Growing Leadership Through Community: ARTS Team Members Join Fieldstone’s Nonprofit Leaders Learning Group

Two members of the ARTS leadership team – Operations Manager Jose Contreras Jr. and Programs Manager Olimpia Vázquez Ojeda — are participating in the Fieldstone Leadership Network Nonprofit Leaders Learning Group, a six-month program that brings together nonprofit professionals from across San Diego to exchange ideas, strengthen leadership skills, and build meaningful connections.

This year’s cohort includes leaders representing a wide range of missions, from environmental impact and housing to arts and culture. While each organization serves its community in different ways, the learning group creates space for leaders to reflect together, share experiences, and explore new approaches to common challenges facing the nonprofit sector.

Learning Across the Nonprofit Sector

For Jose, joining the learning group reflects his ongoing commitment to growing as a leader and strengthening the systems that support ARTS’ work behind the scenes.

“As I move through my career, I am always looking to learn and grow as a leader so I can best serve my organization,” Jose shared. “This opportunity provides a community of experienced nonprofit professionals I can learn from.”

As ARTS continues to expand its programs and partnerships, the opportunity to learn from leaders outside the arts sector offers a valuable perspective.

“As ARTS continues to grow, I am excited to learn about best practices other organizations use and apply them to ARTS,” he said.

Finding Common Ground

Through the early sessions of the program, Jose has already discovered how much nonprofit leaders share in common despite working in different fields.

“Being part of Fieldstone has allowed me to see how every organization is different, but so many face similar obstacles and have different approaches to solving them,” he reflected. “It is nice to see how passionate folks are about their organizations.”

This cross-sector exchange is a central part of Fieldstone’s learning model, which emphasizes collaboration and peer learning. Participants work together in a structured problem-solving environment, guided by experienced facilitators who help the group explore new ideas and strategies.

Strengthening Leadership Through Collaboration

Jose is joined in the cohort by Olimpia Vázquez Ojeda, ARTS’ Programs Manager, who was recently announced as the organization’s Interim Executive Director. For Olimpia, the learning group has provided a valuable space to reflect on leadership while staying connected to the everyday work of the organization’s programs.

“It’s been really valuable and refreshing to learn from other nonprofit professionals with multiple strengths and perspectives,” Olimpia shared. “We’ve created a healthy problem-solving space where members share insights, ask for honest feedback, and take a deeper look at how our organizations function.”

She noted that the collaborative environment encourages participants to step into multiple roles during each session.

“As soon as we get into the classroom, we all share the roles of facilitator, active listener, problem-solver, and advocate,” she said. “Programs like this help organizations build capacity by investing in their team members and creating meaningful professional relationships.”

Investing in the Future of ARTS

For both leaders, the experience is not only about personal growth—it’s about bringing new insights back to strengthen the organization and better serve the young people in ARTS programs.

Jose is especially excited about the relationships forming within the cohort.

“I hope to really build a strong connection with the group,” he shared. “Expanding my network and knowing we support each other highlights the sense of community ARTS emphasizes.”

For Olimpia, the lessons from the learning group are already shaping how she thinks about leadership and collaboration within the organization.

“My approach is becoming more holistic and integrated,” she said. “Learning from leaders in other organizations and how they structure their teams and workflows is exciting. My goal is to share the strategies and experiences learned here with colleagues at ARTS so our teams can enhance collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving to better support the young people in our programs.”

By investing in leadership development and fostering connections across the nonprofit sector, opportunities like the Fieldstone Nonprofit Leaders Learning Group help strengthen the people and ideas that sustain community-centered work across San Diego.