2022-2023 Annual Report
We Train Leaders
At Coro, we train leaders who vibrate with a sense of responsibility. Coro leaders are motivated to shape the spirit and integrity of their communities, their companies, and their country. Learning to lead comes not from books, podcasts, or lectures but from practicing how to intentionally engage with others.
Every day, Coro helps leaders reflect inward, connect outward, and move forward on their commitment to making the world a better place—together.
Thank you for supporting this vital work!
With gratitude,
Laney Whitcanack
Chief Executive Officer & Coro Alumna
Marianna Pisano
Board Chair & Coro Alumna
Our programs focus on 6 key leadership practices: self-awareness, critical thinking, communication, inclusion, collaboration, and influence. Check out this handy visual guide.
Leading For Impact
Coro’s mission is to train, support, and connect leaders to foster a thriving democracy and tackle society’s biggest challenges together.
Train
Fellows Program in Public Affairs
Our esteemed flagship program is the gold standard for rising civic leaders. Fellows in Public Affairs accelerate their trajectories and join a national alumni network.
Women in Leadership
This year, we celebrated the 5th Anniversary of our revamped Women in Leadership program. More than 320 alums are working and leading across the region, and 150+ alums and supporters joined us for a panel discussion with standout Bay Area leaders.
Lead Bay Area
Lead Bay Area brings together mid-level and early-executive leaders working to contribute to a stronger, more equitable Bay Area. Fellows gain skills needed to succeed in complex, multi-stakeholder environments. Alums work for organizations ranging from Caltrans to Google to the Glide Foundation to the San Francisco Unified School District.
Youth Civic Leadership
We’re making sure tomorrow’s leaders get the skills and practice they need to collaborate and create positive change.
Exploring Leadership offers Youth Fellows from across the Bay Area a transformative summer learning experience and professional internship.
District Youth Leadership Academies deliver neighborhood-based civic training, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families.
Partnerships with Summer Search, Generation Thrive (Golden State Warriors and Kaiser Permanente), Project Glimmer, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s Opportunities for All program brought Coro leadership training to even more rising leaders across the region and beyond.
Tackling Big Challenges
Water Solutions Network
Water Solutions Network (WSN) was founded five years ago on concerns about the extreme water challenges facing California. Now, it’s a thriving network of 150 cross-sector leaders working in water and land stewardship in California and neighboring watersheds. A new Visioning Document reflects on progress and shines a light on the work to come.
Partnership for the Bay’s
Future Fellowship
Future Fellowship
We launched a new housing fellowship in partnership with The San Francisco Foundation, Enterprise Community Partners, and Informing Change. The Partnership for the Bay’s Future Fellowship equips affordable housing professionals to lead and influence policy-making in jurisdictions across the region.
Human Trafficking
Leadership Academy
Leadership Academy
Bringing cross-sector and survivor leaders to the table to combat human trafficking — sharing expertise and creating change, nationally. A partnership with the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center.
Workforce Leadership Network
In partnership with Coro Southern California and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, we created a statewide network dedicated to preparing workforce professionals to support and serve vulnerable workers, act from a systems perspective, and promote sustainable job creation.
Strengthening Institutions
We’re thrilled to partner with many organizations working to drive impact in the region.
Partnerships with the University of California and the Federal Executive Board strengthen the capacity and leadership pipeline of vital public institutions. With Generation Thrive, our Bridging the Bay and Generation Thrive Leadership programs train executives and rising leaders in key youth-serving nonprofits.
The Coro-University of California Women’s Initiative now boasts more than 970 graduates. The retention rate for staff and faculty who completed the program this year is over 91%, and nearly one-third have received promotions .
Support & Connect
Convening Coro Leaders
This year, more than 300 Coro leaders attended a joyous Spring Gathering to reconnect and raise scholarship funds for the Fellows Future Fund. And we expanded our annual Fellows Program Alumni Night to include all Coro program grads—our first all-program Coro Alumni Night was packed with 150+ alums, representing nine programs and four decades.
Connecting Our Community
More than 660 alums are active on Coro Connect, our thriving online resource exclusively for Coro alums to share career, volunteer, and mentorship opportunities.
Financials
Financials 2022-2023*
*Pre-audit numbers.
**Earned revenue includes training contracts, project fees, Women in Leadership tuition, etc.
Thank You
Click a category to learn more about us.
