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.
As an underwriter at NFF, Michael works with the Financing Team to guide loan requests through the underwriting process, structure and size transactions, obtain credit approval, and support the closing and funding of each transaction. Prior to joining NFF, Michael worked in the field of financial inclusion and economic development at FINANTA, a Philadelphia-based, regional CDFI. At FINANTA, Michael managed the business lending and residential mortgage lending teams and worked with individual consumers, micro-and small businesses, as well as nonprofit organizations. Michael currently serves on the board of directors for the New Kensington Community Development Corporation and on the American Street Empowerment Zone Trust Fund Advisory Board.
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.
As the technical lead for NFF’s Salesforce platform and integrated systems, Lexi (she/her) shapes enterprise systems architecture to align technology with organizational strategy. She partners with teams to design scalable solutions that strengthen infrastructure, automate processes, and support evolving organizational needs.
Lexi brings deep systems expertise and institutional knowledge to NFF’s Operations & IT team. She has supported the deployment of several loan fund initiatives, led the implementation of a Salesforce-Sharepoint integration, and developed a custom application for NFF’s New Markets Tax Credit Program.
She began her career in direct service organizations and was drawn to technology after seeing how well-designed systems multiply impact. Outside of NFF, Lexi engages with technologists through the Salesforce Community Commons and RAD Women, a women-led collective for developers, architects, and administrators in the Salesforce ecosystem.
NFF Chair of Audit Committee
Rob McKay has spent his career working in the fields of philanthropy, politics and early stage equity investing. In 1992 he established the McKay Foundation which spent twenty years supporting social justice efforts in the areas of community organizing, the promotion of living wage policy and the expansion of voting rights. From 2006 to 2013 he was the Chairman of the Democracy Alliance. Rob led the Alliance as it financed and developed a robust portfolio of national progressive institutions committed to supporting the next generation of political leaders and expanding the American electorate. All of this was coordinated through a national partnership of donors with a long-term commitment to building progressive political power across the country. His private equity investing has included financing wineries, hotels and leading-edge environmental businesses. Rob graduated from Occidental College with a degree in political science. He also earned a Masters in Public Policy from UC Berkeley in 1990.
Athena (she/her) is a Director of Underwriting, supporting the vision and growth of NFF’s nonprofit and social enterprise clients since 2019. In her role, Athena utilizes thoughtful analytical skills and builds strong partnerships to arrive at innovative solutions to serve her clients. In her career of 20+ years, Athena worked in public accounting and mergers and acquisitions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, before serving in the impact lending function of VisionFund International and BlueOrchard Finance, both of which focused on partnering with microfinance institutions in developing countries. While working for BlueOrchard Finance’s regional office based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Athena took the lead in the organization’s launch in the heavily regulated Chinese market. In her spare time, Athena enjoys cooking, hosting meals, and volunteering with her church in underserved communities.
Sarah (she/her) is a management professional with 25+ years of experience in arts administration, finance and budgeting, community engagement, strategic planning, and development. Since joining NFF in 2021, she has had the pleasure of supporting organizations and leaders across the country. Her work often centers smaller and emerging nonprofits, supporting them in gaining agency over their financial planning and systems. She serves on NFF’s full cost workgroup, helping to evolve the framework and expand its reach. Other areas of focus include deepening NFF’s impact in MA and the organization’s funder learning opportunities. Prior to joining NFF, she served as a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Boston’s Company One Theatre (C1) from 1998 to 2019. With C1, she worked with NFF consultants to implement the full cost framework, including multiple year budgets and in-depth projections models. She also developed artistic, education, and community programs centered on collaborations and partnerships. She holds a Master of Public Administration in nonprofit management from Suffolk University and a Bachelor of Arts from Clark University in environmental science and policy.
Preethi (pronounced pree-THee) Kumaran is a Manager in the Consulting Practice at the Nonprofit Finance Fund, based out of the Philadelphia office, and serves in project management, financial analysis, and client support capacities. While she supports client work nationwide, much of her work has centered around Colorado and New Jersey markets. Prior to NFF, she worked at the Satell Institute, the W.D. Palmer Foundation, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a volunteer with and on the board of Open Hearts Cafe, a community human services organization. Preethi completed a master’s degree in nonprofit leadership and bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Travis Ene joined NFF in 2021.
As a Manager on the Operations & IT team, John brings more than seven years of information systems experience and plays a key role in supporting organizational infrastructure and reporting. He oversees CDFI Fund reporting and certification, supports award applications, and leads the Compliance Working Group (CWG). John is also responsible for managing important partner and internal reporting efforts, including the annual Aeris rating and board survey. In addition to his operational responsibilities, John serves as a system administrator for both Salesforce and NFF’s intranet. He helps drive cross-functional technology projects, such as migrating the intranet to SharePoint or integrating NFF’s loan servicing platform with Salesforce. His work also includes developing solutions in Power BI to enhance data visibility and decision-making.