Non-profit organizations in Los Angeles County, CA, provide a range of training and development opportunities for their staff members. These include initiatives such as the County Sustainability Plan, the Los Angeles Performance Partnership Pilot, the County Youth Bridges Program, and Careers for a Cause. These programs are designed to help individuals gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their chosen career paths. The County Sustainability Plan is a 12-point regional sustainability plan for Los Angeles County.
It outlines a bold, inclusive and truly regional vision for present and future generations in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Performance Partnership Pilot (LAP) has invested significant efforts in Los Angeles to reduce silos and coordinate and integrate key public systems. The County Youth Bridges Program (CYBP) provides at-risk and disconnected youth with career opportunities in Los Angeles County, allowing them to obtain full-time employment as employees of Los Angeles County. The HOME program is a workforce development initiative for homeless people in Los Angeles County.
It is funded by Measure H funds distributed by WDACS to other Workforce Development Boards (WDB). This program prepares students for a career in social services, connecting them with providers of services for the homeless to obtain employment by the end of the program. Careers for a Cause was developed by the Office of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS) of Southwest College, St. Joseph's Center and the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z) to expand the county's homeless services industry.
Organizations also provide staff members with other development opportunities. These include leading monthly staff meetings; participating in annual or strategic planning with board members and organization leaders; and identifying organizational challenges and leading work sessions with other managers to address them. Some organizations assign staff to search for future donors or to participate in a call with an important donor to learn the basics of requesting major donations. In fact, in a Bridgespan Group survey, nonprofit organizations ranked their ability to offer opportunities for development and growth to employees as their fourth biggest managerial weakness overall.
The responses of nonprofit leaders to the survey revealed a myriad of creative approaches that could serve as models for other organizations. All young adults in Los Angeles should have the opportunity to fulfill their hopes and aspirations. In order to ensure that staff members are able to take advantage of these training and development opportunities, many organizations have hired professionals with expertise in organizational behavior from Claremont Graduate School, MBA from Peter Drucker Graduate Management Center, degree in Psychology from Georgetown University, and adjunct professor in School of Social Work and Department of Psychology at USC.
