The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is pleased to announce that the following Foundation leaders have been named as directors of key grantmaking areas:
- Meg Caldwell, Ocean Director
- Kai Carter, Forests for People and Climate Director
- Lana Dakan, Global Reproductive Health Director
- Bernadette Sangalang, Child and Family Director
Each will lead the development and execution of their grantmaking strategies and work across the organization in service of the Foundation’s vision and goals to build just societies, invest in families and communities, and protect and restore the natural world.
Meg Caldwell (she/her), Ocean Director
As the ocean director, Meg Caldwell will lead the Foundation’s grantmaking efforts to protect and restore the ocean to foster healthy marine ecosystems and sustain ocean-reliant communities.
Caldwell joined the Foundation in 2015 and has since led the strategic direction of the Foundation’s ocean grantmaking to transform what we know about our ocean and how people interact with it. Prior to joining the Foundation, Caldwell directed the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program at Stanford Law School. She played a central role in the creation of Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions where she served as executive director and led the organization in the development of an innovative Pacific Ocean-wide assessment of the major threats to marine and coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
Caldwell currently serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board of Oceans 5, the world’s largest ocean conservation funder collaborative and as a board member of Planet Women, an organization that partners with women to create a healthy planet for the benefit of all life.
Kai Carter (she/her), Forests for People and Climate Director
As the forests for people and climate director, Kai Carter will lead the Foundation’s grantmaking to halt and reverse tropical deforestation while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.
Carter joined the Foundation in 2014 and led the development and execution of the Foundation’s agriculture, livelihoods, and conservation grantmaking. She also represents the Foundation in the donor commitment to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. For the past year, she has served as the interim lead for the new Forests, People, Climate collaborative. Carter has worked at the intersection of the environment and human wellbeing for nearly 20 years. Prior to joining the Foundation, she managed clean energy and safe water projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for Impact Carbon and served as an analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Carter serves on the Board of Directors for the YMCA of the East Bay and as a volunteer advisor for the organization’s Youth and Government and Model United Nations programs.
Lana Dakan (she/her), Global Reproductive Health Director
As the global reproductive health director, Lana Dakan will lead the Foundation’s global reproductive health grantmaking to increase equitable access to reproductive health care, especially for women and youth.
Dakan joined the Foundation in 2006 and has over 25 years of experience working on reproductive health and rights in the U.S. and globally. She has designed and executed strategic grantmaking strategies to advance reproductive health and rights in India, Pakistan, Philippines, Myanmar, and the U.S. South. Under her direction, the Foundation invested in groundbreaking research that was critical for updated global guidelines to ensure people can get the abortion care they need in ways that work for them, wherever they live in the world.
Dakan has served on the board of the Funders for Reproductive Equity and currently serves on the board of Amplify Change, a fund that supports civil society organizations who advocate for improved sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Bernadette Sangalang (she/her), Child and Family Director
As the child and family director, Bernadette Sangalang will lead the Foundation’s grantmaking to improve equitable outcomes in maternal health and support healthy development for children in their earliest years.
Sangalang has worked more than 25 years in support of children and families — in the areas of early childhood development, child welfare, maternal and child health, and access to health and social services. She first joined the Foundation in 2006 as an evaluation officer and served in that role for four years. She then rejoined the Foundation in 2013 to lead the Foundation’s early learning grantmaking focused on informal care and oversee place-based systems change through the Starting Smart and Strong initiative.
Sangalang serves on the steering committee for Home Grown — a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care.
