UCLA Center for Civil Society tackles challenges for nonprofit sector

Nonprofit and community-based organizations across the country are facing unprecedented leadership and management challenges. The nonprofit sector is bearing much of the brunt of the state’s fiscal crisis, particularly those agencies that provide social services, health care, and housing, funded directly by government.

What is more, the coming years will likely present a new set of challenges in Southern California, including a widening gulf between the rich and the poor, and under-funding of public services. With the role of government changing, expectations are that nonprofits could shoulder greater responsibilities. But are nonprofits able to do this? Do they have the capacity to address the region’s growing and diverse needs?

With this as their framework, representatives from local nonprofits met to discuss the State of the Nonprofit Sector in Los Angeles in May. There are almost 53,000 registered nonprofits in Los Angeles County. Sempra Energy believes that this sector is important and vital to the health of our communities, and partnered with the UCLA Center for Civil Society as the presenting sponsor for this conference.

“We are extremely grateful to Sempra Energy for its support of this year’s Report and Conference” says Dr. Helmut K. Anheier, Director of the Center of Civil Society. “Sempra Energy’s sponsorship of this program and the report helps us to inform the nonprofit community as the nonprofit community works to create a better future for not only the Southern California region, but also the state, and by extension, the world.”

More about UCLA and the Center for Civil Society
The Center for Civil Society is the focal point for the School of Public Affairs’ programs and activities in nonprofit leadership and management, grassroots advocacy, nongovernmental organizations, and philanthropy.Its mission is to become the academic center of excellence for the study of civil society, philanthropy, nonprofit and community organizations and leadership. It focuses on both regional and international aspects of civil society.

A healthy civil society offers the hope of an expansion of local democracy, just and efficient service delivery, and the creation of a shared and inclusive civic identity. These are the aspirations of the Center for Civil Society: that through research, teaching, and community engagement with nonprofit and community-based organizations, civil society in Los Angeles, and worldwide, will be strengthened and sustained.

For more information on the Center and the report, visit www.spa.ucla.edu/ccs