Joanne is an accomplished philanthropy, technology, communications, entertainment, and nonprofit advancement leader with over two decades of experience driving positive social impact outcomes. She has started five companies of her own and has served in leadership roles for a tech start-up, PR agencies, B2C brands, and nonprofits. With a robust skill set encompassing business development, organizational management, donor and investor relations, strategic partnerships, and an array of marketing and communications strategies, she has consistently delivered measurable impact in the pursuit of social good.
Prior to joining OCCF in March of 2024, Joanne served as CEO and Co-Founder of WISHLY, a social media platform dedicated to philanthropy where the NextGen of philanthropists could build community around the causes they care about most and collaborate with nonprofits and brands to bring about positive change in the world by driving advocacy and digital donations.
Before embarking on her tech start-up journey, Joanne owned and operated her own marketing company, Mojo PR Group, where she serviced nonprofits, B2C brands and entertainment properties for over 15 years.
A highlight of Joanne’s career was co-producing “Force of Nature: Concert for Tsunami Aid” in Kuala, Lumpur Malaysia in 2005. In less than three months after the devastating southeast Asia tsunami in December of 2004, Joanne and her team successfully held a multi-artist concert featuring major headlining artists. The event raised over $8 million for micro-credit programs in Indonesia and Thailand and made news headlines around the world.
Early in her career, Joanne served in leadership roles for entertainment and Hispanic focused PR agencies where she helped design and execute marketing campaigns for a multitude of brands in food and beverage, wine and spirits, technology, telecommunications, fashion, and beauty, as well as government public education campaigns for breast cancer, nutrition, mental health, fire safety, electricity deregulation, smoking cessation, Smog Check, recycling, and many others.
Born and raised on the beaches of Southern California, Joanne is a true water woman who spends her free time surfing, paddling Outrigger, scuba diving, and hiking with her two adult children and their combined five rescue dogs. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from UCSB.
