Erendira Hernandez | The Path Forward

6-minute read • Essential Management Skills for Nonprofits

• Essential Management Skills for Nonprofits, CSUSM, 2021
• MA in Sociological Practice, CSUSM, 2016
• BA in Sociology, CSUSM, 2014
• AA, Palomar Community College, 2012

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When Erendira Hernandez considers her family’s influence, she draws a direct connection between her parents’ community service and the career in social services that she shares with her siblings. As program manager of emergency services at Interfaith Community Services, she is helping to improve the lives of individuals and families in San Diego County while also carrying on a family tradition and shared passion for social work. In recent years, social service agencies like Interfaith have faced unprecedented challenges as COVID-19 upended lives and disrupted communities around the world. A management skills course offered by CSUSM and the Alliance for Regional Solutions helped Erendira empower her team so together they could forge a path forward.

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As program manager of emergency services at Interfaith Community Services, you help administer a network of resources that help individuals and families stabilize and improve their lives. What drew you to this work?

I was at Palomar College trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I spoke to a counselor there and explained my passions, which the counselor said sounded like sociology. At the same time, my older brother was attending Cal State San Marcos and he ended up picking sociology as a major. After graduation, he began to work at Interfaith Community Services as a case manager. My sister was working at Interfaith then and is still now. We have similar interests, and social work is one of those interests we picked up from charity work that we saw our parents doing when we were growing up. It’s kind of a family thing and it feeds my passions—my love for education and sociology, as well as social work.

In what roles have you served clients through Interfaith Community Services?

I started at Interfaith Community Services in early 2017 as a case manager for the Supportive Services Department. At the same time, I supported our North Inland Rotational Shelter; Haven House, our adult male and female shelter; and our basic needs program, a walk-in service for individuals. In 2018, I became site supervisor for the Supportive Services Department, and I began overseeing some of the programs I had been supporting as a case manager. In 2019, I transitioned to my current position as program manager of emergency services, where I added the responsibilities of program manager for the Haven House shelter and two behavioral health shelters.

What interested you about the Essential Management Skills for Nonprofits program?

In 2020, some of our roles shifted with the pandemic. I was still program manager, but there was such a high need in the community for our support that I was out there with my team offering case management services. In a conversation with one of my team members, who is also a manager, we were discussing how to better support our staff during the pandemic, when there are so many challenges and so much uncertainty. A week later, we received an email from our upper management letting us know that there was an opportunity to take a course on essential management skills. We decided to take this class not only for our own growth—so we can support our team—but also to see what other managers in similar situations were doing during the pandemic.

How did you anticipate the course would help facilitate your goals?

My colleague and I identified two different weeks from the course that really spoke to us and the work we were trying to do. One was strategic communication and empowerment of nonprofit organizations, which focused on key elements of effective communication and handling conflicts as well as teamwork, empowerment and promoting ownership with effectiveness.

This spoke a lot about the pandemic, about being able to handle conflicts and challenges, and about how to communicate effectively with our team during a time when we were getting questions about the pandemic that we did not have answers to. We have never experienced anything like this. It was really important to understand how we could use strategic communication to empower our team to feel confident about the work they were doing during such a scary time.

In addition, one of my favorite things at Interfaith is being able to collaborate, not just within the agency, but with outside partners. We build those relationships so our team has all the tools necessary to be successful. So, the other week that really spoke to us was on collaboration and maximizing effectiveness. It focused on goals and objectives, empowerment, strategic plans, how to maximize the work that we do, and how to utilize resources to the best of our ability. Those two weeks were by far the most impactful weeks of the course so I could better support my team.

Were you able to apply what you learned immediately in your job?

Absolutely. During that time, Haven House was collaborating with one of the local cities to receive additional funding as we shifted Haven House from a night shelter to a 24-hour shelter. Funding was necessary. Being able to apply what I was learning in the management skills class in those partnerships and collaborations was very important. We also learned to strategically plan how to best promote our program, how to work with our teams so they felt satisfaction within their roles, and how to empower them and, in return, empower our clients. It was the perfect timing for me to have taken this course.

How else did the course help you find your way during an extremely challenging time?

To be in a class setting with other nonprofits where we’re discussing how to improve … this was an opportunity for us to work as peers and bounce ideas about what your agency is doing versus what my agency is doing, about what’s helpful for you and what could be helpful for us. It was us actually getting the chance to say, this is what we’re doing and how can we learn from each other?

Were there any surprises for you, anything you hadn’t anticipated that turned out to be very helpful?

I had not done virtual learning before. I enjoyed having the opportunity to be a student experiencing that portion of it. It was very helpful for me to see what other individuals were doing for their classes, so when I worked with my team and we had virtual meetings, I was able to include what I saw. That’s not something I ever thought I would experience as a manager at a social service agency because everything was done in person.

Do you have any advice for students who are starting the program?

Yes, I am my teacher at heart and I enjoy participation. This is an opportunity for managers at any level to put themselves out there answering questions, asking questions, collaborating with their peers in this class. That will make the experience more fruitful. Going in with that mindset will help all of the class lectures, all of the topics that are discussed in the course.

Anything else?

For individuals who are interested in the field of social work, being a volunteer or an intern at the site where you want to have a career in the future is an important opportunity to see what it is about. I would also suggest feeling comfortable with being uncomfortable by putting yourself out there to get as much experience as possible.

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For more information about Essential Management Skills for Nonprofits, offered in partnership between CSUSM and the Alliance for Regional Solutions, please visit csusm.edu/el/nonprofit.