How Juma Ventures Helps Young People Build Careers That Break the Cycle of Poverty

Stephen Norris: [00:00:00] The number one thing those young people are saying is, "This is incredibly important. Now I want a job. I want to get out of these services and support myself." And so they'll go through these really incredible job readiness programs, and then where the kind of the ground drops is that then they don't often get actually employed.

Where Juma comes in is we build these really cool partnerships, provide really wraparound true like holistic supportive services for a young person, and guarantee that first job

Jeff Holden: Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion are simple: to highlight the incredible nonprofits that make our communities stronger. Each episode is a chance for these organizations to tell their story in their words, sharing not just what they do, but why it matters to the people they serve, to their supporters, and to all of us who believe in the power [00:01:00] of community.

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Western Health Advantage, a local not-for-profit health plan that believes healthcare is more than coverage, it's about caring. Core, executive leadership and comprehensive support services. They work in it so you can work on it. And Five Star Bank, a local trusted advisor to community nonprofits for over 25 years.

This episode is powered by SMUD, Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Shine Awards program benefiting nonprofits for energy efficiency. Apply today Most of us can remember our first job. Maybe [00:02:00] it wasn't glamorous. Maybe it had absolutely nothing to do with the career we eventually pursued. But it taught us something: how to show up on time, how to work with a team, how to take direction, how to deal with customers, solve problems, earn a paycheck, and begin to understand what it means to be responsible for your own future.

For some young people, getting that first opportunity isn't so easy. That's where Juma Ventures comes in. Juma is an employment social enterprise working with young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are facing economic hardship and, in many cases, additional barriers involving foster care, housing instability, interrupted education, trauma, or long-term unemployment.

And what I find particularly interesting about Juma is the model: earn, learn, connect. Young people get real jobs in real working environments, from Golden 1 Center and Sacramento Republic FC matches to concerts, hospitality venues, and even the Empress [00:03:00] Tavern. At the same time, they build financial literacy, career readiness, confidence, workplace skills, and connections to education and future employment.

In Sacramento, the organization is celebrating 10 years of helping young people move from opportunity to independence. My guest is Stephen Norris, Sacramento's Director of Development. We talk about how this unique social enterprise works, why collaboration is central to its success, and what employers gain from the model.

What happens when a young person is simply given the right opportunity, the right support, and the chance to prove what they can do? I think you'll appreciate the impact Juma has on our youth employment. Stephen Norris, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Jeff, thank you for having me. It's great to sit across from you.

Stephen Norris: I gotta say, I'm, I'm thrilled to be here, honored. When you're in a nonprofit space, you're probably the most popular person in the room just for things like this. So I'm, I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you for having me. Well, thank you for that, and I know that we have seen each other many times- Yep ... [00:04:00] and threatened to do this, so- Yep

we did it. Finally, we're doing it. Yes. I'm excited about that. We can put our swords back in our scabbards, or we can- That's right. That's right ... we can just move forward, yeah. So Juma. People see it. It's all caps. Mm-hmm. The assumption is this must be an acronym for something. Mm-hmm. What is Juma? That's a great first question.

So Juma Ventures. Juma is a word in some African dialects that could mean work, or in some other dialects it could mean family. So we are essentially strengthening family through work, and so that is kind of the core of our value at Juma Ventures, and I'm sure there's some cool acronym we could reverse engineer, but that's, that's where Juma comes from.

Yes. There we go. Yeah. Now, now we have an understanding. I'm sure, n- not unlike me, somebody's listening and going, "Oh, I had no idea. That's kinda cool." Beautiful. Yeah. You know, what a great interpretation and application because it's an education when you learn what the name is all about. Exactly, yeah.

Jeff Holden: You've been with the organization for a little [00:05:00] over 10 years. Mm-hmm. Starting in Seattle, and now you're running the Sacramento region. Juma's been around for a while, almost 30 years, maybe 30-plus at this point? Correct, yeah. I love the orientation story. Sure. I want you to share it because I think a lot of people, as they listen, they certainly will reflect on part of what that all means, and they'll understand it.

Stephen Norris: Yes. Well, so in 1993, years and years before I had started with Juma, it started in San Francisco. Juma operated a Ben & Jerry's franchise in the city and directly employing folks who had been dealing with homelessness. So homeless individuals were the employees at this Ben & Jerry's franchise being supported by Juma and surrounded by a wraparound supportive services.

And so our, the details have changed in those 33 years, but the core of our mission of providing supportive employment in really cool, creative, amazing environments [00:06:00] to individuals with barriers has stayed constant throughout. So Juma, we're a, what's known as a nonprofit, a social enterprise, or an employment social enterprise.

So we own and operate businesses, but with the express purpose of employing low-income, what we, we term opportunity youth individuals. So the enterprise part is us running the business. The social, social enterprise part is us focusing on employees rather than profit. And then the employment social enterprise, there's plenty of social enterprises out there, but we are focused on employing those young adults who are gonna be benefited the most by this transformative experience.

Jeff Holden: And what's interesting there, aside from the aside I'll take is- ... so many of us love Ben & Jerry's flavors. Mm-hmm. You know, they were creative and still are very unique in their mixes and blends of, of different ice creams. I know you are all thinking, "I could do a Ben & Jerry's right now." Especially if it's right after lunch.

Yeah. [00:07:00] But Using a homeless population as the workforce was really progressive. Mm-hmm. And, you know, sadly, we're still dealing with that homeless situation. A lot hasn't changed in terms of the sheer nature of the necessity of having to he- help people find housing or- Yeah ... housing insecure. Absolutely. But with a job, that changes everything.

