CCF Staff

Ronald M. Rowell, CEO

Ron Rowell joined Common Counsel Foundation after having served as Program Officer for Social Justice at the San Francisco Foundation from 2000 to 2009.  He earned his master’s degree in public health from the University of California at Berkeley.  His professional career prior to philanthropy included health planning, refugee resettlement, economic development with American Indian tribes, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.  He founded the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center in 1987 and became its first executive director in late 1988 where he served until going to The San Francisco Foundation. He serves as president of Native Americans in Philanthropy, vice president of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, and co-chair of the Public Policy Committee of Northern California Grantmakers.  He is also president of the Board of Directors of the Friendship House Association of American Indians of San Francisco, an 80-bed residential and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program for Northern California and Western Nevada. He was appointed to the board of the French-American Cultural Society in 2005 by the Consul-General of France in San Francisco and serves on the board of the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.  He received the American Indian Local Hero Award from public station KQED in San Francisco in 2007.  He is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Larisa Casillas, Program Officer
Larisa Casillas has worked to advance social and economic justice for nearly two decades. She has expertise in grassroots advocacy, campaign development, organizing and media advocacy. Prior to joining the Common Counsel Foundation, she was the director for the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition (BAIRC), a regional coalition that coordinates collective campaigns and action on immigration issues. Before joining BAIRC, she served as the policy director for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), an immigrant rights organization in San Jose that utilizes three strategies for the advancement of immigrant rights: direct services, grassroots organizing and policy/advocacy. In 2004, Larisa was the first statewide campaign coordinator for the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote California Campaign (MIV), where she created trainings to increase the capacity of grassroots organizations interested in electoral campaigns and increasing the participation of their constituencies in the elections. She has collaborated closely with diverse faith communities and is the former director for the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Larisa has worked on various legislative and advocacy issues important to low-income communities of color, such as protecting access to health services and public benefits, promoting a state Earned Income Tax Credit, and increasing funding for child care and after school programs. She organized several citywide electoral campaigns in San Francisco and currently serves on the board of PODER – People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights – a grassroots environmental justice organization based in San Francisco’s Mission District. She is a former member of the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission. Larisa emigrated from Mexico City with her family at the age of three. She is a fan of the Oakland A’s, enjoys traveling and reading historical fiction.

Luke Newton, Program Officer
Luke Newton joined Common Counsel Foundation in 2007. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Luke came to California in 1999 to pursue environmental studies at the University of California Santa Cruz, where he focused on community-centered environmental solutions and sustainable agriculture. In 2002 he received a special award for combining his academic work with active support for the Indigenous Gwich'in Nation in their fight to prevent oil development on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and he has since traveled to Alaska numerous times to support related Indigenous rights and environmental justice efforts. In 2003 he worked as a consultant to coordinate the establishment and operation of the Fund for Indigenous Rights and the Environment, a small foundation dedicated to helping Indigenous community organizations in Alaska to protect the traditional lands, subsistence economies, and associated Aboriginal rights that are essential to sustaining their communities. Prior to joining the staff of Common Counsel, Luke served as the Events and Fellowships Coordinator at San Francisco State University in the Division of Graduate Studies. He has also participated in volunteer work to support organizing for racial and economic justice, anti-racism education, and to advance human rights for communities impacted by war and conflict in the middle east. Luke has avid personal interests in gardening, music and songwriting, handcrafts such as pottery and lutherie, and spending time out-of-doors.

Holly Fincke, Windcall Director
Holly Fincke has worked for and with social justice organizations for over 25 years as staff, Board member and volunteer activist. She has served as Director of Resource Development for Bay Area organizations such as the Mission Housing Development Corporation, the Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the Women's Building, working with each of these organizations as they made key organizational and programmatic transitions. She has been a consultant to numerous social justice and social service organizations and has served on many Boards, including that of Common Counsel where she was one of the first community members to sit on the Board. Holly was a Windcall resident in 2003 after co-leading a successful effort to win tenant protections in Oakland, California.

Layla Cooper, Finance Manager
Layla Cooper provides financial and administrative support to nonprofit organizations working to change the landscape of mass media and provide support to grassroots movements and community organizations. In addition to serving as Office Manager for the Common Counsel Foundation, she is also Associate Director at the Institute for Public Accuracy in San Francisco. Before joining the Common Counsel Foundation, she worked with a woman-owned and operated community outreach firm, and as an accountant at the corporate headquarters of Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Layla was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where she lived for six years before moving to the United States with her family. Layla focused her education on media studies and social change at San Francisco State University. She has also studied copyediting, financial management for nonprofits, and Spanish language. Layla is a musician, an avid flea market goer and a culinary enthusiast. She enjoys traveling with her friends and documenting multicultural foodways.

Special thanks to Common Counsel Foundation Board Chair George Wells for taking staff portraits.