Foundation Trustees
Lezlie A. AtlasRichard S. Atlas
Michael G. O'Brien
Michelle Atlas O'Brien
Allison Atlas Tannenbaum
David Tannenbaum
Foundation Staff
Janis Minton, Executive DirectorCristina Gallegos, Associate
About Our Foundation Staff
Janis Minton, Executive DirectorDrawing on thirty years of experience in the philanthropic and non-profit sector, Janis Minton provides a wide range of management and programmatic services for The Atlas Family Foundation. Her work includes the development of a strategic charitable giving program that's tailored to the foundation's interests, the implementation of a grantmaking system, and technical assistance to non-profit organizations to build and maintain their capacity. She is committed to investing in programs that are accountable and that promote positive human relations across lines of race and ethnicity.
As Executive Director of The Atlas Family Foundation, Janis Minton is committed to developing the founder's passion for giving into an effective strategy for change, creating an impact through meaningful and professional grantmaking. She engages the foundation and its grantee partners in an ongoing dialogue that defines and addresses critical social issues.
Her responsibilities include grants management, evaluation and due diligence. She performs systematic analysis of local, state, and national issues and applies knowledge as appropriate to the benefit of the Foundation and its grantees. She is responsible to assuring compliance with the state laws that govern and regulate the Foundation. Janis Minton represents The Atlas Family Foundation and its programs in the community, developing partnerships with other funders and providing long-term advisory support to grantees.
With a long history of work experience in the fields of youth, education, and mental health, Janis Minton is also committed to developing leadership in communities and strengthening alliances among community based organizations. She brings about change in the way people work together, assisting them to define and pursue their philanthropic passions while reaching consensus for the sake of their philanthropy.
Janis Minton founded and directed The Day Care Consultation Project at the Early Childhood Center, Cedar's Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Prior to her role there, Ms. Minton worked for the Santa Monica Unified School District as a School Administrator at the Ocean Park Children's Center and at the Los Angeles County Department of Education in the field of special education with autistic children. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Human Development and School Administration.
Ms. Minton is a Board member of the Southern California Grantmakers, the UCLA Community Partnership Grant Program, and the Women's Leadership Circle. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Early Childhood Center at Cedar's Sinai Hospital, The St. Joseph Child Care Advisory Board and The Teen Parenting Program at Business Industry School. She currently facilitates a Leadership Training Program for Non-Profit Executive Directors in Los Angeles County.
Cristina Gallegos, Associate
As Foundation Associate, Cristina Gallegos evaluates and monitors grantmaking activity in the Foundation's area of focus. She provides technical assistance to applicants and grantees, responds to organizations that seek information or guidance about applying for funding, reviews letters of inquiry to determine if there is a common working purpose between the Foundation and grant-seeking organizations, analyzes funding requests and grant proposals, and prepares summaries and assessments of the proposals.
Born in a small town in Romania under the communist regime of the dictator Ceausescu, Cristina Gallegos fought with the hardships and scarcity of communism and strived to improve the quality of life for her family and the community she lived in. After the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, she put herself through school, working to sustain her family while writing her MBA dissertation "Economics in TransitionÑRomania Between Total Control and Free Enterprise."
In the '90s, Cristina developed and implemented 4 complex IT systems for DHL Worldwide Network Europe and Africa. The resulting systems were subsequently deployed in 22 countries in the following year. In 1999 Cristina moved to the US and started working with The Atlas Family Foundation in 2000.
