Lisa Forti is the Planning and Capacity Building Senior Administrator at First 5 Alameda County where she works with partners and stakeholders to advance First 5’s vision that every child in Alameda County will have optimal health, development and wellbeing to reach his or her greatest potential. Lisa is responsible for facilitating and supporting implementation of the Agency strategic plan, and in partnership with colleagues and stakeholders, developing an agency-wide accountability framework. She also oversees Capacity Building for First 5 staff and partners, providing grants, training, and technical assistance to organizations serving children 0-5.
Prior to First 5, Lisa was the Policy Director at the Alameda County Social Services Agency in Oakland, CA. She oversaw legislative analysis and advocacy, fund development, data analysis, evaluation and research. Lisa played a leadership role in strategic planning, capacity building, data-driven decision-making, and supported other Agency initiatives in partnership with public agencies and CBOs.
Lisa spent years in the non-profit and community development sectors as the Director of Strategy and Innovation at the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, a nationally-recognized and innovative community developer, and as Program Coordinator at Urban Strategies Council, an anti-poverty organization leveraging research, policy, innovation, collaboration, and advocacy to achieve equity and social justice.
Lisa earned her Master of Science in Social Work at Columbia University where she focused on Public Policy pertaining to poverty and income inequality; she received her Bachelor of Social Work at Wheelock College in Boston and McGill University in Montreal.