Sierra College Foundation's Novel Support in Advancing Student Success.

Sonbol Aliabadi: [00:00:00] They've never had a family support, they've never had anyone to guide them through their life journey. And you know, when I look and see that Sierra College, one of the counselors starts working with them, and you start the relationship and you create a trust going between the two, and then you understand what are their needs, how much mental health assistance they might need, how much help they need for housing, how much help they need for transportation, et cetera, et cetera.

You start to wrap 'em around with all the services that they need to be successful, and then you follow 'em through and you see them in about two, two and a half years walking through, you know, the graduation line and getting their degree. I mean, that's success.

Jeff Holden: Hi. I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a [00:01:00] nonprofit organization in each weekly episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story in their words, to better inform and educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

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Runyon Saltzman Incorporated, RSE Marketing, advertising and Public Relations, creating integrated communications committed to improving lives and Western Health Advantage, a full service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, and families in the Greater Sacramento region. We're blessed to have an incredible system of higher education.

Our four year [00:02:00] universities get most of the attention, but it's our community college system that is really doing a lot of the heavy lifting. This episode is going to surprise and maybe even in some cases delight as it's going to shed some light on the incredible work being done on the north end of our region by the Sierra College Foundation.

I don't wanna spoil the exciting news. We're going to hear from Sonbol Aliabadi, executive director of the organization, but I will preview that very few community colleges are doing what the Sierra College Foundation is doing to support the students on campus. Learning more about the foundation's incredible work and the influence it has in the community are only going to scratch the surface of how much this thriving organization has going on for the greater good of the students.

And since students, whatever it is they might look like in age, race, or gender are our future. Why not make an investment in them through the foundation? Let's find out why now. Sonbol Aliabadi, [00:03:00] welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Thank you so much, Jeff, for having me. Really appreciate it. 

Jeff Holden: Well, I'm excited because I have some familiarity with the campus, you know, this year at college campus, and we'll talk a little bit about one of your funding opportunities that come off the campus.

And that's my familiarity, but I'm gonna hold that because it's, it's more fun. It, it fits better later in the conversation. You know, when our, our kids were little. And when you go to the grammar schools, you know, even the high schools, private charter, whatever, there's this sense of support and you wanna do what you can to support the teachers, the school, all the little fundraisers and the things and activities that go on when your children are young because there's a, an attachment to it.

But as they grow and they get through high school, they get into college that. Sense of support changes a little bit because now they're adults and they're off on their own. [00:04:00] And as parents, I think a lot of us will look back and go, well, well that's college. That's a different deal. But that's not really the case any longer because the colleges, the community colleges especially need the support to continue.

And while it may not come from the parents of the children, literally. It's coming in a variety of different ways, and that's what I wanna talk about today. Tell us a little bit about the Sierra College Foundation, which is different than what you know. The student comes, they pay tuition, they get to school, and it functions and operates the entity.

But the foundation is a whole different element that supports the students so. Tell us a little bit about it. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Absolutely. You could have not framed it better. Again, if I can give you a little background. I used to be incredibly involved with my children's school. 

Jeff Holden: Yep. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: And fundraising activities, you know, events, scholarship, this, that, [00:05:00] it was our school.

It was our little school that needed support. And all parents. We were there because we knew what was happening. It was small environment and we knew every dollar where it goes and how it's spent and how it's gonna benefit our students. Then I came to Sierra College Foundation, our community college in our region, and I quickly realized that, oh, the parents are not involved.

The same way that I wasn't involved with my children's college experience. You know, it's theirs. They're an adult now, so it's their experience. Mm-hmm. It's not mine anymore. And I quickly realized that the funders or the donors, if you will, to a community college environment or any higher education, you know, yes.

Donors, the four years, uh, colleges and all that, they get the alumnis involved and there are lots of money that goes to them. But again, focusing back on the community college there has not. Been for the longest time the need or the ask of the community to support their community [00:06:00] college. Everybody always thought, oh, the fund is coming from the state.

It's fully funded, it's public. Like our schools, you know, our, our regular K through 12 schools. Not understanding that not everything comes from the state. Not understanding that there are students that truly rely on some kind of assistance. I mean, in a, for example, our community college, 55% of our students, they qualify for aid.

That's a big number. And these are students that do not have the parents who have the capacity to help them. Some decide not to help them, and they really are trying their best to be successful and to create their own path to success and their future. So as I was learning in my tenure in the community college world, I learned that.

Okay. The parents are not involved, but the community can get involved and the community needs the [00:07:00] college. Right. And 

Jeff Holden: they need to be involved in the college. A hundred percent. 'cause the college provides them employees. The college provides them tax revenue. Exactly. The college provides all these other jobs for the infrastructure and operation of the college.

Sonbol Aliabadi: Exactly. I mean, first of all, Sierra College is one of the largest employers in, in the, in the county. So that's in itself, you know, says a lot about, yes. You know, however, over 55% of the public safety officers come from a community college environment. You know, they're educated, they are nurses, our police officers, our EMTs, our firefighters, they come from a community college.

Mm-hmm. And in this, in our case, from Sierra College, and normally, generally, they reside within the community. So as we tell our story, as we go around and talk about what's your college, the programs, which we. Have, and we offer. And when we present at different [00:08:00] chambers, at different service organizations, and when you let them know that there is, as I said, 55% of our, of your nurses, you know, when you're in a hospital, when someone's drawing your blood, when you know, God forbid your house has a emergency and a firefighter needs to come by, they're all educated from the college.

All of a sudden they look at us differently. They look at us as a resource. And when you are a resource to the community, then the community really wants to be there to help you. And I'm incredibly proud and fortunate to say that our stories have been so strong and our, what we have been able to share with our community has generated a lot of support, which in turn would lead to our student success.

The student success is of course, what we strive for. Mm-hmm. That's the comm, that's Sierra College's mission. We need to educate students to be successful in their future. 

