Karla V. Salazar
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Families In Schools
213.201.3917 | ksalazar@familiesinschools.com
This blog post was published on July 26th, 2018. Please see our team page for any updated title and contact information.
Dear colleagues and partners,
I’m delighted to announce a new addition to our team. Karla V. Salazar, who has served as an FIS board member for five years, will now be our Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Karla has extensive management experience in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. The skills she has acquired in her toolbox allow her to work effectively with multiple professional and administrative staff as well as executives in finance operations and public affairs. Since 2013, she’s partnered with foundations and nonprofits in Southern California, providing financial and strategic management consulting under SOS Strategies. She’s also a part-time instructor at UCLA Extension, teaching the online course “Business of Nonprofits for the Certificate in Nonprofit Management.” A few highlights from her career include management positions in organizations such as the California Community Foundation, the Nonprofit Finance Fund, and the Federal Reserve Bank.
Many of you were drawn to FIS because of our mission, to involve parents and communities in their children’s education to achieve lifelong success. Karla is no different. As a first-generation child growing-up in Huntington Park, she felt the importance of intentional and focused engagement with parents. Karla remembers her fourth grade teacher going above and beyond. Her teacher understood a lot of parents worked two to three jobs and if parents couldn’t come to school, she would schedule a time to visit their home. Her first interactions with school systems were positive and were the foundation for her trajectory to college. But she also recognizes that not all students within her school district had the same positive reinforcements she experienced. That is why the FIS mission is also part of Karla’s personal legacy to help create environments where all children believe education is a right, not a privilege.
Over 80% of FIS’ staff and Board come from traditionally underrepresented communities and over 75% are the first in their family to attend college. As such, FIS is an organization that understands and reflects the communities we serve.
Please join me in welcoming Karla to the team and helping her do what she does best — actively collaborate with staff, partners, and the Board, as we shift our strategy into an era of growth in California and at a national level. Adding a Chief Operating Officer is just one important step as we move forward together. Here’s to the next decade!
All the best,
