Impact Stories
Kaiser Permanente
Mental Health and Wellness Initiative
The Context
In 2018, Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KP SoCal) announced a $6 million, five-year Community Mental Health and Wellness Initiative to improve equitable access to high-quality care and mental health services across Southern California communities. The initiative was designed to address the mental health needs within our most affected communities by investing in nonprofit service providers. Through this support, KP SoCal sought a partner to strengthen the capacity of 26 community-centered nonprofits.
Better prepared to serve the mental health needs of their community
The Engagement
CNM worked with grantees to identify opportunities for capacity building customized to their organization. CNM developed and hosted regular convenings for both the full cohort and for small groups related to specific topics. These convenings provided sessions to aid organizational development, improve mental health service provision, discuss policies, share learnings, and foster collaboration. In addition, the nonprofits worked with our coaches and experts in organizational management, assessment, policy, and strategy to overcome the varied challenges they faced.
CNM’s advisors helped the grantees to:
- Host strategic planning retreats
- Facilitate strategy-setting board discussions
- Improve hiring practices
- Incorporate management best practices
- Support the development and design of an online toolkit to share actionable lessons learned, resources, and templates
CNM Services Provided
The Results
- 26 nonprofits are better prepared to serve the mental health needs of their community
- Kaiser Permanente re-engaged CNM to support a new cohort of nonprofits