It does. And you've migrated now to youth, which if we do this correctly, those youth will not become- Exactly. Yeah ... a part of the system of, of homelessness. It's a preventative measure, and it's so critical for young adults who are on the edge of becoming adults, and this is the moment where they can fall through the, the cracks- Mm-hmm

Stephen Norris: or succeed. And so we're trying to catch them right before that and give them the school, the skills and the, the toolkit, the core competencies to kinda launch into a career, sustain themselves and their families, [00:08:00] and really just thrive, and that's our method for breaking the cycle of poverty. So I mentioned that we started back in 1993.

Since then, Juma's been able to serve over 10,000 young people. They've earned over $15.5 million in wages, which is so cool. Which gets put back into the economy. Exactly. And speaking of that, overall, our employment social enterprise has earned $44 million in enterprise revenue, which again, feeds back into the economy, but also feeds directly into our programming.

So any dollars that we make from those, and we can dive into the details, but that's gonna go right into the supportive kind of piece of all of our programming to make sure that these young people are staying retained, succeeding, and then going on to that next amazing opportunity. Let's talk about that.

Jeff Holden: Who are the people you serve? And I don't mean the businesses yet. Mm-hmm. We'll get to that in, in the funding conversation. But Who are the youth? Ab- absolutely. What, what do they look like? Yeah. Our, our young people are 16 to 24-year-olds. [00:09:00] All of them are low income, and here in Sacramento, I believe we're at maybe 97% have an additional barrier, and so that could mean about 80% of our young people, uh, receive government benefits, 47% have been, have had involvement in the foster care system.

Stephen Norris: Hmm. Uh, 64% were out of work before coming to Juma for maybe up to six months or more. Many of them have been out of school, have mental health or trauma issues, faced homelessness. So they have barriers. I, I believe here in Sacramento, 86% of our young people have more than one of those barriers 'cause so many of them are, are co-linked.

Um, oftentimes if you're coming out of the foster care system, you're gonna be low income, get government benefits, and, and maybe struggle to, to find work, and it's such a... It can be just an overwhelming burden for a young person without the right supportive services. Let me ask, in terms of the services for not only the youth, but how does one find Juma?[00:10:00] 

Yeah. There's a few different ways, and it's, it's cool every time. I would say the primary way is that we build really robust and specific partnerships with amazing community-based organizations in the field. So We bring in young people who may be receiving services from probably such past guests as, uh, Wind Youth Services and 3Strands Global Foundation, the Department of Human Assistance, Sac Job Corps, Lutheran Social Services.

So these organizations are doing some amazing work with the same population, but they're focused on a different aspect. So maybe, uh, for example, um, they might be providing housing assistance for a young person, or they might be providing really intensive case management and supportive services and transportation support, or maybe providing mental health or other kind of supportive things.

But the number one thing those young people are saying is, "This is incredibly important. Now I want a job. I want to get out of these services and support myself." And so they'll go through [00:11:00] these really incredible job readiness programs, and then where the kind of the ground drops is that then they don't often get actually employed after that.

'Cause the young people, the entry labor force is, is so competitive and just such a kind of turnover heavy- Mm-hmm ... space. That frustration can set in for a young person, and you can only be turned down from that system so many times before you kinda just give up. And so where Juma comes in is we build these really cool partnerships to provide really wraparound true, like holistic supportive services for a young person and guarantee that first job, or maybe the first job that a young person's kept for more than a couple weeks to those, those folks who are coming in from these programs.

Now, I would say the other way, and, and actually one of my favorite ways, is that a Juma young person, we have had amazing kind of youth surveys where 100% have been satisfied, 97% they would say they would refer a [00:12:00] sibling or a peer to, to Juma services. So to us, that's, that's a glowing source of pride and, and a key measure of success.

And so we see that a lot. A Juma young person will be in the program for maybe six months and say, "Hey, I've got a sibling, I've got a cousin, I've got a couple classmates who've been asking. They wanna join. How do they do that?" We take it from there. Oh, that's the best testament you've got. Yeah. That's- You know, that, that referral system is, is the most credibility because it's from student to student, peer to peer.

Jeff Holden: Yeah. I, I can't help but smile every time- Yeah ... I talk about it. Yeah. It's very cool. Yeah. I like that, and I know on the website as I watched a couple of video clips that are up there- Mm-hmm ... just rolling, you can see the pride in that, that And whether it be a student or a youth, the, the, that young person, as they're reaching across the counter, you know, it's, it is just the smile, you captured it beautifully, in their sense of accomplishment- Mm-hmm

Stephen Norris: which is a big deal. Yeah. And th- that's the true heart of Juma, is that it's coming from a youth-centered place. The young people are [00:13:00] putting in the work themselves. They are investing in themselves, and we're there to support, but they are the ones on this journey. And, you know, we'll mention it several times, but juma.org is where you can find those, those very- Right

cool videos and, and check it out. And yeah, the peer learning that goes on, we're operating in a, a cohort recruitment method, so young people kind of join as a group. And if you can cast your mind back to your first job, typically you didn't know anyone you were working with. Maybe you had some similar backgrounds or experiences, maybe not.

Maybe folks were 20 years older than you or, or five years younger than you. But at Juma, everyone's kind of coming from a similar space and can relate to each other and use each other to kind of grow and, and find unique ways to, to solve the challenges that they're all facing. So it's really amazing to see these young adults kind of lean on each other, lean on Juma, but, but really just kind of take that innate skills that they have and take them to the next level.

Jeff Holden: I think you said something really important there. For [00:14:00] all of us, if you just think back to that first job, and I know however you're listening, whether in a car or as a, uh, you're gardening, whatever it may be, and you think about that first job, you all kind of smile because it was, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I did that."

Yeah. Or, "How did that ever work out?" Mm-hmm. And push it forward to that's where these- Yeah ... youth are today. I don't wanna say kids because you have- Right ... up to 24-year-olds, but that's where they are today. And for some of them, they may be 21, 22, 23. It's their first job- Mm-hmm ... because they just haven't had the opportunity or the access.

