Cesar Chavez Foundation Leadership

Prior to joining CCF in 1999, Cliff Timmermans served as president/director of Guaranty Construction Finance Corp. He started his career as a general contractor with Timberline Construction Co., handling management and general accounting for the construction of single-family residences, later becoming vice president of Timmermans Lumber Co. Inc. He is also a realtor associate with Associated Realtors Inc.

Cliff graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington.

Bill Barquin began his tenure with Radio Campesina as an account executive and then transitioned to a sales manager for the network’s highly-successful KNAI Phoenix station. In 2009, he became the radio network’s COO. He previously served as a senior events coordinator at Arvizu Advertising.

Barquin’s commitment to the social and economic well-being of the Latino community is evident not only through his work at Radio Campesina, but through his work both with the City of Phoenix’s Estrella Village Planning Committee as well as chairman of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board of managers of the Maryville YMCA and was a board member for the Arizona Children’s Association. He has been recognized by the Phoenix Business Journal as a 40 under 40 Leader in Arizona, as well as a recipient of the Univision Communications “40 Under 40 Hispanic Leaders in Arizona” and Cox Communication’s Hispanic Leader of Arizona.

Barquin earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Master’s degree in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University.

Jason Knotowicz is an Assistant Construction Project Manager at Cesar Chavez Foundation; Director, Board of Directors/CFO at Cesar Chavez Foundation; and Security Forces 1st Sergeant - Master Sergeant - Secret Security Clearance at California Air National Guard and is based in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He has worked as Development Manager at National Community Renaissance, California Border Alliance Group/ HIDTA Liason Officer at Counter Drug Task Force, and California Border Alliance Group/ HIDTA Liason Officer at California Border Alliance Group. Jason works or has worked as Development Manager - Texas Region at Gardner Capital and Assistant Project Manager at Signature at Fairfield. He studied at University of California San Diego; Southern Methodist University - Cox School of Business between 2016 and 2018; and University of California, Riverside between 2011 and 2012.

Throughout Kari Braun’s 25-year career in accounting and finance she has led teams in both the for profit and not-for-profit sectors. Over the course of her career, she has worked in a diverse group of industry sectors including finance, higher education, healthcare and logistics. She has specialized in the application of and leadership for finance, accounting, internal controls, budgeting, systems implementation, process improvement and business analytics. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from the University of Phoenix and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Leadership from the University of San Diego.

Manuel Bernal’s nearly 30-year career in community development began as a Management Analyst for the City of Los Angeles Housing Department underwriting loans with HOME and CDBG funds. He later served as an Underwriter of equity investments at the National Equity Fund and was a co-founder and first Executive Director of the East L.A. Community Corporation. Manuel first joined CCF in 1999 and served until 2011 as Executive Vice President for Housing and Economic Development, and served on CCF’s Board of Directors from 2011 to 2017. Prior to his current position, Manuel was the Director of Multi-family Housing for the City of Los Angeles.

Manuel holds an Advanced Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Occidental College.