Inclusive Excellence: The Pioneering Journey and Impact of PRIDE Industries

What if you could help create a world where people with disabilities thrive in fulfilling careers? We're going to discuss just that. Join me as I sit down with Jeff Dern, President and CEO of PRIDE Industries to uncover the inspiring journey of the organization, a pioneering nonprofit with a mission to foster employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. From their modest beginnings at St. Luke's Church in Auburn, CA to becoming a formidable social enterprise under the leadership of Mike Ziegler, we discuss how PRIDE's core values of inclusivity, teamwork, innovation, and tenacity drive their impactful initiatives, including an exciting new cybersecurity training program.

In this episode, we highlight the profound community impact of PRIDE Industries, where approximately 50% of the workforce consists of individuals with disabilities. Hear touching stories that illustrate the joy and sense of fulfillment these employees bring to the workplace, like Lemuel’s daily jokes. We explore how PRIDE's services in facility management, logistics, and electronics manufacturing not only generate significant revenue but also support individuals with disabilities through comprehensive support services, such as transportation and life skills training.

We delve into the critical partnerships that enable PRIDE to offer essential services, emphasizing the vital role of government agencies in transitioning young people from school to meaningful employment. Jeff Dern shares insights on the success of PRIDE's "I Am Able Disability Job Fair" and the importance of inclusive hiring practices. As we look to the future, we envision a world of expanded resources, allowing for even greater training and employment opportunities, ultimately fostering stronger, more resilient communities. Join us for this compelling conversation on building a more inclusive, sustainable and engaging workforce.

To learn more about PRIDE Industries, visit.   https://www.prideindustries.com/
To comment or subscribe to The Non Profit Podcast updates, visit.  https://www.nonprofpod.com/  (Be sure to check out the microphone where you can leave me a voicemail message to comment on our work, leave a question to ask nonprofits or leave a message for me.)
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
(00:02 - 00:34) History and Success of PRIDE Nonprofit
(13:07 - 14:11) Empowering Lives Through Disability Inclusion
(18:21 - 20:30) Empowering Individuals Through Employment Opportunities
(25:24 - 26:53) Supporting Employment for Individuals With Disabilities
(32:36 - 33:09) Annual I Am Able Job Fair
(36:40 - 37:28) Supporting People With Disabilities Through Foundation
(41:45 - 42:39) Efficient Growth in Support Services
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
(00:00) PRIDE Industries
PRIDE Industries promotes inclusivity in the workforce, emphasizing teamwork, innovation, and tenacity through initiatives like cybersecurity training.

(11:14) Impactful Collaboration Among Disab

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Transcript

Jeff Dern: [00:00:00] We have people with chronic illnesses, we have people with PTSD, we have people that have had addictions. They find hope in an opportunity with a company like Pride. And then we give them the confidence. We help them build their job skills and get them some work experience and they can really take that anywhere they want after they've got their start.

So that's really what we're trying to do is, is create those opportunities or life changing and give people hope where maybe in traditional employment settings they might be looked over.

Jeff Holden: Hi, I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a 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 [00:01:00] provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

Our goal is to help build stronger communities through shared voices, and to both encourage and support the growth of local nonprofit organizations through podcasting, thanks to our founding partners for their foresight in helping us transform the way conversations start. 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. Before the episode begins, I wanna take a minute to share that.

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You can [00:02:00] find us now@nonprofitpod.com. That's nonprofit pod.com. Easy peasy. You'll also notice on the website a microphone in the lower right hand corner. By clicking on it, you'll be able to leave me voicemail messages, maybe a question you'd like me to ask our guests, or just a comment on the program. I may even play your message in an upcoming episode.

I look forward to more engagement with you as we continue to grow and better serve our nonprofit community. And now here's our episode. We know the strength and quality of an organization can be determined by how it treats its employees, the culture, the mindset. And since this is a program about nonprofits, the mission, vision, and values of the organization as well.

With inclusion at the forefront of many hiring decisions today for an organization to have been building its foundation on that very premise, inclusion over 57 [00:03:00] years ago speaks volumes. Nearly half of the 4,000 plus employees of our featured company in this episode have a disability of one type or another, the president and CEO of this organization.

One of the top 50th fastest growing companies is recognized by the Sacramento Business Journal in 2024, has been with the company for the past 16 years. Most recently as Chief Financial Officer. He became president in 2018 and has clearly been focused on the task at hand, growing the employment opportunities for those with disabilities.

He's a graduate of Sac State and is also involved on various boards, including the California Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. It's an honor to have Jeff Dern in the studio to share with us the incredible contributions pride industry is making to both our community and creating jobs for those with barriers of entry to gainful employment.

What Pride is doing is nothing short of miraculous. [00:04:00] Jeff Dern, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Jeff Dern: Thanks, Jeff. So great to be here with you 

Jeff Holden: and we are so excited to get into this conversation. I just can't wait. Pride is no newcomer to the nonprofit scene. You've been in the region now for ING 60 years.

It's an incredibly tenured organization. It's one that's not only survived, but gone way beyond thriving. Would you give us a brief history of its origins in that little church in Auburn? 

Jeff Dern: Sure. Brief as in, we got an hour here, right? So, okay. We got a 

Jeff Holden: lot more questions 

Jeff Dern: though. All right. All right. We'll squeeze in a few more questions.

Jeff Holden: Perfect. 

Jeff Dern: I mean, pride has such a storied history in this area. You know, founded in Placer County in Auburn, California at St. Luke's Church, which is still there today. Just down the street from Placer High School. A group of parents with young adult children with disabilities. Wanted to create an opportunity for them to connect with their community in a meaningful way, to gain greater independence through work, through employment.

