History
The Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation has been initiating and supporting signs of hope for the city for 25 years. The Foundation was established in 1983 with a $2 million gift from First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles. Half of the endowment was designated to support the urban ministry program at the Claremont School of Theology (CST), while half was earmarked toward supporting social service projects not just at First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles, but rather for faith-based projects from throughout the Los Angeles urban area.
Over the past two decades, the Urban Foundation has provided more than $1.5 Million toward urban ministry education and training at CST, which has provided hands-on urban experience for seminary students. In 1993, this link between the Urban Foundation and the Claremont program was confirmed by the naming of the professorship
in urban ministry after Mildred Hutchinson, a long-time member and chair of the Foundation's Board of Directors. The Mildred M. Hutchinson Chair of Urban Ministry has been held by Cornish Rogers, Grant Hagiya, and Michael Mata.
Since 1983, the Urban Foundation has provided more than $3.5 million in direct funding to over 300 faith-based social service agencies and community projects in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, and Long Beach. Over time, the Foundation increasingly began playing a capacity building role with these organizations, conducting both formal training and informal coaching to assist in the strengthening and development of these emerging agencies. Taking on an intermediary role, the Foundation has recently begun to partner with larger foundations to reach these vital grassroots organizations with funding and capacity building support, managing over $1 million in grants from other foundations over the past five years.
Mission, Values and Priorities
Our Mission
The Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation is committed to "Initiating and Supporting Signs of Hope for the City" by empowering people, achieving social justice and economic development and promoting the well being of communities as envisioned by Christian faith.
Our Values
Our Priorities
- Expanding as a Faith-Based Intermediary to include working with potential partners in brokering funds and technical assistance between small urban agencies/churches and larger funders
- Working with an ecumenical group of urban churches/agencies that are overlooked by other funding sources and other foundations (e.g., those that are small, just developing and/or have low internal capacity)
- Finding funds for doing and/or supporting special programs for urban communities
- Collaborating with coalitions of funders for geographic-specific or issue-specific funding
- Brokering with all levels of government agencies to provide grants and technical assistance
- Acting as an impetus for urban ministry by supporting entrepreneurialism
- Providing avenues for people of faith to utilize their money, time, talents and knowledge in the urban community
Board of Directors
Stewart Kwoh, J.D., Chair
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Byron Hayes, Jr., L.L.B., Vice President & CFO
Attorney (Retired)
William Renfroe, Ed.D., Corporate Secretary
Los Angeles Unified School District (Retired)
Rev. Dr. Cornish Rogers, Chair Emeritus
Claremont School of Theology (Retired)
Mrs. Addie Clark
Wesley United Methodist Church
Mrs. Elena Eugenio
First United Methodist Church Los Angeles
Ms. Sandee Furuta
United Methodist Ministries, Los Angeles District
Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez
Urban Ministries, California-Pacific Annual Conference
Ms. Alicia Lara
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Ms. Jane Matsumoto
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Rev. Sandie Richards
First United Methodist Church Los Angeles
Barbara Smith, Ed.D.
Educational Consultant, Los Angeles Unified School District
Rev. Lilly Vilamin
United Methodist Ministries, Riverside District
Staff
Sheri Dunn Berry, Executive Director
sdunnberry@gmail.com
213-749-0212 ext. 2#
Throughout her 18 years in the nonprofit sector, Sheri Dunn Berry has
worked to empower people: by bringing them together to learn from each
other's struggles and successes, by equipping them with data to help
inform community planning and action, and by building their skills to
become stronger advocates for healing fractured communities.
Before joining the Urban Foundation, Sheri worked as an independent
consultant, assisting community-based groups with nonprofit
incorporation, strategic planning, board development, program
development, and grant writing. Immediately prior to joining the Urban
Foundation, one of Sheri's clients - the RCNO Training Center, a
faith-based leadership training and advocacy organization - hired her
to strengthen its development capacity, and for several months she
functioned as the organization's development director.
Before she began consulting, for nearly seven years Sheri was the
executive director of the National Community Building Network, a
national peer-to-peer learning organization whose members worked to
improve economic conditions and solve community problems in low-income
neighborhoods across the country. She also held a number of other
research and policy positions throughout California and Washington,
DC.
Sheri currently serves on the board of PolicyLink, a national research
and action institute focused on advancing economic and social equity,
and is also active in Holman United Methodist Church. A proud Los
Angeles native, Sheri enjoys exploring the city with her wonderful 12-
and 14-year-old daughters.
Greta Silva, Administrative Assistant
info@urbanfoundation.org
213-749-0212 ext. 0#
Besides being the Administrative Assistant for the Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation, Greta Silva is Executive Assistant for First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles. She has worked as an elementary school teacher in the Pasadena School District and previously to this, as an English teacher in Havana, Cuba. Greta was born in West Virginia but grew up in Cuba. She has a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Havana University. She enjoys reading, bike riding and attends La Trinidad United Methodist Church in East Los Angeles.
