
Ashley Swearengin
President and CEO
Meet the CEO
Ashley Swearengin is president and CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation, a charitable foundation serving the six counties of Central California and providing over $100 million in funding to over 650 community benefit organizations over the last decade. Prior to joining CVCF, she served as Mayor of the City of Fresno from 2009 through 2016. As mayor, she implemented substantial changes to improve the delivery of city services, revitalize the downtown and urban core, promote business and job growth, address chronic homelessness, and stabilize the city’s financial position. Before becoming mayor, Ashley led a number of economic development initiatives in the Fresno region, including the Central Valley Business Incubator, Fresno State’s Office of Community and Economic Development, and the Regional Jobs Initiative. She holds MBA and BS degrees from California State University, Fresno.

Aida Vareldjian
Staff Accountant
As Staff Accountant, Aida Vareldjian performs a variety of bookkeeping, accounting, and financial control monitoring duties for CVCF, including journal entry preparation, general ledger account reconciliation, account analysis, report generation, and special projects.

Artie Padilla
Senior Program Officer
As Senior Program Office, Artie is responsible for CVCF’s neighborhood revitalization portfolio, which include developing community-driven and community-led solutions that will transform our region.

Breanna Galdamez
Donor Services & Accounts Payable Associate
As Donor Services & Accounts Payable Associate, Breanna Galdamez is an integral part of CVCF’s dynamic and high-energy Stewardship team, working in a collaborative environment to provide excellent service and support to our donors, fundholders, vendors, and CVCF team members.

Cherella Nicholson
Program Officer
Oversees the day-to-day implementation of CVCF programs, grants, and their respective deliverables.

Claudia Ruiz-Alvarez
Director of Donor Services

Cori Lucero
Merced Regional Director
Manages the Central Valley Opportunity Fund (CVOF), a philanthropic fund dedicated to improving the quality of life for residents in Merced County, California.

Elliott Balch
Chief Operating Officer (C.O.O.)

Gretchen Moore
Chief Strategy Officer (C.S.O)

Hannah Johnson McAbee
Director of Local Philanthropy

Jessica Revis
Executive Assistant

Kerri Horn
Chief Finance Officer (C.F.O.)

Laura Maciel
Communications Manager

Laura Ramos
Advancement Associate

Marcos Osorio
Program Officer

Phuong Bui
Grants Associate
As Grant Associate, Phuong Bui-Sears provides timely and effective support to CVCF staff managing programs and projects, and communicates with external parties to facilitate programmatic grant, scholarship, and accounts-payable transactions.

Sarah Moffat
Director of External Affairs

Travis Jeffus
Controller

Yen Kilday
Director of Programs & Evaluation