Yeah. And that's significant because we want them to be employed. And I would say for a shockingly high number of us, that first job is nowhere near where we end up in our career. You know? It's, it's not an indicator of our career passion, but it is the learning ground where you learn so many things that are core competencies that are [00:15:00] gonna carry you through the rest of your career that you cannot advance, no matter how many certificates or degrees you might have.

Stephen Norris: If you can't master that first job, you are not gonna last in the workforce. That's correct. Yeah. The organization operates on three pillars. Mm-hmm. Earn, learn, connect. Would you walk me through those three pillars? Absolutely, yeah. So I think we really start with, and they're often so codependent, but earn and learn.

Here, let's focus on Sacramento. So here in Sacramento, we're actually celebrating our 10th anniversary. Mm-hmm. We came out in 2016 at the invitation of former Mayor Kevin Johnson, many community leaders, and some amazing folks who, as the DOCO and Golden 1 was being redeveloped, they wanted young people to make sure they could be employed.

With all the public dollars going in, they wanted public benefit to also happen. And so Juma was invited out because we'd been doing this work in [00:16:00] San Francisco and other locations to focus on youth employment. And so That is kind of the, the key to Juma is that, that earn piece of we're the direct employer, like I mentioned.

We're offering young people a job, and typically it's in food concessions, guest service, a variety of kind of like entry-level spaces, but in the most fun environments possible. So a young person is joining Juma and starting work at the Golden 1 Center for every Kings game, for like Disney on Ice and all the third-party concerts, and they're doing amazing work at concessions, at the coffee carts, as guest service participants.

And we've been able to expand those job opportunities from that first space at Golden 1 in 2016 to all of the Sac Republic FC games. And we have a new partnership, I'll talk much more about that, but at Emperor's Tavern with some amazing partners at Alchemist CDC. Young people have worked at all the River Cats games and A's games up in Toyota Amphitheatre and Wheatland for all the summer [00:17:00] concerts.

So that's kind of the entry point to, to Juma for a young person is, is employment, and so that's, that's that first pillar of earn. In addition to that, while they're going through the job, again, we're a nonprofit. We're providing a host of supportive services around and outside of the job, and some of those have stipends to make sure that young people can participate, stay engaged, and really maximize those things.

So they're not only earning on the job, but they're earning in the programming, and that's kind of where learn kicks in. So learn also has a couple different options where they are going through these really robust set of workshops and one-on-one sessions where each one is incentivized so that they can make sure they can attend.

So they're, they're earning while they learn, but they're really focused on financial literacy and capability. You're getting your, your first paycheck. Now let's figure out how to do that. So many of our young people are practicing budgeting for the first time. They-- shockingly, a shocking amount of young people have [00:18:00] experienced like fraud.

You know, folks have opened credit cards in their name. They're often deeply in debt, and it is an overwhelming and crushing space to be. And so a lot of our programming is focused around bringing in professionals, trained coaches, and our incredible Juma staff to make sure that Juma young people can, can carry through that.

We're focusing on career readiness employment and education exploration, career tours, doing resumes, mock interviews, applications, connecting into trade schools and the amazing system at Los Rios Community College District. So they're earning and learning kind of throughout all at the same time. They're also learning on the job.

There's so many key skills, just showing up on time, working with a supervisor, working with a team, working in a very high-paced, very fast and energetic but often stressful environment. You might be in the back- Especially for somebody who hasn't really been in that environment- Exactly, yeah ... ever before with structure and discipline- Yes

and teamwork. And again, like I said, th- those are [00:19:00] such critical skills that we learn and then we kind of forget that we've learned them because they're so embedded, but you have to master them before you can move on to, to your next thing. And so there's those kind of, some might call them soft skills, I, I like to call them core competencies.

But then there's other on-the-job experiences, uh, we pay for and provide all of their food handler's cards, their alcohol beverage service certificates. Young people are gonna be learning food service specific things, knife skills, things like that to, to make sure that they are ready for, if they, if they so choose, a career in those industries which are, they're amazing careers that I think many people overlook.

But also just the, those core competencies to take them to their next level. So that was a very long-winded way of describing Earn and Learn. And then Connect to me is the, is the most important part. So if you go through the JUMA Yo- program, you're a young person, you've been working maybe for six months, maybe for a year, a year and a half at the Golden One Center and at Sac Republic FC matches and at Emperor's Tavern.

You've gone through [00:20:00] all our workshops. You've received stipends and received our, our matching amounts. You feel like you're ready to take the next step. How can our JUMA staff, who do amazing work, prep you for that, make sure you have the skillsets for that, help you with your applications? Maybe it's to back to school, maybe it's to your next job placement.

And then as a young person exits out of the JUMA program, we make sure we stay in touch with them and, and keep some retention services for up to 90 days, 'cause that's really the key de- delineator of success. If you can make it at a, a placement for 90 days or more, you're so much more likely to stay there to really gain that benefit, not to drop off.

And, and so we have that additional 90-day kind of backup space to make sure that young person stays connected and is thriving. So Earn, Learn, and Connect, it's kind of like the core of everything that we do, and it's the reason why JUMA young people are, are having such great experiences. Like I mentioned, the JUMA alumni in the- Mm-hmm

Jeff Holden: community have some way of sticking together. I don't know if you have a, a [00:21:00] cohort of people that maintains relationship with the organization or if they just do it inherently because they all worked together at some point. I would say all of the above. Let, let's put a pin in that 'cause we're gonna talk about that later- Okay, good

I know for sure, yeah. The Coordination with other organizations, the collaborative part of what you do. You mentioned already a couple, and Alchemist CDC is a, an organization that I really like what they're doing in the community, especially because they've got the Emperor's Tavern. It just ties in beautifully to their mission.

