislead the public and manipulate our markets. Eric’s practice with the leading plaintiffs’ firm focuses primarily on civil appeals.

Matters he has briefed and argued include In re Daou Systems, Inc., Securities Litigation, 397 F.3d 722 (9th Cir. 2005), upholding investors’ claims for accounting fraud, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund v. CitiGroup, Inc., 391 F.3d 844 (7th Cir. 2004), upholding the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s choice of forum for its claims against WorldCom's underwriters, and Hertzberg v. Dignity Partners, Inc., 191 F.3d 1076 (9th Cir. 1999), which held that purchasers of registered securities need not acquire them "in" the initial offering in order to pursue claims under section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933.

When the R.J. Reynolds Company insisted that federal law preempted state-law claims that it was unfairly targeting minors with its “Joe Camel” promotions, Eric was responsible for writing and filing the brief that persuaded the California Supreme Court to let the case proceed – resulting in Joe Camel’s early demise. See Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 7 Cal. 4th 1057, 31 Cal. Rptr. 2d 358, 875 P.2d 73 (1994). Eric’s efforts on behalf of Korean and Chinese victims of World War II-era slave-labor were less successful – the Ninth Circuit agreed with the Bush administration that the claims against Japanese corporations and their subsidiaries were preempted by the federal government’s foreign-affairs power. See Deutsch v. Turner, 324 F.3d 692 (9th Cir. 2003).

Eric has received awards from the California Star Bar and the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program for his pro bono work, with the ACLU, on behalf of San Diego welfare applicants. He has filed amicus curiae or “friend of the court” briefs on behalf of a variety of organizations opposing institutionalized discrimination on account of religious viewpoint and sexual orientation. These include several briefs filed on behalf of the Social Justice Ministry, Board of Trustees, ministers, and Director of Religious Education of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, where Eric and his wife, Susan Kay Weaver, teach Sunday school. Lately, Eric has worked closely with the Reverend Lindi Ramsden, of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry California and California Faith for Equality, supporting efforts to achieve marriage equality in the State of California.

In early 2006, for example, Eric was a member of a team of lawyers filing an amicus curiae brief for a coalition of religious organizations and leaders defending marriage as a fundamental civil right. That coalition included the California Council of Churches, the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform Judaism, Soka Gakai International-USA, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry California, California Faith for Equality, and more than two hundred religious communities and spiritual leaders. Together they insisted that the State of California cannot lawfully deny the right to marry on the basis of a couple’s race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. The California Council of Churches, in particular, emphasized: “Our commitment to religious liberty for all and equal protection under the law leads us to assert that the State may not rely on the views of particular religious sects as a basis for denying civil marriage licenses to same-gender couples."

Eric’s scholarship on constitutional law and on securities litigation has been published in the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, the San Diego Law Review, the Loyola University Chicago Law Review and Class Action & Derivative Suits. He regularly appears at events hosted by San Diego activists.

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Nicole Trombley - Vice President

Nicole has been a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Foundation for Change since 2006, and has served as Vice President since May 2006.

Nicole is a massage therapist and owner of Equilibrio Massage, a private practice here in San Diego, specializing in prenatal and postpartum massage. She joins the SDFC board in 2006 after several years of service in social justice philanthropy. Her vision for social change is rooted in the belief that effective and real change only comes when those most affected by a problem are given the tools and resources they need to solve the problem for themselves.

She worked for over six years at the National Network of Grantmakers, a national membership organization of progressive funders comitted to moving more funding dollars to social and economic justice; it was at NNG that she first came to know the work of SDFC. At NNG, she was in charge of membership services, several national conferences and regional meetings, as well as the editor of the fundraising guide, "The Grantmaker's Directory".  She was NNG's Interim Executive Director for over a year during organizational transitions. She has served on the Steering Committee of Grantmakers without Borders, and on committees for various events and projects for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Resource Generation, and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy.

Originally from Keene, NH, Nicole has been making a home in San Diego since 1998 with her life partner who teaches at San Diego State University. She holds a BS in Biology from Providence College (RI) and an MA in Women's Studies from the University of Cincinnati (OH).

