Michael Pinto, PhD
Michael Pinto, PhD is a co-founder of The Protect Our Communities Foundation and serves as its board chair. The Foundation benefits from Mr. Pinto’s substantial knowledge of and experience in fundraising and non-profit organizational development. After a successful teaching and business career, Mr. Pinto retired in 1983, devoting his life to community building through nonprofit organizations in the fields of education, the environment and social welfare. He was founder and chair of the Laguna Canyon Foundation, vice-chair of the Orange County Great Park Corporation, and currently serves as board chair of the California Institute of Integral Studies, a graduate university in San Francisco. He has also served on the boards of the Institute for Deep Ecology, the California State Parks Foundation, was board chair of the Volcan Mountain Preserve Foundation, and currently serves on the Laguna Greenbelt Foundation. Mr. Pinto advises foundations on fundraising and organizational development, and co-chaired the advisory board of the University of San Diego’s Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research. A life-long teacher, Mr. Pinto has been a guest lecturer at the University of San Diego in non-profit organizational development. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from California State University at Long Beach, a teaching degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in Integral Studies with a concentration in nonprofit organizational development from the California Institute of Integral Studies.