FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2003

Contact:
Cecilia Laiché, TCWF
(818)702-1900

THE CALIFORNIA WELLNESS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES ITS SABBATICAL PROGRAM FOR HEALTH LEADERS

Developed and Managed By Foundation Grantee CompassPoint, It Provides $30,000 Each to Six Organizations for Their Leaders

Woodland Hills — The California Wellness Foundation Sabbatical Program was recently launched as a new leadership recognition program for California’s nonprofit health sector. The program, funded by a grant from the Foundation to CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, will make six awards to health service organizations of $30,000 each to pay for well-deserved sabbaticals for their leaders. The organizations will also receive up to $5,000 each for the professional development of the managers and staff who will take on extra responsibilities in the absence of the sabbatical recipients.

“Often executive directors of California’s nonprofit health organizations are overwhelmed with work, neglect their own needs for rest and relaxation and are close to burning out,” said Gary L. Yates, TCWF president and CEO. “The California Wellness Foundation Sabbatical Program is designed to improve the long-term effectiveness of health service nonprofits by providing their executives with the rejuvenation they need to continue to direct their organizations’ missions.”

Inspired by The Durfee Foundation’s Los Angeles County-wide sabbatical program, TCWF’s sabbatical was created as a statewide program. Developed and managed by CompassPoint, TCWF’s program is now open for applications with the awards to be made in October 2003.

“California’s nonprofit health organizations are both the safety net and the advocates for our communities — and their leaders know how much depends on them,” said Jan Masaoka, CompassPoint’s executive director. “The California Wellness Foundation is not only talking about supporting the safety net — they are doing so in one of the most high impact ways possible: improving the sustainability of community health leaders and organizations.”

For more than 27 years, CompassPoint has provided nonprofit organizations with a broad range of services including management tools and executive leadership support. It has also published a number of important studies on the nonprofit sector, including “Help Wanted: Turnover and Vacancy in Nonprofits” and “Daring to Lead: Nonprofit Executive Directors and their Work Experience.”

“Our Foundation is benefiting from CompassPoint’s extensive knowledge and expertise in nonprofit management,” said Cristina M. Regalado, TCWF’s vice president of programs. “Learnings from this project will be an added value to inform the field and, hopefully, encourage similar programs.”

Visit www.compasspoint.org or call CompassPoint at 415.541.9000 to learn more about The California Wellness Foundation Sabbatical Program, receive an application or access CompassPoint’s reports on executive leadership in the nonprofit sector.

The California Wellness Foundation is an independent, private foundation created in 1992, with a mission to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. The Foundation provides funding in eight priority areas: Diversity in the Health Professions, Environmental Health, Healthy Aging, Mental Health, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention, Violence Prevention, Women’s Health, and Work and Health. It also provides funding for other health issues through its Special Projects Fund.

Since its first year of operation, TCWF has awarded 3,133 grants totaling nearly $400 million. It is one of the state’s largest private foundations, making an average of $40 million in grants each year in pursuit of its mission.

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Note to reporters & editors: "The" in The California Wellness Foundation name is part of the Foundation's legal name. Please do not drop or lowercase the "T."