Staff 2022-23
Erika O. Carlsen,* Managing Director, Civic Leadership
Biney Kaur Dev, Program Manager
Bella Dickson, Program & Administrative Coordinator
Angelica Dowell, Network Manager, Water Solutions Network
Debbie Franco, Managing Director, Water Solutions Network
Lauren Haworth,* Senior Director of Finance & Operations
MJ Jones, Emerging Leadership Facilitator
Shaya Kara,* Director of Alumni & Donor Engagement
Angel Lau,* Recruitment & Revenue Manager
Alexis Llamas, Director of Youth Programs
Angela Pang, Director of Program Management
Claudia Paredes, Senior Director of Training
Dharmishta Rood, Fellows Program Director
Rosa Terrazas,* Senior Director of External Affairs
Genanne Walsh,* Senior Director of Revenue & Grants
Laney Whitcanack,* Chief Executive Officer
Clifford Yee, Managing Director, Networks
Courtney Young-Law, Chief Programs Officer
Board 2022-23
Marianna Pisano* – Chair
Derick Brown* – Vice Chair
Ben Hur* – Vice Chair
William Jackson* – Vice Chair
Diana Tate Vermeire – Vice Chair
Abel Guillen* – Secretary
Aimee Brown – Treasurer
Minden Beach*
Diana Bricknell*
Hank Dempsey*
Christina Giguere
Eugene Hillsman*
Jonathan Hoyt*
Carolyn Wang Kong*
Vera Moore
Amanda Perrot
Anthony Rodriguez*
Evonne Silva
Honorary Board Member
Betty Schafer*
* Indicates Coro Alumni.
2022-23 Community Partners
Our community partners collectively spend thousands of hours each year supporting and mentoring Coro participants.
3.14 Communications
A-Plan Coaching
ACLU of Northern California
AFSCME Council 57
Alameda County Homeless Action Center
Alameda County Public Health Department
Alameda Labor Council
Alliance for Community Development
ALL IN Alameda County
Apple Education
AT&T
Bay Area Community Land Trust
Bay Area Council
Bay Area Housing Finance Authority
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
BAY-Peace
Beneficial State Foundation
Berryessa Gap Vineyards
Blue Shield of California
Bridgespan Group
Brightline Defense Fund
Broadway Angels
BSR
Business for Social Responsibility
CA Fwd
California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH)
California Budget & Policy Center
California Business Roundtable
California Chamber of Commerce
CaliforniaCityFinance.com
The California Endowment
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
California Department of Education
California Department of Finance
California Department of Food and Agriculture
California Department of Human Resources
California Department of Water Resources
California Health and Human Services Agency
California Independent Petroleum Association
California Labor Federation
California Legislative Analyst’s Office
California Natural Resources Agency
California Peace Officers’ Association
California Public Employees’ Retirement System
California Public Utilities Commission
California Republican Party
California Secretary of State
California State Assembly Budget Committee
California State Auditor
California State Coastal Conservancy
California State Council on Developmental Disabilities
California State Transportation Agency
California State Treasurer’s Office
California Teachers Association
CalMatters
CalPERS
CalTrans Office of Civil Rights
Campaign for College Opportunity
Center for Care Innovations
Charity Cultural Services Center
Cindy Chavez for Mayor of San Jose
Citibank
City and County of San Francisco
City & County of San Francisco, Audits Division
City & County of San Francisco Office of Public Finance
City of Antioch
City of Berkeley
City of Berkeley, Mayor Jesse Arreguin’s Office
City of East Palo Alto
City of Mountain View
City of Oakland
City of Richmond
City of San Jose
City of San José Department of Transportation
City of South San Francisco
Clark Construction Group – CA, LP
Clifford Moss
Climate Resolve
Coleman Advocates for Children
CommonSpirit Health
Commonwealth Club
Community Housing Development Corporation
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Contra Costa Housing Authority
COS and Company LLC
Covered California
Department of Motor Vehicles
DIG IN
Dignity Health
Dodge & Cox
Earn & Learn
East Palo Alto Community Alliance and Neighborhood Development Organization
Echidna Giving
Edward Jones Investments
Emerge SF
Enterprise Community Partners
Etsy
FACES SF
FairVote
Fall Line Analytics
Family Equality Council
First Republic Bank
Florence Fang Community Farm
ForgePoint Capital
Genentech
Generation Thrive/Golden State Warriors/Kaiser Permanente
Global School Leaders
Goldman Sachs
Grassroots Lab
GreatSchools
GLIDE Foundation
Greenlining Institute
Harvard Kennedy School
Health Access
Healthy Black Families
Hella Social Impact
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Hope Consulting
Hope Solutions
Hotel Council of San Francisco
Housing Trust Silicon Valley
Housing Leadership Council
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
ICA Fund
IndieBio
Inner Spark Foundation
Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure
Interfaith Council
The Institute for Nannies and Families
Intentional Media
InterEthnica
IT Bookman Center
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Kaiser Permanente
Kearns & West
Klimate Consulting
KPIX-TV – CBS News Bay Area
KQED
Lainie Motamedi for SF School Board
Latino Coalition for Healthy California
LeadersUp
League of California Cities
Leapfrog Consulting
Loren Taylor for Oakland Mayor 2022
Los Angeles Times
Lucas Public Affairs
Lyft
Lyra Health Latino Coalition for Healthy California
McNally Temple Associates, Inc.
Merrell Farms
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Mills College
Mission Economic Development Agency
Mission Local
Modern Electron
Multi-Faith Action
National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center
National Labor Relations Board
Native American Health Center
The Nature Conservancy
Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources
The Nehemiah Corporation
The Neighborhood Empowerment Network
Neighbors for Matt Mahan for Mayor
NextGen America
New York Times
Nielsen Merksamer
Northern California Grantmakers
Office of Assemblymember Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly
Office of Assemblymember Mia Bonta
Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom
Office of California State Treasurer Fiona Ma
Office of Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
Office of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg
Office of the San Francisco City Attorney
Office of San Francisco District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan
Office of San Francisco District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar
Office of the California Senate Pro Tempore
Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
Office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla
One Treasure Island
Ohlone College
Opportunities for All
Oversight Done Right, Yes on B
PG&E
Pacific Media Workers Guild, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39521
People Power Media
Planned Parenthood of Utah
Preserving Affordable Housing Assets Longterm, Inc.
