Los Angeles, CA

United Ways of California (UWCA) recently announced the appointment of Peter Manzo as the new president and CEO for the statewide consortium consisting of thirty-eight California United Ways that work in concert to address critical issues across the state.

"We are so pleased to have someone with Pete's vast knowledge and experience as the leader of our statewide organization," said Elise Buik, president and CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles and interim president and CEO for UWCA.

"His public policy experience will be crucial as we work with state legislators to craft solutions on the pressing issues in our communities, such as health coverage for all California's children, and increasing graduation rates. In addition, Pete will serve as UWCA's point person for for helping large employers address their community work on a statewide level."

Having served in the nonprofit arena for fifteen years, Manzo comes to UWCA from the Advancement Project, Los Angeles where he directed strategic planning, fundraising and communications for the civil rights organization seeking large-scale change in education and public safety systems. Manzo also  served as the Executive Director and Public Counsel for the Center for Nonprofit Management, growing the organization from a staff of six and a budget of $500,000 to a staff of 19 an annual budget of $2 million, and was Directing Attorney of Community Development Programs for Public Counsel, the nation's largest pro bono law firm and the Los Angeles affiliate of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he represented nonprofit charitable organizations in a broad range of real property, corporate, tax and other transactional matters.  Before moving into the nonprofit sector, Manzo practiced real estate and corporate law in the private sector, first at the law firm of Riordan & McKinzie, then at Tuttle & Taylor in Los Angeles.

Manzo has written articles on nonprofit law and management issues for Stanford Social Innovation Review, Responsive Philanthropy, UCLA School of Public Affairs and Center for Nonprofit Management, and he is a Senior Research Fellow at the UCLA Center for Civil Society.  He is a board member of several charitable organizations including United Friends of the Children, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, 211 Los Angeles, Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, Los Angeles Education Corps, and Venice Community Housing Corporation.

A native of California, Manzo received a law degree from University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.  He also received degrees from University of Notre Dame and London School of Economics.  He and his wife Dahni and their two children live in South Pasadena, California.