PACF Board Member Spotlight
Meet Lauren Williams
Having built a legacy of hard work, perseverance, and joy, Palo Alto Community Fund (PACF) board member and avid community volunteer Lauren Williams enters the next phase of her advocacy journey as she leaves PACF after almost 10 years on the board.
A Palo Alto resident for the past 17 years, Lauren first became a helping hand when she began volunteering at her children’s schools. Witnessing firsthand the ways volunteering could make a difference, she was excited to expand her work to the broader community.
“For me, the biggest thing that initially was the hook for me to sit down and have that first meeting about becoming a board member was just seeing how much PACF does,” Lauren shares. “At the time, I was very focused on education, but seeing how wide PACF's breadth was, but still how locally connected in the community they were, that was just really something that piqued my interest.”
Lauren envisioned spending her time on the board tapping into her experience as a marketing director to help drive marketing and fundraising efforts for PACF. But over the years, she’s found that being a part of the grantmaking process has been the most rewarding and transformational work.
“Being on the grants committee really gave me a higher level of exposure to just all of the amazing organizations out there,” says Lauren. “I've always known that the people that do this work are just a special cut of the human race. They're doing some of the work that needs to be done, that not a lot of people want to do. Those small stories and those connections have really been inspirational for me.”
One of Lauren’s most memorable experiences from her time on the board was working on a COVID Relief Project for which PACF collaborated with other nonprofits and the Palo Alto School District to deliver resources to those in need in the community. This project was a prime example of the ways PACF steps up to help address the ever-evolving needs of the community, and one that makes Lauren proud to have been a part of this organization.
“It was pretty amazing that an organization like Palo Alto Community Fund was able to work with a small handful of organizations that were willing to be flexible and nimble in a time when the community really needed it. It was not something that was in our traditional portfolio of how we support the community, but we did it through partners that we trusted and that we knew from before COVID,” says Lauren. “I am a fan of PACF for life because of the fact that the organization and the people in the organization were able to say, ‘Hey, you know, these are the rules. We're going to follow them, but let's see how we can get creative.’”
As PACF grows and connects with more organizations in Palo Alto, we are excited to see how the groundwork Lauren has implemented on our board drives support and change in our community.
“I've learned so much from so many board members, past and current. PACF is sort of where I grew up in the community. It’s an amazing organization, not just for the work that we do in terms of financial support and fundraising, but also just the amount of knowledge that PACF is able to share with others in our community about the good work that's being done, the needs that are still unaddressed, and the opportunities to bring people together to help and grow.”
Thank you, Lauren, for sharing nearly a decade of your time, kindness, and support with PACF and our greater nonprofit ecosystem through your service on the board. Your contributions have helped PACF serve as a vital community resource as we work to ensure a vibrant Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, and Menlo Park for all.
Learn more about how you can make a difference in our community today: https://paloaltocommfund.org/give/.