At age 41, Chris Simonsen was at the pinnacle of business success as the chief financial officer of AAA of Southern California, a $3 billion insurance behemoth.
But he was unhappy with the corporate culture and feared he “was becoming somebody I didn’t want to become.” The money was good, but the hours were long, leaving little time for his four children and activities in their lives such as Indian Guides, Indian Princesses, baseball and soccer.
That is when he got a letter in 2007 from a head hunter inquiring about a position as CFO of the Orangewood Foundation, a long-established Orange County non-profit serving youths in foster care.
Simonsen took the job – and a 70 percent pay cut – and has never looked back. Less than a year into the position, the recession hit and he spent the next four years managing through a big drop in donations while services for the youth were on the rise. As the CFO and CEO, a role he assumed in 2013, he was instrumental in the development of Orangewood’s new public charter high school, Samueli Academy, which was created with the goal to get more foster youth to graduate high school
“We have to come up with a flexible model where our foster youth students can live on campus during school week, but spend weekends with foster family or relatives,” he said. The school plans to have up to 48 students living on campus in its residential program. Seventh and eighth grades will be added next year, which will bring the total number of students, both foster youth and youth from the community, to over 750. The school recently was ranked in the top four percent of all high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
“It’s super rewarding,” Simonsen said. “I love coming here every day. It doesn’t feel like a job, just going to help kids.”
A big part of Simonsen’s job is raising money and nurturing relationships with donors. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is you are not asking people for money all the time,” he said, “you are meeting with people to understand what their personal philanthropic goals are and then educating them about the valuable work Orangewood Foundation is doing, and hopefully there is a good match where both parties end up benefitting.”
Orangewood’s programs include services for victims of sex trafficking, a drop-in center for young adults struggling with homelessness, four transitional housing programs, a college scholarship program for former foster youth, mentoring and independent living skills workshops. The goal is to provide the support needed for a youth to “reach their greatest potential,“ which is Orangewood Foundations’s mission.
Now 54, he has made sure he continues to have time for his family – the four kids are grown and pursuing careers and college – and his passions. He is a fan of the LA Kings hockey team, strives to take an international trip every year (Australia this November) and stays young at heart as an passionate fan of music, especially live concerts. His favorite band is “Metallica,” which he has seen 22 times over the past 35 years.
Orangewood is one of a dozen non-profits supported by Sage Executive Group and Simonsen is a member of the Turning Pointe Forum headed by Orange County Chair Jim Moise. “It has been been fantastic for me in my growth as a CEO,” he said. “and I am grateful for he opportunity to be part of Sage.”