Jeff Holden: How old is the college? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Very interesting question. I just learned myself. Next year, 2026, Sierra College will be 90 years old. 

Jeff Holden: Oh my gosh.[00:09:00] 

Sonbol Aliabadi: 90 years. Never 

Jeff Holden: would I have thought. That old and the foundation has existed for about how long? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Um, since 1976. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. So 

Sonbol Aliabadi: we're coming up to our 50th fitness 50th. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: I'm confused now. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: 60th. 

Jeff Holden: Isn't that amazing? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: That is truly amazing. We've been in existence for that long. I have been with the foundation for quite a bit now.

Yeah, for almost 20 years. We have seen a lot of growth. We've seen a lot of changes. All for the better, I would say, and could not be. Prouder to be part of an organization that I know does so much for our students. 

Jeff Holden: You know, to see people who sit across me in this chair who have tenure in their role.

Usually they came up through some sort of board position and graduated to executive director, CEO, whatever it may be. But it gives so much intellectual equity, experiential equity in the role. The [00:10:00] conversations are so different as opposed to somebody who may be transferred into a role for, they, they, they've been there a few years, whatever it may be.

Yeah. But understanding the community and residing in the community and the organization makes such a difference in the ability to feel what needs to be done. It becomes more than just a factual decision in so many cases. A lot's changed since I went to college and I went to college in the Midwest, so it looked very, very different than our colleges here then and today.

They all look very, very different. The students we have here, you know, we've got a large immigrant population that's attending our schools that didn't look like that 10, 20, 30 years ago. We've got foster kids emancipating out going to college to change their situations. We've got budding entrepreneurs.

Going to the community colleges, and we've got seniors in some [00:11:00] cases going to college to finally get that degree that they've always wanted. How does the foundation address. Such a diverse population of students. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Again, storytelling. I strongly believe in storytelling. Mm-hmm. I mean, I'm not saying it in a vain way, but it's, it's reality.

I mean, it's 

Jeff Holden: everything. I think. Yeah. No, 

Sonbol Aliabadi: I, as an example, uh, student comes to us. Who has been quote unquote emancipated, you know, and he has, he or she has come, has lived in 16, 17 different homes, foster homes, and they arrive on our doorstep with a garbage bag in their hand that that's full of their belongings and that's all they have.

They've never had a family support, they've never had anyone to guide them through their life journey and. You know, when I look and see that at Sierra College, one of the counselors starts working with them and creating the trust because trust doesn't exist with these population. Mm-hmm. You know, they've been really done wrong by the system.

Right. So you, you start the relationship and you create a [00:12:00] trust going between the two, and then you understand what are their needs, you know, how much mental health assistance they might need, how much help they need for housing, how much help they need for transportation, et cetera, et cetera. You start to wrap 'em around with all the services that they, they need to be successful, and then you follow 'em through and you see them in about two, two and a half years walking through, you know, the graduation line and getting their degree.

I mean, that's success. You tell that story. I mean, the statistics around foster students coming through a college, first of all, only. 3% of the entire population that has gone through foster care attended college. Mm-hmm. And of that, the graduation rate is 0.07. Ooh. You know, so when you look at that, those statistics, and then you see the little support that you were able to offer, the $500 emergency fund that you provided for them to, you know, pay for their, let's say the utility that has been, they're [00:13:00] trying to turn off, et cetera.

You have been able to keep him at school with that small amount of support. That's a story that you can repeat and that story generates additional continuous support 

Jeff Holden: issue. And it's a constant for once. It's a constant, yeah. You're not gonna get moved and changed and shifted. I. The people who care for you, care for you for the duration of your experience in college, which they don't ever see 

Sonbol Aliabadi: exactly until 

Jeff Holden: they get to this point.

Sonbol Aliabadi: And if they're lucky, if they arrive at someplace like Sierra College. Yes. You know, I mean, Sierra College, I'm so proud. We are a Guardian scholar program. Which means that we are offered, by the way, amongst community colleges, it's very rare. Our four year colleges, like the uc systems in Cal State, they all have Guardian scholar that is a, I know 

Jeff Holden: Sac State has a big guardian scholar program.

Huge. With a president who was a foster care. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Absolute a hundred percent. Exactly. So Sierra College, we became a guardian scholar organization and. In order to get there, you have [00:14:00] to meet certain criteria. You know, for example, to offer stipend for housing, to offer stipend for food, to have priority registration for the students, to have counselors on hand to help them.

So when we met that, that was a big deal. We were able to qualify for additional funding for our students. Wonderful. With that. Now we know that our, you know, again, our students are cared for and as you said, they meet one counselor and that counselor stays with them. And then we do a warm handoff to one of our other four year colleges.

Sac State is one of our largest transfer that we do to our, to their Guardian Scholar program, and we track them track their success. 

Jeff Holden: I see. That's wonderful because they are. Guided and handheld with special care all the way through. A hundred percent. And that's, that's what so many of them need. Again, it's the first time somebody's really paid attention to them in the way that children and students should be paid attention to.

Sonbol Aliabadi: Definitely. 

Jeff Holden: And that's as a result of the foundation. [00:15:00] 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Definitely. Again, because the 

Jeff Holden: school wouldn't be able to. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: They can't manage all that. No, they won't be able to. Again, it all comes down to says how much money can you, can a student set aside for other necessities of life that comes on? I mean, everything is about basic need and you know, you have to address.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Basic need at the minimum. And for the longest time, the college environment in general, the community colleges, their charter was just to educate. That was it. Student comes to you and. Hopefully two, three years later, they get an AA degree and as degree and they move on to a four year, or maybe they do a, you know, CTE program, career tech education.

