| On the 39th episode of Immigration Today! Angeline Chen welcomes Megan Thomas, president & CEO of Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties. Megan has a passion for helping people and she joined Catalyst because it sits at the intersection of philanthropy and social good. Catalyst is a network of a couple hundred funders and grant makers with a mission to help educate, lead and invest in environmental issues, food security, border issues and more, to promote social change. One of Catalyst's focuses is in border work as the community they serve in San Diego and Imperial County has a strong border identity. They work with many grassroots organizations who are the first point of contact for many immigrants entering the United States or who reside in Tijuana. There has been attention to border issues on the philanthropy side during Trump’s family separations and the current arrival of asylum seekers. Catalyst continues to do great work and hopes to continue building an equitable, impactful, and effective social change ecosystem.
As CEO, Megan provides strategic leadership and partnership to the entire Catalyst staff, board, members, and community partners. She oversees Catalyst’s facilitation of collaborative efforts among its funder members and other stakeholders; leads the production of philanthropy and impact investing skills-building and issue based learning; and spearheads Catalyst’s work related to championing equity and opportunity. She strengthens Imperial and San Diego County communities through shared learning and pooled and aligned funding strategies, and initiatives fiscally sponsored by Catalyst. | 