Latest News from College Access Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2010

College Access Foundation of California Appoints Two Education and Finance Leaders to Its Board of Directors

SAN FRANCISCO – College Access Foundation of California, one of the largest higher education grant makers in the state, announced the appointment of Gretchen Hartnack Milligan, founder of Board Focus, and Linda Davis Taylor, CEO and chairman of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel, to its board of directors. They will help oversee the grant making and investment decisions of the foundation, which has an endowment of $385 million and awards scholarship grants to community organizations and education programs that support college access and completion for low-income and first-generation students in California.

“We are very privileged to have Gretchen and Linda join our board of directors, as we pursue ways to address the critical challenges of increasing college access and success in California,” said Julia I. Lopez, president and CEO of College Access Foundation of California. “Both are extremely accomplished in their respective fields, and I know that our management team and staff will value their expertise and leadership in the months and years to come.”

Gretchen Hartnack Milligan has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit field, including the formation of Board Focus, a consultancy focused on nonprofit organizations and independent schools. She is a former executive in corporate lending for Wells Fargo Bank, and brings analytical expertise in finance, accounting, planning and management. A native Californian, Milligan is president of the Board of Trustees of the Marlborough School in Los Angeles and serves on the Trustee Committee of the California Association of Independent Schools. She also serves on the Finance Committee of the Santa Barbara Foundation and the Audit and Compliance Committee for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

Linda Davis Taylor is CEO and chairman of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel, and leads CCM Family Advisors, the family advisory services practice for Convergent Capital Management, a Clifford Swan affiliate.  Her prior experience includes 25 years in senior management positions in philanthropy and admissions for several education institutions, including Amherst College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College and Emory University. Taylor is currently a trustee of The Thatcher School in Ojai, Calif., and chair of the Board of Trustees of Scripps College. She also serves on the Board of Overseers of Claremont University Center. 

About College Access Foundation of California

College Access Foundation of California helps California students who have significant financial need attend college. The foundation makes grants to community organizations and programs that offer advice and academic support to students, and use foundation dollars to award college scholarships.

Since its inception in 2005, the foundation has made more than $43 million in grants to more than 100 community organizations and education programs throughout California. These organizations in turn have awarded more than 20,000 scholarships to low-income and first-generation students.

The foundation is also supporting efforts to determine how scholarships can encourage persistence and graduation among college students, and is fostering a learning community of scholarship providers and others to share best practices in scholarship giving and support to students.

For more information, visit www.collegeaccessfoundation.org.