History
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1989 David L. Romero and family approach the San Diego Community Foundation to create a fund that would make grants throughout Mexico. The San Diego Community Foundation Board votes to set up a separate organization for international grant making under the leadership of Helen Monroe. |
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 Vince Siciliano, PAF's first Chair |
1990: The Pacific American Foundation (PAF) is incorporated to function as a community foundation for donors interested in project funding in Latin America and the Pacific Rim. Founding board members include: Dallas Clark, Vince Siciliano, Jim Polak, Ron Hahn, and Deborah Szekely. Vince Siciliano served as the foundation’s first Chair. |
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 Richard von Rooij(right) with children and volunteers on the outskirts of Tijuana. |
1992 First donor advised funds include the Casa Eudes Fund to benefit the Tijuana home for homeless girls; the Van Rooij Fund to benefit the Centro Comunitario outside Tijuana; and the Whole Family Fund to fund scholarships in China. John F. Ramsey becomes the new executive director of the San Diego Community Foundation in October 1992 and begins to get more actively involved in supporting the mission of PAF. |
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1993 The North American Free Trade Agreement is passed, leading to rapid industrial growth along Mexico’s Northern Border. The Council of Foundations and the Centro Mexicano Para la Filanthropia (CEMEFI) form the U.S.-Mexico Committee on Philanthropy and organize their first binational meeting in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico attended by key philanthropic leaders from the United States and Mexico. Ramsey joins Committee and steps up to provide early funding and volunteer support for this first organizational meeting on behalf of the Pacific American Foundation. |
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 The Szekely Family (2000): Deborah (Center) Sara Livia Brightwood (left) and Alex (Right) |
1994 Bob Morris, Fred Castro, Margaret Iwanaga Penrose, and Ed Fletcher join the board. Esperanza Fund to benefit community development programs in Mexico is set up. The Szekely Family Endowment Fund is established, a legacy gift that provided the building blocks for the foundation’s first endowment fund to provide general operational support. |
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 Bob Kelly joins TSDF, commits to grow PACF |
1995 Bob Kelly assumes the leadership of the San Diego Foundation and joins the board of the Pacific American Foundation. The devaluation of Mexico’s peso and subsequent economic downturn leads to rapid migration to the Northern border with nominal governmental resources to address the growing infrastructural and social needs of the region. |
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 Lucy Killea and Victor Vilaplana, Chair (1996-1999) |
1996 Lucy Killea joins the foundation as President and CEO. Jose Larroque, Augustine Gallego, Gaston Lúken, and Chuck Nathanson join the board. Victor Vilaplana is Chair of the Board. |
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| 1997 The Pacific American Foundation changes its name to the International Community Foundation, broadening its mission to include philanthropy throughout the Americas and Asia. |
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| 1998 Dolores Clark, Yolanda Walther-Meade, Enrique Morones, Jacinto Astiazarán Rosas, and Luis Herrera Lasso join the board. |
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 Jacinto Astiazarán, Board Chair (1999-2000) |
1999 Leon Reinhart and Robert Chang join the board. Jacinto Astiazarán takes on the role of Board Chair. ICF now has 16 separate funds, including the Robert and Joyce Chang Fund, which funds education projects in China. The first annual International Children’s Fund is established, making $12,500 in grants to three non-profit organizations in Tijuana. A total of $156,00 in grants are made this fiscal year. Robert and Joyce Chang initiate social investments to support educational programs in China through International Community Foundation. | ||
 ICF establishes Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad in 2000  ICF creates International Children's Fund under leadership of Lucy Killea |
