Staff
Family Independence Initiative Leadership Team
Mauricio Lim Miller
Founder, President, and CEO
Mauricio founded FII in 2001 after running Asian Neighborhood Design, a community development agency in San Francisco and Oakland, for 22 years. He has been honored by President Clinton for his work and was appointed by President Obama to the White House Council for Community Solutions. Mauricio sits on the boards of the California Endowment and the Hitachi Foundation. He is a MacArthur Genius Award winner and an Ashoka Fellow. (Full bio)
Melanie Moore
Managing Partner
Melanie joined FII in 2013 as Managing Partner, following eight years of building and running her own start-up impact assessment firm, See Change. Including her time at See Change, Melanie has been a professional evaluator and social sector researcher for almost 20 years, advising large and small nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies on strategies to maximize their impact, particularly in the domains of individual development and community change. Melanie holds a doctorate in human development from Stanford University's School of Education, and a B.A. in psychology from Yale University. She lives in San Francisco with her two daughters, two dogs, two cats, and one boa constrictor.
Michelle Chao
Chief Operations Officer
Michelle began her work with FII in 2001, six months after its inception. During this time, she completed the Master's in Business Administration/Management Program at Cal State University, Hayward in 2004. Michelle is a native of Oakland, California, where she is a committee member of the Iu Mien Scholarship Fund since 2000. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association (LIMCA) from 2004-2006. Michelle continues to work to help her community preserve its culture and language through various events and projects.
Mia Birdsong
Vice President
Mia joined FII in 2008 and bringing a wide-range of experience and knowledge from her time in the publishing industry, a decade as a volunteer and organizer for Critical Resistance, and ten years spent as a trainer and educator in the fields of youth development and health education. Mia was named an Ascend Fellow of the Aspen Institute in 2012 and she sits on the Advisory Board of the Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center. She holds a B.A. in Black Studies from Oberlin College. Mia lives with her husband and two children in Oakland.
Jorge Blandón
Vice President
Prior to joining FII in 2009, Jorge worked for seven years in the financial securitization sector where he honed his expertise in underwriting bond financings for U.S. municipal entities, investor owned and publicly owned utilities, as well as infrastructure projects the U.S. and Latin America. He holds an M.A. in International Relations with a focus in Business Management from the University of California in San Diego and has a B.A. from Amherst College. Jorge is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow from Princeton University.
Jesús Gerena
Director, FII—Boston
Jesús came to FII in 2010 with more than a decade of experience working with youth, most recently as Deputy Director of the Hyde Square Task Force. He has over 15 years experience in working with urban youth and as a community organizer. Jesús is a member and Co-Chair of the English for New Bostonians Oversight Committee, and serves as a board member for the New England Grassroots Environment Fund and the Boston Foundation for Architecture.
Michael Blonsky
Chief Technology Officer
Michael joined FII in 2013 and brings with him a long history of technology consulting and startup experience. Among Michael's startup experiences is his work with a social enterprise called Fashion4Freedom. Michael has hands-on experience with most major technology platforms and has developed mobile applications for iOS and Android. He holds a M.S. in Technology and Business from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. from Tufts University.
Family Independence Initiative Staff
Chrismaldi Vasquez
Associate Director, FII—Boston
Prior to joining FII in 2013, Chrismaldi was Director of Capacity and Assessment for Boston Rising, a start-up foundation focused on breaking the cycle of poverty. Before that, she was Director of Community Impact with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. Chrismaldi spent 11 years at the Hyde Square Task Force, a youth community development non-profit agency, rising from youth organizer to Manager of Organizing and Policy Initiatives. She graduated from Bentley University with a B.S. in Economics and Finance and minored in International Studies.
Paola Hernandez
Liason, FII—San Francisco
Paola is a first generation Nicaraguan-American born and raised just outside of Miami. She attended the University of Chicago where she created and ran Students Promoting Interracial Networks (SPIN) while simultaneously working with the Office of Minority Student Affairs (OMSA). Paola has spent time in her home country of Nicaragua teaching low-income children and serving as a volunteer. In 2010, she graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and made the Dean’s List of Honors.
Wandy Peguero
Liason, FII—Boston
As a teenager, Wandy was a youth organizer at Hyde Square Task Force leading major campaigns on issues such as youth employment, violence, parks, and sexual harassment. He also organized cultural and recreational events that brought together the entire Jamaica Plain community.
Quyen-Thi Nguyen
Office & Operations Manager
Quyen was born and raised in Oakland, CA to a low-income immigrant family along with five siblings. She studied at CSU Monterey Bay focusing on Earth Systems Science and Policy. Since 2002, she has been involved with a number of youth organizations in a variety of roles from a volunteer to media liaison to board member. Prior to FII, she worked as the Office Manager for the Alcohol Policy Network.
Consultants
Faridah Inanlou
Data Integrity
Faridah has over 13 years experience helping major technology companies with process improvement, licensing contracts, risk and compliance. She earned her Bachelors in Information Technology from the University of Washington and MBA from Saint Mary's College of California with field work in microfinance.
Spark Action
Marketing and Communications
Spark Action is run by Laura Weide, who has over twenty years of experience in strategic marketing, communications, media relations, and advocacy. Spark Action has deep background working with economic justice organizations messaging complex policy issues in down to earth communications.
Balance.point Strategic Services
Strategy
Balance.point provides consulting services, trainings, and tools. They help organizations create positive change in line with their goals, with measurable, bottom line results. Their focus is on identifying clear personal and business needs and creating the environment to meet those needs.