So they created, pride Industries was a grassroots organization for many years, [00:05:00] and as such, it was predicated on fundraising to create these jobs. It made ceramic ashtrays and wind chimes and other arts and crafts type things, and that was the origins of our business. Fast forward in 1983, when Mike Ziglar came to town.

Was introduced to Pride, brought on to do some business development because the board of directors wanted to convert this grassroots organization into a social enterprise to create real contracts and create real jobs with sustainable employment. So Mike had been a very successful business person, came to town, met Pride, and it was very infectious for him.

When he would sell work and bring it back, he was a hero. I mean. He was literally being cheered on and he knew that the employees at Pride could do the work, and it was just a matter of building those customer relationships and earning the contract and the confidence with those customers. So that was our early roots.

All the way up to 1983, Mike started building the [00:06:00] business. One of our early customers was Hewlett Pack. You know, a very difficult customer to come by nowadays. We've been working with Hewlett Packard for about 30 years, and so we can get into the different businesses that we go here. I'm 

Jeff Holden: excited to touch on that.

Jeff Dern: Yeah. In just a few minutes. But the social enterprise concept, that was really what the board and Mike brought to life at Pride, and it's been nonstop ever since. Just growing. 

Jeff Holden: You know, that little church pre Mike went to a mega church post Mike, you know, just by the presence of not only. Ziglar, but what he did with the organization to get it to where it is today in terms of its perception, its contracts, its awareness, and.

The core tenets of the organization. I, I know those have never changed, but so much more has happened that it's mind boggling. Even for me, after you go to that website and see all the things that you do, all the things that you're engaged in, it's, it's complex, it's complicated. It is a huge, huge entity.

How would you characterize today the mission, vision, [00:07:00] values, purpose of the organization? 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. Today it's, it's very identical to how we were founded. Now we affect the mission a little bit differently. But the mission has always been to create employment for people with disabilities. People with disabilities don't have always the same access to employment or the training.

Pre-employment skill development. And so that's what we're all about. We've always have been, it's been our true north. So from running our businesses to creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities at other organizations, our mission's fulfilled either way, and that's the most exciting thing to all of us.

You know, we love to grow our payroll. And expand our operations to prove that that model works. If we're helping another organization become more inclusive of people with disabilities, and we're still very successful and we can expand and create more opportunity for a lot more people that way. The values of the organization always been about teamwork and innovation.

We're very entrepreneurial. Mike really injected that entrepreneurial spirit into the organization, and even since Mike's passing in 2020, we've continued that legacy of [00:08:00] growing and thinking entrepreneurially about our businesses. And then we're very tenacious, right? One of our core values is tenacity.

We, we know how to solve problems and we won't give up until we solve that problem. And oftentimes the problem is, you know, how do we create more access, more training opportunity, more entry points for people with disabilities into the workforce? The vision that's really simple and clear, it's to create access for people of all abilities to achieve their employment goals.

And we really live that out. As you saw on Monday, 

Jeff Holden: it was, it was amazing that tour. I just, I it's, I'm speechless on some of it, you know, just what I saw and the size and the, the, the girth, which we're gonna touch on in just a second in terms of looking at your annual report, which is, is something I was prepping with the number of programs you mentioned on the mission and vision and, and the values all still doing what they started in, you know, 57, 60 years ago, to continue those into the [00:09:00] number of programs that you've now got.

Yeah, we take the rest of the episode. It's so, so deep. In terms of the contributions you make to the people with disabilities and the organizations that support them, if you had to distill it down to just last year, what would you say might be the most significant accomplishments? 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. Well, thanks for, you know, you've, you've seen the innovation with your own eyes when you visited.

Mm-hmm. By the way, I still get goosebumps when I walk through our factory or any of our work sites across the country. We're in 16 states. And it's consistent. The culture of inclusion is so consistent. So over the past year, we continue to try to expand our reach and, and reach new parts of the population to make sure they know about our services.

One of the things we're doing that's really exciting is a cybersecurity training program, right? We're trying to create careers in high tech cyberspace, and these are careers that can launch at over $80,000 a year annual salary. I mean, what incredible job opportunities. [00:10:00] And oftentimes people with disabilities just don't know how to access that training.

So we've created a training program. We're gonna be piloting it this year and then expanding it from there. So that's super exciting. Uh, 

Jeff Holden: and, and that's why all the security I would imagine when we come in, it's like Fort Knox, you coming into the organization, I gotta get this badge, I gotta get my picture taken, I gotta sign a sheet.

Yeah. Well, I'm just, I'm just coming to pride, you know, what is the deal? 

Jeff Dern: Well, yeah, and that's another thing we just added in last year, separate from the c Cybersecurity, actually uhhuh, but it's another security feature, right, is our, our IAR and uh, military aerospace industry expertise and qualifications.

So we're taking our little old manufacturing plant right here in Roseville, California. That's where our headquarters building is. We've done medical device manufacturing, video display. All kinds of different types of electronics manufacturing. And now we're really launching into the military aerospace defense world.

Uh, which is a huge market, right? And so we expect to grow. So what you experienced was our ITAR compliance, international trafficking, and [00:11:00] arms and munitions. It sounds like a scary thing. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. 

Jeff Dern: But working with our defense partners, that's a must have. Bar to, to, to clear in order to work with them. 

Jeff Holden: And I would imagine, just because they don't want anything being copied, photographed, whatever it is, as they're walking through the plant.

