Steve Gunther - President and CEO of Maryvale | Los Angeles Leaders

What does it take to transform a 170-year-old social service organization while honoring its rich legacy? Steve Gunther knows the answer better than most. As the President and CEO of Maryvale—Los Angeles' first orphanage—Steve has masterfully guided this historic institution through its most significant evolution in over a century.

What makes Steve's approach to leadership truly exceptional is his remarkable self-awareness and humility. During our conversation, he shares a pivotal career moment when he voluntarily stepped down from directing a new program because he recognized he wasn't the right person for that role—even without another position lined up. This level of integrity and organizational commitment exemplifies the servant leadership that has characterized his forty-year career.

Under Steve's guidance, Maryvale has navigated substantial transformation, particularly during the pandemic. Faced with closing their residential treatment program in 2020—representing half of their operation—Steve led a comprehensive strategic planning process that resulted in innovative new services, including Seton House for single mothers with young children. One mother's simple words capture the program's impact perfectly: "I can breathe."

Steve's integration of faith with professional practice offers profound lessons for leaders in any sector. By knowing your values, making decisions consistent with those principles, and surrounding yourself with capable team members you trust, you create an environment where mission and purpose can flourish even through difficult transitions. As Maryvale expands its services and deepens its community connections, Steve demonstrates how honoring tradition while embracing innovation can transform both organizations and lives.

Ready to find your own leadership purpose? Subscribe to the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast for more inspiring conversations with visionaries making a difference in our community.

📌 ABOUT OUR GUEST:
🔹 Name: Steve Gunther
🔹 Title: President & CEO
🔹 Organization: Maryvale
🔹 Guests Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-gunther-msw-b8619922/

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Steve Gunther and Maryvale
• 2:40 Steve's Childhood and Service Foundations
• 8:30 Faith Journey and Personal Transformation
• 17:50 Career Evolution and Leadership Lessons
• 28:10 Transforming Maryvale's Programs Post-Pandemic
• 36:40 Impact Through Seton House Program
• 48:30 Leadership Philosophy and Value-Driven Decisions
• 57:30 Community Engagement and Future Vision
• 1:00:35 Final Thoughts and Meaningful Experiences

Transcript

Narrator 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories of the visionaries shaping the future of our region. Hosted by Christopher Luna, this podcast brings you conversations with the movers and shakers driving innovation, leadership and community impact across Los Angeles. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a community leader or simply someone passionate about making a difference, this podcast is your gateway to the insights and inspiration you need to lead and succeed. Get ready to be inspired by the leaders making waves in Los Angeles and beyond.

Narrator 2: 0:36

In this episode, we welcome Steve Gunther, maryvale president and CEO. Steve Gunther has spent over four decades transforming the lives of young people and families across Los Angeles. From the classroom to the boardroom, his leadership has shaped some of our region's most impactful social service institutions. As president and CEO of Maryvale since 2009, steve has expanded the organization's reach, launching early childhood education centers, mental health and wraparound services, and creating housing programs for single mothers with young children. Before Maryvale, steve served as Chief Operating Officer of St Anne's, where he helped lead one of the most ambitious expansions in the agency's history, including the launch of a 126-seat early learning center, a transitional housing program for young women aging out of foster care and the co-founding of New Village Charter High School, california's first all-girls charter school.

Narrator 2: 1:28

Steve also held leadership roles at Girls and Boys Town of Southern California and began his journey as a social worker, rising through the ranks by staying grounded in service purpose and people. A licensed clinical social worker, steve holds a master's in social work from USC, a master's in management from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor's from Loy work from USC, a master's in management from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor's from Loyola Marymount. He's also a lifelong musician and spent 21 years directing music ministry at St Rita's Catholic Church, balancing professional leadership with faith, creativity and family. Steve's story is one of visionary service, building systems of care, empowering young lives and leading with heart. Please welcome Steve Gunther.

Christopher Luna: 2:08

Welcome to Los Angeles Leaders. I'm your host, christopher Luna. Today I'm honored to have Steve Gunther here with Mary Val. It's a pleasure and we just heard your intro. It's incredible the amount of work and your background that you have, and it's all dedicated to service. So when I asked you to be on this show, I'm curious to know about your upbringing and how you got so dedicated to service. So please tell me a little bit about your past and your upbringing. That's a big question.

