Jan Masaoka
Co-founder, The Philanthropy Project , The Philanthropy Project
Jan Masaoka is a leading writer and thinker on nonprofit organizations with particular emphasis on the role nonprofits in society. Until 2023 she was CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits, a statewide policy alliance of more than 10,000 nonprofits speaking to government, philanthropy, and the public at large.
Prior to CalNonprofits, she served 14 years as executive director of CompassPoint, in which position she was named Nonprofit Executive of the Year by Nonprofit Times. She is an eight-time designee as one of the "Fifty Most Influential" people in the nonprofit sector nationwide and was named California Community Leader of the Year by Leadership California.
Jan has served as chair of Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center and founding chair of Community Initaitives; she also served on the National Public Policy Committee of Independent Sector. Her books include Best of the Board Café (Fieldstone), Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability, co-author (Jossey Bass) and The Nonprofit's Guide to HR (Nolo Press). Jan founded and wrote the Blue Avocado magazine, growing it to 64,000 subscribers, before leaving in late 2015.