As Chief Executive Officer, Joe Mata spends his days helping companies untangle their CRM systems and shore up their technology infrastructure. Through Jericho Road Pasadena, he’s brought that same expertise to two local nonprofits, and both projects show just how far a systems fix can carry an organization.
For Rose City Center, Joe and his team ran a full assessment of the organization’s existing systems, then built a Salesforce implementation roadmap that mapped what they found directly to Salesforce’s structure and features. The result was a clear, practical path the team could invest in on their own timeline, no consultant required to keep moving forward.
For Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy, the work took a different shape but drew on the same skill set. A full IT and systems audit turned up serious security gaps, including shared personal Google accounts holding sensitive HR data. Joe’s team delivered a prioritized roadmap to move the organization onto a secure, managed Google Workspace environment with proper access controls.
One of those projects ended with a leadership transition, and it’s the moment Joe keeps coming back to.
“The outgoing leader had been the one steering the systems work with us the whole way through. Instead of letting the engagement trail off, some of our last work together was mapping out what would set the next leader up to succeed, the systems, the structure, the visibility they’d need to actually grow the organization. It felt like watching someone hand off something they cared about, not by walking away from it, but by making sure it was stronger for whoever came next. That stuck with me. It’s a version of leadership that puts the mission ahead of the individual.”
For Joe, that project captures why he sees systems work as a different category of support altogether.
“A check helps an organization survive the month. Systems help an organization survive the next ten years. Nonprofits like Rose City Center and Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy have missions that depend on staff time, and every hour a development director spends reconciling spreadsheets or a program staffer spends re-entering data is an hour not spent on the actual mission.”
It’s also why giving back through skills-based volunteering has become part of how Joe leads his own team.
“Our skill set helps to solve these problems, and so many out there have other skills to solve other problems. It’s the adage give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but teach a man how to fish and he eats for a lifetime. We like fishing and helping others to fish.”
Getting a nonprofit’s systems in order means getting a close-up look at where things are held together with duct tape, and Joe says that’s taught him something about trust.
“I’ve gained a real appreciation for how much openness and vulnerability it takes for an organization to let us in, especially around their systems. Systems hold an organization’s weak points in plain view, the workarounds, the shortcuts, the things nobody wants to admit are held together with duct tape. Opening that up to an outsider is hard. But once trust gets built, once there’s enough familiarity for a team to stop guarding and start being honest, that’s when real progress happens. That trust is the actual unlock, more than any tool or platform.”
His advice to other professionals weighing whether to volunteer their skills is direct.
“Somebody out there needs exactly what you’re good at. Some organizations may already have that problem solved. Others don’t, and they’re stuck without knowing where to turn. Give it a try. It’s also one of the best exercises in business leadership you can build into your company. A give-back arm keeps your team connected to purpose, to community, and to why you started the business in the first place. It builds servant leaders, not just service providers.”
Check back for updates on Joe’s next project with Jericho Road.
Learn more about Jericho Road Pasadena’s skilled volunteer opportunities and discover how your professional experience can help local nonprofits thrive.