They, they do that, they go get a job. However, now we see more and more in the past three to five years, I would say that the community college's mission is a lot more than educating. We are offering wraparound services to our students. We recognize that education is one component. If you don't have, let's say mental health.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. If 

Sonbol Aliabadi: you don't have a regular, I mean [00:16:00] health benefit, if you don't have your basic need taken care of, there's no way that someone can concentrate and to complete their journey, you know, or attain the degree that they wish or get that certificate, you know, becoming a mechanic or, or a welder or et cetera.

So the college has taken the role. Some sort of a social really mm-hmm. Work to offer services. So again, because we are not highly qualified to do all of that, we partner with a lot of our community organizations, with the county, with the city, and we all collaborate together to bring the much needed support.

That is required to offer assistance. I mean, another population that I can bring up are the veterans because they're incredibly close to our heart. At Sierra College, we have a very large veteran population, and the reason is it's not because we're near any. Basis or anything, 

Jeff Holden: right? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's the services we provide.

Again, we believe in wraparound services. We believe, for example, in, in a veteran's situation, an individual comes to us [00:17:00] from active duty, you know, from any of parts of the world. And they have been, their life has been very regimented and they're all in a, you know, structured, structured, et cetera, and all of a sudden you bring him into the, you know, into the society with no support.

I mean. That's difficult. Mm-hmm. I mean, in order to streamline them back into community, you need to be very conscientious about how you do it. For example, we have a class at Sierra that's called Boots to Books. It's your regular English class. However, our, the instructors work with the students, with the veterans, and first of all, it's in a cohort, cohort environment.

That's what makes them feel, makes the students feel more comfortable to be in that cohort and then they work with them. They counsel them on how they can move back or fit back better into the community. We have Veterans Success Center. That is an incredibly welcoming environment that the student walks in from the moment they walk in, they, they get all the assistance that [00:18:00] they need.

For their college work. They take care of the GI Bill. They help them sign up for classes. That's where foundation comes in. We wanna make sure that they don't use up all their GI dollars for community college, because the four year schools are much more expensive that way. We come in and we offer book vouchers to them.

We offer transportation assistance, and so using that model, again, wraparound services around each group of individuals has proven to be incredibly successful for our student success. 

Jeff Holden: You know, one thing that I never thought of other than somebody stayed out too late or partied too long and slept in her car for an evening was the homelessness situation with our students.

And we've had several people on that cater and service the student population. It's, I would almost say epidemic in terms of how many students are struggling just to find housing, and I know the foundation is. [00:19:00] Critical. Yeah. In supporting that. Tell us a little bit about what we see at Sierra College.

'cause people might think, oh, it's Placer County. That's a whole different ball game. It's not the same as when you're in Sacramento or wherever else you might be. What's it like at At Sierra? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Exactly. And as you said. Unhoused student or you know, homeless student was never even brought to our attention.

And I wanna say it was probably right around Covid that we became very, you know, familiar with this unfortunate situation that exists. I actually checked some numbers last night in general in California, in community college system. There are 200,000 students that are. Homeless or unhoused? 

Jeff Holden: Homeless, insecure, home insecure, whatever.

It may insecure 

Sonbol Aliabadi: in Placer County, as you said, people think, oh, Placer County is wealthy. It's rich. No, 230 students that we can count for. 

Jeff Holden: Wow. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: They have housing insecurity, you know, for lack of better terminology. And that means they, they don't have a roof over their shelter. I [00:20:00] mean, over their heads. They sleep in their cars, they share, they're in on a couch, couch surfing.

They go from friend's home to friend's home and. These are the ones that are self-identified. There are some that they don't wanna, I mean, it's pride. Mm-hmm. They don't wanna talk about it. But our, even our police officers that we have around campus or faculty members or some of our custodial, they find students sleeping in the car and they let us know.

And so when this almost became, as you said, an epidemic, I mean, it was like, wow, how can we support? What can we do? So the foundation immediately. Went to work and we, first and foremost, the first thing that we could do was to identify a space that we could send these students so they can be there and they have a roof over their head.

And it was one of our local hotels, motels, whatever you wanna call them. Mm-hmm. And they had some extended program, so we were able to partner with them and get a better rate and have a contract in place with them that [00:21:00] they would accept our students as soon as we send them. And then, you know. We would pay and all that.

There was a lot to figure out because there's this deposit, there is the, you know, security, this, that, I mean, nobody wants to, I mean, when you talk about homeless, they all, you know, immediately some other thoughts comes to mind and sure. We had to reassure them. These are students, they're just, they wanna have a house.

Mm-hmm. They wanna have, they wanna be in a place. So we forged that relationship with a, one of the motels around us, and it has been an amazing relationship that we've had for the past few years. Then what we would, you know, we would house them for like two, three weeks and until we find a permanent housing for them.

Because again, two, three weeks is not enough to solve anything. So we would work with our partners in the community, you know, try to find out what options are available. I mean, again, we worked with our financial aids office because through their filling out their fafsa, you know, the financial aid program, we would understand how much money that they can have and we can come up with.

They can pay for the [00:22:00] rent, potentially. But the entry of it, you know, the first month, deposit, deposit, deposit, that was a utility hindrance, utilities. So that's where the foundation came in. We said, okay, we'll try, you know, if we have a plan for a student, we can pay for the first month and last month and the security deposit, as long as we know that they can.

Move that forward. Mm-hmm. I mean, 

Jeff Holden: manage the rest of it. Manage the 

Sonbol Aliabadi: rest of it. And that became incredibly successful. And the stories we've had are just mind boggling of the students. And again, you're comfortable, you're, you're in your home, you take another job, you know, so you immediately have confidence in doing what you need to do to be successful.

Then we move forward as part of our learning. You know, Sierra College is one of the very, very few colleges in the state that has, has housing. 

Jeff Holden: We 

Sonbol Aliabadi: have dorm 

Jeff Holden: rooms. Luigi, I'm, I'm so glad you brought that up because we were gonna get there. Amazing to me. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Yes. That a 

Jeff Holden: community college would have housing. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's actually, they're very well known for being the 49 [00:23:00] ERs summer back in the day That, that's right.

