Pegi is the founder of On Board, and has a successful career in business and community consulting. Pegi has been with CFV for more than ten years, and is a pivotal member of our community.
What are your connections to the Community Foundation of the Valleys?
I joined the CFV Advisory Board in 2018, and joined the CFV Board in 2012. I Have been a volunteer for CFV in a variety of ways – making introductions to the organization, convening meetings and events and donating space from my employer. I Supported the release of an important Wealth Transfer Report prepared by the California Community Foundation and promoted the information throughout the greater San Fernando Valley. As an advisory board member, I’m still engaged. It’s an important organization that keeps you involved and there is something about the organization’s mission that resonates with me. I feel the Valley needs a donor advised fund program that is focused on the Valley region.
Tell us about how you became interested in nonprofit volunteerism and consulting.
I’ve been a community volunteer since I was in my 20s. I worked for a large corporation that really encouraged its young employees to get involved in some local organizations. I was inspired by a very visionary corporate CEO who believed that community involvement can have tremendous impact. It’s been around 40 years, and I’m probably more engaged in volunteerism today than I’ve ever been.
I’ve been a member of many volunteer boards over the past 35 years. I’m only on a few boards at one time because I want to be able to fully engage as a volunteer. I consider myself a “utility player” as a board member who can work on what needs to get done. Currently, I am the chair of the Fernando Awards Foundation, serve on the advisory board of the Community Foundation of the Valleys, I co-chair a committee for VICA and I’m on the board of the Valley Economic Alliance.
Describe a moment where, through your involvement with nonprofits and small businesses, you felt like you made a positive impact
I think connecting people to the organization has significant value in terms of both fundraising and engagement. I also am proud of relationships I’ve connected who have gone on to lead these organizations into the future.
Tell us about the inspiration from that CEO and your vision for volunteering.
That CEO inspired me to get started. I think getting started is probably the hardest thing. I was a kid who went door to door to raise money for the American Heart Association and muscular dystrophy. I went door to door and got quarters and nickels and dimes, so it was always who I was as a person. My parents encouraged it through church, through my school, but although they were hard working people, they weren’t community volunteers.
How do you get new community members and young people to want to do more for the betterment of a community? A lot of people do volunteerism, and they don’t even think about it that way. Think of all the people we know that take care of younger brothers and sisters or who drive their elderly parents places. So, I think we all do something even if we don’t call it volunteerism.
What projects are you looking forward to? What is your biggest hope as you look forward to the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys?
I’m excited to see the Community Economic Development Initiative launch. I think this Initiative can have a good role to play with partners like the Economic Alliance and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. I know the Community Foundation can raise the money we need in our Valleys through donor advised funds, and I am hopeful for that, though it takes time. There’s a partnership there for all of us, and that’s something I’m looking forward to.