CJ Callen

CJ is the Director of Community Leadership and Capacity Building for the Community Team of CZI where she is working to elevate the needs for people on the front lines of change to have spaces to dream and time to rest and restore their souls.

As a philanthropy professional, CJ has managed grantmaking portfolios and strategic grantmaking initiatives; developed technical assistance and capacity building programs for grantees; and served on the boards of Women & Philanthropy and Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy.

As a philanthropic consultant, she has provided strategic advice and program support to a diverse set of clients, including the Levi Strauss Foundation where she played a key role in the design and launch of the Pioneers in Justice initiative.

CJ founded Y-MAC (Youth-Making-A-Change) to bring youth leadership into the public policy arena in San Francisco.

CJ received her JD from Stanford University where she was one of the first participants in the Law School’s Public Interest Loan Program. She obtained a BA in philosophy and political science with honors from New York University.

She resides in Oakland with her husband Jeffrey who is an Ethnomusicologist and her pandemic puppy Pote named after her favorite character on the telenovela Queen of the South.