Back in the day. Exactly. They, I remember gonna the training camp 

Jeff Holden: there all the time. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: A hundred percent. And 

Jeff Holden: maybe that's why, because they had housing, huh? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Exactly. That's the only reason. Got it. They came up and the weather was nice, warmer than Bay Area, et cetera, and so we had a field and they practiced there.

By the way, 49 ERs has not won. Super Bowl ever since they left us. 

Jeff Holden: Well, there you go. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So we have written to them, we've asked them, invite them to come back. I'm kidding. Right? So we have dorm rooms. What we did, we immediately started working with our residence hall. We have set aside 10 beds for our foster youth.

Those were at the highest need at that time. So we set that aside and so that became very successful. Fast forward, we have one of our wonderful funders, Suter Health, provided some dollars to support our basic needs center to offer assistance to the students with need. So. I communicated with them the need for having housing on campus that's available as a temporary housing.

So when we find an on house [00:24:00] student, we can have them there. It's, it's nice to have the hotel, but it's much, much better, you know, for a student to be on campus 

Jeff Holden: amongst peers, 

Sonbol Aliabadi: amongst the peers, where they can get the counseling they need when they can have this cafeteria or the basic needs center and all of that.

So Sutter was incredibly. Generous to allow us to use funding from that. Now we have four beds available at any given time for students that come across our way that we know of that they're homeless. We put 'em up there for a minimum of 30 days until we find them housing. If that 30 days does not happen, then we can extend it up to 90 days.

So we have at least four beds right now that's available to all kind of, you know, different students who might have a housing need. So that has become incredibly successful. But I take it to the next level, if I may. So Sierra College is incredibly lucky and fortunate to have been awarded $80 million to build, 

Jeff Holden: you know, every other nonprofit hearing this.[00:25:00] 

Every other community college, every other university is going, what, what, 

Sonbol Aliabadi: what is the right word? And, but you have to be ready and you have, you, you make your timing. Yes. It's all about timing and luck, I would say. So this is how it, it all came about. You know, we knew we have 124 beds currently, and it's completely, fully occupied with 500 people on wait list at any given time.

So we knew that there is a very high demand for housing, especially affordable housing 'cause it's just expensive. Mm-hmm. It's incredibly expensive in California and Placer County is, you know, is as expensive. So we were ready. We had designed housing, you know, for additional 350 housing for the college, and we were.

Shovel ready, but then we did the numbers and it would not pencil out because if we were to build it ourselves, we had to charge market rate, which is like 18, $1,900 a bed. Right. You know, per month for the student. And who can afford that? Mm-hmm. You know, nobody can [00:26:00] afford that. So we shelved that.

Literally, we put that. On hold until state of California offered the opportunity for, you know, some of the higher ed to apply. And Sierra College was the first one who applied and we were just, because we were ready, we presented and we were amongst the FI first eight that was selected and we were given $80 million and we were the first to go.

Actually start the project into the ground, the project into the ground. Excellent. It's unfortunate to say that none of the other ones have been able to be as quick and nimble as us, and right now with all the. Issues that's going on with the budget. Budget. 

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's a little difficult. You know, we, Sierra College is advocating for everybody who was selected to be able to get their funds to be able to build because we know how important.

It's so needless to say, Sierra College started, we're 50% right now at the completion 354 affordable bed. 

Jeff Holden: And that's on top of the 154 that you have already? Correct. So you're talking over 500, 600 [00:27:00] beds. Correct. At some point that you're can have access to for the students. Amazing. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's incredible. And the most incredible portion of this is the affordability.

When I say affordable, you know, remember I said market rate is about 18, 1900. We are able to offer this to our students with the highest need at $550 a month. Oh my gosh. Which is amazing. It's unheard of. It's really is affordable. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: However. Foundation being the foundation. We had a conversation with our president, who's honestly the best president there is in any community college system.

Not because I'm biased, but he is. He is amazing. Willie Duncan, an incredible leader. He has been with the Sierra College for 14 years, which is again another record. Normally, community college presidents only stay maybe three years to. Maybe four if at the most, but he's been with us for 14 years and he is a can do person and he's a yes.

Let's do it together person. So when we were talking about these, this opportunity for our [00:28:00] affordable housing for our students, I. He and I looked at each other and I said to him, I said, you know, Willie five 50 is amazing, but there's some students that five 50 is absolutely unaffordable. There's no way that they can afford it.

So he looks at me and says, what do you wanna do? And I'm like, I wanna raise enough money to be able to offer free. I. Beds. And he says, what do you mean? I'm like, let's calculate quickly. So the two, the two of us, we calculated, we came up with a dollar amount of $250,000. Imagine $250,000 generates at a very, very conservative rate of 3% per year in perpetuity.

That's $7,500 a. Year. 

Jeff Holden: Oh, so you're doing it almost as an endowment? Yeah, it 

Sonbol Aliabadi: is an endowment. 

Jeff Holden: Oh, wonderful idea. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's an endowment. I'm, I will never do anything that's not an endowment. Because it has to be sustainable. Yes. It has to continue. Right. And you leave room, you do 

Jeff Holden: conservatively at three or 4%.

Yeah. Market's been running 20. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So what we do is it grows. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So what happens is our goal is to give out minimum of three to 4%, [00:29:00] but then the rest goes into the fund because we know inflation's gonna happen. Mm-hmm. Right? We need to be able to afford and increase the amount of payout at a future date.

So that started the program called Endow Bed. For Sierra College. So Sierra College Foundation has embarked on a journey to raise enough money to endow 10 beds to offer to our students with the most need. 

Jeff Holden: Wonderful. And again, the foundation. Foundation, this would not happen any other way. Exactly. The benefit of the foundation, as you know, people struggle.