Jeff Dern: Yeah. A lot to classified and confidential type information. So you have to demonstrate, you have the physical security and in your computer systems and workflows. So 

Jeff Holden: that's, it's just so neat. And it also makes you feel kind of special 

Jeff Dern: right as you're coming in. Yeah. It's a really cool space to be in. 

Jeff Holden: Yes.

You gave us the tour. Earlier this week, and I don't think most people comprehend the magnitude of the size of just that facility, but that's 180,000 square feet. That is a huge, huge facility. It's probably commensurate to some of the largest grocery stores if you can comprehend that. Or a big Walmart or something.

But that's not the biggest plant. You have another 300, almost double that somewhere else in Roseville for Hewlett Packard. [00:12:00] We're going to play some of the audio that we got from that tour and it, I'd like just to listen for a second. 

Pride Guest 1: I work in this place 11 years. 

Jeff Holden: You've been here for 11 years. 

Pride Guest 1: Yeah. You 

Jeff Holden: must like it.

Pride Guest 1: Oh yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And what do you do, Cameron? 

Pride Guest 1: I did some packaging and I also did the labels. Okay. You know, the labels are called the serial numbers, 

Jeff Holden: so if I need to know where something is or what it is, I can Thank you for putting the label. 

Pride Guest 1: Oh yeah, it's, it's really a good thing. And see here, these are what? 

Jeff Holden: Oh yeah.

So those are June of 20, 24, huh? 

Pride Guest 1: Yep. And this is where all, where they scanned them. Okay. Yeah. That's an important job. Yes, it is. 

Jeff Holden: So, Kevin, what, what is it you're doing here? These look like pretty complicated pieces of equipment. 

Pride Guest 2: Yeah. Well, we have to test the cold engine, see if it's running the right procedures and.

Stuff like that. 

Jeff Holden: And [00:13:00] how long have you been with Pride? 

Pride Guest 2: Oh, since high school year. Since I think oh seven. 

Jeff Holden: Oh my gosh. That's, that's, I want to go coming up on 20 years. Pretty soon. 

Pride Guest 2: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: What do you like about it? 

Pride Guest 2: Work mostly. Work like, like complicated things. 

Jeff Holden: Good for you. Thank you for doing what you do.

Pride Guest 2: You're welcome. Thank you. 

Jeff Holden: So let me, what, what are you working on here? 

Pride Guest 3: Um, right now I'm actually doing some inspection on this just to be sure that, you know, um, we're, uh, trying to get this machine working right. So that's like one of the main things that we do here in this work cell. And 

Jeff Holden: so you're like the guy that makes it perfect?

Pride Guest 3: Um, pretty much, yeah. So like, like, um, not only that, I'm, I'm one of the two people that assembles these machines here too. And, uh, if there's any, any, um, error codes that, you know, pops up, then you know, I usually do what I can on my end to, uh, figure out what the problem is and then whatever the problem is, I, you know, I'm, I, I do what I can to fix it.

Jeff Holden: Good for you. Thank you for doing that. And how [00:14:00] long have you been with Pride? 

Pride Guest 3: Um, I've been here since, uh, February, 2011, or, uh, not, not 2011, but 2013. 

Jeff Holden: What is it that makes pride so unique in the employment of those people with disabilities? 

Jeff Dern: Well. You said it's, I mean, expanding the business is amazing, but pride's culture of inclusion.

Every new employee at Pride Industries gets disability inclusion training. Wow. Wanna teach them. How do people with different disabilities interact with you? How do they learn? What is some of, how do we learn about their lived experiences? So we try to help our new employees walk in their shoes, and our new employees include people with and without disabilities, but we're.

Fully looking at disability inclusion training across the board, then our managers and supervisors get additional training. So that's really special when you think about wanting to belong in your workplace. And when an organization really embraces that knowledge and continuous improvement in the culture [00:15:00] to be more inclusive, it's, it's really amazing what can happen.

So we bring people into our workforce that other companies haven't either attempted to employ or didn't know how to exactly interact and help that person be successful. The next thing we do, besides that culture of inclusion and training. We prac, we had it to practice. Somebody with a disability may just need an accommodation to help them do their work better.

What we find is when we create that reasonable accommodation for our employees, actually that non-disabled part of our workforce benefits too. It's really about innovating, right? If we think about creating a better workflow, a better process, a better way of training on a a particular job, everybody benefits from that.

And so it's just knowing that people with disabilities can do anything. It really matters that they work in a place where they can bring their full self to the job and know that they're being proactively supported to be successful. 

Jeff Holden: What I noticed is, as I approached them, somebody would tell me their name and I, I go to [00:16:00] say hello, the.

The kindness almost, you know, the welcoming of me with a microphone in their face, which could be awkward or inconvenient or you know, frightening to some and every one of them a, a handshake, the eye contact, the comments. And I don't think I talked to anybody that was there in any term, less than 13 years, which is amazing.

Yeah. You know, to think about, not to mention I wasn't sure if I was approaching somebody with a disability or not. I wouldn't have known until we got into the conversation a little bit and, and I have to laugh. You heard Il on the, uh, on the audio that we played, but I didn't play all of it because he has a joke of the day.

Jeff Dern: He has a joke of the 

Jeff Holden: day, which everybody around him waits for the joke of the day from il. 

Jeff Dern: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: And I, I thought that was just so cute. And, and, and how normal that is in a workplace environment and to give people with disabilities that same semblance of what everybody else has. 

Jeff Dern: Yeah, they're, they're [00:17:00] absolutely an equal part of our team, and, and many of our employees are joyful.

Some of our employees with disabilities bring a true joy to the job. They're just so excited to be there, so thankful that they have a place where they truly belong, and they know that people around them care about them and are helping them be successful. Leal has that joke of the day. It's something we, we do at Pride.