Stephen Norris: But they are working with other nonprofits through their nonprofit. Yes. And that's really what we're seeing so much more of today. For the organizations to survive and thrive, they really need to be collaborative. Mm-hmm. Um, even grants are looking for collaborative opportunities, not just sole entities.

Jeff Holden: They wanna see you working with others to fulfill that grant application, whatever it may be- Absolutely ... and the provisions. Tell me some of the organizations that you work w- y- you mentioned a couple. Let's wrap a few more in there because it's so significant in this conversation, with every conversation we have with every organization, [00:22:00] what that looks like and how you're doing it, because it gives the listener the opportunity to understand the integration in the community that you've got.

Stephen Norris: Yeah. We-- I would say collaboration is kind of baked into our cultural DNA. It's, it's how we do things. We want to focus and be extremely successful, laser-focused on a couple things, and know that for everything else that we'd like to see done, there are amazing organizations already out in the field doing that work.

And so let's tie together our services and use kind of the group ecosystem to really provide this holistic support. So I'm gonna kinda work backwards, actually. So we have some, some really cool employment partners, primarily those stadiums and, and sports teams that I mentioned and the concessionaires located there.

That's where we get our enterprise contracts and are able to employ young people. And so making sure that we are operating as like, you know- I think there's a misconception of nonprofits, and we [00:23:00] are trying to avoid that misconception and operate as the leanest, best business we can so that those folks at the stadiums and at the sports teams continue to invest in Juma and the young people and, and expand our opportunities there.

There's also community partners, SMUD comes to mind, who help us with new initiatives and providing, like, green energy career path exposure. Like, there's so many new green energy jobs in the, the space. And for a young person, you know, maybe they think, like, "Okay, I could install solar panels," and that, that-- but that's just, like, scratching the iceberg.

It's... I kinda liken it to, like, a young person is working at all the Kings games. Like, maybe before they jo-joined Jumo, if you ask them, "What are the employment opportunities in the NBA?" It's like, "Well, I could play, and maybe I could be a referee." But there's such a whole ecosystem and so many types of jobs around the NBA, and just the Golden 1 Center itself, so that exposure is, is so huge.

And so we rely on a lot of employment partners to, to continue to do that so that a young person is not only [00:24:00] ready but, like, aware of the host of opportunities out there. Education is a huge piece of our mission, so we're building relationships throughout the Los Rios Community College District and at trade schools, so Cosumnes, American River College, Sac City, Sac State.

We wanna make sure that for a young person who maybe didn't succeed at school, maybe they've, they've dropped out or, or maybe they're on the cusp of, like, "Do I need this or not? I really need to focus on getting money, supporting my family. Education is a luxury." We, we can't treated like that. Our young people don't have the luxury of choosing between school and work.

And so navigating that space, the bureaucracy of the community college district and, and college is, is tough and overwhelming for a young person, so we're there to support with FAFSA applications and getting services on site. There's a host of really great basic needs and supportive services at, at college campuses that once a young person can tap into and, and enroll, they're eligible for, and so navigating that system.

And then I think our core partners are those recruitment [00:25:00] partners that I mentioned. And so again, I'll, I'll reiterate, 3 Strands Global Foundation, they really focus on a population of victims of human and sexual trafficking. Mm-hmm. So many of those young adults are in the foster care system as well, and so they are looking to get out of that space and work a legitimate and consistent job and, and Juma's a, a key piece of that.

And we can also use the 3 Strands amazing team of like, "Hey, we haven't seen this young person for a few days. Is everything okay? Have you been able to contact them?" And that kind of ability to triangulate a young person, so many of whom their... The cycle of their lives in, at this point in their time of their life is ups and downs of stability and then crisis, and stability and then crisis.

And so when we can track them down so much quicker in, in crisis, that means we can get them back on track to stability that much quicker. And on the other hand, we can also say, "Hey, this young person has been killing it at the Juma job. They've gone to all their workshops. They're never late. We're about to promote them into their next leadership position.

Next time you see them, give them a [00:26:00] kudos and like let them know that they are doing amazing work, and let's keep this like virtuous kind of feedback cycle going." Mm-hmm. And then we're kind of, our newest and most exciting, I would say, current partnership, as we've, we've kind of discussed, is with Alchemist CDC.

They do amazing work and they recently re- relatively recently reopened Empress Tavern on K Street. It had been dormant for a few years. It's this really cool space, and they are operating it now, and they were gonna go through this robust kind of workforce program and figure out how to do that. And they said, "Wait, what are we doing?

Let's partner with Juma Ventures and give all of the front service and some of the back service, uh, back-of-house spaces to Juma employees, so that they can learn and grow in kind of an even more elevated environment and expand on the skills that they've been really Finalizing in the stadiums, but then take them to the next level at Emperor's Tavern.

And so that's been a really cool partnership. It's, it's still [00:27:00] growing. We're, we're constantly in contact of how can we improve things. They're just as laser-focused on, like, let's do the things that we excel on right, and let's lean on our partners to do what they do well, and just keep making sure that we're not in each other's way, but we're moving in sync and parallel to, to really focus on the success of our young people.

Jeff Holden: And so that's been really exciting. Well, and as a, an adjunct to that- Mm-hmm ... I can compliment both of you on that because there was a third nonprofit that was having an event there. Mm-hmm. Association of Fundraising Professionals. I happened to be there for that event, and it was seamless. Oh. I mean, e- every...

Stephen Norris: It was... The food was wonderful, the, the way it was delivered and presented, and you would never have known that it was anything but a professional staff. Well, for those listening, I have the biggest smile on my face. Yeah. I love hearing that. And that's the true testament. I mean, for our young people, it's all about focusing on them and their skills and their growth, but at the end of the day, a key metric is how [00:28:00] is that performance being seen by the folks who are attending these spaces and, and judging it not from like a, oh, this is a cool nonprofit program, but like a, I'm here to have a, a great time and I expect a, a quality level of service, and I've seen plenty of spaces do it well and I've seen plenty of spaces not do it so well.

