FILIPINO Advocates for Justice has been selected as a 2018 California Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblymember Rob Bonta. The nonprofit headed by its Executive Director Geraldine Alcid and other staff members joined 100 other nonprofit leaders at the State Capitol in Sacramento. The organizations were honored by state senators and assemblymembers during a celebration luncheon as part of Nonprofits Day on Wednesday, June 6.
FAJ is committed to representing the most marginalized voices in the East Bay’s Filipino community. For 45 years this commitment included organizing workers, creating programs for youth, and providing services to recently arrived immigrants among others. Filipino Advocates for Justice has recently expanded to civic engagement regionally, working to engage Filipinos in local and regional politics.
“Filipino Advocates for Justice’s mission for the last 45 years is to help Filipinos and others feel welcome and supported in the East Bay. To be recognized by Asm. Bonta, someone who came from our community and who intimately knows our work, is an amazing honor,” said Alcid.
“Nonprofits make California communities stronger, yet we’re often so busy that we don’t toot our own horns about the work we’re doing,” explains Jan Masaoka, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits). “California Nonprofits Day is an opportunity for our elected officials to recognize the good work they see nonprofits doing in their districts, and it also demonstrates the larger collective impact of nonprofits throughout California.”
California Nonprofits Day, now in its third year, was formally recognized by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 191, authored by the chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Nonprofit Sector, Assemblywoman Monique Limón (Santa Barbara), who spoke at the celebration luncheon. The day was organized by Assemblymember Limón and CalNonprofits.
According to “Causes Count,” a 2016 report commissioned by CalNonprofits, the nonprofit sector is the 4th largest industry in the state, employing nearly one million people. Each year, California nonprofits generate over $200 billion in revenue and bring in $40 billion in revenue from outside of California. The unpaid labor contributed by volunteers at nonprofits is equivalent to 450,000 full-time jobs every year.