2000 The International Children’s Fund grants grow to $50,000 and support 15 organizations, thanks to Sempra Energy’s offer to match all contributions to the fund. Gabriela Flores and Jessie Knight join the board. The foundation now has 27 funds, making grants in Mexico, Ecuador, China, and Canada. The International Community Foundation and the Universidad Iberoamerica Noroeste sponsor the first “Filanthropo del Año Philanthropist of the Year Award" Celebration in Tijuana to spur local philanthropy in Tjjuana with Christy Walton and Luis Fimbres Moreno as Event Co-Chairs. FINCOMUN (Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad), ICF’s sister foundation in Mexico, is founded as a community foundation for Baja California. A total of $182,000 in grants are made this fiscal year. |
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 Augie Gallego, Chair (2001-2002) |
2001 Lucy Killea steps down and the board selects Richard Kiy as the new President and CEO. Augustine (Augie) Gallego chairs the Board of Governors. ICF now has 36 funds and $1 million in assets. ICF, through the International Children’s Fund makes $50,000 in grants to 14 organizations working with children and families in Tijuana, Ensenada, and Mexicali. ICF's Border Environmental Fund is created to support community organizations working on environmental issues along the border with grantmaking totaling $60,000. A total of $352,000 are made in grants this fiscal year. |
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 Reina del Mar sculpture donated to La Paz  ICF logo (2002-2008). |
2002: Richard Kiy assumes leadership of foundation with the goal of expanding the geographic reach of the foundation beyond the border to the rest of the Baja California peninsula and coastal communities of the Gulf of California. ICF gets new logo, launches its Give2Baja campaign and Sea of Cortez Fund. Foundation publishes Baja California Needs Assessment to spur more giving to the border region. An effort is also made to initiate work in Oaxaca due to the strong linkages between Southern California migrant workers and this under-served migrant sending region, ICF appoints Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, an expert on transnational migration to the board and initiates its “Ties that Bind Us” Initiative. ICF donates Reina del Mar sculpture to La Paz, the first of four such donations to this coastal city on the Sea of Cortes. The International Community Foundation becomes a member of the newly established U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP). A total of $747,678 in grants are made. |
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 Leon Reinhart, Chair (2003-2007)  Charles E. Nathanson, PH.D. (August 22, 1941 - June 5, 2003)  Tijuana's Universidad Ibero America Library supported by ICF  Isla Espirtu Santo Private Lands Conservation Project  San Bartolo Mayan royal tomb discovery |
2003: Leon Reinhart becomes the foundation’s new Chair and the board is expanded to include five new board members: Alan Rubin, Nancy Marlin, Alice Tang, Irma Gigli and Chris Waddell. With funding support from the Ford Foundation ICF expands its leadership in the U.S.-Mexico border region. The foundation also launches its Las Californias Youth Leadership Program engaging San Diego and Tijuana area high school youth of Mexican descent towards expanded cross-border civic engagement. ICF secures $74,100 and leverages an additional $142,500 in contributions from other donors for a new library at the Universidad Ibero Americana in Tijuana. Former ICF Board Member, Chuck Nathanson passes away. During this year, ICF partners with World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation to undertake its first private land conservation project contributing $250,000 towards a $3.3 million purchase of Isla Espiritu Santo off the coast of La Paz, BCS. Under the leadership of Mexican nonprofit, FUNDEA, the purchased island was subsequently transferred to the Mexican Commission for Protected Areas (CONANP). ICF forges a collaborative partnership with the United Nations Foundation to further promote expanded conservation on Isla Espiritu Santo as well as the other islands of the Gulf of California, raising an additional $125,000 among ICF donors which leverages $375,000 in additional matching funds to support the establishment of a UNESCO World Heritage Biodiversity Site for the Gulf of California. | ||
