Team

Jayanthi K. Daniel, Executive Director

As executive director of Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, Jayanthi K. Daniel is charged with building a permanent infrastructure for the foundation after its tremendous financial growth at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before RWCF, Jayanthi was the executive management officer for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. She oversaw external affairs, including government affairs, communications, and the equity and talent/personnel portfolios. She joined LAHSA after serving as the executive officer for Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of City Homelessness Initiatives, where Jayanthi helped oversee a team of experts addressing active homelessness, the building and operation of interim and permanent affordable housing, and the implementation of Skid Row strategies. She also served as the executive officer for the Mayor’s chief of staff after joining the Mayor’s Office as a winner of the David Bohnett Leadership Fellowship.

Jayanthi comes to Los Angeles from New York, where she was a journalist for 15 years at The New York Sun, SAVEUR, and Africa.com. She is on the board of the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter, as the member-at-large/vice president of legislative and political affairs, and is a founding board member of RWCF. She graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in journalism, and from UCLA with a second master’s in social welfare.

Cheryl Williams, Finance Director

Cheryl R. Williams is a New York City finance professional with extensive experience in nonprofit management and governance. Before joining Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation as finance director, she  served as CFO of Theatre Development Fund/TKTS; before that, she was director of finance and administration for China Institute in America, Inc. Cheryl also worked in the film and television industry as a production accountant for organizations such as Firelight Films/Firelight Media and National Geographic Studios and as a freelancer on films such as “The Week Of.” 

Before working with nonprofits, she spent more than 10 years as a finance, banking and investment professional. After a short stint in her native Chicago working with her family’s clothing business, she returned to New York City and became a small business consultant providing business planning, marketing, finance and accounting start-up advice and support.

She currently sits on the board of public-access television station Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Inc. and has served on the boards of the Financial Women’s Association of New York, Inc., the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP)/New York, and the Women’s Venture Fund of New York. Mount Holyoke College is her undergraduate alma mater, and she received her M.A. from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Casandra Rosario, Social Media Director

Casandra Rosario and her team at The Rosario Group are responsible for managing RWCF’s social media presence, voice and original content. Cassandra has also been the primary leader in the advancement of the #RWCFTalks series that have brought restaurant workers together online to share challenges and seek solutions.  

Cas started working with RWCF in March 2020 and was central to the organization’s success communicating about the Restaurant Workers COVID-19 Crisis Relief Fund. She is the main point of contact for RWCF’s social media partnerships and online programming.