Claas Ehlers has more than two decades of experience in nonprofit leadership. Prior to working in the nonprofit sector, he held corporate director roles and taught as an adjunct professor at colleges in New York and New Jersey.
In 2002, Claas joined Family Promise, the leading national nonprofit addressing family homelessness, working on a Ford Foundation initiative to increase engagement with the Muslim community. From there he moved into roles developing and supporting affiliates before becoming the organization’s second CEO, succeeding the founder. (That transition was cited by Bridgespan as an example of best practices in internal succession.)
As CEO, he guided the organization through rapid and expansive growth. During his six-year tenure, Family Promise tripled the number of people served, its budget, and its staff. He guided the network of 200 independent affiliates through a collective transition from site-based shelter to homelessness diversion and prevention. He spearheaded best practice sharing among other national chapter organizations and advised HUD and the Interagency Council on Homelessness; he has also served on advisory bodies for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Sesame Street in Communities, and Charity Navigator.
Claas has been working as a consultant and interim executive since 2022, guiding and supporting nonprofits in human services, housing, education, food and agriculture, and philanthropy.. His focus has been in organizational systems, strategic planning, staffing models and coaching, board optimization, and fund development.
He received his undergraduate degree from New York University and has done coursework at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, as well as completing the Support Center for Nonprofit’s and Third Sector’s Interim Directors programs.
He is a founding board member of Elevate to Even+, which provides students from disenfranchised communities with paid internships with nonprofits. This arose out of another volunteer activity of his, serving as a facilitator for dialogue circles on race and racism. A conversation in one of those sessions turned a discussion about racism into a solution. Claas believes such serendipity is the product of openness, intention, and the belief that change is always possible.