Liz Schaffer

Liz Schaffer has over 20 years of experience guiding nonprofit organizations through financial transitions and organizational change. She serves as an interim CFO, operations leader, and senior advisor, partnering with boards and executive teams to provide clarity, stability, and mission-aligned financial leadership. Liz specializes in building sustainable financial systems, strengthening leadership capacity, and helping organizations navigate complex moments of growth and transformation.

Most recently, Liz served as Director of the Nonprofit & Grantmaker Advisory Practice at BDO, where she led a national practice delivering interim executive, financial, and organizational development services to mission-driven clients. In this role, she acted as Interim CFO for organizations including Amnesty International USA and East Bay Community Foundation, and led multi-year transitions to modernize systems, realign staffing, and improve performance.

Previously, Liz was Chief Financial Officer at TNTP, a $70M+ national nonprofit, where she oversaw finance, legal, and technology strategy and partnered with the executive team on long-term sustainability. She also served as Chief Operating Officer at Global Fund for Women, overseeing finance, HR, IT, grants, and evaluation, leading a multi-year strategic planning process, and guiding the successful merger with the International Museum of Women. Earlier in her career, Liz was Chief Financial and Operating Officer at Women’s Funding Network, where she strengthened financial and operational infrastructure during a period of rapid growth.

Liz combines deep technical expertise with executive coaching, helping leaders use data confidently and strategically. She is the co-author of Financial Leadership for Nonprofit Executives: Guiding Your Organization to Long-Term Success (Wilder), has trained hundreds of nonprofit leaders through CompassPoint workshops and conferences, and has taught Nonprofit Financial Management at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the University of San Francisco.

She lives in San Francisco in a multi-generational household that includes her beloved grandpuppy, a Rottweiler–Corgi mix.