Monterey Park, CA – On Saturday, February 10th, CAUSE held the second Leadership Institute Training Session of 2018 at the SoCalGas Monterey Park Learning Center.
The session started with Lisette Covarrubias, Neighborhood Liaison at the Department of City Planning of the City of Los Angeles. Lisette discussed policy surrounding land use and housing in Los Angeles. She shared that as the second largest city in the United States with an extremely diverse population, Los Angeles encounters many difficulties in affordable housing. Lisette encouraged the fellows to use their unique perspectives to help address holes in the system, stating “It’s up to you to find a seat at the table…Please don’t ever underestimate your experiences.”
Next, Joe Lumarda, Senior Vice President/Investment Counselor of Capital Group Private Client Services, delivered a presentation on the history of the nonprofit sector. He explained that nonprofits not only provide essential services neglected by the government, but also provide an avenue for community-building and meaning for many individuals. “Participation in clubs and civic organizations has been cut by more than half over the last 25 years,” he stated. Nevertheless, by creating a sense of trust and community, nonprofits can find ongoing, long-term support for their causes.
After lunch, Robin Kramer, Executive Director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, invited the fellows to ask her questions about leadership. She told personal stories about being a woman leading in male-dominated spaces, and how her persistence and unwavering drive to learn earned her respect in the roles she had. She implored the fellows to take every opportunity to continuously learn, concluding with “If you can ask the right questions, wherever you are, you will flourish.”
Karthick Ramakrishnan, Professor & Associate Dean at the University of California, Riverside and Director of AAPI Data, highlighted the importance of collecting and disaggregating data on the APA community and shared insights on APA community giving. Despite APA’s being a relatively small minority in the United States, other marginalized groups of similar size have much higher giving and civic participation rates. He explained that it is crucial for the APA community to address this behavior, stating, “Size itself is not an excuse for not being part of the conversation.”
The session concluded with fundraising training that was led by Debbie Ching, Principal (retired) of Nonprofit Counseling Group. During the workshop, Debbie educated the cohort on the fundamentals of fundraising and invited them to practice “making the ask” with each other in pairs. She encouraged the cohort to always consider the bigger picture when addressing potential donors, emphasizing, “we fundraise to raise donors,” not money.