Michalle Shown-Rodriguez

Fairfield resident Michalle Shown-Rodriguez, a veteran of non-profit community service, is the new executive director of the Solano County Library Foundation.
Her hiring culminates a months-long search to replace Dilenna Harris, the former foundation leader who resigned in May to take a job with a local healthcare provider. Shown-Rodriguez began her tenure at the Library Foundation Board of Directors’ meeting on Thursday, June 13.
“We are tremendously excited and privileged to have Michalle join us,” said Board President Jim Dunbar. “Her 25 years of experience in fund development, grant writing, donor relations and executive leadership will take our organization to the next level.”
Shown-Rodriguez’s work with non-profits began with the birth of her son and subsequent involvement in co-founding and running a support organization in Idaho that served families with medically fragile children. She has been involved with the National Foster Parents Association, the Sierra Association of Foster Families and Ronald McDonald House Charities.
She leaves the Oakland-based Crisis Support Services of Alameda County where she was responsible for developing funding for a $1.9 million program comprising suicide prevention, crisis intervention and public education that included health-related presentations in public schools and counseling for the recently unemployed.
“Being the adoptive parent of four elementary school-aged children, I wanted the opportunity to serve in an education-focused environment where I can have a direct impact on children and their parents and be close to my home,” Shown-Rodriguez said. “I know I can grow the foundation.”
Board president Dunbar added, “We have an impassioned, talented, high-energy professional who is connected to our community, who lives and who now will work here to raise the literacy level of our community. She is awesome.”
Shown-Rodriguez has a degree in social psychology and earned the Non-Profit Certificate at Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Center for Social Innovation among other professional credentials.