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Curtis Lubben - Treasurer

Curtis R. Lubben has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Foundation for Change since 2003 and is currently serving as treasurer. Curtis earned a bachelor's degree in Management Science from the University of California, San Diego in 2001. He was a financial advisor for such institutions as Morgan Stanley from 2001 to 2004.

Curtis then decided to try a new career and is currently pursuing a Graduate Gemologist degree from one of the world's foremost institutes of gemological research and learning where he works as a certified diamond grader. Curtis designs custom jewelry in his spare time and hopes to one day start his own business.

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Jayme Fagan - Secretary

Jayme Michelle Fagan has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Foundation for Change since 2003 and is currently serving as Secretary. 

Jayme earned a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of California, San Diego in 2001.  She has been employed by one of the world's largest consumer IT companies since 2001. In addition to her engineering duties, Jayme is also the Finance Officer for the San Diego PRIDE Employee Resource Group at her company. She is currently pursuing an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix and will be graduating June 17th, 2006.

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Gordon Clanton, Ph.D. - Boardmember

Gordon Clanton, Ph.D., has taught sociology at San Diego State University since 1975. Before that, he taught at Rutgers University. Before that, he was in graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, where his mentor was Robert Bellah, author of Habits of the Heart.

Dr. Clanton grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He earned the B.A. in chemistry at Louisiana State University and the M.Div. at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He supported the black civil rights movement and the United Farm Workers union in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

Professor Clanton teaches sociological theory, social organization, minority group relations, the sociology of religion, and business ethics. He also teaches a popular course on Love, Jealousy, and Envy. He is the author of the 1977 book Jealousy (third edition, 1998) and of numerous articles and reviews on human emotions as they are influenced by social context. He also writes about the future of the family and the varieties of religion in American society.

Dr. Clanton has lectured and consulted in all parts of the United States. He has appeared on “Donahue,” on ABC-TV’s “20/20,” and on many other radio and television programs. He has done dozens of interviews for newspapers and magazines, seeking to help journalists interpret such events as the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the urban unrest in Los Angeles in 1992, the trials of O. J. Simpson and Timothy McVeigh, and the ongoing crisis in American education. He is a frequent guest on KPBS-FM in San Diego.

Dr. Clanton lives in Del Mar. He writes opinion pieces for newspapers, including the San Diego Union -Tribune. For more than ten years, he wrote a column of political and social commentary for the Del Mar Citizen, the Blade-Citizen, and the North County Times. He is a progressive political activist, an unpaid advisor to numerous elected officials, candidates, and causes. And he follows pro basketball with fanatical passion.

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Madelyne J. Pfeiffer, M.S.W. - Boardmember

Ms. Pfeiffer is a clinical social worker who provided counseling services and program oversight to adolescent, families and seniors prior to joining Las Palmas. Her experience ranges from counseling in residential group homes for adolescents to providing services in adult day health centers. Ms. Pfeiffer also has a background in program creation and implementation.

As Director of Social Services, Ms. Pfeiffer oversees and manages resident service programs at our affordable housing communities. She supervises on-site service coordinators and volunteers, as well as, local third party agencies. In addition, Ms. Pfeiffer is actively involved in fund development and partnership expansion.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California (USC), and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Art from Claremont McKenna College. Ms. Pfeiffer is a member of numerous committees that focus on improving the system of care for youth and families in the counties of San Diego and Orange. Ms. Pfeiffer also holds the title of Vice President of the HUD California Neighborhood Networks Consortium.

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Joni K. Craig - Speaker's Bureau, Executive Director Emeritus

Joni K. Craig was hired as the Executive Director of the San Diego Foundation for Change in February 2000.  Originally from Kansas, Joni moved to San Diego, California, in 1988 because it somehow felt like coming home.  She initially worked as a program specialist for the regional Girl Scout council.  Prior to relocating, she earned a B.S. in Sociology/ Anthropology, a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts, and an M.A. in Sociology with an emphasis on gender studies and racial/ethnic relations.

