Rochelle Witharana is chief financial officer for The California Wellness Foundation. She joined Cal Wellness in 2015 as controller and was appointed the foundation’s CFO in 2019. She is responsible for managing the foundation’s accounting and investment functions, including managing a $1 billion endowment and investing these resources in ways that are aligned with and advance the foundation’s health equity mission and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. During her tenure as CFO, Witharana has expanded and managed the foundation’s program-related investment portfolio and implemented a mission-related investment framework that scores potential investments for impact and manager diversity. As a result, 70 percent of the foundation’s assets are invested with diverse investment managers.
Prior to joining Cal Wellness, she held senior financial management roles in nonprofit organizations, government agencies and private businesses, acquiring experience in investment accounting, financial reporting, process re-engineering and systems implementation. She served as accounting manager for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and was controller for the Arizona State Retirement System. She began her career with Deloitte and Touche and has served as a controller, a CFO and a consultant for businesses in California and Arizona.
Witharana serves on the boards of Peace Over Violence, an organization that provides services to survivors of domestic violence and AAPIP, which promotes increased philanthropy among and on behalf of AAPI communities.
She is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration and accounting from Cal State, Northridge.
rwitharana [at] calwellness.org