Daughter of Joe and Vi, Valerie is the founder of Valerie Jacobs Consulting, dedicated to providing direct consultation support to individual philanthropists and family foundations. In addition, Valerie is a nationally-known speaker and has created a series of workshops for women of wealth and wealthy families dealing with both philanthropy and family dynamics. She has been a licensed psychotherapist since 1979, specializing in the effects of wealth on relationships and personal well-being, and has worked in the field of philanthropy since 1994.

Valerie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master of Education from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

Norm Hapke is a board member of the Jacobs Family Foundation and Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. Norm spent nine years as a U.S. Marine Corps Officer, first serving as an infantry officer in Vietnam and then as a naval aviator flying worldwide transport and refueling missions. After leaving the Marine Corps, he entered commercial aviation and served as a Captain with America West Airlines until his retirement in 2005.

Norm has a strong interest in public policy issues and international philanthropy and is an advocate of self-help community change strategies and school reform. His priority is helping the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and the Jacobs Family Foundation develop the human, economic, and physical infrastructure of the Diamond Community.

Norm holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Science from the U.S. Naval Academy. He is married to Valerie Jacobs Hapke, and they have two children.

Grandson of the founders and son of Valerie and Norm, Andrew Hapke was the first member of the third generation to become Board Chair of the Jacobs Family Foundation and the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.

Professionally, Andrew coaches leaders in technology to take their careers and companies to the next level. Before he became an executive coach, he spent 15 years building products and leading teams at American Express, Etsy, and Splice. Having been a start-up founder, a product leader, and a mentor to technology executives, he has worked at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology and social impact for his whole career.

Andrew received his MBA from Yale University, and his undergraduate business degree from Villanova University.

Granddaughter of Joe and Vi, Claire is the chairman of the board for the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.

In the third generation of the Jacobs family, Ms. Claire Hapke grew up watching the work of her grandparents and parents in what would become The Village at Market Creek. Her passion for learning about new cultures and appreciation for what residents have done together has led her to join the board of the family’s foundation. Claire received her doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy and is currently practicing in New York City. She recently started a group psychotherapy practice called Interweave Therapy, helping to train new clinicians from a somatic and holistic framework. Since the pandemic, Claire has also begun volunteering in her Brooklyn neighborhood by helping organize performing arts for a program that supports the neighborhood businesses that lost so much income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Juan Carlos Hernandez joined California Southern SBDC as the Chief Credit Officer/Senior Vice President in May of 2018; and was appointed as President and CEO of the organization in January 2021.

Prior to joining Cal-Southern, Juan Carlos was Chief Credit Officer of ACCION San Diego from September of 2014 and was responsible for lending staff supervision and training, program development, underwriting, loan portfolio quality and management, loss mitigation and recovery; and participating in the development of bank and community partner relations.

Juan Carlos received a B.A. in Sociology, with an emphasis in WorkForce Studies from University of Illinois at Chicago.  He is originally from Mexico City; moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1977 and has resided in San Diego since July of 2012.

Juan Carlos has over 30 years of experience in banking, including consumer, business and commercial real estate lending.  Prior employment includes working with US Bank in San Diego California.  In Chicago, he worked for Metropolitan Bank Group, La Salle Bank & Trust and The First National Bank of Chicago.  He has been featured in various newspaper articles including The Wall Street Journal.  Juan Carlos served as President for the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is currently serving on the Board of JCNI, Chicano Federation and TranscenDANCE.

Lonnie Lucas was born and raised in Southeast San Diego. After graduating from Gompers Secondary School, she felt the call to serve and joined the United States Army. She was awarded the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Global War on Terror Ribbon.

Post military, Lucas decided to pursue a degree in English Literature and subsequently studied Law. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor degree, and a certificate in Business Law from Washington University School of Law.

Lucas’ passion for community and people was evident when she was chosen to represent Washington University in South Africa in its Global Public Interest Law Program. As a Global Public interest Law Fellow, she traveled to South Africa and provided legal assistance to low-income individuals with immigration, civil rights, land rights, environmental, housing, family, and criminal matters.

Lonnie is elated to return to Southeast San Diego as a recent graduate; she is currently studying for the California Bar. Her practice will focus on business and community building.

Louie Nguyen’s commitment to Southeastern San Diego is clear in his current role as Chief Investment Officer at Mission Driven Finance, a private impact investment boutique that provides opportunities to easily invest in the community to solve social pain points.

Through Mission Driven Finance, he recently played a key role in bringing Access Youth Academy, a nonprofit organization that helps train youth to be first-generation college students through the sport of squash – all at no cost to the area. The campus will also offer recreation spaces and meeting rooms for the general community to use for free and is set to open this summer.

Louie is also excited to bring his nearly 25 years as a skilled investor to the CONNECT ALL @ the Jacobs Center Advocacy Council, helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses and jobs within San Diego through the region’s first low-to-moderate income and diversity-focused business accelerator program. The program recently held its third Union Bank Start-Up Pitch Competition, awarding $15,000 in business grants to three diverse women-owned businesses.

Paul Robinson is the founder of Ensunet Technology Group, a San Diego based company specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions post-merger integration and IT enterprise architecture solutions, which was featured on Inc Magazine’s 2018 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America.

Having grown up in the Southeastern San Diego community, Paul has seen what happens when lack of economic opportunity, education, resources, community engagement, community mentorship, and crime all meet at the same intersection.

Leveraging a career spanning two decades in information technology, entrepreneurship, and bringing a community resident perspective, Paul is part of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation board to support the organization’s education to careers and local economy initiatives. Both programs focus on creating local and systems-level partnerships that offer accessible pathways for individuals seeking education and employment. These programs also focus on creating mentorship networks that support early-stage community entrepreneurs and accelerate existing neighborhood businesses.

Dr. Beto Vasquez is a proud father of four and a resident of Southeast San Diego. He is an interdisciplinary scientist currently employed with the University of California San Diego’s (UCSD) Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE), an educational research center with equity at its core.

Through his various roles at UCSD and as an adjunct (biology) faculty at the community college, Dr. Vasquez spearheads efforts to increase diversity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math), and access to resources for disenfranchised communities via innovative P-20 grants, initiatives, and collaborations.

Dr. Vasquez is very active in the community and has assisted with designing programs and events (supporting education, social justice, justice reform, system-impacted populations, and minorities in STEM), and uses his story (school dropout, homelessness, incarceration, and addiction); to motivate others and inspire his work. He has worked in local government, education, and the non-profit sectors.