Uh, you can enjoy yourself at these events. You can not enjoy yourself at these events. And so if a young person is creating a special time, a unique and fantastic environment for, for folks attending these events, that's, that's like one of the biggest wins and it, it's a testament to the determination and the growth of our young people that they say things like that so.

Narrator/Ads: Well, and it's neat to see that that's three nonprofits in a, in a circular motion- Yep ... changing the economy. We'll return with more from Stephen Norris of Juma right after we break for a moment to allow our partners to share their service to our local nonprofits. I'm James Beckwith, president and CEO of Five Star Bank.

We're dedicated to supporting [00:29:00] nonprofit organizations who advocate for the strength, resilience, and vitality of those they serve. When nonprofit organizations thrive, our community does too. By supporting the Nonprofit Podcast Network, Five Star Bank is amplifying the voices and meaningful impact of our nonprofit community.

We're Five Star Bank, a trusted nonprofit partner. How can we help you? We are really excited to be part of the family and contribute to the work that you all are doing. CXORE provides fractional and interim executive services, along with comprehensive back office solutions that go into our client sites and do the work to give them the capacity they need in order to move through transitions, whether that's planned or unplanned, or companies also work with our accounting and finance, back office solutions, human resources, technology, and administration.

The reason why our back office solutions add value is because we save them [00:30:00] time and money, anywhere from twenty to thirty percent of what they would spend on that back office solution. We work in it so they can actually work on it. CXORE.com and contact me directly at D-T-E-A-T @CXORE.com. If you're interested in learning more about how CXORE may help your organization, visit CXORE.com.

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 alternate investments.

If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottthomas@captrust.com. [00:31:00] At Western Health Advantage, healthcare isn't just a service, it's a shared value. As a nonprofit leader, you need a health plan that understands the importance of mission-driven work. Western Health Advantage is a local, not-for-profit health plan that supports organizations like yours with affordable, flexible coverage options for your team.

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Jeff Holden: We're seeking proposals that support zero carbon workforce development, affordability and community resiliency, economic development, and STEM education. SMUD Shine Awards are competitive and funds are limited. Submit your proposal by July thirty-first. Learn more at smud.org/shine. And Stephen, funding is, is obviously a critical part of all this.

Stephen Norris: Mm-hmm. And your funding's a little bit different. Yep. Tell us a little bit how the organization is funded. Yeah. So as I mentioned, as a nonprofit employment social enterprise, a part of our, our revenue, I would say about typically a third, it, it's gonna vary year to year, but is from our enterprise revenue.

So I think maybe the best way to view it is we kind of act as a pseudo-employment, uh, like not quite a staffing agency, but, but similar to that, where we are the employer of record, we're handling all of like the paperwork, the insurance, liability, [00:33:00] training, supportive management, all those pieces, and then providing that, that service for folks at the Golden 1 Center, for example.

And then so we'll receive dollars from the concessionaire or the sports team for that service, and then we put that right back into the program, typically directly into youth wages, but for whatever is gonna best support our young people. And so enterprise revenue is, is kind of a unique and key source.

I think the concept of social enterprises is slowly but surely kind of steadily creeping upwards, so we love it when we s- we hear of other kind of unique and really innovative social enterprise models, and this is ours. And then the other sources of funding to support, you know, the, the workshops, the stipends, the food handler cards, the staff who really make sure that our young people are, are safe and secure, those come from kind of your more standard usual suspects of, of nonprofit funding.

So individual gifts, Big Day of Giving, we've been a participant in events. We run an annual event, uh, Bright Futures. We receive government funds. We [00:34:00] receive corporate and philanthropic grants from institutions, major gifts. We try and make sure we have a diverse set of funding sources so that no one thing can set off all, set us off course, and we're really just making sure that in the long run, we are sustainable and can grow and not only maintain, but expand our impact with young people.

Jeff Holden: Well, and what's interesting there, these jobs need- To be done. I mean, the job- Absolutely ... has to be performed- Yeah ... whatever- Yeah ... the location you're at, so that employer is going to pay somebody to do it. But by working with you, by working with Juma, they know that that is an investment in our youth- Yes

number one, but that it's not a for-profit. The money's not being pulled out for a profits perspective or a profit benefit. It's being put back into the organization for the benefit, again, of the youth and the programs. Yeah. So it's a, a really interesting dynamic. And the other thing I think that's important is [00:35:00] that employer is just writing a check to you.

It's not, "Oh, I have to worry about the, you know, the liability and the back-end services-" Mm-hmm ... "of that individual and the insurance and everything else." No, that's what you're taking care of for them. Absolutely. It's really simple. I need 22 people. Here, can you provide it? Yes. Here's a check. You nailed it.

Stephen Norris: Yeah. And I wanna add on to your first point about they're supporting a nonprofit and these young people. There, there's absolutely a, a piece of that, but I think from a lot of our employer partners' perspectives, they're running a business, and they need to make sure that their margins are being met, that they're not only breaking even, but earning a profit, and that their guest service scores and all of their internal metrics are at the highs and the qualities that they expect.

And so- Be competitive with anybody else. Exactly. Yes. And so we are essentially taking off stuff from their plate, like in a industry and kind of a level of so much churn and kind of onboarding and letting go and onboarding and letting go, that's a huge expense for them. And so we are [00:36:00] taking that off their plates and, and making sure that the level of quality and service and kind of business acumen is still there, but they can, yeah, like turn their brain off from so many other things.

So we like to call it like a, a double bottom line approach. Yes, they're-- we're doing some good for the community, and, and we can maybe shake a hand and, and get some PR, but also we're running a business, and, and that business is number one. And so Juma's making sure that our young people are prepared to, to meet that level of quality, and, and they do, and they exceed.