The foundation. The foundation. Help me understand that's, if we distilled it just down to that, the fact that you're able to get those 10 beds. Handled for those students is amazing. Yeah. Not to mention you get. 350 some rooms coming up. Absolutely. That's that's amazing. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Absolutely. So this is, it's a life changer.

Mm-hmm. You know, and it's a program that has really taken off. I mean, right now I'm at seven and three eighths, as I call it, [00:30:00] and we, we still have one year to go for the building to finish. But I have been talking to my colleagues around the state. Everybody is hearing about our program. 

Jeff Holden: I can only imagine.

It's a wonderful idea. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's a really, I think, if I may say so myself. It's a brilliant life changing idea. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: And we are encouraging everyone to take part and to do it because it's tangible. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: You can find individuals alumnis or just community philanthropy. Minded person, individuals, corporate, other foundations, they wanna support those who are interested in this, which I would argue a lot of people are.

Mm-hmm. If I may do a shout out for a couple of our local organizations that have done that, 

Jeff Holden: please do. They need the recognition, the people support our organizations. One 

Sonbol Aliabadi: that is incredibly meaningful is uni. So Taro. Taro an incredible gentleman. He was one of our first supporters to endowed, and the reason he did that was he came to Sierra College when he didn't speak a word of English.

He had a instructor at his, at [00:31:00] his ESL class who literally said, taro, I'll teach you one word at a time. And Tara says he owes. A lot to Miss Nancy, who was a professor at the ESL 

Jeff Holden: and, and just a quick aside, he's been in that chair several times. Yeah. Different organizations interviewing him. The first two words that he knew well when he got here, no problem.

Yes, no problem. Which can get you in trouble pretty quickly. Of 

Sonbol Aliabadi: course. So we're incredibly proud of, you know, what he had done to pay back, to pay it forward for the community. So. McKoy organization did one bed, Sutter. Mm-hmm. Of course, Sutter has been tremendous supporter of ours and so, and we 

Jeff Holden: get that from so many organizations that we speak with.

Sutter just is a wonderful community partner. Yes. And such a presence and such a presence in Placer County with that massive campus. They've got. A 

Sonbol Aliabadi: hundred percent amazing. And then one of the most memorable ones for me at least, and of course you know the [00:32:00] foundation itself, the board members, they endow the bed as well.

So that's amazing. That's incredibly generous and thoughtful. The most memorable for me at least, is a student helping themselves. 

Jeff Holden: Really. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So the Sierra College student body, they decided to endow bed one for their own. And the way in which they wanted to do it, they wanted to make sure that that bed is available for any student at any given time as a temporary housing, as an emergency housing for a student.

So they, they help themselves. So I am so proud of them for taking that initiative and wanting to, 

Jeff Holden: to do that. Well, and the fact that the students are aware, 

Sonbol Aliabadi: oh yes. You know, 

Jeff Holden: half the battle is awareness. Exactly. And they, they know and they want to help. Each other. That's very true. Which is extremely complimentary.

Sonbol Aliabadi: It really is. And so to take you to the, you know, as I said, I'm, we're only at seven and three eights, which is actually quite impressive. But yes. You know, I need to be a 10. We are hoping that this year we usually have a annual gala. Uh, events are normally not our favorite at fund, [00:33:00] you know, fundraiser.

Part, it takes a lot of time and whatever. However, our events have been very, very successful and supported by the community. Last year at our event, we were able to endow bed, which was fantastic. Mm-hmm. So we did one of those, and this year, again, we had a conversation last night at our board meeting and the board would like to continue, but this time, this bed will be specifically for a veteran.

So, which would be of course, tremendous. Yeah know. I mean, it would be, I mean, how can you thank. An individual who has served, you know, served our country. 

Jeff Holden: That country. The country. Mm-hmm. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: And that's the least we can do if, I mean, there are many of our, I mean, the veterans are incredibly proud. They're, they never wanna ask for anything, but we know that they have needs, they have, um, financial need.

And this way, having that bed available to them at any, you know, for any of our veterans who face, uh, homelessness mm-hmm. Would be huge. So we're so proud to be able to do that. And I al already have some support from the community members. Well, 

Jeff Holden: and as we're speaking. Today, it's [00:34:00] late January, 2025. This episode will have a shelf life of, you know, let's say two years.

Next year, we'll have to do a little bit of an addendum just to say, okay, the facility is built. We've got our 10 beds endowed. Here's what's happening. Throw some pictures up so people can see and just do an update on it, because I think it's so unique. That's right. And wonderful. What's happening. We'll continue our enlightening conversation on student support with Sandal Aaba right after we hear the great messaging about the organizations that make this program possible.

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAPTRUST in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations annually. We survey private and public nonprofit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment. In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement alternative investments.

If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your [00:35:00] organization, look me up, scottThomas@captrust.com. 

Jeff Holden: I'm thrilled to have Western Health Advantage partnering with us as they do so much to support so many nonprofit agencies in our community. As a truly local health plan, you'll find individual and family options, employer options plans for CalPERS and Medicare Advantage.

From medical services to pharmacy health and wellness support, as well as behavioral healthcare. Western Health Advantage has a plan that fits what you need as an employer for profit or nonprofit business, individual or family. You can find more@westernhealth.com. You mentioned a little bit earlier collaboration with your community partners.

Who are some of those people that maybe it's other nonprofits? One of the things that's important to me with. The program is to educate others about organizations that maybe they didn't know about. It's easy to get very myopic in your own space, and then you realize right down the road somebody's doing [00:36:00] something very similar that could be very, very beneficial and.

We've had the ability to do that already in just, you know, our, our short year. And it's wonderful to know when somebody says, oh, I met with them. What, what a great organization had no idea. How about the people that you work with? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So, um, again, referring back, because it fresh my mind. Last night we had a presentation, we have a mission moment.