From 1991-1999, Joni worked in the Education and Training Department at Planned Parenthood of San Diego & Riverside Counties (PPSDRC).  During her first four years at PPSDRC, she directed the Working Together Project, an outreach education program for at-risk youth and their parents.  Joni presented health and sexuality workshops to thousands of teens in group homes, alternative schools, mental health centers, substance abuse treatment programs, juvenile detention facilities, etc.  In 1995, she became the Producer of IMAGES:  Theatre for Young Hearts & Minds and spent the next four years learning, growing, and traveling with 26 adolescents who provided peer health education to 10,000 teens per year.  Joni’s experiences are documented in a book she authored on managing an educational theatre company, published by Planned Parenthood in 2000.

Joni has delivered hundreds of presentations on health and well-being, adolescent concerns, fundraising, organizational development, social change philanthropy, and a wide variety of progressive issues.  She often participates in the meetings and activities of SDFC's grantees and provides consultations, resources, and networking opportunities whenever possible. Because her position at SDFC is part-time, Joni also teaches sociology at City College and works as a Realtor® with Prudential California Realty in La Jolla.

As a volunteer, Joni is the founder and coordinator of the GenderPeace Clothesline Project of San Diego County, part of an international grassroots movement aimed at raising public awareness and outrage to eliminate rape, child abuse, domestic violence, and other gender-based crimes.  She is involved in the Azalea Park Neighborhood Association (in City Heights), the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, and a wide variety of activist and professional organizations. She is an outspoken advocate for free speech, the separation of church and state, alternative media, women's equality, LGBT rights, and youth empowerment

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Honorable Bruce M. Abrams, ESQ - Honorary Committee Member

Bruce came to San Diego in 1981 to attend Law School and has remained a dedicated, engaged citizen of our community. Throughout Bruce’s successful law career he worked with many who had no voice. His professional and volunteer activities reflect his deep longing for a better world. His work is both national and local and always with a commitment to justice and inclusivity. During the 2004 presidential election he was active in the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee. His dedication to those values continues as a Commissioner on San Diego’s Human Relations Commission. Other involvements include the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, The San Diego Democratic Club, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, San Diego Mediation Center, Mesa College, The San Diego LGBT Center, Equality California, and many more. Bruce feeds his soul by gardening and sharing the fruits of his labors with many by hosting fundraising events at his beautiful home.

Whether through work with the Liberty Hill Foundation, the ACLU, the San Diego Foundation for Change, the San Diego AIDS Foundation or working to elect Democrats, Bruce M. Abrams answers the challenge of Dr. Martin Luther King when Dr. King said “America must breathe new life into our oldest values by extending its promise to all our people.”

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Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Ed.D. - Honorary Committee Member

Executive Director, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice

Rabbi Laurie Coskey, completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and was ordained as a Rabbi in 1985. After serving a large San Diego Congregation for eight years as Rabbi, she completed her doctorate in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego in 2000. Her more than twenty year career in the rabbinate has been marked by a commitment to issues of social justice. Since 2001, Rabbi Coskey has served as the director of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. The ICWJ facilitates the partnership between the religious community and the labor movement to create a more just, fair and compassionate workplace for all workers. She is the spiritual leader of Chavurah Kol Haneshama in San Diego.

(pronounced Havurah Kole Ha-ne-sha-mah)

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Ira Lechner - Honorary Committee

A graduate of Yale Law School, Ira Lechner is a class-action lawyer who divides his time between his home in San Diego, and a legal practice in Washington, D.C. -- where he represents the nurses, police officers, and firefighters who work for the federal government. Before entering private practice, Ira served in the U.S. Army Infantry, and in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He also has been Staff Counsel to Illinois Senator Paul Simon, and he served two terms in the Virginia State Legislature (1973-1977). Ira has been Chairman of the Board of several biotech companies. He served six years on the National Board, Council On Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and was formerly the Chair for San Diego’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, a cutting-edge cancer research center.

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