Director of Philanthropy, MAAC

Director of Philanthropy, MAAC
CEO & Founder of High Five Career Coaching
Mike is passionate about coaching and has devoted his career to helping employees, leaders, and teams work more effectively. He has launched and managed a highly regarded career coaching and development center for a Fortune 500 company. Mike has decades of experience leading enterprise-wide talent management and organizational development initiatives.
For over 15 years, Mike has successfully facilitated numerous succession planning, high potential leader development, employee engagement and organizational change efforts. He also created an award-winning mentorship program for the Association for Talent Development-San Diego that is celebrating its 20th year of successfully preparing future leaders.
Tanya Hackel, Lifeline Community Services
Tanya Hackel currently serves as the Chief Development Officer at Lifeline Community Services where she oversees the private fundraising, volunteer program, and internal and external marketing and communications efforts for the 50-year-old, $16MM human service organization.
Tanya recently moved to San Diego with her family from New York City. Tanya is a non-profit professional with decades of experience in fundraising, communications, and marketing. Prior to her tenure at Lifeline, Tanya served as the Chief Development and Communications Officer at JCCA, a $110M child welfare agency in New York City. Prior to that, Tanya was the Director of Development at the Hebrew Free Loan Society in New York. Tanya began her development career at UJA-Federation of New York. Before her work in the non-profit sector, Tanya worked in account management at various advertising agencies in New York City.
Tanya earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and her Bachelor’s degree from Williams College.
Tanya and her family are loving their new San Diego community. Tanya also sits on the board of the Hebrew Free Loan San Diego.
Maria Hampton, MyPoint Credit Union
Maria Hampton is a seasoned professional in the financial industry, contributing over a decade of expertise. Maria’s passion to serving the community grew stronger when she joined Mana de San Diego, a non-profit organization that empowers young women through education, leadership development, community service, and advocacy. Her commitment led her to apply for the Latina Success Leadership Program in 2018 (LSLP) where she was accepted. Through this program, she gained invaluable skills in advocating for herself and empowering others to do the same. This transformative experience propelled her towards success in her leadership journey; now serving as a Chair for the Membership Committee for over a year. Choosing My Point Credit Union as an employer was a natural alignment with Maria’s vision of community support and giving back. Her commitment to empowering and enriching communities harmonizes seamlessly with My Point Credit Union values, making it the perfect platform to manifest her passion for making a positive impact. She proudly holds the role of Branch Manager in Rancho Bernardo. Beyond her work, Maria is a staunch advocate for community engagement.
On her spare time Maria enjoys taking Hiking trips, biking along the Bay, and trying out new coffee shops in her neighborhood.
Carlos Medina, CFRE, contributes nearly 15 years of experience within San Diego County’s nonprofit community, as a grant writer with The San Diego LGBT Community Center, Father Joe’s Villages, Champions for Health, and Mama’s Kitchen, before serving as Learning Services Manager at Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties (2019-2021).
As Principal at Carlos Medina Consulting and Grant Strategies, he contributed a background sourcing private and public funding; assembling and submitting grant requests, letters of inquiry, proposals, and associated budgets; creating and maintaining a grants calendar to ensure a solid rhythm of cultivation, solicitation, grant reports and renewals, and; developing long-term relationships with grant-making partners. In 2023, Carlos joined the team at Chicano Federation of San Diego County as Grants Manager. He is also a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, San Diego Chapter, and the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County.
Public Affairs Manager, Cox Communications – California
With more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Adriana Mendoza is a Public Affairs Manager for Cox Communications in San Diego, responsible for Community Relations efforts in San Diego including corporate/non-profit partnership serving as the statewide Digital Divide Liaison focusing on bridging the digital divide and responsible for leading theConnect2Compete efforts in CA. Most recently she was a Government Affairs Manager, serving as a liaison for the company with government entities at the local level.In that role Adriana also served as a liaison between Cox and nonprofit partners, managed Cox Tech Centers located at community centers and Boys and Girls Clubs in underserved communities and oversaw the company’s Connect2Compete program to bring computers and Internet access to K-12 students to help bridge the digital divide. Mendoza is currently a mentor to young Latinas through Manade San Diego, where she is on the board of directors, is an advisory board member for PiCS (Partners in College Success) and is on the board of directors for Computers2 Kids, San Diego, and San Diego County Taxpayers Association. She is also a 2019 graduate of LEAD, one of San Diego’s premier leadership programs. Since joining Cox Communications in 1998, Mendoza has held numerous roles in customer relations and public affairs. In 2003, she was a Cox Award of Excellence recipient. Prior to her current role, Mendoza held community and government affairs responsibilities for the company’s California region, which includes San Diego, Orange County, Palos Verdes and Santa Barbara. In this role, Mendoza served as a liaison between Cox and nonprofit partners, managed Cox Tech Centers located at community centers and Boys and Girls Clubs in underserved communities, and oversaw the company’s Connect2Compete program to bring computers and Internet access to K-12 students to help bridge the digital divide. Mendoza serves on the Cox Diversity and Inclusion Council for California and is a co-lead for Cox’s California Latino Employee Resource Group. Prior to joining Cox, she worked at the National City Public Library. Mendoza, who grew up in San Diego, married her childhood sweetheart. They live in SanDiego and have a 28-year-old son and a pit bull named Papi
Principal, MP Consulting
Marianne is a nonprofit consultant focused on advancing philanthropy to enhancing organizational sustainability. Marianne has facilitated hundreds of strategic retreats and trainings focused on strategic planning, board development/engagement and private philanthropy, Marianne works with each individual organization to assess their current strengths and works with board and staff leadership to implement recommendations to ensure that each organization has sustainable resources it needs for its mission to thrive.