Steve Gunther: 2:39

Well, I grew up. I'm the oldest of four and grew up primarily in the area of Whittier and was involved in activities with church and got involved in music early on, about seventh grade, and was fortunate with my mom. She was always finding opportunities for us to visit convalescent hospitals, for example, and to visit folks that were in those hospitals that didn't get a lot of visitors, or to do other kinds of service work and then getting involved in youth group and various things. So I always had activities and opportunities growing up that you know led me into, you know, helping others and serving others.

Christopher Luna: 3:32

I'm assuming your parents were very religious or pretty active.

Steve Gunther: 3:37

Yeah, you know, both my parents have been, you know, very supportive of that part of my life and my upbringing. We were definitely involved in church. My mom sang in the choir, we went to mass regularly, I got involved in youth group and music early on, and so a big part of my life has centered around church and ultimately in ministry, which is what I've done. Primarily in my career is work in sort of ministry-oriented organizations.

Christopher Luna: 4:06

That's incredible. When you're growing up, tell me about your siblings. What was the household like?

Steve Gunther: 4:15

Well, there was four of us myself and then two sisters and then my younger brother and we were pretty active. I mean, we were in in lots of things. Um, you know, you know athletics and and did you grow up in california, in whittier I grew up.

Steve Gunther: 4:30

I grew up primarily in whittier, since about the age of four matter of fact, my mom is still living in in that home that we grew up in. Um and uh went to st paul high school in santa fe springs and then eventually on to loyola m Marymount for my undergraduate work. So, yeah, I'm a Southern California kid.

Christopher Luna: 4:50

I have my kids in a Lutheran school and I didn't grow up too religious. My parents, I mean, were religious, I mean Catholic, but we weren't as active as we should have been. But with me and my family, my kids, I'm trying to do the opposite. Right, we're trying to go to church every weekend or every Sunday and really guiding them through that, because I feel like there's a need. No matter what religion you believe in, there's still a need to have that sense of tradition and the groundness and what we learned growing up with that. So it's definitely something that I aspire to do with my kids. I think it's definitely needed.

Steve Gunther: 5:29

Yeah, you know, especially in this day and age right, there's so many, you know, conflicts and things coming at us, and especially at our kids. You know, try to have that grounding, you know, to have that sort of center that you can, you can draw on. I think is is really critical, and I mean it's easy, though, to you know, to drift away from that. It's easy to get caught up in those other things.

Christopher Luna: 5:52

Um, you know, I'm fortunate that that for the majority of my life I was able to sort of stay centered in that, you know, there there was a period where I kind of drifted away when I was in college for a bit, um, but then had a pretty powerful experience that sort of you know brought me back and got me centered again oh no, am I?

Steve Gunther: 6:15

am I okay to ask what that was about, or sure so? So I um, as I had mentioned, I got involved in in with youth, youth group and music and you, and started playing the guitar at church and at mass, and so I was involved in that through junior, high and high school in various ways, got to college Eventually. My first year I commuted from Whittier to Loyola and then I moved on campus my second year and during that sort of first week on campus they have all the club fairs and everything, and I um found myself really intrigued by rowing on the crew team. So I started rowing on the crew team, uh, and I ended up doing that for about a year and a half, and about a year and a half, but so about mid-junior year, I got to a point where I'd gotten so obsessed with, uh, the rowing and the exercising and the working out and other things. And you know, just, college life, yeah, um, you know, and I never.

Steve Gunther: 7:20

I wasn't one that got into, I was never into heavy drinking and drugs, that was just never my thing, but just all the other distractions and things. And so I found myself not as focused on my faith, going to church and there came a moment and I still kind of vividly remember this and I still kind of vividly remember this where I had this tremendous awareness or sense of God's absence. So kind of that opposite experience of somebody who all of a sudden has this sense of God is really present. For me it was the opposite. I just had this incredible awareness of this sort of absence and it was startling in a lot of ways and and it led me to very quickly, um, kind of reprioritize and refocus. And I remember, um, in sort of in that moment or in those moments, uh, sort of just laying down in my dorm room and kind of just saying, okay, god, you know something's going on here, right, and so that eventually I stopped rowing, kind of got refocused, got back into some of the music and getting involved in other things.

Christopher Luna: 8:43

But do you think it had to be one or the other? I mean, it wasn't something because loyola marymount university is a beautiful college. It's very religious based. Obviously they have a beautiful chapel there. I mean, is this something that you're able to integrate into your that you had? You didn't have to step away from rowing sure it.

