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San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Keeping Fernando Relevant, Dynamic

By THOM SENZEE Contributing Reporter Three of the Fernando Award’s biggest proponents gathered in a conference room at the Business Journal’s offices in Warner Center to lay bare the award’s soul for all to see. It was part of an effort to remake the image of the Valley’s now 50-year-old top prize for volunteerism. Past president and most recent Fernando honoree, Gloria Pollack, and President Bruce Ackerman, along with Immediate Past President Brad Rosenheim are seeking to ensure the Fernando Award stays relevant throughout the 21st Century. At the moment, however, Fernando has an image problem. “The idea that we’re just an old boys and girls network is simply mistaken,” Rosenheim said. “Despite the misimpression of some, it’s not a case of ‘if you wait long enough it’ll be your turn’ if you’re in some so-called inner-circle.” Yet, “stodgy,” “insular,” and “drawn-out” are terms sometimes associated with the Fernando and its selection process. That is why the Fernando Award Foundation’s Ackerman says he and the board of directors are laser-focused on casting a new, dynamic, and more transparent image for the award one that dispels any notion that the board members, benefactors and patrons take turns passing the Fernando around. “For people to think we have any control is just not understanding the selection process,” Pollack said. “We don’t know until the envelope is open. The accountants are the only ones who know the outcome because they do the tabulating.” The selection process is described in detail on page 11 of this report. Nominations can be made by anyone on behalf of a person who has made a positive impact, through volunteering, on the quality of life in the Valley. The front end of the process is, at least officially, wide open. The integrity of the tabulation of finalists’ votes is unquestioned. Ackerman agrees that it may be the middle part of the sandwich the work done by the selection committee that is the source of most cynicism regarding the Fernando Award. But he believes the solution is with the front end, with the initial solicitation of nominations. In a region with more than two million people, the Selection Committee only gets about 20 nominees to consider when choosing its five finalists. Ackerman thinks that number could, and should, be higher. “There’s a packet and a notification letter that goes out to all of those chambers, those past honorees, the board of directors our little universe,” Ackerman said. “Change number one is we need to broaden that. We need to say if you’re a church, a club, an organization and you want to nominate someone, here’s how you do that.” “And we have started to do that,” Rosenheim added. Ackerman continued “But we need to do a better job; we need to do way more in reaching out to new constituencies,” he said. Committee changes Although generating more awareness and participation among nonprofits that have heretofore been unconnected to Fernando is Ackerman’s first priority, he is interested in also making changes to the selection committee’s lineup. “I think if we were to do that it would be in the form of adding representation from some of the local volunteer organizations such as ONE Generation, the [American] Cancer Society, or the Boys and Girls Club,” he said. “I think it would be interesting to look at that.” Pollack summed up what winning the Fernando Award meant to her, echoing the sentiments of many other past recipients. “When I first came to the Valley, a dear friend took me to a special place by the Odyssey Restaurant, high on the hill,” she said. “… My friend told me that during the time the Valley was growing up, the Fernando Award was there to honor its greatest volunteers. It gave me a chill and I knew I wanted to somehow be a part of it ….” Pollack, Ackerman and Rosenheim want the message of honoring volunteerism to be served, regardless of what changes they and future leaders of the Fernando Award Foundation make. “I think we need to focus additionally on how we market Fernando and volunteerism itself,” Rosenheim said. “They are one and the same, but the goal of a marketing campaign if we’re able to get a real, professional marketing company to do it for us pro bono should not be to market the Fernando Award; it should be to market volunteerism and say ‘oh by the way, this is how we recognize great volunteers.'” The three said just getting to a point recently where the foundation could pay for a very part-time administrative assistant to handle the scheduling and recordkeeping issues of Fernando was a momentous triumph. “We just bring in enough to cover the costs of the events,” Pollack said. “People think we have all this money, but there is none just enough to pay for our costs.” Aspirations Rosenheim oversaw the second term of what Ackerman and Pollack see as the current transitional era Fernando is experiencing. During his tenure, the Fernando scholarship program gathered a full head of steam, according to Pollack. “When Brad was president, we expanded the scholarship program and brought new people on to the board,” said Pollack. “There are some past recipients, one in particular, who do not want to see a single change. But change is the only constant.” Pollack would not say whom she had in mind. But one past recipient who is the custodian of Fernando’s historical heart and soul its archives is leery about change merely for change’s sake. Fred Thomas, Fernando’s historian, is also a past recipient of the award and a past president of the Fernando Award Foundation. He believes the board of directors must act with care as they complete the transition that was embarked upon during Gloria Pollack’s term of office beginning in 2004. “The only people who can destroy the Fernando Award are the past recipients,” Thomas said. “If they go sour on the award, the foundation has lost their headlights; they’ve lost their way.” Thomas does, however, agree with the addition of the scholarship program. “Giving out scholarships has brought a lot of young people into volunteerism,” he said. “Now I would like to see a Junior Fernando Award.” The advent of a Fernando Award for young people would be a boon to volunteer-based organizations, said Thomas, because it would augment the growing number of young people interested in being of service to others. “The one thing I would say is it should be completely separate from Fernando,” he said. The business connection Recalling the business origins of the Fernando Award, the trio of presidents agree that the benefit of the award to the business community is still powerful. “The exposure a business gets when its CEO or owner is selected is immeasurable,” Pollack said. Rosenheim added that the associations are formed throughout each year as the three award events unfold also help businesspeople get to know one another, thus helping to unite the Valley’s business community. “But we’re really so much more focused on what businesspeople do for the Valley as volunteers,” said Ackerman. “CEOs have so much more to do nowadays, and that’s why this award is more relevant today than ever.” Ackerman believes changes in who qualifies to be awarded a Fernando may be necessary because of greater demands top executives face. Such a change might even include allowing “professional” volunteers to be nominated. Others have suggested opening the process to elected officials as well as volunteers. That idea appears to have the least appeal among the past presidents.

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