Susan True never set out to become a leader in philanthropy, but looking back, it seems almost inevitable.
As a community studies major at UCSC, True (Oakes ’95) was deeply engaged in local nonprofits before, during and right out of college, focusing on social impact work, particularly in public health and family strengthening work. A prestigious scholarship and fellowship led her to Stanford for graduate school, where her expertise caught the attention of a private foundation.
Though she hadn't planned on a career in philanthropy, each step led her closer to it—eventually bringing her back to Santa Cruz to lead Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Now, as the Foundation’s CEO, she has embraced the work, channeling her lifelong commitment to community service into meaningful, lasting impact.
“Everybody should get a shot,” True said. “When people do get that opportunity, we are all strengthened.”
For True, impact can be measured in a number of ways; from building community soccer fields to funding housing projects across the county, True is proud of the impact the Santa Cruz Foundation has on its community.
In 2024, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County invested $38 million in the Santa Cruz region and beyond. That investment included lending low-interest loans for local impact, awarding grants and resources to 300 local nonprofits, awarding scholarships to 37 students across Santa Cruz County, and stewarding endowments for 67 nonprofits, schools, and faith communities.
This commitment to strengthening the region was especially evident when the Community Foundation helped raise funds to support the Pajaro Valley Health District’s purchase of Watsonville Community Hospital. Through community fundraising and matching gifts, the Foundation raised over $8 million.
Working alongside key leaders—including UCSC alum and State Senator John Laird, who secured an emergency order to establish the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District and helped obtain $25 million in state funding—the foundation helped mobilize resources to ensure the hospital remained open. County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios and health clinic Salud Para La Gente also played vital roles, providing financial planning and structural support.
Through this collaborative effort, the community was able to secure the hospital’s future and keep essential healthcare services in the region.
“The community came together to save the hospital,” True said. “20 years of private equity ownership and ever-changing management is now an invaluable community asset. That's just an amazing way that our community came together.”
UC Santa Cruz: from student to alumni
Susan True’s time as a student at UC Santa Cruz was shaped by deep mentorship, hands-on activism, and an academic environment that nurtured her passion for social change. As a community studies major, she was immersed in public health work, volunteering extensively during the height of the HIV epidemic. She played a key role in starting the needle exchange program in Monterey County, balancing full-time coursework with tireless activism.
The community studies field study program provided an opportunity to merge intellectual inquiry with direct service, allowing her to refine her work, learn grant writing, and gain a broader perspective on social impact. True is grateful for the time she had as a student at UCSC.
“I had a really good experience at UCSC. I learned from faculty who were committed to teaching and to mentorship,” she said. “I was a young parent when I was a student as well, and the Oakes college staff were so good to me..”
Now as a board member of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, True is instrumental in coordinating collaboration between UCSC and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Working in close partnership with the UC Santa Cruz chancellor, administration, faculty, and staff, the Foundation Board shares the university’s vision of academic excellence and its commitment to public service.
In 2020, UCSC and the Community Foundation partnered to launch an on campus COVID testing lab. Beginning in May 2020, the lab provided rapid testing to thousands of students and community members when rapid testing was still hard to come by, becoming a pillar of safety in the county.
“When the university launched that lab, we worked together to identify where we could find the most at-risk populations, and we set up a system. It was incredible and was such an effective partnership.”
True is excited for the University’s future in the advancement of research, commitment to the humanities and social sciences, and overall, its focus on student success.
“There are incredible faculty focused on the art of teaching, on student mentorship and I think that excites me the most,” True said. “I believe strongly that we learn in a relationship with people who care about us and have something to teach. There are a lot of those people at the university.”
