Moses Zapien

Executive Vice President, Community Action, Initiatives and Policy, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Moses Zapien joined Silicon Valley Community Foundation in September 2024 as its Executive Vice President of Community Action, Initiatives and Policy. Prior to joining SVCF, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the San Joaquin Community Foundation where he expanded its outreach and impact. At SJCF, he helped launched numerous initiatives to address housing needs, improve access to healthcare, and build more inclusive local economies that have benefited the region’s residents and organizations. Under his leadership, SJCF cultivated a culture of collaboration and partnership-building with other foundations to attract outside philanthropic investment into the area, such as the James Irvine Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Gates Foundation.

Moses started his career in public service in 2012 when he was first elected to the Stockton City Council. There, he was a staunch advocate for greater transparency, elevating the community’s voice in public discourse, and improving public safety through community policing. In 2016, Governor Brown appointed Moses to serve on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, where he was elected by his peers as Chair of the Board. During his tenure, Moses was a proponent of making government more publicly accessible, co-chaired the county’s first homelessness task force that led to reforms, and advocated for environmentally friendly transportation legislation.

Born and raised in Stockton, Moses is the son of Mexican American immigrants and the first in his family to graduate from college. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Moses earned his law degree from the Humphreys University School of Law in 2010, where he was elected Student Bar Association President. Furthering his education, in 2018, Moses earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of California, Berkeley.