Steve Gunther: 9:01

Yeah, it didn't have to be one or the other, but but I think the other part of it was is I also was sort of coming to the realization that that I wasn't really enjoying the rowing as much and everything that was involved with it. I mean, it was, it was especially early on, it was like novel and it was this whole new, whole new thing. But then it just kind of got to a point where it was becoming more of a of a job and it was was. It just wasn't as as quite as enjoyable. So I think all of those realizations started kind of coming in. It's like okay, where do I want to devote my time and energy? You know, where do I want to sort of spend the time that I have and the time that I'm here, um, on this campus and in this environment? And so it was really just a reprioritizing. You know what was, what was important and you also went to Claremont.

Steve Gunther: 9:46

I eventually did that. I finished up at Loyola with a degree in psychology and a minor in theology. Wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with that. Had a wonderful professor in the theology department who I had been talking to and he was friends with a Dominican nun who was teaching at San Gabriel Mission High School and he knew that they were looking for a religion teacher. So he introduced me to her and I went on an interview and thought, yeah, teaching might be, this would be fun. So I actually was hired to teach sophomore and junior religion at San Gabriel Mission High School all girls and so I graduated and I went and started teaching.

Christopher Luna: 10:32

And you're teaching. For how many years? Just a few years.

Steve Gunther: 10:35

I taught for about three years, I think it was. But I came to a realization after doing that for a bit that I really enjoyed working with the girls, I enjoyed working with the adolescents and with that age group, but I wasn't really enjoying the day-to-day lesson planning, grading papers.

Christopher Luna: 10:56

The administrative.

Steve Gunther: 10:57

Yeah, that part of the teaching, but I enjoyed the age group and interacting with them and working with them.

Christopher Luna: 11:05

Did you have any other positions or roles in your career prior to teaching? Was there any other work experience in college?

Steve Gunther: 11:15

Yeah, I mean I was a resident advisor in college. I actually started working when I was like 14 at Savon Drugstore.

Christopher Luna: 11:23

At 14? At 14.

Steve Gunther: 11:25

Wow, yeah, so I had done 14 at 14. Yeah, so I had done different things.

Christopher Luna: 11:27

Awesome, um, but um, what do your parents think about you working at 14 years old at a?

Steve Gunther: 11:34

oh, it was. It was with a relative, so it was you know something that they were funny.

Christopher Luna: 11:37

One of my interviews he, he started, uh, his, his father was in the grocery industry as well and he started working at his grocery and we tapped into that a little bit because he learned a lot just working in that environment.

Steve Gunther: 11:48

I think I ended up. It was kind of a part-time thing and God I don't remember how long I did it now, but I still, when I walk through the store and I see people just sort of decide they don't want something and they just put it on the shelf. I found myself picking it up and moving it, or yeah, so, um so yeah, so I had you know some, you know a few things that I that I had done, but uh, you know here I was so.

Christopher Luna: 12:15

So teaching was kind of your first step to your career.

Steve Gunther: 12:18

Yeah, teaching was was that first step. Um, that is, again came to the realization that I really enjoyed working with the youth but the teaching wasn't for me, and so I started talking to some folks that I knew through church and as we talked through what I enjoyed about teaching, what I didn't enjoy, kind of where I thought I'd like to go professionally, somebody recommended that I should look at social work and I should pursue getting an MSW. And as I looked at that I thought, yeah, that's pretty much it. So we had the opportunity to go to USC and get my MSW. At the time there weren't a lot of social work programs, I think. At the time I think there may have only been USC and UCLA, and we were living in Pasadena and USC was closer.

Christopher Luna: 13:04

I was just there yesterday, yeah yesterday.

Steve Gunther: 13:05

Yeah, so, yeah, so I did that and, um, I had also continued with my music so, yeah, you've been a musician for 20 plus years.

Christopher Luna: 13:18

Do you specialize in a certain instrument?

Steve Gunther: 13:21

or I play the guitar and I sing and um I uh didn't really even start singing until I got towards the end of my time in college, because I was didn't really think I could sing and I was too nervous to do it and but I had some opportunities with some friends who wanted me to help out at some weddings and things.

