Who We Are
Board of Directors
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Executive Director
Banner photography by
Sand Hill Foundation 3000 Sand Hill Road, 1-120 Menlo Park, CA 94025
Ash McNeely
Ash McNeely is executive director of the Sand Hill Foundation, a family foundation in Menlo Park, California, that focuses on regional efforts to protect the environment and help families break the cycle of poverty. Ash also serves as a senior program officer for Pacific Foundation Services in San Francisco, a private foundation management firm that supports the philanthropic activities of 20 families.
For four years, Ash was senior officer to The Pew Charitable Trusts, serving as West Coast representative of the Philanthropic Partnership Group. Immediately prior, she was vice president of donor engagement at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, managing grantmaking for 1,200 donor advised funds, supporting organizations and scholarships; and at Peninsula Community Foundation, she led the strategy and execution of advised fund grantmaking, business development and communications for seven years. Ash also worked for a decade in Bay Area performing arts organizations in marketing and development capacities, including TheatreWorks, the California Shakespeare Festival and the Center for the Arts at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens. She has spoken at numerous national forums such as the Council on Foundations’ Family Foundation Conference, Council on Foundations’ Community Foundation Conference, the Institute for Private Investors, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, the Junior League, and Credit Suisse Private Wealth Management Conference. She has been a visiting lecturer at Stanford University, Harvard Business School and Colorado College.
Ash sits on the board of Opportunity Fund, the advisory board of Horizons Foundation, and is an active volunteer with Crystal Springs Uplands School, Vassar College and TheatreWorks. She received an M.B.A. in nonprofit management from Golden Gate University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Vassar College with a bachelor’s in English and women’s studies. She lives in Burlingame with her longtime partner, Elisa Odabashian, and their two college-aged children.
The photo above features youth at Hidden Villa in morning circle time.
