History of Spokes

The Beginning

Spokes has provided solutions, service, and support for nonprofit organizations throughout the Central Coast since being established in 1996 as the Nonprofit Support Center. By 2011, leaders of the Nonprofit Support Center had learned so much about our community, its needs, and our own strengths and abilities, they reevaluated the organization. It was time for change. It was time for Spokes!

With generous financial support from the Hind Foundation, a new organization was created.

With a sharper focus, new leadership, a new location and some great strategic partnerships in the community, it was time for a new name.

Spokes evolved under the leadership of past Spokes CEO and present-day Board of Director, Lesley Santos. Spokes is inspired by a vision of a local nonprofit sector with the skills and organizational capacity it needs to continue to dramatically improve the health and vitality of our community.

Our Evolution: Shifting Gears into Forward Motion

An Updated Brand

To visually convey the dramatic evolution from our previous entity, the Nonprofit Support Center’s name was changed to Spokes. The inspiration of Spokes came from how a wheel uses spokes to help people get where they want to go, faster and more efficiently. In this context, the name Spokes offers a clever metaphor for the work we do. We help nonprofits tune or replace their operational “spokes” and empower them to keep moving forward in their missions – impactfully and efficiently. These “spokes” can be anything from fund development and risk management to board development and human resources.

A New Membership Structure

As a result of member and community feedback, we implemented a flat rate membership fee, remote access to Foundation Directory Online, and other benefits. See a complete list of the new member benefits.