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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

Laney Whitcanack
Chief Executive Officer & Coro Alumna

Marianna Pisano

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

In 2022-23, our leadership programs and workshops served 1,071 people. More than 90% of alums show tangible increases in essential leadership practices.
”The Fellows Program gave me the tools and support to become the leader I hoped to be." - Santiago

Coro’s mission is to train, support, and connect leaders to foster a thriving democracy and tackle society’s biggest challenges together.

Train

Civic Leadership Programs

The Coro Fellows Class of 2023.

Fellows Program in Public Affairs

“The Fellows Program has been an incredible gift and I am so grateful for it." - Aliyah
Women in Leadership 5th Anniversary Celebration: Julie Castro Abrams, Founder and CEO, How Women Lead; Laney Whitcanack, CEO of Coro; Brandi Howard, CEO & President, East Bay Community Foundation; Janice Li, BART Board of Directors; and Claudia Paredes, Coro’s Senior Director of Training.

Women in Leadership

"I am leaving this training feeling connected, motivated, inspired, and confident in my value and my vision.” - Kelly
Lead Bay Area Fellows.

Lead Bay Area

"These relationships will undoubtedly have long lasting positive effects on my capacity to exercise leadership and effect change" - Joel Valencia
Coro Youth Fellows at our Spring Gathering.

Youth Civic Leadership

"This program opened the door to new ways of communicating, understanding, and thinking." - Rafael
"Coro has empowered me to be more experienced and comfortable in professional settings." - Serena
Project Glimmer

Tackling Big Challenges

Water Solutions Network

Water Solutions Network

Partnership for the Bay’s Future Fellowship

Partnership for the Bay’s
Future Fellowship

Human Trafficking
Leadership Academy

Workforce Leadership Network

Strengthening Institutions

University of California
Federal Executive Board of San Francisco
UCSF
UC Berkeley
Kaiser Permanente, Generation Thrive
Leadership Oakland
Northern California, Grant Makers
First Republic Bank
Google

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.

The CORO Network Expands Opportunities

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*

Expenses: $5.1 Million, 86% on Programs
Revenue: $5.2 Million
Funding Model: 89% Earned, 11% Contributed

*Pre-audit numbers.
**Earned revenue includes training contracts, project fees, Women in Leadership tuition, etc.

Thank You

Coro staff at our Spring Gathering.

Click a category to learn more about us.

Our Team

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.

Our Partners

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

Google

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

LinkedIn

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

Our Supporters

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