How is the Everychild Foundation Organized?

Our History
     The Everychild Foundation was founded in November 1999 by Jacqueline J. Caster out of her longstanding commitment to activities alleviating the suffering and expanding the prospects of children. Ms. Caster earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Pomona College, her Masters degree in City and Regional Planning at The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and her J.D. at the Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of California. Prior to founding the Everychild Foundation, she practiced real estate law with Loeb and Loeb. Jacqueline left the field of law for planning and after several years with Disney Development Company, ultimately headed her own consulting firm for over a decade performing economic feasibility studies for large scale urban renovation projects; her client list included numerous Fortune 500 companies. During that time she served as an officer on the board of several non-profit organizations in Los Angeles.

Currently, Ms. Caster is a member the AVIVA Platinum Associates and on the Board of Trustees for Alternative Living for the Aging and the Blue Heron Foundation which serves Romanian orphans. She was the recipient of the Humanitarian Award for First Star in 2004, The Optimist Youth Home in 2005 and Shane's Inspiration in 2006. She was also named one of the Santa Monica/Westside YWCA Women of the Year for 2005. Neither Ms. Caster nor the other Foundation officers draw a salary. The Foundation employs no paid staff members and pays no rent; any Foundation activities requiring staffing are contracted out as required to keep overhead costs to an absolute minimum.

Our Organizational Structure

Operating Boards and Committees

The work of our Foundation is done entirely by volunteer members; we have no paid staff.  Policy decisions for the Foundation are made by our Executive Board, comprised of our founder, our treasurer, and the chairs of each of our three operating boards or committees. These are:

The Grant Outreach Committee - This committee is responsible for contacting agencies that we have initially determined may have a proposal that is eligible for our grant. If an agency is interested and appears eligible, committee members work with the agency to help it prepare Letters of Inquiry, the first step in our grant application process. Membership on this committee is limited to those who have already served on the Grant Screening Board.

The Grant Screening Board - This board consists of between 18 and 20 members, and performs the essential function of analyzing each agency and its project for our members. Its goal is to narrow the applicant pool to the two candidates whose projects best address the critical unmet needs of children in that grant year. Beginning in January, this board reviews Letters of Inquiry, conducts due diligence investigations of agencies, attends site visits, and oversees agency submission of formal grant proposals. This process culminates in the presentation of two finalist agencies for a vote by our membership at large at our October Grant Hearing.

The Grant Monitoring Committee - This committee is responsible for monitoring the post-award status of funded projects. Under the terms of our grant agreement with recipient agencies, members of this committee visit the project site twice a year to assure that the project is being implemented appropriately. We have found that these site visits are an invaluable means of maintaining an ongoing relationship between our members and agencies we have funded in the past.

Officers and Advisory Board