Ms. Wendy (Dickstein) Verba

Philanthropy Consultant

Wendy Verba works as an independent consultant to foundations and community organizations, helping them design and fund cutting-edge programs. Wendy’s expertise in workforce development, economic self-sufficiency and Jewish community philanthropy, is based on 15 years experience working with Bay Area foundations and nonprofits.

Wendy is currently working with the San Francisco Jewish Federation to redesign their scholarship programs. Most recently, Wendy ran a grant-making program at the Federation, and also served as Interim Coordinator of the Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative, a group of 14 funders led by the San Francisco Foundation, who have pooled their dollars to support large-scale strategic job training initiatives for low-income people.

Prior to that, Wendy revived a community employment program at Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), creating over 100 employment workshops and seminars, and quadrupling attendance in one year. She also launched a pilot demonstration project of Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) at JVS to fund career advancement for low-wage health care workers.

Wendy has also provided grant-making and program design services for Levi Strauss Foundation, Red Tab Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Marin Education Fund, and The Grantmaker Forum on Community and National Service.

Wendy holds a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College, and an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She lives in Burlingame, California with her husband and three children, where she has spent the last eleven years trying to figure out how to be a parent, professional, wife, friend, volunteer, board member, household CEO and outdoor recreationalist without going certifiably insane.