Efrain Escobedo

Emeritus Chair

President & CEO
Center for Nonprofit Management

Efrain is a visionary leader dedicated to systemic transformation through human-centered approaches across the nonprofit, government, and philanthropy sectors. Two decades of cross-sector experience – along with a commitment to advancing the voice and power of local communities through civic engagement and advocacy – allows him to bring partners together to achieve meaningful change in Southern California. As President & CEO, Efrain leads CNM’s work supporting a thriving nonprofit sector through sector engagement, research, training, partnerships, and advocacy.

Efrain’s approach is informed by deep-rooted experience in crafting effective human-centered engagement strategies. Before coming to CNM, Efrain served as the Vice President of Public Policy & Civic Engagement at the California Community Foundation, a leading philanthropy in the state. Earlier, he held senior roles with the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, first as an Executive Liaison, managing the Department’s Multilingual Services and Community Outreach teams, and then as Division Manager of Governmental & Legislative Affairs. In that role, he spearheaded the historic Voting Systems Assessment Project, which modernized the County’s voting systems through an innovative community-centered process and public-private partnership.

His nonprofit sector experience includes roles at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, first as Director of Voter Engagement and then as Senior Director of Civic Engagement. He led a $2.5 million national voter education initiative across seven states and played a key leadership role in the historic Ya Es Hora campaign, which helped to naturalize more than one million immigrants, contributing to the historic Latino voter turnout in 2008.

Efrain is the emeritus chair of Hispanics in Philanthropy and vice chair of both the LA Economic Development Corporation and UNITE-LA. He serves on the boards of both CalMatters and the Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and is the Speaker of the California Assembly’s appointee to the California State Bar Legal Trust Fund Commission. He earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies and ethnicity from the University of Southern California, an MBA from the University of La Verne, and is a graduate of the Los Angeles County Executive Leadership Program, underlining his commitment to community empowerment and systemic change.