Steward · Strategist · Systems Builder

Yheizzi
Owen

Known to colleagues as JC.

I turn complex grantmaking into confident decisions—combining financial judgment, disciplined stewardship, and systems that let mission move.

See the impact
  • Grant Operations
  • Fiduciary Diligence
  • Board Partnership
  • Systems Transformation
  • Bilingual Leadership
Yheizzi Owen
Panama → United StatesBethesda, Maryland

What changes when Yheizzi is in the room

Complexity becomes clarity.

More than 20 years across banking, fiduciary services, and philanthropy—connecting financial rigor with human judgment.

Yheizzi sees the whole grantmaking system: the board decision, the compliance obligation, the financial reality, the grantee relationship, and the operating detail that turns intent into accountable action.

Selected scale

Stewardship you can
see.

Every figure shown here is drawn from reported foundation data or Yheizzi’s documented experience.

01$1.35B

Foundation scale

02$489M

Reported grants, 2018–2024

03$23M

Three major commitments

0430+

Private foundations at PNC

Signature portfolio work

Three commitments. $23 million. Years of accountability.

$10MHazelden Betty Ford Foundation

$8MMayo Clinic

$5MFoundation Fighting Blindness

Selected experience

Judgment in motion.

Grant operations · Financial review · Governance · Transformation

Current

Grants Manager / Project Manager

Diana Davis Spencer Foundation

$1.35 billion private foundation · Bethesda, Maryland

  • Direct full-lifecycle grant administration—including due diligence, financial analysis, compliance, reporting, and post-award evaluation—for a $1.35B private foundation that reported $489M in grants from 2018–2024, averaging $69.8M annually.
  • Led grant administration and oversight for three major multi-year commitments totaling $23M: $10M to Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, $8M to Mayo Clinic, and $5M to Foundation Fighting Blindness.
  • Prepared grant dockets, funding analyses, and governance materials for executive leadership and the board, enabling informed oversight of a portfolio that included 112 reported awards to 97 organizations in 2024.
  • Evaluated financial health, organizational capacity, compliance risk, and program outcomes across grant requests ranging from $1K to $20M, strengthening funding recommendations and post-award accountability.
  • Led an on-site evaluation of EARTH University’s grant outcomes and strategic alignment, informing continued funding decisions for a partnership that received $525K through three reported awards.
  • Led implementation of the foundation’s first Salesforce grants-management system to strengthen reporting discipline, audit readiness, and portfolio visibility.

Previous

Philanthropic Services

PNC

Private foundation administration · Washington, D.C. region

  • Managed governance, compliance, grantmaking, and investment-reporting services for a portfolio of more than 30 private family foundations.
  • Coordinated grant cycles and board preparation across donor families, trustees, attorneys, accountants, investment advisors, and internal partners.
  • Translated complex fiduciary, regulatory, and financial requirements into clear decisions and reliable follow-through for foundation clients.

Earlier career

Banking & Financial Services

Panama

Client service · Financial operations · Cross-cultural fluency

  • Built an early career foundation in banking operations, financial discipline, and high-trust client service.
  • Brought Panamanian perspective and bilingual fluency to a career connecting people, capital, and public purpose.

Operating philosophy

Rigor with
humanity.

Financial stewardship and relationship stewardship are not competing disciplines. The strongest philanthropy demands both.

01

Read beyond the narrative.

A compelling mission still has to reconcile with the budget. Good stewardship tests the story, follows the evidence, and asks the question others may avoid.

02

Build systems people trust.

The best operating systems make sound judgment repeatable—giving leaders clearer visibility, teams stronger discipline, and grantees a more consistent experience.

03

Lead in service of purpose.

Leadership is earned through humility, courage, and the ability to unite people around work larger than any one person.

Yheizzi Owen smiling

Leadership perspective

Great leaders are not born;
they are forged.

Through failure, humility, responsibility, and service, leadership becomes the ability to earn trust and unite people around a common purpose.