Jorge Zatarain has spent almost his whole life in San Bernardino, but it wasn’t until he briefly left that he saw the beauty of his home city.
Zatarain’s first job out of college took him to 35 different U.S. states, where he helped Chevrolet market cars at sports venues and major events. Seeing so many cities made him realize that there was so much potential in San Bernardino – with its art, culture and scenic backdrop of mountains – despite its economic and public safety challenges.
“I realized, ‘Oh my god, San Bernardino is beautiful,’” Zatarain said. “We’re one hour from the mountains, one hour from the beach, one hour from the desert. It’s such a centralized location. There’s so much opportunity here.”
That epiphany sparked a career that has largely focused on helping San Bernardino communities. Now, the Master of Nonprofit of Leadership & Management (MNLM) student at the USC Price School of Public Policy is overseeing an ambitious project that could help his home city fulfill its potential.
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Find Out MoreAs Director of Operations at the nonprofit El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center, Zatarain is overseeing development of a 20,000-square-foot park and wellness center in San Bernardino. Plans include a playground, community garden, basketball courts, a game room, and library, among other amenities.
Zatarain, who previously co-founded his own nonprofit supporting young people in the region, helped the project win a $4.25 million grant from California State Parks and $250,000 from the City of San Bernardino. The project is set to break ground in January.
“What’s important about this project is that it’s a community park, but it’s owned by a nonprofit. You can get guaranteed maintenance, guaranteed safety, guaranteed that it is going to be taken care of,” Zatarain said. “We’re hoping to bring this to the community in a safe and appropriate way.”
El Sol is still finalizing plans, but the nonprofit aims to accomplish this by operating the community center as a membership. That can help the nonprofit ensure safety – by requiring people to check in and out – and track data on its impact. Membership fees would be affordable, perhaps as low as $1 annually, Zatarain said.
“Jorge is an impressive example of a nonprofit leader making a life changing impact in a community that has, for decades, been so under-resourced,” said Regina Birdsell, Director of the MNLM program at the USC Price School.
The job at El Sol is especially rewarding to Zatarain, a first-generation college graduate who grew up in a low-income community after his parents immigrated from Mexico. Launched in 1991, El Sol serves vulnerable communities in the Inland Empire through programs ranging from early childhood education to workforce development.
“The community we serve is a direct representation of the community who raised me,” Zatarain said.
Zatarain is also Co-Founder and Executive Director of Lifting Our Stories, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting youth through activities like outdoor exploration or hands-on drone training. The goal is to create experiences that help young people unlock their potential and create meaningful change in their lives and communities.
“A single conversation, a single experience can change the trajectory of a young person’s life,” Zatarain said.
He would know. When Zatarain was a teenager working in construction with his father, the owner of a beautiful house with a USC flag outside talked to him about his education and career journey. That talk pushed Zatarain to pursue higher education.
“Hearing someone who looked successful say he started from the same kind of working-class background as mine hit me hard,” Zatarain said. “That conversation changed everything. It opened my eyes. It showed me that my path didn’t have to be limited to what I grew up around.”
