David La Piana, Managing Partner

David La Piana is founder and Managing Partner of La Piana Consulting, a national firm specializing in solutions to the strategic issues faced by nonprofit organizations and their funders. Recognized as a leading expert on nonprofit management and governance, David has worked extensively with funders and nonprofits across all sub-sectors.  He has also taught at the University of San Francisco’s Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management and at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

A popular speaker and teacher, David is a regular contributor to the national dialogue on nonprofit and foundation effectiveness and the future of the social sector. He blogs and writes articles and op-eds for major newspapers and journals, and is frequently interviewed by the media for his opinions on trends in the sector.

David’s latest book is The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution: Real-Time Strategic Planning in a Rapid-Response World (2008). His previous publications include: Play to Win: The Nonprofit Guide to Competitive Strategy (2005), which won a Terry McAdam Nonprofit Book of the Year honorable mention award; The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook, Part II: Unifying the Organization After A Merger (2004); Strategic Restructuring: Mergers, Integrations, and Alliances (2003); The Start-Up Assessment Tool (2003); In Search of  Strategic Solutions (2003); Real Collaboration (2001);  The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook, Part I: Considering, Negotiating, and Executing a Merger (2000, revised 2008); and Beyond Collaboration: Strategic Restructuring for Nonprofit Organizations (1997). He is currently at work on a book on nonprofit business planning which will appear late in 2012.

David coined the term “strategic restructuring” to refer to the continuum of partnership configurations —including mergers, joint ventures, consolidations, and joint programming — through which nonprofits attempt to anticipate or respond to environmental threats and opportunities. He works closely with major foundations and national nonprofits to promote new ideas and tools that can enhance nonprofits’ effectiveness.

Since 1979 David has worked in the nonprofit sector. Beginning as a community organizer, he has been a staff member, executive director, trainer, advocate, consultant, and board member. Whatever his role, the core of his work has been an effort to build a more just and equitable world where every child can grow up safe and healthy to lead a productive, self-determined life.

A former VISTA volunteer, David has held senior management positions with the YMCA, The International Institute, and East Bay Agency for Children, a multifaceted human services agency which grew ten-fold under his leadership. He has received awards for his work from both the California State Assembly and Elihu Harris, the former mayor of Oakland, California. He is a Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar (Race and Ethnicity), and currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of the Craigslist Foundation.

David received his Master of Public Administration degree in nonprofit management from the University of San Francisco, and holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.  He has also studied at University of California at San Diego, and at the University of Madrid. David and his wife Mary, a psychotherapist, recently celebrated their 32nd anniversary. They have two grown daughters and a dog. In his spare time David will read just about anything. He recently finished his first (as yet unpublished) novel, and he enjoys hiking, skiing, and cooking for friends and family.