MCF Leadership

Rhea Suh is a senior executive with more than 25 years of philanthropic, environmental and public policy experience. Prior to joining MCF in 2021, Rhea served as the third president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), where under her leadership, the organization grew by more than $50 million and increased its membership by more than 40 percent.

Before joining NRDC, Rhea served as the assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior. She was nominated for the position by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009. She led several cross-cutting initiatives at the department including establishing a successful diversity program for the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, leading the inter-agency Wildland Fire national coordinating body, and creating the first-ever national strategy for federal land acquisition.

Prior to her appointment to the Interior Department, Rhea worked at both the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, focusing on strategies dedicated to environmental conservation and clean energy in the West.

Rhea earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Barnard College and received a Fulbright Fellowship to Seoul, South Korea. She also earned a master's degree in education, administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University.

Jason Blau leads MCF’s Strategy team, which seeks to align all MCF’s work to the greatest impact.

Jason brings more than 15 years of experience in philanthropic strategy. His commitment to social impact has led him to work across social and environmental challenges, find innovative ways to support communities, and facilitate partnerships between different funders, organizations, and the diverse communities they seek to serve.

Prior to joining MCF, Jason was a Director and partner at Redstone, which helps philanthropies, nonprofits, and governments solve the world’s most urgent social issues. Jason’s work at Redstone included shepherding a major foundation’s strategy refresh across domestic and global initiatives, serving as the founding Strategy Lead for the Water Funder Initiative, and helping launch the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity.

Jason graduated magna cum laude from Yale University  with a degree in ethics, politics, and economics. His thesis analyzed regulatory schemes to balance economic growth  and environmental protection in Chile, where he spent the summer as a Bates Fellow.

Janelle Cavanagh oversees the Philanthropic Partnerships team, focused on engaging donors in meaningful, impactful giving. Janelle is an accomplished philanthropic advisor, nonprofit leader and award-winning fundraiser, whose passion and expertise are in partnering with donors to identify the causes they care about and then recommending aligned experiences. She has a reputation for building enduring relationships grounded in trust and the fulfillment of goals. 

Janelle’s career began more than 25 years ago when she taught English as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Thailand. When she returned to the United States, she earned a Master’s Degree in Social Welfare, with an emphasis in Management and Planning, from the University of California at Berkeley. 

Prior to MCF, Janelle was Interim Co-CEO and Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at Global Fund for Women. Here, she oversaw a team that raised up to $71 million annually and created unique donor experiences, such as Champions for Equality, which teaches important principles such as: creating a personal Theory of Change, understanding equity and inclusion, telling your personal story, and shifting power. 

Janelle is the co-founder of the UC Berkeley Certificate in Fundraising and Volunteer Management program - to inspire and train those working in the fundraising profession. Janelle was also the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Fundraiser award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter.

Michelle DePass leads MCF’s newest team, Marin 24x7, which represents the organization’s commitment to be more proximate to the communities it serves.

Michelle is a lawyer by training and a social activist by nature. As a young professional, she founded one of the country’s first environmental justice organizations, uplifting the reality of environmental racism.

She has worked at all levels of government--city, state and federal - in a wide variety of roles, most notably as the Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, under President Barack Obama. In that role, she ran the Office of International and Tribal Affairs.

As a Dean at The New School, in New York City, she provided vision and management over multiple degree and certification offerings, with 500 active graduate students, 90 full-time and part-time faculty, 22 staff members and $10M budget.

In the philanthropic arena, Michelle was one of the first program officers at the Ford Foundation focused on social change and racial equality in the United States.  She also served as the President & CEO of the Meyer Memorial Trust, one of the largest private funders in Oregon, with $1.1 billion in assets and 45 staff.

She received a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science from Tufts University and a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College School of Public Affairs. She received her JD from Fordham University School of Law and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Vikki joined MCF in 2013 with a career in marketing, advertising, and branding agencies in the U.S. and internationally. Earlier in her career she worked at global advertising agencies such as J. Walter Thompson, Euro RSCG, Grey, and McCann Erickson, managing the accounts of local and global brands such as Burger King, Coca-Cola, and Dell Computer. She then transitioned into a strategic planning role and crafted brand strategies and communications for companies spanning a variety of industries, including technology, financial services, communications, energy, and nonprofits. She has also founded two companies and served as a brand consultant for many Bay Area organizations.

She received a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with a major in marketing, from the University of New South Wales in her hometown of Sydney, Australia. 

Saul joined MCF in 2017 with more than 20 years of HR experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining MCF, Saul was a Partner and HR Consultant at ABD SharedHR.  Prior to that, he served in various HR capacities at the Stupski Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Macy’s West, Scient, and INROADS. He chaired the Board of Directors for the Northern California Human Resources Association and currently serves on the Achieve Mission Board of Directors. He is fluent in Spanish and English. He received BA from Pomona College and his MBA from University of San Francisco.  

Lauren joined MCF in 2019, bringing over ten years of experience from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP within their Assurance practice. In this role, she advised clients on all aspects of technical accounting and complex transactions including asset valuations, significant unusual transactions, mergers, and acquisitions. She also managed specialized technology projects centered on optimizing business process flows, automation and data migration. She has a deep understanding of financial reporting, control environments and financial systems, along with nonprofit governance and compliance..

Lauren is a Certified Public Accountant and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics, with an emphasis in Accounting, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.