Leader to Step Down From White House Social-Innovation Office

Sonal Shah, head of the White House’s Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, is stepping down from her post next month.

Ms. Shah, who has led the office’s efforts to promote innovative nonprofits since it was created in 2009, will take a break before deciding what to do next, the White House press office said. Her last day will be August 1.

The three-person social-innovation office was instrumental in setting up the Social Innovation Fund, a new grants program at the Corporation for National and Community Service that aims to help nonprofits expand effective programs.

It also created the White House Council for Community Solutions, a panel of nonprofit leaders and others who are advising the federal government on ways to promote innovative social projects and get people more involved in civic affairs.

This week, the office arranged for almost 50 philanthropists who signed the Giving Pledge advanced by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates to meet with President Obama to discuss ways government and philanthropy can work together to solve problems, the White House spokesman said.

Before joining the White House, Ms. Shah was head of global development at Google.org, the search engine’s philanthropic arm. She was a member of the board that advised President Obama during the transition period before he took office.

The White House is “working to finalize a replacement” for Ms. Shah, the spokesman said.