We have the kind of corny dad joke kind of thing going. 

Jeff Holden: It 

Jeff Dern: was, and so he's, he's embraced it and, uh, every time I see him in the hallway. Say hi. Do you wanna go to the joke of the day? Yes, I do. 

Jeff Holden: Yes, of course you do. Of course you do. 4,500 employees, give or take, of which about 2000 are employees with disabilities.

It's a mind boggling number just in and of itself. It's also $460 million, give or take in revenue that passes through the organization, at least in 2023. How is the revenue generated, Jeff, what do you do that allows you to get to such a, uh, prolific amount? Yeah, I mean, you're one of the biggest businesses in our region.[00:18:00] 

Jeff Dern: It's, it's pretty amazing. We've consistently grown year after year. The revenues are contractual based revenues. We're, we're providing valued services to our customers in the facility management space Logistics. Electronics manufacturing and, and those businesses and themselves have different disciplines, different service lines.

We do packaging fulfillment within our logistics, right? We also move product around the world for companies like Hewlett Packard and we have these very sophisticated operational. Capabilities, facility maintenance side of our business. We're in the federal, state, and local government space. We have industry partners out there in the private industry world, public companies we work with.

There's really no bounds to what we can actually achieve. And when companies work with us, they get that little extra something. They know we're competitive, we're gonna deliver high quality, great customer service. And they also know that they're impacting their community in a positive way when they work with us, because as you [00:19:00] mentioned, we're about 50% of our workforce are people with disabilities.

So I somewhat kiddingly say, we're the Paul Newman's brand on the shelf, right? Because you've got different choices of salad dressing out there in the world, and don't you want to buy the one that actually gives back and does good in the world? And I think we're we're better than the Paul Newman's brand, right?

Because we're changing people's lives when we 

Jeff Holden: right. 

Jeff Dern: Employ somebody with disability or help them find a job at another organization. We've just completely changed the trajectory of their life, the independence they gain, the confidence they gain. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: It's not just about the paycheck, it's about how they now are empowered to really achieve their goals.

'cause they have a place where they belong. And when you think about impacting that individual, you're also impacting the family. 

Pride Guest 2: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: I mean, just think about that exponential impact. If we're impacting families, we're impacting the community in a positive way. So really everybody wins when you partner with Pride, whether it's to hire contract for labor or hire individuals with disabilities, or you contract with us for your [00:20:00] service needs.

And our goal is to make sure every customer has the best experience possible. That we're alongside them as an advisor in a consultative fashion, helping them solve for their needs that help them make their business run better. 

Jeff Holden: And it does go beyond just the employment part of it. You help with housing, with transportation, with every aspect of that individual's need, whatever it may be to get to work.

Jeff Dern: Right? We look at complimentary services while we're not in residential, as of now, we know residential partners and we interact with 'em frequently, right? We do have the transportation. We also provide training on living skills. How do you make sure you're able to cook for yourself, your personal hygiene, balancing your, your checkbook, your finances, how you navigate the world outside of where you live, you know, whether it's transportation or commuting on a bus.

Walking, we help people with these different life skills, and we believe that's fundamental to success on the job, that you can take care of yourself outside of work as well. 

Jeff Holden: Let's see. Cooking, [00:21:00] balancing the checkbook. I can sit through one of those classes, do a couple of those too, right? 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. We got a class for you.

Jeff Holden: You touched on collaboration, you kinda just went there, but let's talk a little bit more about that because one of the things that we look at through the network is how do organizations collaborate with each other and you as this huge platform that we're so benefited by sitting in our region certainly touches a lot of the other organizations just to name a few who, who do you really work a lot with?

Jeff Dern: Well, we work with anybody that is working with a, a population of people that face barriers to employment. Mm-hmm. And that can be foster youth. Right. That can be trafficking survivors. So three strands. Mm-hmm. We have a partner partnership with them over the years. It could be disabled veterans. So, you know, volunteers of America does amazing work with veterans.

Sometimes we have people that will cross over there. So just to name a few, but there's a lot of nonprofit organizations out there helping people, and when it comes to the employment aspect of their journey, [00:22:00] they oftentimes will know to call Pride and say, Hey, now in addition to those nonprofit organizations, the community, we have government partners that really make what we do go.

And that would be the Department of Rehabilitation. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: The Alta Regional Center, which serves the Sacramento region. That's through the Department of Developmental Services. So there's these wonderful services offered in the state of California and other states through these government agencies, and they refer people to us that they're assessing the needs and not only pride, but other organizations that provide similar services.

But we have these deep, very rich partnerships with those agencies, and it really connects the dots to get people the services they need. 

Jeff Holden: I have to share the story because you're standing at the Dory as we're talking. When you came in. And one of the people in our building walks in sees pride and says, oh, I'm looking at the organization for my son.

I have another gentleman [00:23:00] that works here who has also looked at Pride for his son. So you just outta three people in our office right here. Two of them have considered pride for their children, which it really is amazing to think we don't know what people's issues are and we don't know where they are with their children and or other family members.

But to know that there's an organization here that services and can help, and not only. Does it on its own, but collaborates with so many different organizations that might be the feeder to, you know, a job which just changes everything once people gain that confidence and, and learn a skill and feel comfortable and cared for and wanted is so, so huge.

Jeff Dern: Yeah. And there's so much word of mouth really matters. And Kat, who's here in the studio with is Cat Madre the. Senior Director of Public Relations for Pride. She does such a fantastic job working with our media partners like yourself and making sure we can get the word out. 'cause it really is just, if someone hasn't heard of Pride Industries and the [00:24:00] services we provide, they may not know that there's hope for their situation or their family member situation.

