Highlights

During our last fiscal year (April 2012 - March 2013):

  • 0 Paid Employees
  • 80+ Core Volunteer Leaders
  • 300+ Occasional Volunteers
  • 10 Volunteer Board of Directors

  • 10 Catalyst programs, projects, initiatives
  • 23 Catalyst adopted groups/programs (fiscally-sponsored)

  • 40,000+ People Serviced in the Community Annually
  • 2,500+ People Serviced in the Community Monthly

  • Catalyst was founded in April 2006

  • Our programs covered a variety of service areas:
    • Green / Environment
    • Gardening / Farming / Urban Agriculture / Harvesting
    • Kids / Nutrition
    • Teens Empowerment / Business
    • Health / Wellness
    • Autism / Music / Art / Dance
    • Arts / Crafts
    • Community Development / Volunteering
    • Filipino Culture / Arts
    • Faith / Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,Transgender
    • Social Impact
    • Sobriety / Business
    • Art / Film / Theatre
    • Dance
    • Kids / Film Documentary
    • Veterans / Photography
    • Social Enterprise / Food
    • Women / Sobriety
    • Women / Domestic Violence
    • Education / Life-long Learning
    • Sharing / Donating
    • Theatre Arts
    • Leadership Empowerment
    • Social Innovation / Social Enterprise
    • Bicycle Donation / Repair / Maintenance / Advocacy / Education
    • Collaborative Partnership

History

We were incorporated in April 2006 as Catalyst Long Beach, founded by Eric Leocadio, from the observation that we lack inspirational leadership in our communities. Individuals are disconnected and organizations function in isolation. Groups are sometimes unwilling to collaborate and so duplicate services. Organizations lack resources, have excess resources, or don't know how to find resources. The nonprofit social sector is too competitive. There are already a lot of great ideas and organizations. The problem was the lack of connectivity. Since there had not been a single unifying voice for our communities, Catalyst was formed to create a chorus of inspirational voices comprised of emerging leaders that would develop the innovative solutions their community needed. The collective impact would be exponential. Some highlights of activities we’ve done in the past include:

 

  • In 2006, we began cultivating relationships with emerging and existing leaders.

  • In 2007, we organized 97 volunteers from 7 different organizations to assemble Easter baskets for underserved kids (in partnership with Justin Rudd and the Community Action Team).

  • In 2007-2008, we helped catalyze a sense of community with about 100 gay, lesbian, and straight people through beach bonfires, dinner gatherings, shared stories nights, and other events.

  • In 2008-2010, we were a founding member in the Coalition of Bridge Builders that began a process of bridging relationships with church leaders on both sides of the divisive issue of faith & sexuality. We hosted several events to “elevate the conversation” beyond the politics of our differences.

  • In 2009, hosted the first annual Green Long Beach! Festival bringing together over 270 artists, performers, businesses, and organizations with only two and a half months of grassroots organizing. This festival has been organized for 4 years from 2009 – 2012.

  • In 2009, we launched The HUB providing bike programming and services to the community, managed first by Pedal Movement (2009-10), then by EPK Vision (2010-12). In 2010, we relaunched the project as The HUB Community Bike Center. In 2012, we recycled, refurbished, and redistributed over 300 bikes into the community.

  • In 2009-2010, we operated a small community center called Catalyst Space in the East Village Arts District, offering classes, workshops, art shows, mixers, and other events. In 2010, we provided entertainment for the East Village Farmers Market.

  • In 2009-2013 (present), we have organized several collaboratives comprised of individuals and organizations around shared interests for a common mission. Some past and present collaboratives include Green Long Beach!, LBCreative!, Pedal Movement, LBGirl, Dancing with Long Beach, Teen Empowerment Collaborative, Long Beach Theatre Arts Collaborative (LBTAC), Long Beach Leadership Collaborative, 1 REVOLUTION, and Disabled Long Beach.

  • In 2010, our LBCreative! Project spearheaded the organizing of Carnival del Corazon - an artists response to the disaster in Haiti. We mobilized over 120 local artists contributing to the event. Together we raised over $4,200 for Yele Haiti and our community contributed over $12,000 worth of in-kind time and resources.

  • In 2010, we officially began doing business as the “Catalyst Network of Communities.”

  • In 2010-2013 (present), we have been offering a fiscal sponsorship program adopting unincorporated groups into our organization to function as Catalyst programs. To date, we have fiscally sponsored 35 groups including (past and present) One Imagination, Long Beach Grows, Drum For Love, Long Beach Time Exchange, Stellar Organizational Development, Foundation 101, The Rock Club, SoCal Gals, Eco-Fit, SoCal Harvest, Foodscape Long Beach, The Narra Project, Give Canvas, A.C.T.S., DSB Sisterhood Network, Shift Long Beach, Leap Frog Yoga, Community Connectome, Conscious Community Project (Greener Good Farmers Markets), Dark Blue Mondaze, Esteem Catalyst Advisory Group, Fit to Live, Gem-In-Eyes Arts Festival, Ladies First Step, Operation Community Stimulus (The Art Team), OutFaith, Pink Cloud Foundation, Pots 2 Pans Nutrition Program, J&J Imagination Unlimited, Powerhouse School for the Arts, Music, and Dance, Rockin Taco, VETS Program, 7 Years to the Future, F.O.O.D. for Pets, and Los Angeles Costume Swap.

  • In 2011-2013 (present), we hosted the annual Assembly of the Catalyst Network of Communities, gathering together individuals, groups, and partners from throughout the Catalyst Network.

  • In 2011, we began the Emerging Leaders Network as an informal support group for Founders, Executive Directors, and Business Owners within the Catalyst Network.

  • In 2012, we launched a community project called Center Space: West Long Beach at Admiral Kidd Park providing programs, activities, and a farmers market to that underserved and under-resourced area of the city.

  • In 2012, we expanded and rebranded The HUB Community Bike Center into the new Catalyst Center for Urban Sustainability. (This project was short-lived as the property owner, Hancock University, decided to utilize the space we were occupying for their own purposes.)

  • In 2013, we launched the new Long Beach Free School as an alternative and supplemental system of education for young people and adults to engage in lifelong learning.

**In our history, Catalyst and its programs have hosted dozens of other events not listed above.