Board & Staff

The Board

The Eisner Foundation board includes Michael Eisner, his wife Jane, and their three grown sons: Breck, Eric, and Anders. Michael, now the founder and CEO of The Tornante Company, helps shape The Eisner Foundation’s mission and oversees its work. Jane serves as President of The Eisner Foundation, helping to guide day-to-day operations. Breck, Eric, and Anders, each successful in their own careers, bring their professional talents and expertise to direct and align the Foundation’s grantmaking. Breck’s wife Georgia, Eric’s wife Stacey, and Anders’ wife Terena also play key roles as advisors to The Eisner Foundation, and with multiple grandchildren now in the Eisner fold, The Eisner Foundation is intergenerational not only in the programs we support, but in the way we run our operations.

No member of the Eisner family receives any compensation from the foundation for their work. Furthermore, The Eisner Foundation’s by-laws prohibit any financial relationships of any kind with any extended members of the Eisner family, or any of its in-laws.

The Staff

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Trent Stamp

CEO

Trent Stamp has served as CEO of The Eisner Foundation since 2008. Under Trent’s leadership, The Eisner Foundation became the only foundation in the U.S. investing solely in intergenerational solutions, garnering several honors and awards, including Generation United’s Leadership Award.

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Trent is recognized as one of America’s leading experts on healthy aging and the benefits of intergenerational programs. He has recently been published in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Generations, and The Hill, served as an editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s series “Meeting the Multigenerational Moment,” and has spoken at SXSW, the Milken Institute, Points of Light, and the Aspen Institute. Trent is also a leader in the non-profit world and considered an expert on charitable and philanthropic best practices. He serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for The Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy at USC, The Board of Directors at Eisner Health Foundation, the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging’s Board of Academic and Policy Advisors, and the international organization Portsmouth in the Community. He has taught Nonprofit Management and Leadership at the Price School of Public Policy at USC, consults for the Committee on the Arts at The Aspen Institute, and previously served on the Boards of Grantmakers in Aging and Southern California Grantmakers. He wrote a regular column for the Chronicle of Philanthropy on charity management; his blog, “Trent Stamp’s Take,” was recognized by The New York Times as one of “Ten Nonprofit Blogs That Get Attention;” and his podcast, with Julie Lacouture, “How We Run” focused on non-profit management and best practices.

In a previous life, Trent was the founding President of Charity Navigator. Under his leadership, Charity Navigator grew to become the nation’s largest and most-used evaluator of American charities and nonprofits. Prior to Charity Navigator, Trent was Vice President of Communications for Teach For America, a Presidential Management Fellow for the Social Security Administration, and a legislative aide for U.S. Representative Robert Matsui. Trent started his career as a Teach For America teacher in rural North Carolina.

Trent has regularly appeared as an expert analyst for national television and radio shows, including The Today Show, 20/20, Good Morning America, and The Daily Show. In 2004, he was selected by New Jersey Business Magazine as one of “40 Business Leaders Under 40” in the state and in 2007, he received the New Jersey State Legislature’s Five Sectors Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the betterment of the state.

Trent received his Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University and his B.A. in Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He lives in Hermosa Beach, California with his wife, Jill. They have two children attending college. In 2017, Trent was honored by Hermosa Beach with the Rory Wibberley Award for his volunteerism and commitment to the community.

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Cathy Choi

Senior Director of Programs

Cathy Choi is Senior Director of Programs at The Eisner Foundation. She oversees the planning, strategic development and distribution of $8-10 million in annual grants, and spearheads a variety of foundation initiatives.

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For more than 20 years, Cathy Choi has bridged the nonprofit, philanthropic, and political spheres to address social justice challenges in Los Angeles and beyond. Before joining The Eisner Foundation she was a Program Officer at the California Community Foundation (CCF), managing a number of special grant programs covering issues such as access to health care, arts education, youth programs, and historic preservation. Prior to CCF, Cathy was External Affairs Director at the Korean American Coalition national headquarters where she led advocacy activities on legislative issues affecting the Asian Pacific American communities, such as Census outreach and the redistricting process. Cathy also served as a deputy to several local and federal elected officials, including U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra (CA 34th district) and Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member George Kiriyama.

Cathy is on the national board of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and the board of the UCLA Alumni Association, and serves on the Education Leadership Council for Southern California Public Radio. She received her Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of California, Los Angeles.

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Chelsea Mason

Director of External Relations

Chelsea Mason joined the Eisner Foundation in 2016. She handles the foundation’s external relations, including press, print and digital initiatives, and general  communications. In addition, she leads the Eisner Prize Fellowship program.

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Before coming to the foundation, Chelsea was the Digital Marketing Manager at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, overseeing the digital presence of the LA Phil and Hollywood Bowl. While there, she also project-managed the Webby Award-winning VAN Beethoven tour featuring the Orchestra VR virtual reality app, one of the earliest music virtual reality experiences. Prior to the LA Phil, she served as Membership Manager and then Director of Marketing and Communications at Pasadena’s Pacific Asia Museum, as well as Managing Editor of the USC U.S.-China Institute’s online publication U.S.-China Today.

Chelsea holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of Southern California. She serves as Chair of the City of Pasadena Senior Commission, and formerly served as Co-Chair of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Los Angeles, and Marketing & Communications Co-Chair on the national board of Notre Dame Women Connect.

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Vannesa Santos

Foundation Administrator

Vannesa Santos joined The Eisner Foundation in 2023 as the Foundation Administrator. In her role, Vannesa provides support in grants and program management, special project support, as well as general administration duties.

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Before joining The Eisner Foundation, Vannesa worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, where she was a part of the Associates Program, a competitive one-year internship program. She supported grant-making in education, healthcare, homelessness, and social justice. Before joining the Dodgers Foundation, Vannesa interned for the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation, where she gained experience working with grantee partners to understand the challenges organizations and families face navigating the Los Angeles county system and led social media content for the affiliated nonprofit, Foster Care Counts. Her background also includes being certified to utilize the Los Angeles Coordinated Entry System to connect transitional-aged youth to housing resources and working in mental health nonprofit organizations where she became a certified peer partner.Vannesa is currently a fellow for the Youth Transition Funders Group, a three-year fellowship program where she is learning about philanthropy and the public systems that affect young people in areas such as housing, education, employment, child welfare, and justice for youth. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communicative Science Disorders from CSU Los Angeles and an Associate of Arts Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Pasadena City College. Her professional goals include advocating for underserved communities and developing a career in public policy.

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