Jeff Holden: I'm gonna think it might be easy to identify success. Okay. But how do you? What is your gauge of success in the community? What does that look like? Yeah, I, I'll start with kind of the boring answers, what we, we share with, with funders, and then, uh, I'll try and tell some stories that really kind of connect that and- Yeah

Stephen Norris: and share, like, what that actually means. So primarily, you know, we're, we're focused on... We have a really robust learning and evaluation team. They do amazing work to, to measure it, not only the actual impact, and then are we measuring the right [00:37:00] impact? Can we measure more to really capture a youth success and, and transform and, and continually, like, tinker and, and tweak our programs to, to best serve young people.

And so hour- we track hours worked. Typically, we don't even count a young person as being served until they've worked 15 hours or attended one workshop. But ideally, we're looking for, in Sacramento, around 75 hours for a young person to work. We want all of their workshops complete so that they can gain their stipend match.

We want them to set up direct deposit. So many of our young people are right in that target demographic of check cashing places. Right. And so- Credit cards, et cetera, et cetera. Yep. That, that's a part of that financial literacy is, is connecting them to direct deposit so that they can have immediate access without spending all these crazy fees and stuff.

And then we're tracking the knowledge gains, not only at work, but in their workshops. We're tracking how many folks have gone through resume reviews and mock interviews. And then our biggest kind of impact measurement is the number of young people who have connected to their next employment or [00:38:00] education placement, and then how many of them have been retained at, at that after 90 days.

Mm-hmm. And so there's plenty of numbers and, and we do a lot of really great quantitative kind of analysis of that, but the qualitative, the stories part is, is what really makes me smile and shine. And so there's a few different examples of, like, what does success look like at Juma. And so within the program, I'll call this young man Ark.

He does some really cool work. When he first came to Juma, one of the shyest young people I'd ever met, difficult to, to maintain eye contact, just really reserved. Made one friend at Juma, slowly started to open, slowly started to kind of, like- Test himself, challenge himself with the support and the encouragement of his Juma social enterprise manager and program coordinator.

And now he can master any of the back-of-house stuff, but he's also one of our best front-of-house people. He's charming and making jokes with folks and having eye contact and doing that trick where you, you... as soon as you learn a person's name, it's locked in and, and you can just kind [00:39:00] of build that relationship moving forward.

Jeff Holden: And it's been so cool to see. And like that's, that's a huge thing. Like pulling out of that introverted shell is so, so difficult and so- Especially for a youth who's been challenged along the way. Yeah. This is not your normal situation. You're putting him- Mm-hmm ... into an environment that's really, really different.

Stephen Norris: Yeah. And so- And it's high pressure, you know? I, I love that. The stakes are real, yeah. Another one of my favorite stories, it's been a little while since I did direct service work, so I'm kinda casting back to, you mentioned I, I started in our Seattle location at Juma, and so we had a amazing young woman, Ajane, who we quickly realized her talent, promoted her to one of our youth manager roles, overseeing really critical parts of the organization and being that kind of first line of support for young people coming into the program.

She was amazing. She is now going on to really amazing things. She's running her own business. She's focused on real estate, and she runs a, her own nonprofit as well, focusing on increasing rates of Black homeownership, [00:40:00] specifically in Seattle, but she's, she's growing fast, and, you know, that's just kind of like makes me smile just thinking about, like, I guarantee she's making more money than me, and she's probably making just as much impact as when she was a youth.

But she's giving it back too. Yeah, exactly. That's what's amazing. Yeah. She's got the full 360 of- Yeah ... earn it, give it back, the cycle moving forward. Yeah. And then I'll close with another current young person here in, in Sacramento, Chris, who Started in the program, we could i-immediately tell he was, he was there and he was ready for every shift and was like, "Give me as many hours as you can.

I'm, I'm here to hustle and, and make some dollars." He mastered both the core competencies and some of these really tricky hard skill sets very fast, and then he was like, "All right. I'm ready for my next challenge. You know, I gotta sustain myself. I gotta keep growing." We connected him with a few different opportunities.

One of my favorite is that he tried the SMUD line worker apprenticeship. I think within a minute found out he was terrified of heights and said, "Nope, this is not for me." But the fact that he just did that was, like, amazing. [00:41:00] And he got permanently hired on at the Empress Tavern to basically be their sous chef main person prepping everything, and just recently got a new job as I think he is on track to be the sous chef for, like, a very big retirement community, which is full-time work, very lucrative pay, and, like, a huge career track.

Jeff Holden: And, you know, he's continues to, to pop in at Juma shifts, but he's, you know, just a model of success for, for a young person who is coming into the program is like, "I'm ready to do this. I just need a little bit of support, and I'm gonna take it the rest of the way," so. Well, and the fact that this is a 30-plus year organization tells us that the consequence of your efforts is favorable and it's feeding the economy.

It's, it's feeding these youth. It's doing what it's meant to be doing. Mm-hmm. Or you wouldn't be here, you know? Yeah. So th-those are great stories. In terms of the vision One of the, the questions I like to [00:42:00] ask is, if somebody came and said, "Stephen, I like what you're doing. Give me a reason to unequivocally support you.

Stephen Norris: Let me write you this, this huge check. It- whatever you wanna do." What would you do? What would be more of or different than? I would say, you know, we talked about our three pillars: earn, learn, and connect. I think where we are as an organization, we're in a very rapidly changing workplace environment. You could probably say that truly of any time, but it feels even more so at this particular moment.

So what we wanna do is expand our opportunities to the next step for Juma young persons. So we're hard at work building new entrepreneurship labs to so many of our young people. I would s- I know that 45% of youth overall aspire to some sort of business ownership. Here at Juma specifically, 24, 24% of the young people who are on a college track report are looking to, to obtain a business degree.

