Social impact expert Aila Malik last year published the creative work, the Love in Action Social Justice Cookbook, with recipes and involvement from and for 35 nonprofit organizations spanning the sector. The book is one example of Malik's creative insights into the nonprofit sector. For example, she believes that greater social impact could be created if we started thinking of nonprofit organizations as "social profit companies" instead.

Malik will be joined in conversation by Leticia Landa, executive director of nonprofit food business incubator La Cocina, and who is herself a co-author of the We are La Cocina cookbook. Together, Malik and Landa will discuss the innovative ways in which they've helped "social profit companies" enhance their social impact.

The session is organized and moderated by Ian McCuaig, advisor to Track & Share, which encourages better performance from "social profit companies" through greater operational transparency.

Refreshments include sweet and savory snacks from La Cocina’s incubator program, and red and white wines.

About the Speakers

Aila Malik, Founding Venture Leader, has stood with organizations during growth, expansion, and change for nearly two decades. She has served as a nonprofit executive for high-performing nonprofits, an experienced trainer in the social impact sector, an adjunct lecturer for juvenile justice courses at both Santa Clara University School of Law and Lincoln Law School, and a children’s author. Malik is well-versed in international not-for-profit work and has extensive experience in supporting international efforts in the areas of conservation, employment and poverty alleviation. She holds a BS in environmental science from UC Santa Barbara, earned her JD at Santa Clara University, and is a member of the California Bar Association. Among other accolades, she was a recipient of the 2011 ABA Child Advocate of the Year Award, a Berkeley Law Foundation fellow, Class of 2022 Presidential Leadership Scholar and also was named a Woman of Influence in 2020 by Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Leticia Landa is the executive director of La Cocina, a nonprofit food business incubator supporting primarily immigrant women and women-of-color entrepreneurs. Landa joined La Cocina in 2008 as the organization’s third employee and was instrumental in its tremendous growth to a $7M operation with 26 employees that has cultivated more than 130 food businesses and launched more than 40 brick-and-mortar locations throughout the Bay Area. It is Landa’s vision and strategy behind La Cocina’s consulting practice, which has inspired similar incubators worldwide from Salt Lake City to Cape Town to Auckland. She co-authored the We are La Cocina cookbook featuring the stories and recipes from the entrepreneurs in the program, and under her leadership, La Cocina was named a “2023 California Nonprofit of the Year” by the California Association of Nonprofits.

Moderator Ian McCuaig is advisor to Track & Share, helping nonprofits to track performance and share their results. He currently leads fundraising for the Osher Marin JCC, and previously headed fundraising for Chinese Hospital and On Lok. He has led major fundraising and marketing programs for more than 30 years. He has held international roles in the U.N. Association and in Amnesty International. McCuaig served as president of two major professional associations, and was twice honored with the designation of “Ian McCuaig Day,” by the City and County of San Francisco. Born in Canada, McCuaig enjoys open-water swimming, jazz, red wine, and civil discourse made possible by The Commonwealth Club World Affairs.