That a lot of youngsters growing up with disabilities and what's gonna happen once they, you know, surpass the school age years, right? Mm-hmm. What's next? Mm-hmm. And so we offer that great hope that there's a, there's a world out there that really embraces each individual where they are, helps them with setting their own goals that are right for them personally.

Not somebody else's goals that are set for them. And then how do we take those steps toward greater independence? 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: Uh, take those steps toward, you know, a paycheck and a job and a, a place where you can work and call, call home for years to come. 

Jeff Holden: And that's what so many of us are looking for on the outside.

And we see these unfortunate situations of, of homelessness and, and job loss. When in fact what pride's doing is, is preventing. That 'cause it's possible that some of the people that are working for you could just as well be on the street in a really unfortunate situation. 

Jeff Dern: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: Yet [00:25:00] they've had the, the good grace to have found pride.

Jeff Dern: Everybody needs a job and a home. Right? Yep. And needs someone somehow to support yourself. And so it's true if someone slips through the cracks and the safety net doesn't catch them. I mean, a job means the world to people who, you know, oftentimes have a hard time getting through the interview. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm.

Jeff Dern: Right. So we wanna make sure they not only get through the interview successfully, that takes building their skills, but also bring, it also takes broader awareness from the employment community. Like, okay, there's individuals out there that may not present the same as my traditional hires. Mm-hmm. But they're gonna do a really great job for us, maybe even better than the the next person.

And we need to make space for that. 

Jeff Holden: I'm gonna give you just a real quick shout out. You said Kat, and that's an unusual name. Most people may think, well, cat, I know a, I knew a Cat Kat Madre. She was a radio host on. Radio stations in the community for so, so long. And that is the same Kat Madre who is sitting here, who has now gone from broadcast radio [00:26:00] into a social enterprise cause, which is, is very neat.

And I haven't seen her in many years. So Kat, it was great to see you come in. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Pride Industries is truly one of the first social enterprise organizations. And you mentioned that a little bit earlier. You, you're emerging one of the largest and most efficient of its kind almost 60 years ago to today.

And now it's a phrase. This, you know, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, we get lost many times in the tax status of an organization. You know, it's a 5 0 1 C3 or if it's a for-profit, it, it's no different. And, and the significance of those $460 million non-profit or, or four $60 million for-profit business are one in the same.

Their outcome can be very, very different, and their purposes can be very, very different, but they're both huge. When you're competing for a bid, how do you position Pride Industries versus a for-profit company that may be vying for the same opportunity? [00:27:00] 

Jeff Dern: I wanna answer that question, but I also wanna say there, there is one big difference, and that is, as a nonprofit, a 5 0 1 C3, you know, we, we do have that tax status that is allow us to reinvest capital into the mission.

Right. So there's no private ownership in our, our organization. So it actually becomes harder to grow the business organically, right. Versus taking investment, uh, dollars from, from investors. So it's a little bit different model, but when we go compete, it's very much on par, like you said, with how a for-profit competes.

However, we do champion that when you work with us. You're gonna have a, a deeper social impact because of the way we create employment for people with disabilities. But we're going on quality, we're going on price, we're going on. What have we done lately for our other customers that we serve in those industries?

Right? And what are our qualifications and what are our references? And so we, we have to build the business very similarly in that sense, to a for-profit. And then we're not shy to, to share the impact that we [00:28:00] have on the community. By the jobs that we create and the training programs we operate. 

Jeff Holden: So, Nadine, thank you for this, this special tour.

What, what is it we're looking at? I'm amazed at the. Intricacy and the requirement for this to be assembled by hand? 

Pride Leadership 1: Yes, most definitely. Our assemblers right here are working very hard work, assembling our components that, uh, they build up to the units for our GR two cell. And every little intricate details components, electronic components that go onto these boards are specifically hands-on and require a lot of attention to details.

Jeff Holden: It's just amazing when we think everything's so automated to know that. We still do need people to do so many things. 

Pride Leadership 1: Absolutely. And it takes a lot of training and a lot of experience, and a lot of dedication and determination to make sure that we have all these assemblers produced, the production that's needed in order to build these assemblies.

Jeff Holden: You mentioned when we were on tour, and Kat had mentioned [00:29:00] even today, just some of the stories of the people that are working for Pride. A blind and deaf facilities person in Arkansas. That's just amazing. Gi Give me some examples of some of the, the people that you've seen that you would think, there's no way yet here.

They are not only employed, but gainfully employed and independent and earning a living. 

Jeff Dern: Uh, to, to really great examples, one is a more recent Brandon who's an employee on a contract we have with the federal government. The US Immigration and Citizenship Services, we pro helped process visas for the US government, and Brandon came in.

We've had this contract for a couple years. We did a new employee orientation, welcoming our new employees and his parents were there to kind of witness this event and participate in it, and they were in tears. Their adult son who had never had a job like this, pays really well, has great benefits, and now he's gonna be gainfully [00:30:00] employed.

And now he has the opportunity that door's been open for him in a way that hadn't been in that way in his life up till now. And not only did he get the opportunity, but he's hitting it outta the park. I mean, he's our highest producer on this contract. And it's just for the past year, for the past quarter.

So we, we get to go out there and share awards with our employees and we were at a site visit, visited Brandon and his and the team, and he was just grinning ear to ear. He, he's just so thankful to be part of something where he gets to go to work and, you know, have that independence, but yet he's also appreciated and rewarded for such a great job.

