Dan Pingaro, director of a nonprofit involved with educating boaters about ocean protection, was hired to serve as executive director of the Laguna Beach Community Foundation, effective this week.
“I am beyond excited to be taking on this new role and becoming part of the fabric of the Laguna Beach community,” said Pingaro, who with his wife, Kim, are relocating to Laguna Beach from Mill Valley. “The level of expertise and commitment from the Community Foundation board of trustees and past leadership provides a strong base which I intend to grow and expand well into the future,” he said. The foundation oversees charitable funds established by local residents to serve community needs in Laguna Beach and beyond and since 2004 has distributed over 250 charitable grants.
As chief executive of Sailors for the Sea, based in Newport, R.I., Pingaro helped grow an organization begun in 2004 into one with global partnership alliances, a diversified funding base that involves 100,000 people a year.
A long-time California resident, Pingaro looks forward to renewing his Orange County ties, having grown up in Huntington Beach and manned lifeguard towers at Aliso Beach and Crystal Cove State Park. An entrepreneur who developed foul weather sailing gear, his career evolved into consulting on issues related to the environment, sustainability and ocean health.
Community Foundation board chair Rick Balzer said, “We responded to Dan’s experience in nonprofit leadership, fundraising, grant making, entrepreneurship, environmental commitment, communications style and his ability to promote the growth of philanthropy in Laguna Beach. We think that Dan will be a wonderful addition to the Laguna Beach philanthropic community.”
Prior to his position with Sailors for the Sea, Pingaro spent 10 years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco where he gained extensive experience in grants management, financial reporting, environmental planning and program development.
