FALL 2022

As Jan announces her plans to leave her post as CEO of our organization, we want to express our deep appreciation for her extraordinary service to the thousands of nonprofits in California. When Jan assumed this role in 2012, CalNonprofits was essentially a dormant organization. Due to her leadership, today it is thriving and influential with more than 10,000 members, with recognized influence in Sacramento, in national nonprofit affairs, and in philanthropy.

We are proud that Jan has led the organization to deliver strong programming and in standing up for community nonprofits, taking bold, inevitably controversial positions. We are proud today to be an organization that is resolute in advocating for nonprofits in communities of color, in rural communities and in poor communities. We are proud to advocate to government, to institutional philanthropy, to Wall Street, and to the public.

CalNonprofits is seeking it's next bold, innovative and inspiring leader. Read & share the position announcement.

The Board of Directors has engaged the search firm Walker and Associates Consulting, and we are sharing our CEO position announcement with you here as we kick off a national search for a new CalNonprofits leader. We will keep you informed of next steps as the process moves forwarrd. In the meantime, please direct any questions about the search to Walker and Associates at calnonprofits@walkeraac.com.

CalNonprofits remains in good hands through this process, as Jan will stay on until we hire and onboard her successor. Our board of directors is comprised of nonprofit CEOs who individually are remarkable leaders. We will look forward to welcoming a new CEO, as we wish Jan continued success in the next phase of her celebrated professional career.

With gratitude,

Maricela Morales, Chair

CalNonprofits Board of Directors

Dear friends in the nonprofit community,

I write to you today to let you know I will be leaving the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits) in a few months. I've loved this job and have great pride in all we have accomplished together. After 11 years as CEO, I know the organization is ready for a new leader with new thinking to lead it into the next era, and I am looking forward to exploring new challenges for myself that will continue to contribute to – and shake up – the nonprofit community (in short, I'm not retiring!)

With CalNonprofits now so well established as a powerful voice for California's nonprofit community, I feel ready to step back and am confident that our outstanding board will have strong candidates and will make a wise choice for new leadership.

During this past decade we have sponsored and won key legislation, successfully opposed legislation, helped create the legislative Select Committees on the Nonprofit Sector, and published Causes Count: The Economic Power of California's Nonprofit Sector. As just one example, our work on regulating online fundraising platforms introduced groundbreaking laws that protect every donor and every nonprofit in California from abuses in the industry. We have been instrumental, through advocacy and direct support, in getting thousands of nonprofits hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID relief funds through PPP, ERTC, California Small Business Relief, CalVenues, and other programs. As a small team able to leverage a strong network, we have accomplished big things.

Everything we have achieved – and everything we have attempted to achieve – has been based on standing up for community-based nonprofits of all sizes, particularly those in rural areas, in communities of color, and in low-income areas. CalNonprofits resolutely stands up with nonprofits to the legislative, administrative, and judicial branches of government, to institutional philanthropy, and to Big Tech.

Don't let this announcement lead you to think we are slowing down for even a minute. We are working to effect changes in how the State contracts with nonprofits – contracts that profoundly affect nonprofit wages and nonprofit responsiveness – and recently sent a letter to the governor and state legislators signed by more than 550 nonprofit organizations detailing our calls for action. We are promoting common-sense reforms to donor-advised funds to bring more funds to nonprofits and more fairness to our tax system. We'll hold our Policy Symposium on December 7.

Thank you for joining me and CalNonprofits in this important work. I will continue in my position until a new CEO comes on board. The Board of Directors has formed a search committee and will share details on their progress.

I look forward to what the future holds for CalNonprofits and to staying in touch with all of you. Sincerely, Jan Masaoka, CEO, CalNonprofits