Another quick example is young man named Anthony who came to one of our janitorial contracts. And his first entry level job, he had applied it as he would say in his own words, hundreds of jobs, McDonald's and Walmart, and you name it. And he couldn't get through the interview process. He's an individual with autism.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: Gotta start with us. Within a couple years, he was already a lead. And then one time when I was [00:31:00] out at the site, he says. Hey, I wanna let you know I just bought my first house. What? 

Jeff Holden: What? 

Jeff Dern: And I was astonished. I'm like, wow, that's amazing, Anthony. Congratulations. You know? And so there's just all of these different stories.

We have people with chronic illnesses. We have people with PTSD, we have people that have had addictions. They find hope and an opportunity with a company like Pride. And then we give them the confidence. We help them build their job skills and get them some history there, some work experience, and they can really take that anywhere they want after they've got their start.

So that's really what we're trying to do is, is create those opportunities or life changing and give people hope where maybe in traditional employment settings they might be looked over. 

Jeff Holden: That's, that's amazing to think that the program has generated so much community change. You know, and, and the fact that we need to accept and look at these ways to do things differently.

I mean, we hear the complaints of unaffordable housing from college graduates [00:32:00] with master's degrees, doctorate degrees. Mm-hmm. Yet here's somebody who is just doing all the right things, has done all the right things to get himself in a position where he can afford to buy a house. So, and 

Jeff Dern: sometimes you have multiple degrees and multiple master's degrees or a doctorate degree, and if you have a disability, that significantly impacts your ability.

To communicate, concentrate, you know, learn on the job skills. You could be very accomplished as a student and still mm-hmm. Not find your place in the workforce. And you just need support. You need to have a, a company that probably come alongside you, kind of understand what your disability and what your challenges are.

And help you navigate that employment role till you have sustainable success. So it's, it is very possible. And many people don't, don't realize that there's that kind of support out there. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. I think that's important that we, we do Talk just a little bit about that, as you did, to know that this is not just for the people who have what we would consider the obvious disabilities.

There are so many people who are accomplished in different ways [00:33:00] that just can't get themselves into the workforce for whatever reason. And that. Disability that may be causing, that can really be supported by pride. 

Jeff Dern: You know, disability takes all forms. Mm-hmm. There's disabilities, as you mentioned, they're very apparent.

That's kind of the language we use is you can tell there's a disability visually, and sometimes it's non apparent. You really can't detect it. A learning disability such as, or even like dyslexia. You may not see it. Somebody may have epilepsy. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. It's 

Jeff Dern: not always obvious until they have a seizure.

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Jeff Dern: Right. There's also permanent and temporary disabilities. If you had a knee replacement, you're temporary disabled, you don't have your mobility. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: Right? But there are permanent disabilities as well, and. So we're looking at how do we break down the barriers to that person getting into a job that's a good fit for them, right?

We do look at fit, we look at potential and evaluate skills, and then we put plans in place for growing those skills and setting goals, you know, which is commonplace for any employee, 

Jeff Holden: right? 

Jeff Dern: It's no [00:34:00] different for somebody with a disability. They just may need a little extra support on the front end or along the way.

So whatever that level of support is that somebody needs. That's our job is to come alongside, identify what that support looks like, help the employer. Sometimes that's our management. That's sometimes that's another organization's managers help them understand how to make that that work. 

Jeff Holden: And I would imagine the discipline inside Pride as you go through any of the programs is probably greater than many other businesses, just by nature of the people that you're dealing with.

So no, you don't get to Slack off. You know, and, and, and, no, that's not okay. You have to do this this way. 

Jeff Dern: Oh, yeah. You, you gotta come back from break on time and lunch. You don't, you don't get a pass on that. Right. You know, we, we have performance and measurement process that every company has, so it's not about a break in that sense.

It's about giving somebody a, a hand up. Mm-hmm. Right. Not a handout. Not a handout. It's helping them become able to [00:35:00] be self-sufficient and independent. 

Jeff Holden: From independence to integration, we're speaking with Jeff Dur of Pride Industries, and we'll be back with more right after this. I was in the media business for over 35 years and had the great privilege of working with Runyon Saltzman, RSE, marketing, advertising and Public Relations.

We collaborated on many different campaigns, but their commitment to the nonprofit sector hasn't changed since their founder, gene Runyon started the agency. Over many years and many campaigns, Runyon Saltzman has been committed to improving lives by tackling California's most challenging issues, guided by research, informed strategies and insightful creative solutions.

RSE develops innovative communications campaigns that raise awareness. Educate and reduce stigma in diverse communities throughout our state and beyond. To learn more about RSE, visit r sse.com. 

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with [00:36:00] 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 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 

Jeff Dern: family. You can find [00:37:00] more@westernhealth.com. 

Jeff Holden: We didn't talk about something that we did address early on in our conversation when we were there earlier this week, and that was. The process, the method, the SI from siloing to integrative.

Will you address that just a little bit? You know, the old school way it used to be done to way, the way it's being done today at Pride. 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. Well, in the past, disability, employment often looked like people with disabilities coming to one work location and being part of a program that was a training type program, oftentimes being paid sub minimum wage.

And so the transition has been to. I'm not accepting that as the best we can do, but that we want people with disabilities to be integrated out in the community, you know, working alongside people without disabilities. So it's a, the change from a congregate sheltered workshop setting to a competitive integrated employment setting for [00:38:00] pride part in that transition.

We did eliminate the sub minimum wage pay practices many years ago, and we did that because we wanted to create. Better programs for individuals that may have a really high support need working, you know, a full-time schedule, even a heavy part-time schedule may not be the best thing for their development.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: We wanted to be able to help those individuals with more innovative programming that was focused on them being part of their community. And learning new skills and becoming more independent in their life overall. Now, oftentimes work is a part of that program, but not always. And so we made that shift.

