Adlai
Wertman

The Work

When the leader leaves,
the mission cannot.

Leadership transitions are among the most vulnerable moments a nonprofit faces. Boards are managing grief, uncertainty, and the pressure to keep operations running — all at once. An experienced Interim CEO provides the continuity that protects what the organization has built while the board conducts a thoughtful, unhurried search for permanent leadership.

I step in as a trusted steward: stable enough to reassure staff and funders, experienced enough to identify what needs attention, and clear-eyed enough to leave cleanly when the right permanent leader arrives.

Background

Four decades.
Three distinct worlds.

The range of my career is not incidental — it is what makes me effective. Nonprofit boards trust that I understand how boards, funders, institutions, and communities all see the same organization differently.

Selected Affiliations

Trusted by institutions
across sectors.

At Chrysalis, he doubled the organization's size while achieving a 92% job placement rate — entirely on private funding. At USC, he secured a $9.5 million endowment, launched the MS in Social Entrepreneurship program, and advised more than 1,000 nonprofits globally. His leadership turnaround of Chrysalis was the subject of an academic case study by the UCLA School of Public Affairs Center for Civil Society.

• Founding Director, Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab, USC Marshall School of Business
• Commissioner, Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension Fund ($14B portfolio), appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa
• Advisory Board, Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF)
• Senior Fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture
• Senior Fellow, UCLA School of Public Affairs
• Trustee, Jewish Community Foundation Los Angeles
• Wexner Heritage Fellow
• BA, Econometrics, SUNY Stony Brook · MBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania