CSUEB alumna only Filipino-American leading a top US foundation board

• September 7, 2011 5:12am

According to a report by the Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP), CSUEB alumna Tessie Guillermo is the only Filipino-American serving as board chairperson of one of the top 100 foundations in the United States. She earned her BA in Economics from Cal State East Bay.

She is also one of only two Filipino-Americans in an elite group of 36 Asians who are members of the board of the country’s top foundations. Guillermo has been a member of The California Endowment’s Board of Directors since April 2003 and was elected chair on April 2010.

Aside from currently serving as Board Chair for The California Endowment, and Vice-Chair for Catholic Healthcare West, Guillermo  is also President and Chief Executive Officer for the Community Technology Foundation of California (CTFC), Co-founder of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, and the National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, member of the Board of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, the Nonprofit Finance Fund in New York and Northern California Grantmakers (NCG).

Guillermo has been a tireless advocate for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, “We have to make people understand that it is to the benefit of the overall US society to do this because [Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders] are an integral part of the society. We are here to stay. We have been making contributions for decades and will continue to do that and so it is in the country’s best interest to incorporate us and to make sure that our health is preserved.”

Asian Journal recently profiled Guillermo and her accomplishments.

KL