OUR STORY
Rooted in liberation, growing through community.
For over 50 years, CompassPoint has stood at the intersection of nonprofit practice and social change—constantly evolving, questioning, and dreaming bigger.
Based in Oakland, California, we began as a resource center for nonprofit leaders navigating the challenges of their work. Over time, we realized that leadership is not just about skills or titles. It’s also about power, relationships, and the deep desire to create a just and liberated world. So, we made some changes. We let go of outdated models. We reimagined our offerings. We committed more boldly to centering the leadership of Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Our roots are deep—but we’re not here to replicate the past. We’re here to transform it.
A Legacy of Empowerment
CompassPoint has witnessed and participated in decades of nonprofit transformation. Through political shifts, movement cycles, and organizational reinventions, we’ve remained in it for the long haul, walking alongside people and institutions doing the hard, beautiful work of getting us closer to liberation.
We’ve learned that leadership is not a destination. It’s a daily practice grounded in accountability, love, creativity, and the courage to disrupt. We’ve also learned that none of us can do this work alone. Our legacy is not just what we’ve done but who we’ve done it with.
Living Our Values
Our values shape every facet of who we are and how we work. We lead with love and care, take courageous risks, and lean into creativity as a tool for transformation. We center the voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, work to shift power, and nurture spaces where humor and joy are as part of the journey toward liberation. These values aren’t static—they evolve with us and are brought to life in community, in practice, and in our everyday choices.
Reimagining Leadership
We don’t believe leadership belongs to a few. We believe it lives in the many. In those willing to take on the risk and responsibility of leading through uncertainty. In people who step into power not just for themselves, but for their communities. In people learning, unlearning, and building new ways of working that reflect empathy, equity, and interdependence.
At CompassPoint, we see leadership as collective, relational, and always in motion. And we’re here to support that movement with thoughtfulness, integrity, and deep-rooted solidarity.
Building the Future Together
We’re part of something bigger than ourselves. The work of transforming systems and shifting power doesn’t live in any one organization—it lives in the connections we build across movements, communities, and sectors.
That’s why we show up as weavers and co-conspirators. We cultivate networks, challenge harmful norms, and offer spaces where people can grow in community and move toward liberation on their own terms. We’re committed to the long game, to a vision that isn’t bound by what’s “realistic,” and to honoring our mistakes as much as our breakthroughs.
What Comes Next?
The path forward isn’t linear. It’s layered, complex, and often uncertain. But we know this much: we’re committed to walking it together. With intention. With integrity. And with an unshakable belief in the collective power of our communities to create something better than what we’ve been handed.
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