Ron Milam
DIRECTOR
Ron Milam joined Smart Growth California in 2014 as the coordinator of the Los Angeles Funders’ Collaborative and since fall of 2017, has directed Smart Growth California. Since 2005, Ron has served over 150 organizations and networks as an organization development consultant.
Ron is skilled at developing leadership, building stronger teams, improving organizational effectiveness and facilitating collaborative change. He brings an understanding of issues related to land use, transportation, climate, housing, water, the environment and racial equity.
Ron is a founding member of Pacific Pattern, a cooperative network of strategists, facilitators, and practitioners dedicated to cultivating equitable climate resilience across the ecosystems of the Pacific region. He studied planning, public policy, and management at the University of Oregon, and has a Masters in Organization Development from Pepperdine University.
Diana Williams
Program Manager
Diana Williams joined Smart Growth California in 2023 as Program Manager. Based in Sacramento, Diana brings a background in journalism, nonprofit leadership and philanthropy.
Previously, Diana led funder engagement with federal and state policymakers as public policy director at The Funders’ Network (TFN) in Washington, DC. As executive director of Urban Ecology, an Oakland-based community design center, Diana led a team offering pro-bono planning services to communities at risk of gentrification and displacement. In other roles, Diana served as communications director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, a grant maker focused on sustainable communities and a beat reporter for several Bay Area newspapers.
Raised in Atlanta and Queens, Diana studied history at Hamilton College and received her Master in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
When she’s not biking or hiking with her husband and three teenaged kids, Diana is working with her midtown Sacramento neighborhood to advocate for more affordable housing and safer streets.
Anna Jen
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
Anna Jen joined Smart Growth California in 2023 as Program Associate, where she assists with operations and communications. She also currently serves as a Program Officer for Community Economic Development at Sierra Health Foundation, where she is responsible for a $20 million portfolio focused on community economic development. Having moved back to her hometown of Fresno after a decade away, she is excited to be back in CA working to create a more equitable and impactful philanthropic sector.
Previously, Anna was a Program Officer at Central Valley Community Foundation, where she oversaw the Economic Development portfolio of Fresno DRIVE. Prior to that, she served on the Program team at the Boston Foundation. Before she began her career in philanthropy, Anna held various program manager positions at nonprofit organizations that focused on economic mobility, entrepreneurship, and youth development through sports. She also spent two years after college living abroad in China where she taught English and business classes to university students and business professionals. She holds an MBA and Masters in Sustainable Development from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
In her free time, Anna loves to run, read, hike, garden, travel, and spend time with family and friends.
