Per Scholas names its president to succeed the CEO who led it for 28 years

Per Scholas, a national nonprofit that offers no-cost training for high-growth careers, announced on Friday, October 9, that its president, Caitlyn Brazill, will become chief executive officer and president on January 1, 2027. She succeeds Plinio Ayala, who is stepping down after 28 years.

The organization described the handoff as planned "over several years in close partnership between Ayala, Brazill, and Per Scholas' Board of Directors." Per Scholas, which calls itself a national workforce accelerator, serves more than 25 communities, according to its board chair.

A successor from inside

Brazill has spent nearly a decade in senior leadership at Per Scholas, the release said. It credits her with co-leading several initiatives: AI-enabled instruction, training for infrastructure careers such as semiconductors, data center technician work and building automation, a Career Accelerator platform for alumni, and a Zero Percent Loan for learners who could not otherwise take part.

"I am honored to lead Per Scholas into its next chapter," Brazill said in the release.

Co-founder and Board Chair Lewis E. Miller set out a goal for her tenure: "Caitlyn has led much of what Per Scholas has become in the last decade, and with her as CEO, we intend to reach 25,000 learners a year by 2030." Ayala said in the release: "Caitlyn has been instrumental in shaping the organization we are today, and I have tremendous confidence in her leadership and vision."

What funders said

The announcement included statements from funders and employer partners. Jim Shelton, CEO of Blue Meridian Partners, said: "For an organization to scale its impact over the long term, a strong model and a strong leadership culture have to go hand in hand. Plinio Ayala built both at Per Scholas." Terri Ludwig, CEO of Ballmer Group, and Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, also praised Brazill, as did leaders of Allegis Group and Focusing Philanthropy.

In our view, putting funders' voices in the announcement is itself a signal. A leadership change is one of the moments when a charity's backers decide whether to stay.

The donor risk in a handoff

A commentary published the same day in The Chronicle of Philanthropy makes that case from the donor side. Its author, a nonprofit board member who also works as an interim chief financial officer, argues that donor retention breaks down when leaders change, beginning with calls to top funders that nobody makes. In the author's telling, the outgoing chief executive often carries those relationships personally, and the incoming leader's first year fills with other demands.

Per Scholas's announcement does not say how its donor relationships will be handed over. But in our view the pattern in the release, an inside successor, a multiyear plan, an advisory role for Ayala through June 2027 and funder statements issued on day one, speaks to the risk the commentary describes.

Planned handoffs and sudden ones

Not every change comes with years of warning. We have covered a tech nonprofit that cut its programs to bet on its founders, and a Minnesota lawsuit that shows what a board is for when leadership fails. A planned succession gives a board time to do the job those stories show it must do: choose, test, and support a leader before the old one leaves.

Ayala will remain actively engaged as an advisor through June 2027, supporting continuity and the transfer of institutional knowledge, the release said. Brazill's appointment takes effect at the start of 2027.