Wednesday, October 15, 2025
The Ahmanson Foundation, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
October 15, 2025 11am Pacific
PDF of Grantmaker Profiles
Sara Straubel, Senior Program Officer, The Ahmanson Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Sara Straubel is a Senior Program Officer at The Ahmanson Foundation where she oversees a grantmaking portfolio of requests in arts and humanities, education, healthcare, and human services. She also represents the Foundation in all its strategic collaborations, including serving as a Managing Funder for the Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative, on the Steering Committee of LA Arts Recovery Fund, and as Vice Chair of the Executive and Investors’ Committee of the LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment.
Prior to The Ahmanson Foundation, Sara served as a Research Assistant at Project Zero, an educational research center at Harvard University. Her professional experience also includes several years in the nonprofit sector, working in fundraising and communications.
Sara holds a Doctorate in Policy, Planning, and Development from the University of Southern California, where her research explored the extent of implicit racial bias in philanthropy. She holds a Master’s in Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s from Ithaca College.
In addition to her role at The Ahmanson Foundation, Sara is also an adjunct professor at the Price School of Public Policy in the Master of Nonprofit Leadership and Management program at the University of Southern California.
Flozell Daniels, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Winston-Salem, NC
As Chief Executive Officer of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation (MRBF), Flozell Daniels, Jr. leads the overall operations of the Foundation, from grantmaking to investing, communications and strategy, providing both organizational and field leadership. Flozell represents MRBF’s programs and vision for change to our grantee and philanthropic partners, as well as the general public. He partners closely with the board of directors to ensure the Foundation remains on the cutting edge of sound strategic decisions and field-leading philanthropic transformation.
Flozell previously served as CEO and President of the Foundation for Louisiana, which launched in 2005 to foster an equitable recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It has since grown to become a “catalyst for justice,” supporting communities statewide through grantmaking and loan products, leadership development programs, and advocating on myriad issues facing Louisianians, including climate justice, economic justice, criminal justice reform, racial and gender justice, and more. Prior to his 14+ years leading FFL, Flozell was Assistant Vice President and Executive Director of State and Local Affairs for Tulane University and served in the Mayor’s Office during Marc Morial’s tenure as Public Policy Specialist in the Division of Federal and State Programs.
Flozell has always worked with the understanding that the fates of all Southern people are tied together. From his early work on the Equity and Inclusion Campaign covering Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to his cofounding of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, Flozell holds a longstanding commitment to building the South’s infrastructure for justice and power.
A New Orleans native, Flozell brings expertise in public policy, community development, criminal justice reform, climate policy, transit equity and asset development.
Flozell recently completed a five-year term as chairman of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, leading the agency through a return to full public accountability, a nationally recognized COVID response, and success in meeting its equity goals. He is also board member emeritus of the Urban League of Louisiana and served with distinction on the Louisiana Public Defender Board and the Governor’s Climate Initiatives Taskforce in Louisiana. He is a 2013 graduate of University of Oxford Said Business School's Impact Investing Programme, 2011 Fellow of the Opportunity Agenda Communications Institute, a life Fellow of the Louisiana Effective Leadership Program, an alumnus of Leadership Louisiana and a graduate of the Metropolitan Leadership Forum. Flozell holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the A.B. Freeman School of Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the University of New Orleans.
Angela Richardson, Senior Trainer, The Grantsmanship Center
Angela brings more than 20 years' experience as a nonprofit program and fund developer, strategic planner, and organizational coach. As senior trainer, Angela has coached other trainers for The Grantsmanship Center and trained staff for nonprofit organizations, school districts, governments, faith-based organizations, and colleges and universities. She brings additional expertise in education and the arts, recently delivering a virtual workshop for Broward County Cultural Division, FL as part of the Business Skills for Creatives series. Angela has facilitated many in-person Meet-the-Grantmaker panels in Los Angeles for PROJECT GRANTSMANSHIP and for the City of Los Angles, city council members. Recently, Angela trained faculty and community-based nonprofit leaders as part of a Research Proposal Workshop sponsored by UCLA Health Sciences.
