Jericho Road Pasadena seeks skilled volunteers, offers board training to strengthen local nonprofits

Andy Eaton, a board member at Jericho Road Pasadena, described the nonprofit’s model of matching skilled volunteers with local nonprofits and said the organization provides board training and professional development. "I'm Andy Eaton in my second year of board service for Jericho Road," he said.

Eaton said Jericho Road Pasadena was founded in 2010 to help nonprofit organizations improve operations and that the group’s first program was a skill-based volunteer matching service. "Jericho Road Pasadena was founded in 2010 as a social justice program at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena," he said, adding the organization seeks to tailor projects to partners’ needs.

Eaton cited Coffee with a Cause and Rosebud Coffee as success stories, saying Jericho Road assisted with business planning and strategic plans for social-enterprise projects. Ashok Bogani, a board member and strategic-planning consultant, noted examples including the Pasadena Audubon Society and a nonprofit in Azusa that benefited from strategic plans.

Michelle Map, a Jericho Road board member and nonprofit management consultant, said the organization is conducting strategic planning to expand its volunteer base through the San Gabriel Valley and reach more nonprofits with tailored projects. "Two of our known goals are to expand our volunteer base throughout the San Gabriel Valley, bringing in skilled professional volunteers and then reaching more nonprofits and making those connections for our community between our skilled volunteers and then nonprofits within the entire San Gabriel Valley," she said.

Speakers emphasized that Jericho Road’s volunteers include many working professionals and that the organization is secular. "One of the biggest misconceptions is that most of our volunteers are retired or that you have to be retired to volunteer with us... Another misconception is that we're a religious-based organization because Jericho Road is in our name. We're not. We're a secular organization," a board member said.

Jericho Road invited professionals to volunteer, to join nonprofit boards or to request workshops; speakers described volunteer and board-matching pages on their site and encouraged nonprofits seeking capacity-building help to contact the organization.