Fred Blackwell

Fred Blackwell is the CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the country, which works hand-in-hand with donors, community leaders, and both public and private partners to create thriving communities throughout the Bay Area. Since joining the foundation in 2014, he has led it in a renewed commitment to social justice through an equity agenda focused on racial and economic inclusion. Prior to joining the foundation, he served as interim city administrator for the city of Oakland, where he had previously served as the assistant city administrator. He was the executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Development in San Francisco; he served as the director of the Making Connections Initiative for the Annie E. Casey Foundation in the Lower San Antonio neighborhood of Oakland; he was a Multicultural Fellow in Neighborhood and Community Development at The San Francisco Foundation; and he subsequently managed a multiyear comprehensive community initiative for the San Francisco Foundation in West Oakland. He serves on the board of the Independent Sector, the Bridgespan Group, the dean’s advisory council for UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, and the community advisory council of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, as well as the Public Policy Institute of California’s Statewide Leadership Council. He is a visiting professor in the department of City and Regional Planning at University of California, Berkeley. He holds a master’s degree in city planning from University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Morehouse College.