William Podlich, retired chief executive of Newport Beach’s Pacific Investment Man-agement Co., is launching something of a nonprofit incubator.
He’s starting Orange County Shared Spaces, which plans to offer low rent and office equipment to community services groups.
There are similar nonprofit centers around the country. But this is the first in Orange County, according to Podlich.
The project “gives a philanthropist an interesting opportunity to achieve an awful lot with one gift,” he said.
Podlich is part of a trend in philanthropy. Rather than just writing big checks to existing groups, he and others have taken it upon themselves to start their own nonprofits in bids to meet unaddressed needs.
The goal of Orange County Shared Spaces is to allow nonprofits to better budget and focus on their missions. The center, still in the planning stage, would give nonprofits common space and equipment, such as copy machines.
“We mostly wanted to create an environment where they’re stable and the rent’s not going to increase with changes in ownership of the building,” Podlich said.
Rising rents are one of the biggest problems nonprofits face.
Podlich said he expects the project to cost $10 million to $20 million. He plans to fund the center with his own money, borrowing and raised money.
Plans call for two types of shared spaces.
One is a smaller, neighborhood center designed to improve the lives of low-income kids. The neighborhood center could offer after-school care.
The other is the “village,” a center that would house nonprofits sharing common space and equipment.
The hope is to open a neighborhood center within a year and the village in two years.
Podlich also has done the traditional philanthropy thing. He gives seed money for charter schools and funds an annual charter school boot camp, which helps lower the cost for attendees.
“Like a lot of people who have been allowed to amass a fair amount of capital, I feel like I should be doing something,” said Podlich, who made his fortune in the 2000 sale of bond fund manager Pimco to Germany’s Allianz SE for $4.7 billion.
Podlich’s served on a number of boards, including that of Santa Ana-based Mind Research Institute, which uses neuroscience research to improve education.
Oak View
Like Podlich is doing now, Jack Shaw started his own nonprofit 11 years ago, which eventually led to two others.
Shaw, an author and retired vice chairman of Deloitte & Touche LLP, wanted to help poor neighborhoods by giving people skills to lift themselves out of poverty.
His Oak View Renewal Partnership works to boost the education, culture and incomes of residents in the Oak View section of Huntington Beach, which largely consists of Hispanics.
Shaw has a lofty goal for Oak View: “We want to stop the cycle of poverty and create a self sustaining community in my lifetime,” he said.
The goal is to replicate Oak View’s model in other OC neighborhoods, according to Shaw.
Oak View is one-square mile and has about 10,000 people. It’s an island of working class families smack dab in the middle of well-to-do Huntington Beach.
The Oak View nonprofit is an offshoot of Shaw’s El Viento Foundation, which provides tutoring and fieldtrips for Oak View kids.
Thanks to a new grant, Oak View in September is getting a farmer’s market to be held at Oak View Elementary School. The market will be a cultural affair, with music, dancing and arts. Residents are expected to find fruits and vegetables native to Mexico.
Cooking demonstrations and nutrition education are planned as part of the market, to be held every Saturday.
Shah’s Oak View Renewal Partnership led to Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County, a nonprofit that helps fix children’s teeth. Shaw learned from a school nurse that tooth pain made it hard for some kids to pay attention.
Oak View has been successful, according to Shaw.
Oak View Elementary School now is a California Distinguished School, he said.
The neighborhood has boosted the number of community leaders from 30 to about 100, Shaw said.
Leadership is the most important part of de-veloping a community, he said.
Five years ago, the neighborhood started a soccer league. Today there are 500 players on 40 teams, according to Shaw.
The community is cleaner and safer and more kids have gone on to college he said.
“This work is addicting,” Shaw said. “When you begin to see that you’re making a difference you want to do more.”
