Piya Saliba, CEO of Fountain Capital, has a message for professionals considering a new philanthropic or civic commitment: the decision is not about whether the cause matters, but whether you are the right person to help it at this moment. Saliba, who is also involved with the Nalin and Naseeb Foundation and the Cedars-Sinai NICU Parent Council, says she has observed a consistent pattern in how people decide to take on new responsibilities. Most say yes based on how a cause makes them feel in the moment, a mistake she argues can lead to well-meaning but poorly matched commitments.
"People ask if a cause matters," Saliba says. "That is rarely the real question. Almost every cause matters. The real question is whether you are the right person to help it, right now."
Saliba's first question is what a person actually brings to a cause. She distinguishes among time, money, a skill, a network, and a story, noting that each form of contribution asks something different of the giver. "I have sat in rooms where everyone cared and nobody could say what they were there to do," she says. "Caring gets you in the door. It does not tell you what to do once you are inside." Her own background, split between Indonesia and Singapore and exposure to a family furniture business and the arts, taught her that naming one's own value clearly is more useful than general enthusiasm.
The second question concerns cost, specifically where it will be paid. Saliba says the cost that trips people up is rarely money but attention. "You can budget money," she says. "You cannot budget attention the same way. It leaks out of whatever you are not looking at." She advises asking which part of life will quietly shrink to make room for a new commitment, such as sleep, a hobby, time with family, or a slower version of work. Naming the cost in advance does not remove it, but it prevents it from arriving as a surprise months later.
Third, Saliba asks whether the commitment fits what a person already knows. Her own volunteer work tracks closely to her lived experience: her involvement with the Cedars-Sinai NICU Parent Council draws on her personal experience with families in vulnerable moments, and her work with the Nalin and Naseeb Foundation reflects causes close to her. "I did not pick these because they were the biggest need out there," she says. "I picked them because I had something specific to offer, based on what I had already lived through or already knew." She says this question filters out well-meaning but poorly matched commitments, because a person can be moved by a cause and still lack the specific footing to help it well.
The final question is whether the person can keep showing up. "Not 'can I say yes today,' but 'can I still say yes to this in a year,'" Saliba says. Nonprofits rely on people who stay, and a one-time burst of energy helps less than steady, smaller involvement over time. She would rather commit to less and sustain it than take on more and quietly fade out. "Consistency is its own form of respect," she says. "It tells the people and the cause that you meant it."
Saliba, who still makes room for singing, acting, and dance alongside her work and volunteer commitments, sees that balance as a daily version of the same question: what can I actually sustain, and where does it belong. For business leaders and professionals weighing new board seats, volunteer roles, or philanthropic asks, her framework offers a practical filter that prioritizes fit and follow-through over momentary enthusiasm.