And so that [00:43:00] sense of, like, having control of your destiny, of directly being in charge of a business really appeals to young people, and there's so many new ways to, to successfully do that. And so we want to give them the tools to really make sure we're expanding that. Another thing is, is expanding our social enterprise model into what we're calling, like, a youth employment placement agency.

So not only having the core of our stadiums and other, uh, spaces where Juma young people can work, but operating a true kind of staffing agency where any employer can say, "Here's our needs. Here's the minimum qualifications and what we absolutely need to have done." And we can say, "Yep, we got nine young people that we can get to you.

We got 12 young people that we can immediately staff and fill in those kind of key gaps that are happening all the time and that prevent businesses from really thriving." And we can be that, uh, kind of employment placement piece that, that locks and, and solves so many problems for these folks. And then creating new industrial pathways.[00:44:00] 

And the fun thing about Juma is that with our four markets, we're headquartered in San Francisco, we have another site in San Jose, in Seattle as we've mentioned, and here in Sacramento. And each market- So they must start with an S. We're, we're open to, to, to wherever. But we-- each site is, is unique in it, in its geography and its kinda landscape and business landscape.

And so in, in Seattle, we're piloting programs to, to place young people at like aerospace and, and- Corporates. Ex- exactly, yeah. Boeing's headquartered there. There's so many thriving businesses and there's so many career opportunities. So expanding the exposure and connection into those industrial pathways and f- and figuring out the apprenticeship models t- that will lead to success specifically for our young people that, you know, have been skipped over for, for so many years.

And then finally, I kind of alluded to this a little bit, is we are trying to figure out and are determined to make sure that AI, you know, a huge disruptor right now and it's gonna continue to affect Not only the [00:45:00] workforce as a whole, but especially like entry-level workforce opportunities. We wanna make sure that young people are prepared for this rapidly changing environment and have the skills to succeed and thrive.

And so building AI kind of programming into all of our pieces to make sure that young people have the skillsets to be ready, know what pitfalls to avoid. There are inherent risks with using AI, and we wanna make sure that they can avoid those and be savvy with how it, it leads to them adding value as an employee or, or a business owner themselves.

And then how can we use AI to ma-maintain the internal operations of Juma so much more efficient, efficiently and, and then that is just gonna lead to more innovative ideas and expansion. So your blank check, which to whoever you are, thank you, is gonna really lead to expanding the opportunities to connect young people into their next phase.

And really, again, I wanna hammer home that our mission is to break the cycle of poverty. And so that is the way to do that, is to give the young people the [00:46:00] skillsets, the confidence, and the know-how, and then let them thrive and flourish on their own. Because they will figure it out. Absolutely. Once, once they've been trained appropriately, they've been engaged, and they've been immersed in the process.

Jeff Holden: I mean, it just happens. Yes. And to your point, I was waiting. If you didn't bring that AI up, I was gonna say, "What about an AI program?" And, uh, you know, like- That's so important ... the three stories that I mentioned, the kind of key thread is just resilience, you know, the, the growth of self-confidence in oneself, the ability to challenge yourself and, and really once you've mastered those, those things, you're always gonna need a basic level of support.

Stephen Norris: That's true for, for every one of us. But you're gonna, you're gonna be able to figure it out and, you know, maybe fail a few times but succeed twice as much and keep moving forward. And that's where we're looking f- to, to really hammer home. So those expanding opportunities, entrepreneurship, staffing agencies, and laser-focused on, uh, preparing young adults for the, the AI workforce, that's w- that's our [00:47:00] next step, and that's where we're actively building towards.

What about today? Today's greatest need, as you see it, the immediate sense of urgency, what is it? Yeah, that's a great question. I'll break it into two parts. For our young people, the need is crystal clear. At a time when resources across the board are falling for so many different aspects of social programming, but youth programming specifically, their needs are spiking.

So it's, it's a really critical kind of gap right now, specifically in, like, case management and mental health support. Housing here in Sacramento is, is a, it's a key piece. Childcare, so many of our young people are young parents themselves, and that, again, that just means that they have that much more incentive and, and imperative to support themselves and succeed.

And so... But childcare, you know, folks can, can wait two years on a waiting list to, to get access to, to childcare opportunities. So the youth need is very transparent. I would say our need, Juma, and, and my own need is, is [00:48:00] just continuing to have folks learn about Juma, this is a great opportunity, but share our, our mission and share with your communities.

Uh, figure out how to volunteer and, and we'll talk more about how to do that. Donate, join our... explore and potentially join our local advisory board. Just become a Juma champion wherever you are and however you feel best equipped to do that. That would be my number one need is just let's expand our community, let's expand the number of people who see and recognize our young people, just as young people, but then also as young people doing amazing work in this program.

Jeff Holden: All right, now we're gonna take a little bit of a break. We're gonna go a different direction. Okay. This is, this is beyond the mission. Oh boy. This is for people... If they haven't gathered, you're very passionate about the organization and the, the accomplishments and the impact that you're making. Mm-hmm.

Which we expect. But somewhere there's a Stephen in there too that's a human being who does his own thing- That's true ... and it's not all wrapped around the organization, so- This feels like the hot seat. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nah, not so bad. We'll start out [00:49:00] easy. All right, so, so early bird or night owl? Night owl, but I'm trying my best to work towards early bird.

Stephen Norris: Yeah. Last show you binged or maybe are watching now? I had a blast watching Widow's Bay on Apple TV. I'm not a, a horror guy, but it had the right amount of comedy and just a tinge of, of scares. And they're pushing it heavily right now, too. It's a blast. I mean- Yeah ... it, it's the one thing that it is worth being pushed heavily, I would say.

And it's actually on our watch list as well. Go-to comfort food? Spaghetti, pizza. Just give me some carbs. Guilty pleasure? I would say currently it's just watching as many soccer games as I can. Oh, boy. You're s- you're not alone, either. I heard that the viewership for the soccer game d- is rivaling NFL. That might be a cop-out, too.

