Executive Pulse Reports
California nonprofits are navigating rapidly changing conditions. Our Executive Pulse Check Report offers real-time analyses about changing economic, funding, workforce, and policy environments.
Based on a quarterly survey of California nonprofit executives participating in the Nonprofit Leadership Roundtable, each report identifies emerging trends in organizational health, funding, workforce capacity, and service delivery. By capturing perspectives from leaders on the ground, these reports offer a clearer understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector – and will hopefully lead to more informed decisions in response.
Explore the latest findings from our first Executive Pulse Report.
Q2 Executive Pulse Report (April – June 2026)
PULSE 1: Organizations face growing financial instability. 63% anticipate increases in organizational costs and cuts to public funding as the most cited financial concern across roundtable organizations. This signals a shrinking and precarious financial runway to operate.
PULSE 2: Workforce pressures are a defining challenge. 68% report stress and burnout as their most pressing staffing challenge, followed by 58% citing salary and wage competition. 42% noted staffing and workforce changes impacting the delivery of essential services. This underscores a widening workforce gap for frontline providers to meet increasing demand.
PULSE 3: Organizational mission and community need anchor strategic adaptation. Community needs was the primary driver for strategic decisions this quarter (74%). To meet needs, organizations are actively pivoting, diversifying revenue, expanding collaborations, and adapting operations to sustain demand amid constraints.
About the Nonprofit Leadership Roundtable
The Nonprofit Leadership Roundtable brings together 25 nonprofit executives from service-delivery organizations across California to provide timely insights into the realities facing the state’s nonprofit sector. Representing diverse regions, communities, and service areas including youth and family services, food and climate justice, housing, arts and culture, and community health – Roundtable members share on-the-ground perspectives about the challenges, trends, and opportunities shaping their organizations and the communities they serve
Roundtable Members:
- John Alita, Executive Director, San Joaquin Pride Center
- Sharna Braucks, President & CEO, YMCA of Superior California
- Wilfredo Cruz Jr., Executive Director, Community Resource Project
- Isaias Hernandez, Executive Director, Eastmont Community Center
- Dana Toppel, CEO, Jewish Family Services
- Maria Alexander, Executive Director, Center for Living and Learning
- Monique Berlanga, Executive Director, Centro Legal De La Raza
- Harry Bruell, President & CEO, PathPoint
- Raymon Cancino, CEO, Community Bridges
- Cathryn Couch, CEO, Ceres Community Project
- Jennifer Friend, CEO, Project Hope Alliance
- A. Garcia, Executive Director, Confronting Domestic Violence, Inc.
- Jenny Hatch, Executive Director, Sierra Nevada Alliance
- Julia Hatton, President & CEO, Rising Sun Center for Opportunity
- Patima Komolamit, Executive Director, Center for the Pacific-Asian Family, Inc.
- Tremaine Mitchell, Executive Director, Youth Action Project
- Jonas Mok, CEO, Bay Area Community Resources
- Niki Richardson, Executive Director, TOArts
- Heather Sanford, CEO, Mission Hope
- Alex Sato, Executive Director, The Center in Hollywood
- Gregory Scott, President & CEO, Community Action Partnership of Orange County
- Jessica Vaughan, CEO, Second Harvest of the Greater Valley
- Adolfo Ventura, Interim President & CEO, MAAC (Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty of San Diego County, Inc.)
- Susan Walker, President, Mountain Homeless Coalition
- Sheri White, Executive Director, Human Response Network.