When you go through our facilities now, you'll see a much more integrated work setting. And I think that's a positive thing. And for families that I've spoken to, they've often, you know, when posed with a choice, would you like your son or daughter to work in a shelter workshop for, you know, a decade or two or three?

And do the same kind of thing for that whole time period? Or [00:39:00] would you prefer they be in a program where they're gonna continually develop and, and have goals and achieve goals in advance in their overall level of independence? And hopefully that includes work, but it may not always. Usually they choose the latter.

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Well, and they get to grow in. Career position as well. You know, just as they progress and, and excel at something that they're doing, they get to move up that next notch and just like everybody else. Whereas if they're in a, you know, a housed situation, it almost becomes rote. You're doing the same thing over and over and over for.

How long? 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. In both scenarios you have a safe and supportive, a very positive environment. 

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Jeff Dern: But again, the motive is for us as a company, we want to help somebody achieve greater independence, and we want to do that on a progressive way. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: Where the supports are there, everybody goes at a different pace.

It's, it's very person, person-centered. It's individualized support services. But we do want to know where that person is today, help them set the goals for [00:40:00] tomorrow and, and show progress in, in developing to live their best life. That's our goal. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Well, and there's certainly levels of capacity and capability of any individual.

Jeff Dern: For some, there's greater barriers to, to entry and right to accessing those opportunities. So we're, we're really about breaking down those barriers and creating opportunities for success. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah, and that's why I wanted to, to make sure we got out every year in October, you host. An incredibly impressive job fair.

What's that all about? What's it look like? 

Jeff Dern: Well, Kat's jumping outta her seat. She knocked this one outta the park. Right? Thanks to Kat. She really led the charge, large number of team members on pride's team last year. That launched our first annual I Am Able Disability Job Fair. What that's about, we're about to have our second annual, as you just mentioned, in October, on October 9th at the Safe Credit Union Convention Center.

So we have a bigger venue than the first year. 'cause we're growing it and we have more employers coming. We have more people with disabilities expected to come. It's a job fair that's created [00:41:00] by people with disabilities, four people with disabilities. It's the most amazing thing because it's very inclusive.

It's very accessible. Last year we expected, I think about two or 300 people, we ended up with over 600 people a attend day. Oh 

Jeff Holden: wow. 

Jeff Dern: Now, thanks again to our media partners. They help us get the word out. Mm-hmm. And so there'll be a lot of opportunities for people to learn about this job fair as we go forward.

For the employers though, I just wanna highlight they get some free access to our, our training services through a webinar, and they get to learn about disability inclusion, what it means to be a disability inclusive employer, how to go through the hiring process, applicant process. So we distill all of those best practices down for them.

So when they come to the job fair, they're fully ready to engage this community that these amazing people come with excitement in their eyes. And I mean, I talked to several people, the first job fair, and it was, what does this mean to you to be here today? Well, I came here knowing that this was designed for me, so I'm gonna get a chance [00:42:00] to talk to every employer I want to talk to.

I'm not at the back of the line trying to squeeze my way to the front. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. 

Jeff Dern: I, I'm actually seen, I, I'm welcomed and I'm being engaged actively by these employers who want to meet me and want to know how I can possibly help their company. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. What a neat concept. You know, all the way, just all the way around.

The full 360 of it all is just, it's so engaging in every way with everything you do. 

Jeff Dern: It's exciting. It's, it's, it was exciting in the first year we, we were, it was kind of like a surreal experience. Like, this is really happening and so many people there and, and employers were just wonderful, you know, so it's a great opportunity for employers to say, Hey, I'm, I'm here supporting this and, and I believe in inclusive hiring and we're gonna open up our talent funnel to a greater number of applicants.

You know, at Pride we have about 10 applicants for every opening, and that's a phenomenal number. Oh, 

Jeff Holden: wow. I, I had no idea it was that, that 

Jeff Dern: huge, our, our talent funnel's very wide 'cause we're accessing. [00:43:00] Parts of the population that that at other companies may not get the shot, but these inclusive minded employers that come to this job fair, we couldn't do it without them.

They come and they're really excited to engage this community of people with various disabilities and know that they have great ability. They can be adding positively to their work culture. 

Jeff Holden: Well, it maybe pick up that other 90% that you can't absorb. 

Jeff Dern: Statistically, over 70% of people with a disability are not employed today.

Mm-hmm. That's nationwide. This is a staggering statistic that's more than double the rate for people without disabilities. And there's millions and millions of people with variety of, you know, different disabilities, different abilities out there that want to work, and they really just need to find an employer that understands how to meet them where they are and and help them become part of their team.

Jeff Holden: If money were no object, what would pride look like today? 

Jeff Dern: Meaning if we had an unlimited supply of capital to budget, yes. To build. Okay. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. You didn't have to worry about your salespeople going out and [00:44:00] selling and making sure that they got everything done. That's so you could fuel all the responsibilities that you have on contract.

Jeff Dern: Well, first of all, that would be an amazing world to be in, for real, right? 

Jeff Holden: Yes, it would. 

Jeff Dern: You know, what would we look like? Well, you know, we're at 4,000 employees. Uh, I think what we'd look like is we'd, we'd be able to access the funds in that world to create so many more meaningful training programs like the cybersecurity training program that we're doing.

Mm-hmm. We have a litany of ideas of where we can help increase disability inclusion in different. Types of jobs. You know, it's the, it's the old adage of scarcity of resources. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. 

