Isabella Calvo
Philanthropy & Social Impact Leader
Santa Monica,CA
Summary
Isabella is an equity driven social impact leader with over a decade of experience designing and scaling philanthropic strategy, programs, and partnerships that center community voices and advance opportunities for under resourced communities. Built and currently lead a multi-million-dollar corporate foundation overseeing all aspects of grantmaking, nonprofit engagement, disaster response, impact measurement, and employee engagement.
Known for translating big picture vision into actionable strategies, building high trust relationships across sectors, and driving systemic change with empathy and a deep commitment to justice. Isabella believes solutions to the world’s pressing issues come from the communities most affected. Previous experience includes roles in CSR and DEI at JPMorgan Chase.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Vice President - Head of Social Impact
Lazard
05.2019 - Current
- Built and scaled the Lazard Foundation, creating its mission, strategy, and operational infrastructure from the ground up to enable effective, community informed, and trust based grantmaking
- Lead all philanthropic initiatives in the U.S., including grantmaking, employee volunteerism, and corporate charitable giving
- Manage a multi-million-dollar grant portfolio, focusing on workforce readiness and economic mobility for under-resourced communities, particularly youth
- Build and steward relationships with nonprofit partners, peer funders, and internal stakeholders to foster collaborative, community centered impact
- Developed and launched a signature partnership with New Visions for Public Schools, impacting thousands of public high school students through career focused programming
- Present grantmaking strategy and impact updates to the Foundation's Board of Directors, ensuring alignment with long-term goals and values
- Established KPIs and evaluation frameworks in partnership with grantees to measure progress and surface shared learning
- Oversee all grants administration and operations including due diligence, payments, tracking and documentation
Operations Manager
NewtonX
07.2018 - 04.2019
- Established the company's first employee matching gift program
- Set strategy for employee volunteerism and managed all volunteerism operations including identifying nonprofits, event planning, measures of success, etc.
- Managed multiple major client relationships with consulting, tech, research, and private equity firms by overseeing the entire lifecycle of projects
- Led client requests by managing large budgets and advising on best practices and approaches to ensure a holistic approach to the client need
- Worked closely with the COO to strategize on process improvement, locating efficiencies, and establishing metrics to help shape the company's future and measure success
Associate
JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Diversity & Inclusion
10.2017 - 06.2018
- Managed rollout of unconscious bias workshops and materials to managers in every line of business
- Worked with HR executives in the formulation of the firm's three year diversity strategy
- Provided updates to the CEO and C-Suite members with updates on key diversity initiatives
- Subject matter expert on firm's diversity metrics, which included creating internal and external communications on status and progress of recruiting, retaining and promoting diverse talent
- Interfaced with key stakeholders to collect data for surveys such as Working Mother Top 100, Multicultural Women, and McKinsey & Co.'s Women in the Workplace
- Oversaw and managed the identification of a technology platform to house all data related to the firm's Lean In circles
Operations Analyst
JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Corporate Social Responsibility
07.2016 - 10.2017
- Led the due diligence process for engagements with hundreds of nonprofit organizations for all of Corporate Responsibility, HR, and Legal
- Oversaw all reporting on charitable contributions across the firm to ensure compliance with Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines
- Collaborated on creation of new volunteerism management product
- Co-managed relationship with Corporate Responsibility's largest technology vendor, CyberGrants
Analyst
JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Recruiting
08.2015 - 07.2016
- Analyzed and presented employee diversity data
- Oversaw updates to executives on domestic and global recruiting efforts
- Led recruiting capacity planning for call centers in the US
- Collaborated with departments across the firm in order to meet business need
Intern
JPMorgan Chase & Co. - Corporate Social Responsibility
05.2015 - 08.2015
- Processed grants for the Office of Nonprofit Engagement from beginning through completion in CyberGrants
- Prepared briefing materials for internal senior management and external partners
- Planned meetings and events, including booking venues, editing agendas, catering, audio/visual etc., across the United States for various relationship managers
Intern
Dick Batchelor Management Group
11.2014 - 05.2015
- Contributed to firm’s daily operations in the areas of strategic government relations, public affairs and community development
- Participated in the creation and implementation of the Family Homelessness Committee in partnership with the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness
- Oversaw preparations for public hearings and press conferences for the Orange County Domestic Violence Commission
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Political Science
Rollins College
08.2010 - 05.2014
Skills
Grantmaking
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