Do Good

For OC Nonprofit Exec LaVal Brewer, a Summertime Job as a Teen Has Morphed into a Lifetime Quest to Help Others

By Wendy Bowman

Sometimes, LaVal Brewer has to stop and pinch himself to make sure he has indeed traveled the fortuitous path that led him to become the new president and CEO

LaVal Brewer, President & CEO of South County Outreach

of Irvine-based South County Outreach, where he’s entrusted with spearheading a nonprofit organization with the arduous task of preventing hunger and homelessness in South O.C. After all, Brewer explains, he grew up in South L.A. as part of a Black middle-class family that didn’t have a lot of money, but he never went hungry, always had a roof over his head and didn’t seem to want for anything. He also managed to land a part-time summer job at age 16 at L.A.’s Culver City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department — where he attended to locker rooms and oversaw attendees at day camp — and then went on to garner several high-profile leadership roles in the nonprofit field, some before he even earned a college degree.

“Somehow, this man got escalating jobs in responsibility without a degree, was given more responsibility on a consistent basis and welcomed it, and ended up in a four-bedroom home in Mission Viejo with three kids and a loving wife,” says Brewer. “I’m always amazed at what I’ve been given. For me to get where I am and to be surrounded by such wealth, and in some cases mass poverty, I stop and go, ‘Wow, I’m very lucky,’ and that requires me to be generous with my time and energy, and my ability to help lead others in giving back.”

Although he doesn’t recall setting out to help others long term, an “ability to connect with youth” as part of his first summer job — along with teen center leaders there who made a positive impression on him — led to Brewer forging a lifelong career in the nonprofit field. He went on to work for YMCAs in Southern California for more than 21 years, the past nine as executive director of three large branch facilities, and then to hold positions as executive director of Playworks Southern California, as well as director of business development and partnerships for OneOC, before joining South County Outreach this past June, where he took over for longtime boss Lära Fisher.

“Nonprofit work is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, and I don’t see myself not doing it,” he says. “At the YMCA, I had the opportunity to practice working with cities, school districts, families and others to build new programs that helped the community be more successful and partnerships that made both organizations stronger. At Playworks, I learned what it meant to build something that solves a problem. Nonprofits are great at addressing a problem, and then we attack it over time. At Playworks, I not only learned that it’s great to attack a problem over time, but also what it means to actually try to solve the problem, not to just address the symptoms.”

Brewer’s latest mission as head of South County Outreach? Creating programs and partnerships that will help permanently end hunger and homelessness in South O.C. “We want people not to be hungry and always have a home over their head,” he says. “While there are organizations in South County, O.C. and California who are addressing the homeless issue, we need to get to prevention around that space — where people don’t need the homeless program and have the ability to stay in their homes.”

Among his goals: Transforming the organization’s Food Pantry into a place where people who are

in short-term crisis situations can feel like they’re shopping for nutritious, healthy food in a normal grocery store environment, only without having to pay for it. He also hopes to partner with cities, funders and corporate groups to create revenue that will allow the organization to help people who have fallen behind in their rent and utility payments catch up, and then find ways to people better themselves so they can ultimately escape the hunger and homelessness cycle.

“Lära brought us from a struggling time seven years ago, when we were moving from an all-volunteer organization and had a couple of executive directors and needed structure,” says Brewer. “She bought structure to the organization. My role as president and CEO is around planning and governance, as well as ensuring that the organization has a pathway toward greatness. So, I think we’re good now, but it’s time for us to become great. My role is to help the leadership team and managers lean in and grow into their roles, and to remove any barriers and road blocks and bring in assets that allow them to be their best selves.”

Providing him inspiration today: his wife, a teacher’s assistant at a local charter school, and their three socially minded daughters, who he says are more excited about this job than any he has held in the past, having already volunteering their time to work at the Food Pantry and more. “Everyone has gotten into the game, and that’s the first time that has happened,” says Brewer. “They understand what hunger is now, not from a personal perspective, and get how important a home is. Knowing they would be helping others not to be hungry and to stay housed has resonated with them, so I have to work even harder because they believe in it.”