Pamela Gray Payton

Pamela Gray Payton is vice president, Chief Impact and Partnerships Officer at San Diego Foundation (SDF). Since joining SDF in 2020, Pamela has leaned on her experience as a compassionate leader to guide SDF’s Community Impact team through two consecutive years of record-breaking grantmaking and the innovative implementation of three pillars of the SDF Strategic Plan to advance racial and social justice, foster equity of opportunity and build resilient communities. She plays a critical role as an agent of change in developing cross-sector partnerships and implementing future strategic plans for SDF.

Since joining SDF, Pamela and her team have launched several programs, including the Black Community Investment Fund, the Binational Resilience Initiative, the Healthy Children & Families Initiative, Level Up SD and the San Diego Black Homebuyers Program, which is the first program of its kind in California and has helped 35-plus families to date. Pamela directly manages the SDF Black Community Investment Fund which has funded more than $4 million in grants to support initiatives in education, employment, entrepreneurship and homeownership.

Prior to joining SDF, Pamela served as assistant vice president of Community and Government Affairs at the University of San Diego. During her 20-plus years at USD, she also served as AVP of Public Relations and Communications. She is the co-founder of USD’s Black Student Resource Center and the recipient of several on- and off-campus awards and recognition.

Pamela received her master’s degree from the University of San Diego Knauss School of Business, and her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego. Active in the community, Pamela serves on the boards of the Monarch School Project and the Community Foundation Opportunity Network. Previously, she served as Board Chair for both RISE San Diego and the Kim Center for Social Balance. She is a proud member of the Epsilon Xi Omega Graduate Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and the Southeast Cluster of Rady Children’s Hospital Auxiliary.