For Nonprofits + Foundations

Speaker Series - Oakland, CA (September 18, 2009)

On September 18, Alliance for Justice’s West Coast Office, in partnership with the Bay Area Social Equity Caucus, a program of Urban Habitat, hosted “Finding Opportunity in a Crisis: How Your Nonprofit Can Get Involved in Fixing California,” at the East Bay Community Foundation.  The event drew a standing room only crowd of representatives of organizations from across the Bay Area and across the nonprofit sector – including staff and leadership of nonprofit organizations, foundations, labor unions, as well as government agencies.   
 

The speakers, Alonso Gonzalez, Bay Area Council/Repair California; Dennis Quirin, California Forward; Nancy Berlin, California Partnership; and Karla Zombro, California Alliance/SCOPE-LA, emphasized that nonprofits have an amazing opportunity to reform the way California state government works and offered solutions for how organizations can get involved in the reform efforts.  All of the speakers are leading efforts to reform California’s “broken” governance system.
 
Organizational Challenges to Advocacy

We kicked off the event with a group discussion of the organizational challenges to engaging in this type of policy reform.  Some of the primary challenges identified by the participants included: the ever-present lack of resources, due in part to the trickle-down effects of budget cuts at the state level; the tendency of groups to succumb to the “silo effect” in focusing exclusively on their own issue areas, rather than engaging in cross-sector dialogue and collective thinking; the lack of understanding of the state’s fiscal and governance system; and the need for more information in order to identify the areas where advocacy could have the greatest impact.      
 
Landscape for Reform
 
The panelists offered information on the reform efforts currently being considered by nonprofits in the sector.
 
Alonso Gonzalez highlighted Bay Area Council/Repair California’s work to qualify several initiatives for the ballot in 2010 that would call a state Constitutional Convention to address governance reform.  He stressed his organization’s interest in having a cross-section of organizations participate in the process of qualifying the measure for the ballot, having the initiative approved by voters, as well as determining what issues will be addressed at the Convention.  He responded to concerns raised over the selection of delegates to serve at the Convention and clarified that the exact language of the initiative will be submitted to the Secretary of State in the coming months.
 

Dennis Quirin explained California Forward’s ten principles for reforming California, which include changes to current state fiscal policies, the state budget process, as well as governance reforms – including modifying the state’s term limits on legislators.  He emphasized that although California Forward has not yet released its specific solutions for reform, it is using these principles for reform as a mechanism to reach out to the nonprofit sector for input.   Dennis also pointed out that California Forward accepts that incremental change may be required and that whatever solutions they ultimately offer will be developed within the framework of what they believe is politically viable – and what voters will realistically approve. 
 
Nancy Berlin discussed how her organization decided to focus its advocacy efforts on ensuring the rights of low-income communities and communities of color were represented in current reform proposals.  Her organization realized that any meaningful change requires more education about how the state government works (not to mention the basics of tax policy and the budget process).  As a result, California Partnership is conducting educational trainings across the state on these topics to facilitate participation by the most disadvantaged and underrepresented communities in California in advocacy on governance reform.
 
The final speaker, Karla Zombro of California Alliance/SCOPE-LA, discussed her organization’s focus on building power and capacity through organizing in various underrepresented communities throughout the state.  Karla emphasized the organization’s strategy of building a cohesive base of community members before focusing on the substantive fiscal and tax policy reform the movement would champion. 
 
Where To Go From Here
 
Although most participants (as well as the speakers) recognized the need for change, most participants emphasized the more immediate need for further dialogue within the nonprofit sector on how to advocate for the needs of the communities we serve in this crucial time of state fiscal crisis. 
 
Alliance for Justice’s West Coast Office will continue to support this dialogue and the advocacy efforts of nonprofits in California and to ensure we all have a voice in shaping much-needed reform of the way our state government operates.