24 Oct Los Medanos College to Help Strengthen Nonprofits in East Contra Costa

(Los Medanos College via Bay City News)

CC Pulse Staff Report

Contra Costa County has tapped Los Medanos College to lead a $1 million initiative to help strengthen the nonprofit sector in East Contra Costa County, officials announced this week.

The East County Nonprofit Capacity Building Program was approved by Contra Costa Community College District trustees this month. It aims to develop future nonprofit leaders and expand organizational effectiveness in the region. 

LMC is one of three schools in the district that is based in East County. The initiative will serve Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, Byron, Discovery Bay, Knightsen and Bethel Island. Los Medanos, which has been formally designated as a minority-serving and Hispanic-serving institution, was chosen because of its proven ability to deliver high-quality education and workforce development programs for community needs, officials noted.  

LMC President Pamela Ralson said the school is eager to move forward. She said the college has been working for the past year to create learning opportunities that support nonprofits. The next step will be to set up educational programming for the initiative, which runs through the end of Oct. 31, 2028.  

“County Supervisors, and Supervisors Diane Burgis and Shanelle Scales-Preston in particular, see the value of developing and training future leaders across the nonprofit landscape in our area,” Ralson said in a press release. “LMC is proud to be a partner.” 

Burgis said she is grateful for community partners who collaborated on the initiative. “My goal is for this to help train the current and next generation of nonprofit leaders in East County and help all small- and medium-sized nonprofits succeed,” Burgis said in the release. 

Initiative features include: 

• Educational programming: Fee-based seminars and free workshops on nonprofit management, plus academic courses that stack toward certificates and degrees. 

• Mini-grants: Funding for paid internships and capacity-building projects, with priority given to organizations serving low- to moderate-income and historically underserved communities. 

• Leadership development: A cohort program for mid- to senior-level nonprofit staff, offering executive skills, mentorship, and peer networking. 

• Nonprofit Resource Hub: A collaborative space for nonprofit entrepreneurship and shared learning. 

“Building capacity among East Contra Costa County nonprofits is not simply a good idea, it is necessary for ensuring sustainability and a steady flow of services to our most in-need constituents those nonprofits serve,” Scales-Preston said. “We could not think of a more appropriate strategic partner than Los Medanos College to work collaboratively in this endeavor.”  

Los Medanos will work with the Antioch Chamber of Commerce Foundation to manage the project. That will include hiring a project manager and convening an advisory group of nonprofit leaders and curriculum experts. The Antioch Chamber has been an advocate for nonprofit organizations for some time, Jim Baker, the incoming board chair said. Unlike businesses, they don’t aim to make a profit, he added; they use money for the public good. 

 “Nonprofits make up 20% of the local economy, and they run just like other businesses. They need HR, financial and legal compliance,” Baker said. “It’s really exciting to partner with LMC to provide greater and broader access to nonprofit business education.”