During our board meeting, we had our. Manager of our basic needs center present. This is a presentation that she and I had done together and the basic needs center is now, it's two years old. It is central location in on campus. The students usually walk in for, for food. It's a food pantry they think. You know, because we, again, hunger is another thing that is really, it's a taboo.

Nobody wants to talk about how hungry they are. So we, we've created this environment that's very welcoming and they can come and they can take food as they need and, you know, and all that. But the basic date center as, as I said, is started as a pantry, food [00:37:00] pantry, but now it offers all kinds of services.

You mentioned collaboration, so. We have an office available in the basic needs center that the county comes in and they provide the CalFresh. Mm-hmm. The food program that they come in and they offer it to our students, they sign them up right there, and then the students didn't know that this is available to them.

So we encourage them and this brings the county in where the people are that they need to support. Right. Then we've got a relationship with our women's shelter. In Placer County, standup placer, there are domestic violence situation that, you know, unfortunately happens and we're able to bring 'em on campus, not only for education, but for counseling purposes, and we can direct our students to go there if they need assistance.

We work with. There's an organization that provides assistance to, uh, families with children, the Lighthouse. We have a great relationship with Lighthouse, and they provide, uh, diapers, formulas, et cetera. We work [00:38:00] mentioning that we work with our service organizations. I. Rotaries for example, we, I presented the Rotaries on a regular basis about what we do and all that, and so they have adopted our basic needs center and they bring in quarterly, they come in with diapers and formula and other necessities for the families of the students.

I. Organizations like Rotary, orus, et cetera. We work with City of Roseville, city of Rockland, city of Lincoln, all of them. They have services that they offer, you know, it's transportation. We have an amazing collaboration going in with P-C-T-P-A, which is the PLA county, uh, transportation Authority, and we are offering free ride to zero students.

Perfect. You know, so they can use the, you know, public transportation. I mean, these are just a few. I mean, we've got relationships. I'm sure you have to touch 

Jeff Holden: with the foster organizations Oh percent. With CASA and all 

Sonbol Aliabadi: of them, we are day in and day out. We have actually a task force that we have Sierra counselors who sit with the county folks to [00:39:00] talk about the opportunities in which we can support our foster youth veterans organizations.

We would, we work with all of the veteran organizations in Plaster County and Sacramento County as well. So it's, it's really. Unique yet it's, you know, it shouldn't be unique. It should be available to everyone. And that's the name of the game because we can't do it. All. 

Jeff Holden: Right. Well see. That's an embedded organization.

You happen to have the big facility of a campus and a and a school, but the foundation still sets a little bit aside. It still has its own relationships to build, it still has to do its own thing and it has to generate its own revenue. Exactly. And you've shared some of that. Let's talk a little bit about.

Funding. Mm-hmm. How are you funded? It's not just an event or two. No, no, 

Sonbol Aliabadi: no. Yeah, so I was so proud. Actually, our goal was 3 million last year to raise. Mm-hmm. We exceeded that and we were at. Close to four and a half million, so, which is amazing. Y 

Jeff Holden: your goal was three and you hit four and a half. [00:40:00] 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So we've, we've done really, really, really well.

And again, I, because of the endow Congratulations. Thank you. The endowed bed, that's, that's a campaign, that's a small campaign that we have in place. So how do we raise money? We raise money through, again, individuals. Philanthropists in, in our community. They could either be an alumni, which is an interesting topic.

I'll tell you a little bit about that, is alumnis other individuals in the community. It could be corporate partnership, it could be other, you know, grant providers. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean, we have an amazing relationship right now with Bosch who's supporting us. Right in 

Jeff Holden: your backyard. Thank, just arrived.

Goodness. Barry Broman is. Team we're able to maneuver that into 

Sonbol Aliabadi: a hundred percent The greater 

Jeff Holden: Sacramento region. Exactly. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So we have an amazing relationship with them right now because they want our work, they want workforce, and Sierra is happy to provide it. And they, they know that there is a barrier to support, I mean, a barrier to education, and that's financial.

Mm-hmm. So they wanna make sure that every student who goes through the, you know, the program, we have a great mechatronic program and welding program [00:41:00] that they hire from. We offer financial assistance to them. So they have provided grants to us. US Bank does the same thing for our construction bootcamp.

You know, again, the number of programs that we offer and the number of support that we receive related to them is tremendous. But major gift corporate grants that we write to local organization and we have just started for federal grants that we write. So that's, these are the. Where we reach out to the community and we build relationships.

Congratulations. 

Jeff Holden: You are doing an outstanding job of that. And one thing we know is the community colleges do provide some of the the trades, the Yes, less. Glamorous, of course if you, if you go that way. But it was always looked as, oh, they get today. The trades are the glamor. A hundred percent. That's where we're saying, Hey, this is where we, we have a challenge.

We need welders and construction and people who can do some of what used to be perceived as the labor, because it's technical today. Yeah. [00:42:00] And it's our community colleges that are putting those students out there. So. I think the future really is going to be so much different than what it was just five years ago as we realize, oh my gosh, we have a problem.

We have a shortage of all these people that can't fix anything and construct things and weld things and electronically repair things. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: As you mentioned, a hundred percent correct. Not everyone needs to go to a four year college. Right? You can earn a very, very sustainable living going through a certificate program.

Jeff Holden: I was gonna say, I think that's gonna get even better. Yes. To where the demand on those jobs is gonna push them up to some of these highly trained collegiate jobs. Four year college, 6, 6, 7, 8 years, whatever your degree might be. To where the demand will be so high and the need so great that those students are gonna have every bit the opportunity that somebody who's coming out.

[00:43:00] I don't want to disparage anybody's credential, but you know, accountants and CPAs and even law degrees attorneys. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's interesting. I mean, as you said, our programs, they are so well entrenched in our community. I mean, we had a visit, we went to a site visit in Simmons. I mean, I'm sure you know, they drove the trains, trains 

Jeff Holden: the, the huge cars for public transportation.

