Staff

Frederick J. Ferrer

Frederick J. Ferrer has over three decades of nonprofit leadership in Silicon Valley, having led numerous groundbreaking program, public policy and systems reform initiatives. As CEO of Child Advocates, Ferrer leads the organization’s efforts to support foster children, primarily though the operation of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Santa Clara County. Ferrer currently chairs the Santa Clara University’s College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Advisory Board where he’s also a Dean’s Executive Professor of Public Health. He previously chaired: The University’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity and Inclusion; the Rocketship Public Schools Board; and the FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Commission. He is also a member of the Children’s Discovery Museum LGBTQ Advisory Board. Previously, Ferrer served as CEO of the Health Trust, a $100 million public charity foundation. Ferrer also had a consulting practice, Manzanita Solutions, where he helped design the Universal Access to Preschool initiative with Alum Rock and Franklin McKinley School districts. He is also the former Executive Director of Estrella Family Services. Among numerous awards, Ferrer has received: The John Gardner Leadership Award from ALF-SV; the Human Relations Award from the Santa Clara County Commission on Human Relations; and PACT’s Community Builder Award. Ferrer has been on the adjunct child development faculty at De Anza College and an instructor in the Special Education credential EPIC program at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. He has completed two distinguished programs at Harvard University, the Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. He also completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ferrer holds a B.S. degree from Santa Clara University, an M.S. degree from San Jose State University, and an honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Santa Clara University.