Frederick J. Ferrer has over three decades of leadership in mobilizing stakeholders and staff toward change through groundbreaking nonprofit and public policy initiatives, programs and systems reforms. Prior to becoming CEO of Child Advocates, Ferrrer founded and led Manzanita Solutions, where he provided consultation on public health, early childhood, non-profit management, and systems reform. Before that, he served for nine years as CEO at the Health Trust, a $100 million foundation, which provides health services, grants, and drives policy to improve community health. Frederick is the former Executive Director of Estrella Family Services and was chair of the FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Commission. He is a member and immediate past chair of Santa Clara University’s (SCU) College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Advisory Board and chaired the University’s Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. He is the former chair of the Rocketship Public Schools board and is a member of the Children’s Discovery Museum LGBTQ Advisory Board. He recently chaired the City of San Jose’s Charter Review Commission.
Throughout his career, Frederick has received numerous awards including: ALF-SV’s John Gardner Leadership Award, the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission’s Human Relations Award, and PACT’s Community Builder Award. He is a SCU Dean’s Executive Professor of Public Health and was an instructor in Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Special Education EPIC program. For over 30 years, he served on the adjunct child development faculty at De Anza College. 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. Dr. Ferrer holds a B.S. degree from Santa Clara University, a M.S. degree from San Jose State University, and an honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Santa Clara University.