A 

Sonbol Aliabadi: hundred percent. And they have a very strong relationship with Sierra College, Sierra. They hire almost every welder that we go through our programs. They were telling us, currently they have about 28 to 29 Sierra students that who have gone through Sierra working there. They might have started at 20 bucks an hour, but they're making upwards of a hundred thousand, 120,000 a year there.

I mean, you know, two year degree even, sometimes not a degree, maybe only three classes. It offers them a sustainable, comfortable living. And the general manager was telling us that it's the most beautiful thing to see that, you know, they come as a [00:44:00] entry level position and the next thing you know there is a brand new truck out there that they have been able to afford, but Right.

You know, as they get promoted. Another thing that is incredibly, you know, I can, I can name a lot of these opportunities. Another one, again, going back to Sutter. We have a program, actually, Roseville Chamber spearheaded a program called Talent Pipeline Management, TPM. They look at the different sectors to see what their.

Workforce need is. Need is. Correct. Exactly. So based on that, then they work with the higher educations in the region, trying to figure out what, what can we do? How can we support them? Again, all of this came from, you know, Sierra hosted a Sierra Workforce Summit last year. That was the initial entree to this, and we brought in different corporate, you know, and organizations and trying to understand what their needs are and so we can make sure that we're ready and to be nimble and to be able to help them.

So. Roosevelt Chamber. Take that on. And they have [00:45:00] the TPM program as part of their healthcare. They realize that our hospitals, Kaiser and Sutter and Mercy, they're canceling their surgeries because they don't have enough Surgical techs. Surgical techs. So, okay. Out of that, immediately a program was born.

It's a three semester program. Sierra started it recently, we started the program. Three weeks. You go through the program and you get hired at the $35 an hour. I mean, and that solves a problem for our healthcare environment and as well as offering a very comfortable, you know, mm-hmm. Living wage for our students.

So it's initiatives like this that comes to us that. Enables Sierra College to be the community's college as we wanna be. And again, the more stories like this that happens, the more success that happens, the easier it would be. When I go to a partner or an individual and ask them to support the college and its initiatives, it happens.

Jeff Holden: And I just wanna keep bringing that back. For those people [00:46:00] who don't quite understand the value of the foundation, it's the foundation that is this tentacle. Into the community in a different way that's picking up on all this stuff, because that's where it's gonna come from. When you're asking people for, for support, they're gonna say, well, what am I gonna get out of it?

What do you need? And we'll create it. That's, that's the beauty of what's happening, 

Sonbol Aliabadi: you know? A hundred percent. What you say is so accurate. I mean, you know, when, when Sutter had, you know, Sutter and Kaiser and all of them, they, they identified the need, the college immediately. Try to respond, but we're we're quick.

You know, we're very nimble. State wasn't ready for us. So that meant that the students were not able to pay for their tuition. Guess what foundation came in? They said, mm-hmm We'll pay for their tuition. So we provided tuition for all the students who are in that search deck program. 

Jeff Holden: Fantastic. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: So it's a win-win situation for everybody.

Jeff Holden: Let's have a little fun for a second. You are so animated about what you do and I love it. You happen to be in a great position with [00:47:00] an excess. Of originally budgeted, so it's not like all organizations, but as you look at it, you've, you've got this housing situation coming up in the next year and being built.

You've got a, a little bit of a surplus from a, from a budget. You have a lot of neat programs going on. Money's not an object. What would the foundation look like? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: I would like to invest in identifying who our alumnis are. That's the area that I think is a low hanging fruit, but it's the most difficult thing to do.

The reason is. I don't, if I ask you, who's your alma mater? Are you going to tell me about your community college? Chances are you won't 

Jeff Holden: four year. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's always the four year that comes up. Mm-hmm. However, when you dive in and you talk to people and everything, you're like, well, yeah, it was my community college instructor who really motivated me to do this and do that.

Right? So more and more that conversation comes up, and so the importance of community college comes up. So if I had my [00:48:00] way, I would run a campaign to identify. Sierra College alumnis. Invite them back on the campus to see what we're doing and how well we're doing, and encourage them to be involved.

Encourage them to really take part in an, in an organization that can change lives. We're all about. Student success. We're all about changing lives one at a time. I always say, and what better than a person who's gone through the program, it's himself, herself, to come back and try to do paid forward.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: To help. I mean, that would be my ideal. I mean, my dream 

Jeff Holden: to make that happen and, and what would that provide? My goodness. The people who have gone on to whatever four year college they went to and graduated from that started there is probably immense. Because we know what the Made It Sac State campaign is showing us and all these people who still reside in their community, they still contribute.

They become wonderful business owners and talent and contributors and politicians [00:49:00] and whatever they may be. I would imagine a huge percentage of them came through Sierra College. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: You'll be surprised. There is a function in LinkedIn. You can filter it by. College or higher education. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 40 plus thousand individual have self-identified with Sierra College and they have it on their LinkedIn portfolio.

Jeff Holden: That's fantastic. It's 

Sonbol Aliabadi: amazing. Well, there's a database. There you go. It's how to mine it, right? That's right. LinkedIn has made it a bit difficult to capture. Just can't get there. Right, exactly. But yes, I mean, as you said, there are just tremendous opportunity there. And again, the opportunity equates to support for the future students, the future generation that's gonna come through.

So. 

Jeff Holden: I don't wanna forget, as we were talking about funding, and it even parlays a bit into what I'm gonna mention now, my greatest relation. One of our children went to Sierra College and moved on and graduated from Sac State. But what I'm [00:50:00] most familiar with is the car lot. Yeah, the auto fair. Sierra Amazing College Auto Fair.