Steve Gunther: 13:38

and one of them was at saint philips in pasadena right after we were graduating from Loyola, and one of the priests came up to me afterwards and we were just chatting and he found out that I was going to be coming nearby and teaching at the high school and so he started talking to me about maybe coming and taking over a choir on Sunday evenings, because they were looking for some new direction. And I actually made one of the smartest decisions I've made in my career and I told him to be interested in it. But I'm going to be starting to teach and I think I need to at least get through a semester of teaching before I take on anything else.

Steve Gunther: 14:16

And so I eventually in February of 1985, started directing music there and a few years later was invited to come to St Rita's in Sierra Madre, and then I was there for about 21 years. So music was something I was sort of doing simultaneously. You never let it go.

Christopher Luna: 14:37

To this day are you still? I do not as often, but I do occasionally have opportunity. Now I got to look out for that. I've got to check you out on guitar.

Steve Gunther: 14:49

No, it's been a wonderful thing for a number of reasons. So, with a young family and starting out, on one hand it provided some additional income, which was wonderful, but more importantly it kept us very involved in church. I always felt strongly that my involvement in that and the example I was giving my kids in that was important.

Christopher Luna: 15:14

I've always wanted to learn how to play guitar. I remember my dad would get me guitar lessons. It's one of those instruments that you could just take anywhere, right, you could be camping. I always visioned camping because we would go camping a lot, but I've always enjoyed that instrument. With my kids I'm trying to do the piano because I feel like piano is a good first step for them, just to learn how to read music. But my son actually, he started doing bells at church. Oh yeah, and that's beautiful. I didn't realize how neat that is. We went to a university. That's beautiful. I didn't realize how neat that is. We went to a university, got the name it's in Irvine, I think. It's a Catholic university and they had a bow choir there. I didn't realize how big that was in some of these universities. It's big.

Steve Gunther: 15:58

Yeah, actually we just got back from visiting my daughter and her husband and our grandkids in North Carolina and an Easter Sunday we went to a parish there in North Carolina and they had organ and handbells and brass and it was spectacular.

Christopher Luna: 16:17

Yeah, I never paid attention to it. I didn't realize how beautiful it is just to see all the I mean my son's young, young. So just seeing all the kids with these handbells and they're quick to change them, and it's a it's, it's not easy, because each one has very specific things that they're supposed to be playing, and so it's very and and it's important because it teaches them that responsibility they cannot miss, right, if they miss a practice or an event, it's a big deal you're.

Steve Gunther: 16:44

You're missing a whole note, right that's right, each, each bell is a particular note and each all of that comes together to make the yeah, yeah it's, it's, it's incredible.

Christopher Luna: 16:55

So, um, tell me about how you got involved in your current organization. How was that pitched to you? Because, um, how did you get recruited?

Steve Gunther: 17:06

yeah, so so you know, I guess, to kind of maybe complete the story. So when I finished my msw I started working at saint anne's at the time it's called saint anne's maternity home in los angeles again working with young women, um, and I did that for about 10 years. Um Left there, spent five years at Boys Town in Southern California and then had an opportunity to go back to St Ann. I had about two or three people send me notices or information. Did you see this? Are you interested? And I originally wasn't. I was sort of comfortable where I was at.

Christopher Luna: 17:55

Well, you're the chief operating officer at a great organization.

Steve Gunther: 17:58

Yeah, and we had been doing a lot of important work in the five years that I was there and there was certainly more to do.

Steve Gunther: 18:05

But after about the second time somebody sent me the five years that I was there, and there was certainly more to do. But after about the second time somebody sent me the notice, I thought, well, maybe God's calling me to at least consider something. So I sent off my resume and got a call almost immediately and the process did. I mean it was very quick and what I was told by one of the sisters who was involved in the in the hiring was you know, when they saw my resume it was sort of everything. I mean, they she felt very strongly that you know, I was the person that that they were looking for, and partly because for most of maryvale's history, um, it's always been led by a daughter of charity and certainly for the 23 or so years prior to my getting there it had been one of the daughters. So I was at the time that they were hiring me I was going to be the first sort of non-daughter of charity, non-religious, to be in that position within the organization.

Christopher Luna: 19:06

But I think we're understating the magnitude of this organization. It's coming up on 107 years old, it's seven years. Very traditional, very impactful. I think it's one of the first orphanages.

Steve Gunther: 19:18

It was the first orphanage In Los.