 Blurred Borders report released in 2004  ICF partners with Old Globe Theatre to donate theatre seats to La Paz's Teatro Juarez |
2004: With major funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, ICF expands its civic leadership in the San Diego-Tijuana border region publishing “Blurred Borders: Trans-boundary Issues and Solutions in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region”. The foundation also successfully undertakes its first series of micro-credit loans to the community of El Trapiche, Oaxaca through its Ties that Bind Us initiative. ICF also partners with the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Municipality of La Paz to undertake a study of “Alternative Futures for La Paz.” ICF also partners with San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre to donate 500 theatre seats to La Paz’s historic Teatro Juarez. A total of $2.2 million in granted this fiscal year. |
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2005: In response to the South Asia tsunami, ICF mobilizes a unique collaboration of U.S. and Mexican community foundations, San Diego area companies, and schools to raise $1.3 million benefiting victims in tsunami affected communities. The foundation partners with the UN Foundation and the Indonesian Red Cross to coordinate disaster relief response. Continuing its collaboration with the UN Foundation on the conservation front, UNESCO designates 244 islands and inlets of the Gulf of California as a World Heritage Biodiversity Site. To expand cross-border charitable giving, ICF initiates the first of a series of donor education trips to Tijuana in collaboration with our sister foundation, Fundacion Internacional de la Comunidad (FIC). ICF also partners with the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) to undertake a year-long research study of U.S Corporate Giving Trends in Mexico. ICF makes $3.6 million grants that year. Former ICF Board Member Dallas Clark and John T. Walton, a donor and supporter of the foundation, both pass away. |
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 Walton House gifted to foundation in 2006  ICF releases "Shared Destiny report highlighting border health issues in San Diego-Tijuana border region"  Laguna san Ignacio Whale Conservation Fund established and Alliance formed with key conservation organizations to protect and preserve the fragile lagoon.  Event Co-Chairs, Malin Burnham (left center) and Mauricio Fernández Margain (right center) ) at the 2006 gala of the International Community Foundation and its sister foundation, FIC, receiving recognition from Randie Reinhart (Left) and Yolanda Walther Meade (right). |
2006: In an effort to expand charitable giving to Baja California Sur, ICF publishes a community needs assessment for the state. ICF also partners with Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, the University of Arizona, San Diego State University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the publication of the Alternative Future Study for Greater Loreto. ICF forges a unique binational conservation collaboration with Pronatura Noroeste Mar de Cortez, Wildcoast and NRDC leading to the protection of almost 100,000 acres of wetlands, lagoons, beaches, and inland areas in Laguna San Ignacio and the establishment of the first private conservation easement in the lagoon with local nonprofit, Maijañuí, A.C. In an effort to broaden the foundation’s work in the area of border health, ICF releases the publication: “Shared Destiny: Shaping a Binational Agenda for Health Priorities" with funding support from The California Endownment, The foundation’s board is expanded to include Atul Patel, Rick Romney, George Chandler, and Mary Correira Moreno. ICF accepts gift of former Walton House and property in National City. ICF organizes first binational gala with sister foundation, FIC co-chaired by Malin Burnham and Maurico Fernandez Margain. Over $2.5 million in grants are made that fiscal year. |
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 Alan Rubin (Interim Chair, 2007-2008)  Bahia de Los Angeles becomes a marine protected area thanks to the leadership of ICF grantee, Pronatura Noroeste Mar de Cortes, A.C. 
