NFF Board Treasurer

Kristina considers herself an activist CFO, who comes into organizations with a unique perspective as a Black woman in finance, orienting around a framework centering policies, procedures, and processes in equity, that has an alignment to strategy, not just with the business.

Kristina served as the CFAO for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), where she oversaw a portfolio of Homeless Services funds of over $600 Million, and provided direct oversight of the Finance and Administrative Functions. Before rejoining LAHSA, she served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Nonprofit Finance Fund, where she oversaw the Finance and Administration Business Unit. In this role she helped advance NFF’s commitment to ensuring nonprofits, especially those led by and serving people of color, had the resources to meet community needs. Prior to joining NFF, Kristina served as the Director of Finance; at LAHSA, and when funding through the agency to address the homelessness crisis, grew from $75 million to over $400 million annually, she guided the organization’s financial operational expansion and its evolution as an active partner to service providers. She also previously held finance leadership positions with the Los Angeles Urban league, Jenesse Center, Chinatown Service Center, and worked as a key member of the finance team at First 5 LA. In all these positions, she earned a reputation as a truth-teller and trust builder.

Kristina has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in African American Studies from UC Berkeley; a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Management Leadership from the University of La Verne, where she is an adjunct professor teaching MBA and MPH students Accounting and Compliance for Nonprofit organizations as well as Budget and Financial Planning, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Public Administration, where her research focuses on building the financial and administrative capacity of organizations that receive public funds.

NFF Chair of Program Committee 

Nike Irvin founded and leads ZWN, Inc. a consultancy and coaching practice serving charitable foundations and nonprofits dedicated to social justice. Based in Los Angeles, Nike is currently commissioned on the development of a multi-partisan fellowship for next generation civil rights and community leaders, a partnership between ADL and The Aspen Institute. Upon launch of the “Civil Society Fellowship” in 2019, Nike will become its inaugural Managing Director. She led California Community Foundation’s (CCF) grantmaking for six years, overseeing $125+ million in grants to the arts, education, juvenile justice, and health. Before CCF, Nike served as president of The Riordan Foundation for seven years. She has 20+ years of experience in nonprofit leadership and is active in American truth and reconciliation efforts– associated with the SoCal Grantmakers’ grant through Kellogg Foundation as well as Aspen Global Leadership Network. Prior to her nonprofit career, Nike was a brand manager for Pepsi Cola Company and Nestle USA. She is a trustee for The Broad Center, The Riordan Foundation, Southern California Grantmakers and previously for Crystal Stairs, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, and UCLA Alumni Association. She received a BA in Economics & Political Science from Yale University and was named one of the “100 Most Inspirational Alumni” by the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she earned her MBA. Nike is a Marshall Memorial Fellow, and a Next Generation Fellow of the American Assembly. In 2016, she received LABJ’s Philanthropist of the Year award and was a recipient of the Profiles in Diversity Journal’s Women Worth Watching award. She is a member of the 2004 Class of Henry Crown Fellows of the Aspen institute.

NFF Board Chair

Community means everything to me. I grew up in a large and tight-knit family whose roots were solidly in the Chinese American communities of San Francisco and Oakland, CA. As one example, my maternal grandfather headed up a family association to help new immigrants as they arrived in the US, and also created one of the most vibrant restaurants in SF Chinatown where the community gathered for banquets and weddings. My mother and father also created places of belonging for Chinese Americans facing discrimination. It was this strong connection to community that inspired my future work at the intersection of finance and social justice.

In college, I joined with my community of Asian American students in successfully lobbying for Amherst College’s first-ever Asian American Studies class. In addition, we also found common cause with the African American and Latinx communities on campus. Soon after I graduated, I joined Asian Americans Advancing Justice/Asian Law Caucus, where we advocated for better housing conditions, more humane immigration policies, stronger employment protections, and justice for hate crimes. Much of this work was done in concert with Latinx and African American community leaders. When I went to business school, my community encouraged me to find ways to leverage finance and business for social good.

After several years in traditional finance, I founded Correlation Consulting and ‘Take Action! The Impact Investing Summit.’ Both connected and advised individuals, families, foundations, financial institutions, and government agencies that aimed to balance financial returns with social and environmental impact. Take Action!’s last convening in 2012 brought together asset owners collectively managing $4.5 trillion and set the stage for much of impact investing today. The intersection of community and finance led me to serve on the Board of Directors of Nonprofit Finance Fund – first as a committee member, and now as Board Chair. I am proud to have devoted the past thirty years of my career to institutions that unite two of my greatest passions: supporting communities in achieving their aspirations and leveraging finance to bring them the resources they need to get there.

Outside of my role at NFF, I currently serve on the Investment and Audit Committee of The Russell Family Foundation. I am lucky enough to now live in one of the most beautiful corners of the world: the San Juan Islands of Washington State. I spend as much time as possible with my family and am an avid bread baker and tennis player.