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
