Who We Are

Karen Escalante-Dalton has over 20 years experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

Most recently her philanthropic experience at The California Endowment includes design and management of grantmaking programs; research and assessment of community needs to guide responsive grantmaking strategies; provision of technical assistance to grant applicants; fostering collaboration among funded partners; and initiative development.

Since 1999, Escalante-Dalton has awarded and managed over 200 grants exceeding $50 million to nonprofit organizations in support of local and statewide efforts to improve the health and well being of underserved, low-income communities throughout Southern California. Escalante-Dalton has worked with a broad spectrum of organizations, including small emerging non-profits, large well-established organizations and government institutions such as schools and county agencies, as well as collaborative partnerships.

Escalante-Dalton's prior decade-long nonprofit experience includes leadership positions at two of the nation's preeminent Latino organizations, The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), where she was responsible for program design, implementation and management, all aspects of fund development, coordination of board of directors' relations and media, communications and publications management.

Escalante-Dalton has a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the George Washington University, an Associate's degree in language translation and interpretation from the Instituto Superior de Interpretes y Traductores in Mexico City. She completed journalism courses at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, and obtained the French Baccalauréat from the Lycée Francais-Mexicain.

Raised in Mexico City and traveled extensively through Latin America, Escalante-Dalton has a keen knowledge and understanding of Latino issues and culture, and speaks and writes fluently in Spanish and French. She lives in Southern California.