Christopher Luna: 19:20

Angeles. What type of leadership skills do you have to? Because this is I mean, I don't want to say it's a business, but I can't imagine, like the P&L and the process, the amount of staff that you have. There's a lot of operations that go behind the scenes. Tell me a little bit about what you learned throughout that process or how you view it now.

Steve Gunther: 19:42

I've learned a lot. I started out, you know, in social work and very quickly, as you know, as is not uncommon in the field found myself moving out of the direct service and into more administrative roles and realized that, you know, maybe I need to balance this sort of social or clinical part of who I am and maybe get a better understanding on the business side, because I had not really done any business.

Narrator 2: 20:13

I mean psychology and theology right.

Steve Gunther: 20:15

And then social work, and so I remember having a conversation with my wife at one point and saying you know, as I'm taking on more of these sort of senior leadership roles, it would really be helpful if I, you know, maybe could take some classes or, you know, maybe a certificate program.

Christopher Luna: 20:33

What did you do?

Steve Gunther: 20:34

Well, about a month after we had that conversation, an opportunity came across my desk for a fellowship and a scholarship at Claremont Graduate.

Narrator 1: 20:43

University.

Steve Gunther: 20:49

And so I submitted and was selected and got a full scholarship to go back and get a second master's at Claremont. So now I had the opportunity to sort of balance it and bring that in.

Narrator 1: 20:57

Because you're right.

Steve Gunther: 20:59

Yeah, Mary Vell is a nonprofit, but it's a multimillion-dollar nonprofit.

Christopher Luna: 21:03

You're managing properties, facilities, just the whole operation.

Steve Gunther: 21:08

Staff contracts, programs, all of that. So you need to have, and you want to have that balance.

Christopher Luna: 21:20

May I ask, just without having to do the calculations in my head, what age was that that you went back to get your masters and you're gonna make me calculate that real quick.

Steve Gunther: 21:30

I was probably 37 at that point.

Christopher Luna: 21:36

So you're really just starting your career. Now you've got the administrative side. You have obviously the passion and the mission behind what the organization's about. How do you bring that all together? I mean, do you rely heavily, I'm assuming, on your leadership, your CFOs, your COOs? Tell me about that.

Steve Gunther: 21:55

So it's yes. So you know, obviously having a strong team because, for example, I mean, I'm not a finance guy, right, I need to have a strong CFO, somebody who I can rely on and I can trust who's going to really be handling that. But I have to have enough information and enough knowledge to be able to, you know, to look at a balance sheet and to understand budgets and all those things. But I think that's one of the keys and one of the things I'd like to think that I've done fairly well in my career made mistakes along the way but is recognizing that I can't do it by myself and that I need to have good people around me and then not only having good people around, but then trusting them right and empowering them to do the work right.

Christopher Luna: 22:45

I think that's what makes you a good leader, though A lot of people assume that these leaders know everything and have to be involved in every aspect of their organization, but in reality, the way I see you is as an inspiration, to inspire people that work for you or that follow you to do great things right. So that's what makes leadership unique and that's why this episode is Los Angeles leaders. Like I'm trying to capture that. How do we teach that to our emerging leaders? Because I think that to me, that that's it looks a little foreign, like like wow, that's incredible. You're making it sound really easy, but I know it's not.

Steve Gunther: 23:24

You know. I think it's important to know your limitations, it's important to know your strengths and your weaknesses. For example, there was a point in my first 10 years, when I was at St Anne's, that there was some real evolution going on within that organization. It had historically been a maternity home, so young women would come while they were pregnant, would have the babies. Many of the children at that time were placed for adoption, but once the mom left and went to the hospital to deliver, they didn't come back because we were not licensed, you know, for moms to come back with babies, but and it was just, you know, to support them during their pregnancy.

Steve Gunther: 24:06

That began to change, and so we were ready to develop and start a program that was for moms with babies, because many of the young women that we were beginning to serve were coming through the foster care system and so once they had their babies they still needed a place to go, and there weren't a lot of those opportunities. So we were going to start this new program for moms with children, and I was given the opportunity at that point to be the director of that program. I'd been a social worker and had been working clinically, but I was given the opportunity, because I had helped to sort of create the program, to then be the director of it. Great opportunity. It was an opportunity, for you know, to make some additional money to support my family. You know, a new challenge.

Steve Gunther: 24:55

And so I did and we started it. And started it and the need was great and so the program took off and we were serving a number of moms and their kids. But I began to realize pretty quickly that I wasn't equipped to have a programmatic, you know, program design sort of background. So I found myself in a bit of a crisis and kind of really, you know, wrestling with this and you know doing a lot of praying and said, okay, lord, what am I supposed to do here?

