We are thrilled to welcome Danny Lanz to Freedom to Choose as our fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO). Danny brings 25 years of progressive leadership experience, culminating in leadership roles as GM, COO, and CEO across both the corporate and nonprofit worlds. In 2018 he founded E8, a staffing, consulting, and executive coaching business, and he is the co-founder of Results Driven Leadership, a management and leadership training company. For the past eight years, he has served as an executive coach to nonprofit leaders throughout Orange County.
Danny’s relationship with Freedom to Choose began with a gift. He first came to us as a donor in 2023, and since then, he has coached our leadership and volunteered at a weekend workshop at California Men’s Colony (CMC). Step by step, his connection to this work has deepened, from supporter to coach, to a leader helping shape where we go next.
Saying Yes
“I have known the founders of FTC, Bonnie and David, for several years now, and we have a great working relationship,” Danny says. “Seeing their passion for this work over that time was very contagious.”
Something else was shifting for him too. “As my career progresses, it’s becoming increasingly important to me to do work that has a positive impact on people’s lives,” he says. “When the opportunity arose to lead in a meaningful way and help shape the future of the organization, I felt truly called to jump in and embrace it.”
Volunteering in Prison
Inside CMC, the mission stopped being an idea and became personal. Danny walked in expecting to give something, to connect with the men there and help them find healing. What he did not expect was how much they would give back to him.
“What surprised me most was how much the participants genuinely cared about my struggles,” he says, “and their desire to help me find peace with the challenges I shared with them through the trio process.” Like so many who sit in a trio for the first time, he found the distance between “us” and “them” dissolve. “I was reminded over and over that we have far more in common than we are different.”
He left with one conviction burning brighter than the rest: “We need to reach many more people with these programs. So many people could benefit from this type of experiential learning.”
A Vision for What’s Next
That conviction shapes how Danny sees the road ahead. In the short term, he sees room to reach more incarcerated people throughout California. Looking further out, he imagines expanding nationally, and one day perhaps internationally.
He is especially drawn to the people just beyond the classroom walls. “I would really love to see us reach the families of incarcerated people as well,” he says, “so that we can help heal both the incarcerated community and the people most directly impacted by their incarceration.” Beyond that, he believes many more people need this kind of experiential education to build their communication skills and process trauma.
Getting there, he knows, takes more than vision. “We will need leadership that can tie this vision to a plan of achievable, executable tasks,” he says, “so we can methodically work toward those goals. I have a track record of building teams that can achieve ambitious goals, and that is my intention with FTC.”
On the People Who Make It Possible
Ask Danny what makes Freedom to Choose remarkable, and he does not point to a method or a milestone. He points to people.
“The biggest factor in any organization’s exceptionalism is the people,” he says. “From the founders to the board, from the staff to the volunteers, FTC is a community of amazing human beings that genuinely care about the work we do, and they prove it day in and day out by making sacrifices and donating their time and money to make it possible.”
For anyone considering volunteering but not quite sure, Danny has a simple message: come through the training, and come see for yourself. “If you enjoy challenging yourself to grow as a person, this is a fantastic way to develop yourself,” he says. “You will also get to witness the profound effect you can have on people who need to be loved just as much as you or me.” He calls our volunteers our “superpower,” and hopes more people will join them.
We are deeply grateful to have Danny Lanz join our team. His experience, his heart for this work, and his belief in what we are capable of will help guide Freedom to Choose as we continue to grow.
Welcome Danny.
