During her 12 years at Salesforce, Amy Weaver made the rare jump from chief legal officer to CFO of the $37 billion tech company. Now, the outgoing finance chief is making another leap—to become CEO of Direct Relief, the fifth largest nonprofit in the U.S.
Weaver announced her plans to step down from her CFO role at Salesforce in August; in early February, Salesforce announced that her successor will be the company’s lead independent director Robin Washington, who will hold the title of chief operating and financial officer. Washington officially takes over the role March 21; Weaver begins her tenure at Direct Relief in early May.
The 75-year-old charity in 2024 managed $2.4 billion in humanitarian aid, ranging from disaster relief to ongoing medical resources across the U.S. and in 80 countries. The group was founded as a way to support post-World War II Europe. Now, its work includes distributing hurricane resource kits and ensuring hospitals don’t lose power during storms, as well as humanitarian aid during war in Ukraine and other conflicts.
Weaver says that growing up in a family of lawyers inspired her belief in this kind of work; she started her law career in Hong Kong with a focus on democracy issues in the final year before the city’s handover from Britain to China. “It gives you a very strong sense of justice. My father really raised all of us to believe that public service and civic service were some of the highest callings and needed to be part of your life,” she says.
This will be Weaver’s first time working full-time for a nonprofit; she has served on the board of Habitat for Humanity and, throughout her time at Salesforce, worked on the company’s former Salesforce.org program, which sold software for nonprofits, and its foundation.
The outgoing CFO hopes to bring her Salesforce experience operating at a global scale and innovating quickly to Direct Relief at a fast-changing time for nonprofits and aid work worldwide.
Direct Relief’s work may become even more critical amid devastating cuts to U.S. federal spending on similar programs worldwide through USAID. Direct Relief itself does not receive any federal funding; 90% of its $2.4 billion in aid comes through in-kind donations from pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines and medicines, businesses that offer transportation services, and other needed resources. “It’s a very interesting time right now,” Weaver acknowledges. “This isn’t an organization that started last year. It has a 75-year history where they have dealt with changing administrations, changing priorities, a pandemic, different health crises around the world, different wars. … I think we’re really well positioned to continue to make a difference and grow our impact.”