Photo

A San Francisco philanthropist and volunteer has been elected to a five-year term on the Stanford University Board of Trustees.

LaTonia "Tonia" G. Karr, vice chair of a nonprofit organization that helps low-income San Francisco youth pursue college degrees, earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford in 1992 and an MBA from Harvard in 1997.

She worked in real-estate finance and investment before becoming a full-time volunteer, primarily in the area of education.

Karr is board vice-chair of San Francisco's Meritus College Fund, which offers scholarships, coaching and personal mentoring to public high school students with GPAs of 3.1 to 3.7 who want to attend a four-year college.

She also is involved with the charter school organization KIPP Bay Area Schools and the Hamlin School, an independent K-8 girls school in San Francisco where she is on the diversity council. She also is a former board member of the parent-participation preschool, Cow Hollow School in San Francisco.

Karr served on the advisory council for Stanford's K-12 Initiative, an effort that was part of the university-wide Stanford Challenge, a fundraising campaign that raised $6.2 billion from 2006 to 2011.

She and her husband, Adam Karr, have established the Karr Family Scholarship Fund as well as two Karr Family Graduate Fellowship funds at Stanford.

The Karr Family Scholarship Fund is aimed at financially needy Stanford undergraduates, with a preference for African-American students who want to become teachers. Karr and her husband both relied on financial aid to attend college.

"In addition to her service on the Meritus College Fund, Tonia brings a depth of experience and a personal commitment to improving K-12 education that will be invaluable to her board service," said Stanford Board of Trustees Chairman Steven A. Denning.

Karr begins a five-year term Feb. 1.

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.