Marianne recently retired from a Pacific Region leadership role for Boys & Girls Clubs of America where she consulted with Boards, leadership, and staff at approximately 50 independent Boys & Girls Clubs guiding them in building and/or enhancing relationship-focused transformational philanthropy. Prior to joining Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2013, Marianne raised millions of dollars in various philanthropy roles at Dignity Health, the American Red Cross and United Way. Prior to entering the non-profit field, Marianne owned and operated Landmark Business Services, an office management and support service company with four Phoenix area locations.
Marianne is a nationally Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), a Boardsource Certified Board Training Consultant and Certified Grant Trainer. Marianne has served on several non-profit boards including the Pat Tillman Foundation, Gilbert Historical Museum and Gilbert Leadership Board. Marianne has served on numerous committees and, in addition to NCPC, has been a member of the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the San Diego Planned Giving Partnership.
She is an avid sports fan and loves baseball, football, golf and walking the beaches of Southern California. Marianne and her husband Mike live in Temecula California and have two children and three grandchildren.
Lisa Ritchie, MA, CFRE, Lisa Ritchie Enterprises
Lisa Ritchie, MA, CFRE, Principal of Lisa Ritchie Enterprises, has more than 30 years of nonprofit
planning, management and development experience in organizations that span many sectors including
arts and culture, food insecurity, health care, medical research, social services and religion. She has a
strong track record of success in strategic and organizational planning, feasibility studies and capital
campaigns. Prior to forming a private consulting firm, Ritchie was a full time consultant and Senior Vice
President with Netzel Grigsby Associates, providing nonprofit consulting services in California, Nevada,
Oregon and Utah. During her career, she has provided consulting services to scores of nonprofits
including Oceanside Museum of Art, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, Imperial Valley Food
Bank, YMCAs, theaters, schools, a women’s recovery center and foundations such as MiraCosta College
Foundation.
Ritchie previously worked in management for 25 years at Scripps Hospitals, the Jewish Federation of San
Diego County and Rady Children’s Hospital and Health Center. At Scripps, she initiated and managed
vascular rehabilitation and Parkinson’s Disease programs. At the Federation, she was Director of
Planning, Allocations, and Innovation. She helped initiate 18 innovative start-ups and managed a sister
city partnership with San Diego and Sha’ar HaNegev, Israel. At Rady Children’s Hospital, she served on a
25-member management team responsible for 2,000 employees. She also spearheaded the start-up of
the Anderson Center for children with disabilities and Children’s Pediatric Dental Residency Program, the
first post-doctoral program of its kind at a California children’s hospital.
Ritchie is a past president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), San Diego Chapter,
where she served as Vice President of Resource Development, Vice President of Community Relations,
Mentorship Chair, and as a member of the Board of Directors for eight years. She has been honored to
receive numerous awards including North County Philanthropy Council’s (NCPC) Spirit of Carol Sigelman
Award for nonprofit development expertise; Speaker of the Year, American Society of Safety Engineers;
and the Kaleidoscope Award for “good governance” from the University of San Diego Nonprofit Institute,
School of Leadership and Education Sciences. Recently, she was asked to serve on her alma mater,
Scripps College’s Honors, Awards & Recognition Committee. Ritchie holds an MA in Organizational
Management and a BA from Scripps College of the Claremont Colleges, and a California Community
Colleges Teaching Credential. A Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor, she also taught exercise at MiraCosta
College for 25 years. Ritchie and her husband, Gary, are longtime residents of North County.
Azahalia Valdez, SD Futures Foundation
Azahalia is the Program Director for both the Digital Learning programs at the San Diego Futures Foundation (SDFF). She completed her AA in General Studies at the Southwestern College. She then pursued her BA in Spanish at San Diego State University and transferred to the University of Southern California where she earned her MA in Teaching. It was during her time at SWC that she realized the importance of having a form of mentorship throughout the higher education system and where her focus was driven from Business Administration to Education. Azahalia went on to teach preschool to middle school-aged students at the San Ysidro School District where she had several administrative and para-educational duties that spanned from 2006 to 2015, then moving on to private higher education at the University of San Diego and the College of English Language.
Azahalia found her niche in leadership when her colleagues suggested she become the Interim Director of Education at the College of English Language (CEL) where she worked for 4 years and helped create the Pathways to College program as well as initiated the online learning platforms used today by CEL. She worked for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego as their South Bay ASES Program Manager.
As a South Bay native, Azahalia understands that there is an ongoing need for accessible and equitable educational and skill-building resources, and many communities have similar needs to hers as she navigated from free educational resources that could afford her employable skills so she can then pay for college. Azahalia hopes to continue advocating for affordable educational and job resources and utilizing her time at SDFF to help build programs that can help underrepresented populations find career pathways.