Dan Baldwin’s career took him in different directions, but he retires having helped a lot of people.

Finding one’s calling in life is not always a straight path, and Dan Baldwin, the president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, knows that firsthand. The youngest of four children, he and his siblings were the first generation in his family to attend college. He earned a degree in nonfiction writing. He went on to wear many different hats in his career, from writer to museum director and finally leading philanthropic groups.

Baldwin has led CFMC since 2010. During his tenure the organization has grown exponentially, tripling the number of charitable partners from 300 to over 900 and increasing the foundation’s assets from $130 million to $450 million. The annual fundraising campaign CFMC organizes in partnership with the Monterey County Weekly and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Monterey County Gives!, has grown from raising $565,000 in 2010 to more than $14.2 million in 2024. (The deadline to donate this year is midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 31.)

Baldwin spoke to the Weekly as he prepared to retire in 2026.

Weekly: It took you a while to find your passion. What advice would you give to students?

Baldwin: It’s a little bit hard for them to believe sometimes, but it’s just that life’s long. What feels really important to you now, you’re going to look back on it someday and you’re going to wonder, “Why was I so concerned with this? Why did I think that was so important?”

My advice is just to keep your eyes open and be open to opportunity – and to suggestions, good suggestions. Don’t be fixated on a particular path, because sometimes the greatest epiphanies, the greatest opportunities come because you just happen to be open to the right suggestion at the right time.

What was your epiphany?

I did a lot of sports writing in Dallas. I was interviewing an NBA basketball player [from] the Dallas Mavericks. I was actually in the locker room, so I was where a lot of sports fans would just love to be. I realized, “I don’t care what you have to say. This isn’t going to carry me forward. I’ve got to invest myself in something other than this.”

I was already working at a museum and doing programs and publications, and then I had the opportunity to be executive director. But I realized, it’s not going to carry me. When I got into this other world, it’s like, “Oh, this is where I can invest myself.”

There is no degree for being a CEO of a community foundation. You can’t go to college for it. You’re just wired a particular way and you somehow really, really care about being this connector of philanthropic resources to making people’s lives better.

When I went to work for the Community Foundation, it’s like, “This is really satisfying.” I knew real soon, two months into my Community Foundation career – and I know this is going to sound kind of schmaltzy – but I felt like I’d found my calling.

What should the board of CFMC look for in hiring a new CEO?

They shouldn’t be thinking about replacing me. They should be thinking about hiring the CEO that’s going to carry the foundation forward. They should be hiring somebody who can bring a vision and build relationships so that the foundation can adapt to circumstances as they arise.

In the community foundation world, there’s a lot of focus on, what are your total assets? How large is your foundation? And I don’t think that’s a goal in and of itself, but in order to be responsive, in order to make the highest impact, you need resources.

You play golf. Why the love-hate relationship with it?

Because of how time-consuming it is. By the time you leave your house and the time you get home, even if the golf course is nearby, it’s going to be five hours. It’s fun, and you love the relationships. It’s just that it’s this huge commitment.

You are a writer. Do you have a favorite author?

Right now I’m reading a lot of Percival Everett books. My favorite writer is Amor Towles, who wrote The Lincoln Highway and A Gentleman in Moscow. I think this guy just has got such a facility with language and observation and human nature. I also am a big fan of the crime writer Elmore Leonard. It’s the leanest, sparse prose.

Do you finish all the books you start?

I admit to sometimes having to flip forward because I don’t have the patience or I’m losing steam, but I at least want to know how it ends.