The Pivot Group
The Presidio Trust
Project Glimmer
Public Policy Institute of California
Qatalyst Partners
Quechan Indian Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation
R Street Institute
RapidSOS
Region 32 of the National Labor Relations Board
Remind 101, Inc.
Rescue California
Resource Conservation District of Monterey County
The Richmond Neighborhood Center
Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services
Richmond LAND
Rise Up
Rising Sun Center for Opportunity
Rivian
Room to Read
Ruckus Partners, Inc.
S&P Global Ratings
Sacred Heart Community Service
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families
San Francisco Bay Area Federal Executive Board
San Francisco Department of Public Health
San Francisco Department of Technology
San Francisco Environment Department
The San Francisco Foundation
San Francisco Human Rights Commission
San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund
San Francisco Interfaith Council
San Francisco Living Wage Coalition
San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
San Francisco Office of the Controller
San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
San Francisco Planning Department
San Francisco Rising
The San Francisco Standard
San Francisco Unified School District
Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services
Sklar Parenting
Savvy, ink.
SEIU 1000
SFMade
sf.citi
Sierra Orchards
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Snap, Inc.
Snapchat
SOMOS Mayfair
South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council
Spitfire Strategies
Spring Impact
Stanford Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX)
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
Stifel
Storefront Political Media
Studio 151
Sutter Mutual Water Co.
Summer Search
Swiftly
SV@Home
Team4Tech
TikTok
TogetherSF
Trellis Education
Treva Reid for Mayor of Oakland
Trust-Based Philanthropy Project
UFCW Western States Council
Union Square Alliance
UNITE HERE! Local 2850
United Educators of San Francisco
Unity Council
University of California Office of the President
University of California Berkeley
University of California Davis
University of California Riverside
University of California San Francisco
University of California Santa Cruz
University of San Francisco
The Washington Post
Urban Habitat
Urban Land Institute
VC Include
Water Solutions Network
Wells Fargo
Well Versed Consulting, Inc.
Western States Petroleum Association
Wetherby
The Whitman Institute
The Women’s Foundation
The Workers Lab
Tipping Point Community Foundation
YearUp
YouthSpeaks
Youth United for Community Action
YR Media
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
Zynga
Public Funding
San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families
$50,000+
First Republic Foundation
Inner Spark Foundation
JPMorgan Chase Foundation
Laural Foundation
Pam Jones and Steve Herskovitz
The San Francisco Foundation
$25,000+
Benedict and Linnea Hur
Betty and Jack Schafer
Dodge & Cox
Mary Obelnicki and Craig Silverstein
$10,000+
Anonymous
Aimee Brown
Amanda Perrot
David Coulter and Susan Weeks Coulter
Kristen McGuire
Marianna Pisano and Patrick Ford
Marilyn Snider
The PG&E Corporation Foundation
Vera Moore
Warburg Pincus
Anna Van Degna
$5000+
Blue Shield of California
California Teachers Association
Carolyn Wang Kong
Courtney Young-Law and Chris Law
Dr. Anne F Collins
Genentech
Kaiser Permanente
Lucia Choi-Dalton
Mary Jo and Dick Garrett
Minden and Kathleen Beach
Sara and Josh Leslie
Shartsis Friese
Sonja Perkins
Tom Lockard and Alix Marduel
William Jackson and Jacqueline Holen
$2500+
AAA Mountain West Group
Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock
California Business Roundtable
Celeste Cantu
Hank Dempsey
John Sage
Kearns & West Inc.
Leo T. McCarthy Center at the University of San Francisco
Linda Gregory
Dan Whithurst
$1000+
Andrea Eichhorn
Andrés Acevedo
Bill Casher
California Chamber of Commerce
Chi Rogers
Connie Shapiro
David Kirp
David Sibbet
Diana Bricknell
Diana Tate Vermeire
Erick and Melissa Howard
Eugene Hillsman
Feng Wu
Goran Matijasevic
Honorable Jeffrey Bleich
Honorable Libby Schaaf
James Cervantes
Jeffrey Sosnaud and Jean Curran, M.D.
Jonathan Hoyt
Jose Bodipo-Memba
Justin Gold
Kathryn Poling
Kelly McCrann
Laney Whitcanack and Jon Deane
Larry Simi
Lue Her
Mark and Jane Pisano
Mary Mountcastle and James Overton
Maureen Fitzgerald
Olynn McInerney
Raymond Roeder
Richard Leib
Ron and Nina Whitcanack
Rosemary Torres
Russell Sunshine
San Francisco Giants
Stephanie Lovette
Zach Blume
Zynga
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Graphic Design: Janeen Jang
Photography: Alvaro Batista, Sergio Suzuki