Orange County Grantmakers executive director Taryn Palumbo said she planned her organization’s annual summit event down to the minute.
Sometimes, life happens.
A fire alarm went off at the Anaheim Marriott Suites in Garden Grove midway through the keynote speech of Cristela Alonzo.
The voice behind an announcement said that there was no fire, it was only a test. Alonzo, who counts stand-up comedian as one of her jobs, did not flinch.
“I love that it rang and none of us ran,” she told the 525 philanthropic, nonprofit and business leaders assembled. “There was an alarm, and everybody’s like, ‘Whatever.’”
Attendees of the Orange County Grantmakers Summit share what brings them joy in a collage hanging during the event on Oct. 1.
(Eric Licas)
Alonzo provided plenty of laughs to close out the annual Orange County Grantmakers Summit on Oct. 1.
The theme for the summit, held while OC Grantmakers is celebrating its milestone 20th anniversary, included three keywords: action, impact and joy.
“This year, we really intentionally moved away from issue-specific things to this idea of just bringing everyone together,” said Palumbo, a Huntington Beach resident and city council hopeful who was less than a day removed from participating in a candidates forum. “We felt like the world today needed an opportunity for just connection and pause. We really wanted to be intentional about that.”
The all-day event featured 25 speakers from positions around the county. The summit, which started in 2010 as a way to support nonprofits coming out of the recession, has continued to grow.
Chantias Ford discusses how to maintain joy in difficult situations during the Orange County Grantmakers Summit on Oct. 1.
(Eric Licas)
Before Alonzo’s speech, guests heard so-called “Lightning Labs,” short talks from speakers on subjects ranging from using artificial intelligence well in the nonprofit world to maintaining joy in difficult conversations. There were also Lightning Labs in the morning session.
Renata Simril, president and chief executive of LA84 Foundation, spoke about joy and sports.
The event concluded with a happy hour, designed to encourage more networking between the attendees.
“This is always a little bit of a level set of, what are people thinking about?” Palumbo said. “What are people stressed about? What is the nonprofit community focused on right now? Then we use that to build out the rest of our year, from here on. This is our opportunity to take a pause, then I use the next couple of months to figure out how we’re going to be focusing on that for 2027.”
Jay Golden addresses attendees of the Orange County Grantmakers Summit on Oct. 1.
(Eric Licas)
Elizabeth Andrade is the executive director of 2-1-1 Orange County, a key program run by Orange County United Way that provides connections to housing, food, financial resources and more. She has been coming to the OC Grantmakers Summit for several years, and has seen it grow since its days at the Delhi Center in Santa Ana.
Andrade, a candidate for the Fountain Valley City Council, said the need for collaboration is critical in the aftermath of H.R. 1. The legislation, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” was signed into law in 2025, affecting nonprofits through new restrictions to charitable donations while slashing programs like Medi-Cal and SNAP.
“We are going to see more people in need in our community,” Andrade said. “This is the social safety net. These are the people that are going to catch the people that are falling out of those services.”
Alonzo, the youngest of four children raised in Texas by a single mother, understands some of the challenges. She went on to become the first Mexican American woman to create, produce and star in her own American primetime comedy, as “Cristela” aired for one season starting in 2014.
Comedian, actress and writer Cristela Alonzo gives the keynote speech at the Orange County Grantmakers Summit on Oct. 1.
(Eric Licas)
She encouraged the leaders to “see the movie,” unlike her late mother, who worked double shifts at a Mexican restaurant in Texas and died before taking the time to enjoy entertainment like a movie at a local theater.
“We’re here because of action, impact, and joy,” Alonzo said. “Action is something you don’t have a problem with. Action is movement; you move all the time, nonstop. The impact — you know exactly why you’re doing it. You see the results. It’s the last part you have to work on. It’s the joy, because some of you have never been told that it’s OK to seek out the joy.”
Alonzo said that at 47, she had recently started swimming lessons, and she regularly plans family trips to places like Hawaii and the Grand Canyon.
“I don’t want anybody to live like my mother did,” she said. “I want you all to see the movie … You work enough. In fact, I know you work too much. Don’t wait until you’re older. Do it now, while you can still move, while you can still have the energy.”