Steve Gunther: 25:31

Had a conversation with my wife and said, look. I said I don't think I'm the right person right now for this program and for the organization. I said this program is too important for somebody to be learning on the job. So I went to, I had the conversation with my wife and she said, well, do what you need to do. And that was sort of my confirmation. It's like okay, I know what I need to do. So I went to my boss and said, look. I said I think I need to step out of this program. We need to get somebody in here who's got the experience, who can really build all of the systems and all of the things that are necessary. But I had no idea what was going to come next. Right, I mean I didn't have a Big risk. Yeah, I didn't. I mean I knew that I needed to step off out of the position but I didn't have another job lined up at that point. But again, it was too important for the organization at that time and the direction things were going and the introduction of this new program. So I went to my boss and had the conversation and she said are you sure? And I said yeah, I'm absolutely sure.

Steve Gunther: 26:36

The CEO of the organization called me into the office and he'd been in that position. He'd been with the organization at that point over 20, 25 years. He said, steve, you've got a young family. He says are you really thinking this through? And I said to him I said yeah, I said I'm absolutely at peace with this, this is absolutely what I need to do. And they said okay, again, still not knowing what was going to come. Yeah, and within a few days, my boss and one of the other administrators sat down with me and said okay, you know, we certainly respect that decision. We recognize that we're going to need to, you know, add a position clinically as we're growing. So they gave me the opportunity to step back into a clinical position, to stay at the organization, to continue to support the effort in that way, and then we were able to bring in somebody who could provide the kind of direction and leadership that the program needed at that time. So it was a difficult decision.

Steve Gunther: 27:37

It was a little scary because I didn't know it was. You know it was it was. You know it was a difficult decision it was. It was a little scary cause I didn't know it was going to come, but in the end it all worked out and, I'd say, within six months, my boss because of things that were going on with her family and her husband, they were moving out of state. Next thing I know I had well, actually before that I had an opportunity to to become the clinical director. So I was doing clinical work and then part-time leading the department. So now, starting to take on some of that management in a different way and starting to learn some of those skills, eventually became the chief program officer and then that ultimately led to going back to Claremont.

Christopher Luna: 28:18

So, god, just staying open to what I felt needed to happen and not necessarily knowing where I was going, and you're not afraid to say you don't know, you're not afraid to say I need help, and I think that proves a lot to your sense of leadership. A lot of people may be afraid to show that side to them, but you saw, it's for the greater cause of this organization. Obviously, a lot of people are relying on these programming and you can't just hinder a program that way. So it was difficult for you to step away from that, but I think that you opened up the program to allow others to shine as well.

Steve Gunther: 28:57

Yeah, and for the program to succeed.

Christopher Luna: 28:59

So when you're going and for the program to succeed. Yeah, yeah, so when you're going and you're mentioning your wife, but at what point did you get married and start your family?

Steve Gunther: 29:07

We were married in 1987. So we actually, when I started leading the choir at St Phillips, that was her parish and she had a friend of hers who kind of dragged her to the first rehearsal and that's where we met. We actually didn't hit it off very well.

Christopher Luna: 29:26

37 years, almost 38 years.

Steve Gunther: 29:33

Yeah, so we were relatively young and we started our family pretty quickly and we've had five children and now two grandchildren.

Christopher Luna: 29:41

And they're all over the world.

Steve Gunther: 29:43

They're all over the world One's in Australia, one's in North Carolina, the rest right now are low?

Christopher Luna: 29:49

Are any of them in service religion work?

Steve Gunther: 29:52

So in different ways. So my youngest daughter is a physical therapist. So my youngest daughter is a physical therapist. My oldest daughter, the middle child, actually works for the county of San Bernardino in children's services. She worked in Arizona for a while and came here, so she sort of followed in my social work path a little bit. But then the boys, one's an attorney and one's in construction management, so they've each sort of found their own path.

