Community Foundation gets new leader

The Laguna Beach Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that encourages philanthropy in the city, has named Dan Pingaro its new executive director.

“I am beyond excited to be taking on this new role and becoming part of the fabric of the Laguna Beach community,” Pingaro said in a news release. “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.”

Pingaro grew up in Huntington Beach and served as a lifeguard at Aliso Creek and as a state lifeguard at Crystal Cove. He built his career on serving as a strategic advisor to organizations on issues related to the environment, sustainability and ocean health.

Most recently, Pingaro was chief executive of Sailors for the Sea, a nonprofit organization focused on educating and engaging the boating community in the worldwide protection of oceans. Before that he spent 10 years with the federal Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco, where he worked in grants management, financial reporting, environmental planning and program development.

“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,” said foundation board Chairman Rick Balzer in the release.

Pingaro and his wife, Kim, are relocating from Mill Valley to Laguna Beach.

Since 2004, the Laguna Beach Community Foundation has distributed more than 250 charitable grants and provided professional support to more than 100 local organizations to strengthen philanthropic leadership the Laguna Beach area, according to the release.

—Alicia Lopez

Twitter: @ALopezCityEd