Chris DeCardy

Chris DeCardy is vice president and director of programs. He oversees grantmaking across the Foundation’s program areas as well as the Communications and Evaluation departments. He also works with the CEO and Board on special grantmaking and has led several cross-foundation initiatives on communications, operations and networking. He joined the Foundation in 2002 as director of communications.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Chris worked for seven years at Environmental Media Services (EMS), first as associate director and then as executive director from 1998 to 2002. At EMS, he designed and implemented campaigns to improve and expand media coverage of environmental issues.
Chris holds a degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He serves on the board of Northern California Grantmakers and is an American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley fellow. Chris previously served on the boards or in an advisory capacity to a number of nonprofit organizations, and he started an organization dedicated to improving utilization of networks and technology among environmental nonprofits.