Brandon Esraelian Uplifts the Central Valley – A Place That Matters

For CVCF board member and Valley-native Brandon Esraelian, the Central Valley is more than his hometown: it is a place of belonging. After growing up in the Valley, he knew he wanted to raise his own family here one day. Upon spending seven years away from the Valley, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in business economics with an emphasis in accounting and a minor in philosophy from UC Santa Barbara and his law degree from University of the Pacific, he was ready to return home.

After returning to the Valley, Brandon worked as a district attorney at the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for five years before joining his mother, Robyn Esraelian’s, estate planning practice, Richardson, Jones & Esraelian. Robyn has practiced law for about 47 years and served as a partner for 40 years. Brandon recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary of working at the practice with his mother and hopes to continue her legacy of dedication to her clients. “Both while growing up and practicing law, I was able to watch her go above and beyond for her clients,” Brandon said. “She became a friend and someone her clients could really trust. I’ve tried to not fill those shoes but emulate that.”

Brandon joined the CVCF board in 2017, while in his early 30s, and has grown both professionally and personally from his board tenure over the past nine years. He was encouraged to join the CVCF board from fellow board member Justin Vartanian. “I knew it was an opportunity to give back to the Central Valley, a place that has given me so much,” Brandon said. “I was drawn to CVCF because they were looking beyond the individual issues and brainstorming what would make the Central Valley better in the long term.”

Brandon’s board service has positively impacted his work as a trust and estate planning attorney. He sees reconciling differences as a valuable tool for effective community building with both law and charitable work. “The practice of law and life doesn’t have to be adversarial every day, and you can accomplish so much more by bridging differences and finding admirable solutions,” he said. “The more people embrace that, the better we will be as a community.” Brandon credits the Foundation for expanding his understanding of the Central Valley community. “It has given me a broader perspective on the community, especially the one I serve,” Brandon said.

As a trust and estate planning attorney, Brandon works with clients that are charitably inclined and connects these clients to CVCF’s philanthropy team, who in turn, help the clients align their charitable giving with causes they care about. “I always thought it would be the place I could make the most impact,” Brandon said.

Brandon’s legal expertise as a trust and estate planning attorney led him to become an integral part of CVCF’s recently launched Advisors Network. The network provides professional advisors with insights into donor-advised funds and estate gifts to assist their clients with philanthropic requests by connecting them to CVCF. “In the short term, I want to spark people’s interest and educate them about philanthropic opportunities in the Central Valley,” Brandon said. “A lot of people are interested in donating money but don’t know where to start. If the barrier to entry can be made easier, it will have compounding effects for the Central Valley.”

Over the past nine years, Brandon is most proud of seeing how the Foundation has evolved to create transformative, lasting change for the Central Valley. “When I started, CVCF acted much more like a traditional community foundation, and leaders envisioned widening its scope,” Brandon said. “The Foundation has become so much more than a transactional, giving institution for the wealthy residents of Fresno. The Central Valley has so much need, and the Foundation can be a conduit for that. Most people consider supporting individual organizations that address one issue. I’ve learned, though, that it is more important to support the underlying issues and create systemic change, as opposed to targeting one issue.”

Since then, Brandon has observed the snowball effect of philanthropy and business uniting to solve issues that no one organization can solve. He recalls the launch of the DRIVE initiative and how stakeholders came together to develop initiatives to tackle a multitude of complex economic issues. “Watching the Foundation bring people together for a shared vision was beyond ambitious,” Brandon said. “CVCF doesn’t need to be out front in the news; most of its success comes from convening people.”

A startling trend that Brandon learned at the beginning of his CVCF board tenure was the greater economic and health disparities that exist in the Central Valley compared to California. For example, per the data dashboard, the City of Fresno’s 20-percentile household income is $25,413 compared to $39,838 for the state, compiled from the US Census Bureau 2023 5-Year American Community Survey. “We have the people and resources to slowly and incrementally move up these lists,” Brandon said.

As Brandon’s board tenure concludes at the end of the year, he is considering his next philanthropic passion project. “I want to do my part so that future generations are proud to call the Central Valley their home,” Brandon said. He will keep supporting charitable giving by continuing to serve on the Advisors Network.

To learn more about charitable giving opportunities, please contact Senior Philanthropy Officer Caty Perez at 559-226-5600 or Caty@centralvalleycf.org.