Antonia Hernández, President and Chief Executive Officer, California Community Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

Nationally regarded for a career spanning four decades in social justice, expertise in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, and a lifelong devotion to underserved communities in Los Angeles County and beyond, Antonia Hernández joined the California Community Foundation as president and chief executive officer in 2004. Established in 1915, the California Community Foundation is one of the largest and most active philanthropic organizations in Southern California, with assets of more than $1.5 billion. In partnership with its more than 1,600 individual, family and corporate donors, the foundation supports nonprofit organizations and public institutions with funds for health and human services, affordable housing, early childhood education, community arts and culture and other areas of need.

Previously, Hernández was president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national nonprofit litigation and advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of the nation’s Latinos through the legal system, community education, and research and policy initiatives. Hernández earned her B.A. in History at UCLA in 1970 and J.D. at the UCLA School of Law in 1974. She became a U.S. citizen in 1975.