Jeff Dern: You know, so we, we dream big and prioritize those opportunities based on our ability to fund them. We do have a foundation called the Michael Ziegler Pride Industries Foundation.

People can give to that foundation. It funds our helpline, our I am, I am able helpline where anybody can call and get free access to resources and services that we refer them to. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. 

Jeff Dern: You know, we have our training programs. And we have oftentimes a need [00:45:00] for funding that unfortunately, the government sources of funding don't fully cover all of the operating expenses to run some of our employment programs.

So that's why that foundation is there to, to fund the gap. 

Jeff Holden: Backfill a little 

Jeff Dern: bit. Yeah. Yeah. Every, every single dollar that goes into our foundation goes to supporting somebody with disability as Pride Industries funds the administrative expenses out our operating. Entity. So, 

Jeff Holden: which is something few organizations can say that a hundred percent of it goes back in a 

Jeff Dern: hundred percent.

Jeff Holden: Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. Back to reality, if you look at the organization today, what would you say the greatest need is as you look at where we are today and, and what's gonna be necessary in the future? I, 

Jeff Dern: I think it's really centered around this notion of educating and advocating about what disability inclusion looks like.

Mm-hmm. For those that are not. Familiar with a person in their life that has a disability or what their journey looks like. It's just a amazing thing when people, you know, have a son or [00:46:00] daughter or a family member with disability, they, they just instantly get it. And for those of us that maybe haven't had that experience, it takes a little bit more, you know, proximity to the cause.

So what pride could become is unlimited. You know, like I said, over 70% of people with disabilities don't have a job today. There's, there's just so many people that need access to work and would be great employees, but it takes the employers to understand how to engage them, how to employ them successfully.

And in some cases, that means a company like Pride needs to be engaged as well to help support that, that journey. So I think that's the thing for us as we look forward, is we can keep building our businesses and we will through great customer service and delivery on our promises, through our social impact.

But the more employers that really take a interest and actively say, this is something that we need to really study and include, they're gonna have higher revenues, higher profits, higher productivity and retention. [00:47:00] These are all things that have been studied and and are proven when you include people with disabilities in your workforce.

There's huge business benefits. Mm-hmm. 

Pride Guest 2: And 

Jeff Dern: so we wanna help companies and leaders understand just, you know, it's not difficult. It just takes some, some active attention. Intentional behavior shifts within the culture and you open up all these doors to these amazing employees, 

Jeff Holden: and I think that's the key word right there.

Intentional. 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: You know, intentionally looking at it and moving that stigma of disability to just acceptance, because we all have a strength and we all have a capability, and there's a. For almost everybody someplace. As long as we dismiss that, that stigma, and I think that's what you're doing such a good job of, because of the depth of employment, that that footprint of pride leaves and people realize, oh, well that was a, you know, a pride employee.

Jeff Dern: Oh, we, we approve every day. I mean, you, you can't look at. The scale of [00:48:00] our operations and say that disability inclusion doesn't work. I mean, it's absolutely correct. Proven every day we're competing for contracts, we're building new relationships every day. And, you know, we can't thank our partners enough because it, it takes those other organizations that understand the need and, and put wind on our sales.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Dern: And those amazing organizations where the values align with what pride's trying to accomplish in the world. Pretty magical. And we see more and more of that building so. That, that's why I focused on that point is the more leaders and organizations that continue to embrace inclusion of people with disabilities on the workforce, the sky's the limit for pride.

Jeff Holden: And I'm sure you can see that in the organizations that show up for the, the job fair. Exactly. They're making ament just by the fact that they're there. 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And that will continue to grow over time to a larger and larger, um, event that you host. Yeah. Because people are saying, okay, if so and so can do it.

Well, certainly we can, or if so-and-so is doing it and getting a better perception in the community because of their involvement and depth in the community, then [00:49:00] shoot. We're not as competitive. 

Jeff Dern: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: You know, we need to move in that direction. And then when they do, they realize what took us so long. 

Jeff Dern: It's pretty awesome to see.

Jeff Holden: Yeah, it 

Jeff Dern: really is. 

Jeff Holden: Well, there's no equal to what you're doing for. The disabled in our community, whatever that disability is. In all those other regions, what you said 16 states? 

Jeff Dern: Yep. Yep. All the way across the country. East coast, west coast, south. 

Jeff Holden: And while we can get lost in the girth of the company, which it is a big company.

You know, we need to remember that more money means more jobs for those with disabilities, more influence in our communities, a better, more sound community, because we have less people in vulnerable situations. And, you know, I, I wanna see it become a billion dollar company. You know, that's, we're, we're halfway there, right?

Jeff Dern: We're, we're gonna make it as, as much as that is a measure of success. You know, we're always about the number of people's lives that we're impacting, so we measure that too, right? 

Jeff Holden: Well, that means it's 

Jeff Dern: double bottom line. 

Jeff Holden: I would say with the efficiencies that come from going from half a billion to a billion.

If this was X number of people with disabilities, this will be x plus. [00:50:00] You know, from an efficiency standpoint, 'cause you'll figure out so many more things as you get to that, that level. You know, thank you so much for your generosity in giving us the time, both on Monday to walk through the facility as well as today.

And it, it's been an, an amazing discussion. You know, it's what the business and the community looks like when we do things with purpose and intent as, as we mentioned, that intentionality. So Jeff, thank you again and congratulations to you and the entire Pride staff and employees in terms of what you're doing.

Jeff Dern: Thanks, Jeff. Yeah, it's been a pleasure getting to know you and this has been a lot of fun. Thank you. 

Jeff Holden: Thank you.

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 [00:51:00] 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.

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