Lupe Rivera’s first day of work as Toberman Neighborhood Center’s CEO was May 9, following the resignation of the previous executive director Darlene Kiyan, after the controversial hiring of former Beverly Hills police chief Sandra Spagnoli to head Toberman’s Gang Intervention program.
When community members, including San Pedro resident and civil rights activist Najee Ali, learned of Spagnoli’s hiring and the allegations of racism, antisemitism and homophobia tied to her during her stint as head of the Beverly Hills Police Department, they pushed for the dismissal of the once rising star in police circles. In a recent interview with Random Lengths, Rivera said she wants to focus on the core things Toberman already does well.
“My focus is that we continue doing the work that we do now, and do it well, and be experts in the field,” Rivera said.
Rivera grew up in Hawaiian Gardens, and has her Master of Arts from Antioch University Los Angeles.. She has been working in the nonprofit sector for nearly 30 years. She has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and homelessness. Recently, she has worked reuniting children with their incarcerated parents, and served as president and CEO at an organization called Families in Schools. She’s been a case manager, program director and development director, but her goal was always to become a CEO of an organization like Toberman.
“I’ve had a very purposeful journey, in the sense of I wanted to make sure that I experienced those positions so that I would be better positioned to be able to support my team when I became a CEO for a nonprofit,” Rivera said.
Rivera experienced homelessness as a child and is a survivor of sexual assault and gun violence.
“All those pieces for me just solidified and really created my journey, in my life, for my professional life,” Rivera said. “I always wanted to give back. For me, there were so many people in my life, organizations, and programs that I would say saved my life as a child.”
Because it’s her first year on the job, Rivera said she likes to be very involved with each of Toberman’s programs.
“In order for me to truly understand it, understand how it works and understand the impact, it’s important that I’m involved,” Rivera said. “That is the piece of being a CEO that I love, is that I get to still be involved in programming.”
Her experiences as a case manager and program director have helped her understand and better collaborate with the other people in the organization.
Rivera is particularly involved with Toberman’s gang prevention program, which is what attracted her to Toberman in the first place.
In her youth, Rivera was at risk of joining a gang herself.
“I am one of those kids,” Rivera said. “I am that kid that was teetering between, do I join a gang, do I not, so that I can feel, or what I thought would feel, like a sense of community for me.”
She said that many people don’t understand how difficult and dangerous it can be to work in gang intervention.
“They’re out there at two in the morning,” Rivera said. “They’re supporting families. You have to make sure you understand the politics of the streets.”
She said the gang intervention outworkers bring a skill not taught in schools, but one that is necessary to change lives.
Rivera said that every day at Toberman is different.
“Day-to-day, we get to help families be able to address some of the challenges they are facing in their life,” Rivera said. “Being able to provide housing security, being able to address food insecurities through our food pantry, being able to strategize with the team and trying to strategize how to continue raising funds for this organization that’s been around for 119 years.”
Rivera said she wants Toberman to do everything it can daily to make it self-sufficient. Toberman, like other nonprofits, was really hurt by the pandemic.
“We want to bring our kids back in here,” Rivera said. “We want to see kids playing in the gym, and just bring back the Toberman that was pre-pandemic. And that’s what we’re striving for right now.”
Before the pandemic, Toberman was filled with people daily. The organization shifted to providing services online and had items that people could pick up.
“We were still serving the community, but it was through a lens,” Rivera said. “We would deliver meals to community members. And so now, we’re open again, and the challenge is making sure we let the community know.”
Toberman has about 45 employees, and Rivera says the organization is still growing. It is trying to regain its base of volunteers that it lost during the pandemic. Rivera said she would like to have 15 to 20 volunteers daily.
“If you do the math, 52 weeks, that’s a lot of volunteers,” Rivera said.
Rivera said there has been a learning curve to her job, as every community is different.
“You can’t take a template, and just think that you can come to a community and use it,” Rivera said.
However, since she has been doing this kind of work for so long, it has not been that difficult for her.
“It’s more about just learning the community, understanding the needs, understanding the wants, the challenges that our community faces, and making sure that we build up the resources to address every single challenge, to ensure that we are changing one life at a time,” Rivera said.
Toberman is based in San Pedro, and while Rivera has never lived there, she says it is near and dear to her heart because of her experiences as a child. Her dad worked in San Pedro, and she visited frequently with him.
“My father passed away two years ago,” Rivera said. “And just being here reminds me of him. It feels like I’m at home.”