I don't know how old it is, but. As long as I can remember, we've been buying and selling cars there for family members and friends, and it's sometimes a weekend excursion that has so much potential and it has done so much over the course of years. I just had to mention it because I know so many people that enjoy it, and you'll see the same phases showing up on a weekend just to go check and see what's going on up.

At the, the lot. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: I so appreciate you bringing that up. I mean, that is a tremendous amount of unrestricted dollars that comes to the Sierra College Foundation and you know, you've talked to enough nonprofits to know it's one of the most difficult, 

Jeff Holden: unrestricted is what everybody wants. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Exactly. So Steve happens to be a Sierra College alum.

And while he was at Sierra College, he had an entrepreneurial mind and he thought about this idea and then he thought about, Hmm, what if I could do this? And this is way [00:51:00] before I came on board. So when I came on board, this already existed. So it's not, I, I don't take any credit for that, but I take credit for the, the beautiful relationship that I have with Steve, and he has been supporting us for.

A long, long time. So he, as you know, it's open and every weekend come rain or shine, it's open. Friday to Sunday afternoon, it's open and you bring your cars. And so he charges, he has a fee structure, et cetera, and from that, he makes a contribution, a very, very, very generous contribution to Sierra College Foundation.

I can tell you that he has probably, throughout his business, he has given more than three to 4 million to the foundation. 

Jeff Holden: Wow. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: It's amazing. Wow. So it's incredibly, we are incredibly thankful for his support. And again, it's just a simple gesture that, you know, he wanted to do something and he wanted to pay it forward.

And it has been going and it's been growing and it's a benefit at so many 

Jeff Holden: ways and such great visibility for the school. A hundred [00:52:00] percent. You wouldn't go there otherwise, and then you realize, oh my gosh, I didn't, there's a 

Sonbol Aliabadi: college 

Jeff Holden: here. Know that. Yeah, there's a college here too, and there's. Some sports diamonds and or, or baseball diamonds and soccer fields and some motorcycle training going on.

Exactly. On any given weekend when you go up there. So it's, it, it's fun. Back to reality of, of funding. You've been fortunate, but there still is a need as a nonprofit, I know you'll spend it. Yeah. What, what's the greatest need that the foundation has? 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Honestly, right now, the housing and food. Those two are probably the highest need for our students.

Again, without those two, they cannot concentrate. They cannot focus on what they need to, and that's expensive. You know, housing is tremendously expensive. I mean, any. Any support we can offer to lessen the burden, it allows 'em the opportunity, you know, to, to be successful. I always say, you know, we have a fund [00:53:00] that's called Safe Fund, SAFE, that's a student assistant fund endowment that offers assistance to students who have indicated need, and there is a very simple form that they fill out.

There's only five question, name, your first name, last name, student id, your nature of need, and how much. Five questions and they submit that. And I am incredibly proud to say that we try not to say no to any of those because nobody asks if they don't need help. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Right. And the majority of that support, that help that is needed and comes to us is basic need.

And the basic need, the most important is housing and, and food. So if, if we are able to raise enough money. Yes, we raised a lot of money last year, but we spend it right. You know, the need is there, so we have to give it back to the students. Um, we don't sit on the money, you know? Right. And so we spend it as quick as we get it.

It's a form of giving laptops to students. We are able to give 40 laptops with the support of at and t last year. So if we can be [00:54:00] available to our students and be responsive to their needs, which is always around basic need, always around. I mean, another area that is. Really, really of high need is childcare.

I mean, we have students who are coming back to school again, or even starting school as an adult or coming back to retool themselves and they have, childcare is expensive. Mm-hmm. You know, enabled to be able to support them. So basic need never ends. And that support is highly, highly needed. 

Jeff Holden: What you're doing, not only for the, the.

Greater county, but for the greater part of the region because students come from all over. I imagine you even get some out of state students. Yes. Who recently moved in, but our immigrants are veterans. Are foster youth, the ability to go to school, the ability to have a roof over their head. Somebody that cares to support them if they have that housing, need the [00:55:00] basic needs of food and childcare.

Is just amazing. And the intent of this conversation all along was to say foundations are needed. They, they have a huge contribution to the success of a student. The successful student then goes on to be a productive citizen. And you and your team, how many are there on the foundation? Five of us. Five.

Five. That's it. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: That's it. There's only 

Jeff Holden: five of you. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Yep. 

Jeff Holden: What an amazing job. I expected to hear a lot more. Yeah. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Five. I actually just hired one person. She started last week, so that's five. It 

Jeff Holden: was four. Four. Just an amazing job sandal that you're doing and a great contribution to not only the community, but to the school and the academics and the employers and everybody that takes advantage of what the school has to offer is.

Supported by the foundation. So thank you. Thank you for your time and sharing the stories and telling us what the Sierra [00:56:00] College Foundation really does. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Thank you. I really appreciate you bringing attention to the foundation. You know, as we always say, I mean, I'm an immigrant. Education is what saved me.

That's I always say, and my comment to everyone is that education is an investment that never loses its value. And if we're able to offer education to our. Um, community. That's the best we can do to pay it forward. So thank you for that 

Jeff Holden: and I couldn't agree with you more. 

Sonbol Aliabadi: Thank you.

Jeff Holden: Thank you for listening to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If what you heard moved you, please reach out to that organization and do what you can to help if you like and appreciate what we're doing to support local nonprofits. Please give us a positive review, subscribe and share.

If you're a nonprofit with an interest in participating in an episode, you can reach me at [00:57:00] jeff@hearmeowstudio.com. If you have a need for the services or products our sponsors offer, please reach out to them. CAPTRUST fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations. Runyon Saltzman Incorporated, RSE Marketing, advertising and Public Relations, creating integrated communications committed to improving lives and Western Health Advantage, a full service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, and families.

The Nonprofit Podcast Network is a production of, is recorded at and edited by Hear Me Now Studio.