Our History and Mission

El Concilio of San Mateo County (ECSMC) is a non-profit, community-based organization incorporated in 1980 committed to increasing education, employment, and access to quality of life services to underserved communities in San Mateo County. It has responded to the well documented racial and ethnic health and education disparities that include all underserved, low-income, non/limited English speaking communities through its programs.

Originally founded to address economic development, education, health, manpower, youth, and cultural affairs, it has continued to evolve and address the needs of the community. For example, El Concilio’s history of health equity advocacy begins with Nuestro Canto de Salud (Our Song of Health), a watershed health coalition formed to provide essential community health outreach and education.

Throughout its 40-year history, El Concilio has continued to uplift the values of equity, community, and justice defined by Nuestro Canto. During this time, we have advanced safety net services, health education, community outreach, and climate justice advocacy. 

El Concilio aims to uplift community voices and build long-standing coalitions. In this way, we hope to achieve lasting, meaningful change for our communities through our work.

El Concilio’s Historical Timeline:

1980: Was founded as the Hispanic Concilio of San Mateo County by community leaders including Rebecca Lopez, Alice J. Gonzales, Sheila M. Miller, Ricard E. Duran, and Ortensia Lopez to improve the quality of life and affect policy change for Latino communities in San Mateo County. Rebecca Lopez designed the original logo and was named Chairwoman.

1984: Co-created the People’s Conference on Housing, marking its first significant policy initiative.

1992: Launched the county's first promotora program, Nuestro Canto de Salud, pioneering the community health worker models now used in county clinics.

1994: Ortensia Lopez was appointed as the first Executive Director.

2004: Acquired a building in the heart of North Fair Oaks and launched multiple community and youth programs, including the Youth Promotor Project and an after-school program at Cesar Chavez Academy.

2005: Initiated the North Fair Oaks Day Labor Center and launched the Sponsored Employment program for youth in East Palo Alto.

2007-2008: Enhanced the ability of Spanish-speaking communities to respond to disasters and public health emergencies, and launched the Wi-Fi 101 project to improve technology use and literacy in East Palo Alto.

1999: Collaborated with the San Mateo Child Care Coordinating Council to support women in obtaining their child care licenses.

2000s: Joined several collaborations and formed partnerships to enhance services for children, youth, families, and healthcare:

2000: Joined the Coastside Collaborative for Children, Youth, and Families.

2001: Partnered with Kaiser to provide healthcare to uninsured children.

2003: Conducted HIV/AIDS outreach and testing with San Mateo County.

2010s: Started new programs and joined impactful collaborations:

2010: Began the Moderate Income Direct Install program.

2011: Started the Peninsula Minor Home Repair Program.

2012-2015: Partnered with UC CalFresh to provide nutrition education to families eligible for CalFresh.

2021-2023: Focused on COVID-19 outreach and PPE distribution, welcomed Dr. Ana Angel Avendano as the new Executive Director, launched the Climate Ready Ambassadors program, and established significant community collaboratives including the Community Collaborative Model with San Mateo County Public Health, Policy, and Planning.

Our Strengths

Leadership

Collaboration

Guidance

Technology

Cultural-Inclusiveness

Our Priorities

Priority 1 - Community Leadership Development

To meet the needs of our community we are expanding our efforts to intentionally include programs that impact members of the community, staff, and our board, all with a leadership development focus.

Internally, we're prioritizing staff and board development to enhance our service delivery. Simultaneously, we're addressing external requests for leadership learning opportunities from community members.

Goal - Provide leadership development internally and externally that addresses professional growth for our staff and board members while also addressing the needs of our community to hold more roles in leadership.

Priority 2 - Public Policy & Advocacy

El Concilio began as a public policy organization. The pandemic heightened the needs of our communities. Our clients face growing issues like housing and immigration. We are called to return to our roots as a social change agent. Our community is looking for someone to bring people together, keep them informed about policies that impact them, and provide the education and tools they need to speak up for themselves. We will work to build bridges and develop partnerships and coalitions that will elevate our community’s voices.

Goal - To empower our community to impact public policy and participate in the civi process on issues that important to them.

Priority 3 - Systems Navigation

Building off of our East Palo Alto emergency services drop-in center, across the county, and with our sites in North Fair Oaks and South San Francisco. We want to invest in building our core services and the heart of our work as a safety net navigator.

This priority resonates deeply with our clients, who view it as a vital aspect of ECSMC's mission. There's a clear desire for us to improve our current approach, facilitating better connections to resources and enhancing our referral services, all with a community-centered focus.

Goal - Create and offer culturally relevant services and programs for individuals and families that are sustainable and address the most urgent needs of our community.

Priority 4 - Capacity Building

We are shifting towards a more targeted approach to secure funding that directly addresses the unique needs of our community.

In our evolution as an organization, it is imperative to make a deliberate commitment to prioritize the financial health of ECSMC. This strategic shift will not only allow us to sustain and expand our vital services but also ensure that we can adapt and respond effectively to the evolving needs of the communities we serve.

Goal - Create a financially stable and sustainable El Concilio.