Raquel F. Donoso

Executive Director

Raquel F. Donoso photo

Ms.Donoso is an accomplished community and public policy leader with over a decade of policy advocacy experience at the state and regional level. She has devoted her career to policy issues affecting women and families. Prior to joining LCF she served as the Associate Director of Latino Issues Forum, a statewide policy and advocacy organization. At the Latino Issues Forum she championed campaigns to increase health access, improve environmental conditions and address education equity in the Latino community. She also authored four publications, including pioneering primary research on reproductive health issues. Ms. Donoso is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, a statewide reproductive health rights coalition. She serves on the boards of the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation and the RYSE Center, a Richmond-based youth center chaired by Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia. In 2006, Ms. Donoso was appointed to the California Department of Health Services Women's Health Advisory Council by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ms. Donoso holds a Master's degree in Public Health and an undergraduate degree in Anthropology both from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Katherine Valenzuela

Program Director

Katherine Valenzuela is responsible for overseeing all grant program areas at the Latino Community Foundation (LCF). Ms. Valenzuela has over fourteen years of experience working in the non-profit sector in fields such as public health advocacy, social science research and evaluation, and substance abuse treatment. Prior to joining LCF, she served as the Executive Director of a women’s residential substance abuse treatment facility that offered an extensive array of services such as affordable housing, mental health, and child development. Her entire career has been spent in the non-profit sector and she has vast experience in staff supervision, program design, service delivery, program evaluation, volunteer coordination, public speaking, budgeting, revenue diversification, fundraising, and grant writing. She has a firm understanding of the personnel and operational systems that must be in place to run an effective and successful agency. In addition, she has been on various government task forces related to substance abuse, at-risk children, and the border region and has also been a member of many source selection committees convened to review proposals and recommend final selections for county funding. Ms. Valenzuela holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Stanford University.

Paola N. Cubías

Executive/Program Associate 

Ms. Cubías brings her experience in program management and project coordination to the implementation of Latino Community Foundation's grantmaking programs. Prior to joining LCF, Ms. Cubías was the Project Coordinator for Mayor Newsom's Office of Education. Her research interest in Education policy and advocacy earned her a fellowship at the Latino Issues Forum, where she examined education funding reform. She is an active mentor for Cal Independent Scholars Network at UC Berkeley. A native of the San Fernando Valley, Ms. Cubías graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. She also studied at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City.