ICF provides fiscal sponsorship to launch BPP as 501c3 |
2007: With funding from the foundation, Pronatura Noroeste, A.C.accomplished its five year goal of securing the designation of Bahía de Los Angeles in Baja California as a marine protected area. ICF also worked to establish a new community foundation in Nayarit, the Fundacion Punta de Mita. The foundation also expands its grantmaking in Panama and Guatemala. ICF also works to expand scholarships to under-served children and youth in Mexico, sponsoring the first Mexican education NGO forum in La Paz. Tony Kinninger and Wendy Gillespie join the board. Leon Reinhart completes his service as Board Chair and Vice Chair, Alan Rubin, steps in as Interim-Board Chair. ICF secures required re-zoning approval for its new property in National City and receives $4 million gift from Christy Walton and the Walton Family Foundation. ICF assumes fiscal sponsorship of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership, helping to position this budding membership organization to become a separate 501c3. The foundation makes $3.45 million in grants that year. |
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 Mary Walshok, Chair (2008-2009)  ICF grantee, CIAM, wins Panamanian Supreme Court case  ICF logo |
2008: Mary Walshok joins board and becomes Chair. The board is expanded to include Cheryl Hammond and Roi Ewell. ICF moves headquarters to National City. Board strategically aligns itself to re-focus foundation’s grantmaking efforts on Mexico and Central America, shifting away from Asia. The ICF Center, a Type 1 supporting organization of the foundation is established for its National City property and future programs focused promoting civic engagement and healthy communities in the San Diego-Baja California border region. In that year, ICF steps up its effort to support flooding relief efforts in Tabasco and Chiapas. The foundation also made strategic grants to promote the rule of law by strengthening civil society based environmental legal defense initiatives in both Mexico and Panama. ICF Panamanian grantee, Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (CIAM) wins Panamanian Supreme Court case related to illegal development of that country’s rain forest. The foundation makes $4.6 million in grants that year. ICF adopts a new design of logo |
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 Cheryl Hammond, Chair (2009-Present)  In Remembrance, ICF Board Member George Peel Chandler, Jr (September 6, 1935-March 6, 2009) |
2009: Cheryl Hammond becomes ICF’s next ICF Chair. Yuri Carderon, Alejandra Mier y Teran, Gabriela Manriquez and Samuel Simon Dychter, MD join the board. Working together with Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad, ICF jointly produced and released the first ever guide for in-kind donations between the United States and Mexico Through ICF’s partnership with the Oaxaca Community Foundation, our foundation raised over $332,000 in support of productive employment projects in Oaxaca. The foundation makes $5.2 million in grants that year. ICF Board Member, George Chandler, passes away. |
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 In Remembrance, ICF Board member and donor, Alice Tang (1942-2010)  The Dulce Wireless-Tijuana program is launched to promote diabetes care and management using 3G wireless technology |
2010: Expanding its leadership in the area of border health issues, ICF publishes “Tuberculosis in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region: Time for Binational Community based Solutions” in collaboration with binational academic and governmental partners and the funding support of The California Wellness Foundation. With funding from Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach program, ICF partners with Mexican and U.S. public, private and nonprofit partners to launch the Dulce Wireless-Tijuana program to promote diabetes care and management using 3G wireless technology. The foundation also publishes research studies on U.S. retirement trends in Mexican coastal communities to better understand the impacts of the 2008/2009 recession on charitable giving in the communities that it serves in the Northwest Mexico. The foundation makes $5.6 million in grants that fiscal year. Alice Tang, a committed donor and former foundation board member passes away. |
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2011: The International Community Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary with its "Giving Without Borders" gala along with the 10th anniversary of its sister foundation in Tijuana, Fundacion Internacional de la Comunidad (FIC). During 2011 the foundation continued its work on its Dulce Wireless Tijuana diabetes care initiative, launched its youth philanthropy program and published follow up research on U.S. retirement trends in Mexican coastal communities with a focus on sustainable retirement communities. In 2011 John McNeece, Deborah Riner and Ed Mracek joined the foundation's board. During that year, the Foundation also changed the name of its Type 1 supporting organization from the ICF Center for Cross Border Philanthropy to Olivewood Gardens as this charity expanded its programs and services to benefit communities in San Diego's South Bay border region. |
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2012: With an expanding portfolio of work in the area of border health, Dr. Irma Gigli became the International Community Foundation's next Board Chair. During the year, ICF continued its work supporting the Dulce Wireless Tijuana diabetes care initiative and expanded its support of the TB Fund for the Californias, as well as the Puentes de Esperanza multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) program which focuses on the growing cross-border TB challenges in Baja California. During the 2012 fiscal year, ICF made grants totaling almost $4.8 million. Among ICF's most notable grants was a grant to Pronatura Noroeste, which helped secure long-term protection for over 200,000 acres of coastal lands in Laguna San Ignacio through the establishment of the first-ever conservation UMA for the region. During the 2012 fiscal year, Cathe Burnham also joined the board. |