It's not a really guilty pleasure, but it's, it's- It's a good one, though. Yeah, yeah. It's a good one. Yeah. How about favorite place to escape, even if it's just for a moment? I'm actually heading out on a backcountry camping trip, uh, around Lake Tahoe this weekend, [00:50:00] so yeah. I think specifically we're going to Desolation Wilderness, but maybe my favorite pl- place in the world is, is Yellowstone or, or Yosemite.

Those two spots are amazing. Two Y's. So somebody who likes nature and hiking. Yep. What's a perfect day off look like for you? Let's see. I think just a day off, you know? Just, just turning, turning your brain off and letting yourself relax and, and doing whatever comes. Is there anything that you do on a daily or even weekly basis that just keeps you sane?

I play the drums in a couple bands. This is, uh, maybe the worst kept secret, uh, that I've, I've been slowly sharing with folks. And so just trying to, to get out there and, and play as much as I can by myself, with my band in practice or, or at a show. And now that's a hidden talent that I might have asked, but you just shared it-

so I appreciate that. Sure. When you were a kid, what'd you wanna be? An NBA player, for sure. Yeah, I was right around the kinda peak Michael Jordan era. [00:51:00] In terms of people, what quality do you appreciate most? I think- Just empathy mixed with, like, dedication. Like, the ability to put yourself into someone's shoes is so critical, and then just having the, the fortitude and determination to just keep going in the work that you do is, is so impactful, and I love it.

Last question. What's one small thing that's been giving you hope lately? I think it's just seeing young people at work, you know? Uh, JOOM is a, is a huge part of my life and, and our, our whole team's life and, and when a young person... You can see a click, and then you just see the whole trajectory change is, is so impactful and, and gives me hope and, and not only am I confident like, "All right, this young person's got it.

Jeff Holden: Let's keep going," but th- but then it just gives you the, the energy and the fortitude to tackle the next young [00:52:00] person as, as when they need it the most. And you're in that space. We all look at that and wonder, "Boy, what about our youth? What about our youth?" You're seeing them. Mm-hmm. You're seeing them do what we expect them to do- Yeah

Stephen Norris: and graduating, not in the truest sense of the word, but graduating into the workforce. That's great. Well, essentially from the transition from young adult, which we, we term our, our 16 to 24-year-olds, to, to an adult. That's really where the, the moment clicks and just kind of is just a constant surge of energy around here.

Yeah. Yeah. So Stephen, somebody wants to support the organization. What is the best way to learn more, find out more, and get engaged? I would say l- number one, the absolute easiest and most fun way is when you're at an event, when you're at a Kings game or, you know, a concert at Golden 1 or, or you're attending an Emperor's Tavern event like you just did, find a Juma young person.

They have very bright hats, uh, that, that say Juma on top. I think you should see our, our logo, uh, here, and just say hi and learn about, you know, what, what makes them [00:53:00] tick and, and their, their progress at, at Juma and just in life in general. Seeing our young people in action is, is just so affirming, and I think that's the easiest way to do it.

So number one, just say hi to a Juma youth. Find them. They're not too hard to find, yeah. And then once you've done that, reach out to me. We have some really cool volunteering opportunities. You can help us participate at mock interviews and, and help with resume prep. We do a, a really cool volunteer, like, networking event where young people can practice those very scary but very essential networking skills with a host of professionals in their community who can give them kind of that, that next step up and, and make those connections, you know?

I hear so much, like, it's the number of spokes you have on your wheel that is really gonna change the shape, and so become a, a member of this Juma community. And then, like I mentioned, we're celebrating 10 years, so at Emperor's Tavern on October 15th, come out and join us for Bright Futures. That's our annual event.

You'll hear some amazing youth stories and get to meet them in person, along with our incredible team [00:54:00] and our host of amazing Juma champions. Help us raise some money to support young people and have a blast while you're doing it at a very cool venue with very cool partners at Alchemist CDC and the Emperor's Tavern space.

Jeff Holden: And that Bright Futures is every year in October? Yes. Is it... That, and that's your big fundraiser of the year? That's our fundraiser f- here locally in Sacramento, yeah. Okay. Okay, good. I'm so excited to hear your connection to not only our employer base in the community, but more importantly, how you're working with some of our really solid nonprofits.

Mm-hmm. Many that serve similar youth and youth i- in very, very different situations- Yep ... that are very competent and capable And willing, given the right opportunity. Yes. And you're that migration from some of those organizations to the structure of work- Mm-hmm ... and what that all looks like. So for me, that's, that's the future of our nonprofit ecosystem and of our economy because without the youth, there's, there is no future- Yes

Stephen Norris: right? Yep. You know, deep [00:55:00] collaboration for the greater good of the constituent, the beneficiary. For that, Stephen, thank you. How, how big is your team? How many people do you employ? Locally, we have five people, um- Okay ... here in Sacramento. I think we're around a 30-person agency nationally, if you wanna call it that.

Sure. Um, but yeah, a- an amazing group of individuals. We rely and lean on each other and just everyone makes each other better. They're... It's a great group. Well, for you and that, that small group, you know, servicing so many kids and nonprofits and programs, you know, thank you. Thank you for what you do in the community and for what the team does.

I should, uh, shout out a few people 'cause they might kill me otherwise, but- Do it ... but shout out to Claire and Donna, Carlos, Steven, and Valeria. You guys are amazing. So you guys are the true geniuses here and making sure that Juma stays chugging and growing. Well, thank you. Let's go make something better.

Amazing. Thanks so much, Jeff. Appreciate you. This episode has been powered by SMUD, Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Shine Awards program benefiting nonprofits for energy [00:56:00] efficiency. Apply today. Thank you for listening to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. We hope today's episode inspired you and gave you a deeper look into the work of our local nonprofits.

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