Christopher Luna: 30:21

I know social work is very difficult, especially when you're dealing with adolescents and they come from very different backgrounds and you hear all these stories and there's a lot of great organizations, whether they're foster care agencies or private or public, obviously organizations whether they're foster care agencies or private or public, obviously but it's such a needed support because it takes someone very strong and willing to understand those dynamics. It's very sad to hear some of those stories. And how do you help yourself with that? Because I was approached to actually to join a um, a board of one of the uh foster agency. This was a long time ago and they're and they're telling me, like you're going to be shown information, you're, we're going to tell you what's going on with some of these um children and they gave me an example. I'm like, yeah, I don't know, I can't do that. You know it's, it's, it's tough. I have a friend that works in social services and she's you know she'll, she won't tell me specifics, obviously, but it's very hard. Yeah, it's not.

Steve Gunther: 31:27

It's not an easy job no, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're walking beside folks and you're, you're, involved in the lives of folks, especially, you know, when you're working with kids who, in most instances, have experienced multiple traumas, right, whether it's sexual abuse or drug use in the home, or neglect, or having been removed from their home.

Steve Gunther: 31:54

I mean just one thing after another.

Steve Gunther: 31:57

And so it can become, you know, very difficult, and I think that you know the key is to find the ability to kind of separate yourself from that right, and you know, and to find ways to, you know, have outlets.

Steve Gunther: 32:13

You know, and so, you know, for me the music was always a big part of that right. I always had this other sort of other side of me that allowed me to sort of step away from the intensity of the social work and, you know, immerse myself in the music and the prayer and the in the ministry of on the other side, um, it's interesting that you you mentioned that because, as my daughter was going into the work and was starting to work in arizona for the county, we had those exact conversations, you know, and I talked to her about making sure, you know, she kept, you know, that distance that she'd be, you know, didn't allow herself to get too, um, you know, personally and connected with that, and and we had conversations and I encouraged her to, you know, to talk about you know her cases and things that she was facing and she's done an excellent job of it.

Steve Gunther: 33:06

But yeah, I've seen it eat people up.

Christopher Luna: 33:09

Yeah, I mean, how do you turn it off? Sometimes you come home and I'm sure they're with their spouses or their kids and they have a case that they're working and it's tough because we've heard situations in the county here where things happen and it's a lot of responsibility on those caseworkers and social work.

Steve Gunther: 33:28

Yeah, and again I think having outlets, having ways that you balance your life, having a strong support group around you, having colleagues that you're talking to, that you're able to bounce things off of, that you're able to get different perspectives on, you're able to process those things. Part of what we do at our work at Maryville is trauma-informed work, but that also includes the work we do in supporting our staff and giving them the resources.

Christopher Luna: 33:54

Tell us more about.

Steve Gunther: 33:55

Maryville. So, as you mentioned, maryville is 170 years in January. This coming January, daughters of charity sponsored and so five daughters traveled from Emmitsburg, maryland, and arrived in Los Angeles in January of 1856. And they lived and worked in a home that was located where Union Station is now downtown. That work eventually became what we know today as Maryville also what was the St Vincent's Medical Center. So they started the first orphanage and the first hospital in Los Angeles and it evolved and it was originally the orphanage and they were in Boyle Heights for many years and then finally moved to where our main campus is today in Rosemead in 1953. And over the years, programs and services evolved right. So the orphanage eventually transitioned into a group home and a residential treatment program for children placed through the Department of Children and Family Services in probation so kids in foster care in the probation system.

Steve Gunther: 35:11

And in 2020, we made a difficult decision to actually close that program. Made a difficult decision to actually close that program. There had been a lot of reforms and things that were being initiated in the state around services for kids in foster care and it was having a pretty significant impact across the system. Much of it good, some of it still is a challenge, and it was having a direct impact on programs like ours, at least larger sort of residential programs, and so it became pretty clear to us, for a number of reasons, that it was time to close that program and move in some new directions. So we did that and it was unfortunate it was happening at the same time that the pandemic was occurring. We had to lay off 150 staff.

Christopher Luna: 36:00

How many staff do you have now?

Steve Gunther: 36:01

We have 142 now, but that program at the time represented about half of our operation. It was a big part of who we were and, of course, much of our identity in the community. A large amount of our outward fundraising effort was built around that program. So it was a huge change, and it meant that we had an opportunity, though, to take a good look at where we'd been, where we were and where we were going. And, of course, with that we had three buildings on our campus that were now vacant, that had housed the residential program. So a big question was what are we going to do with the campus? How are we going to use these resources that we have available to us? So we took the time to go through a pretty thorough strategic planning effort.

Christopher Luna: 36:58

Did you hire outside consultants, or how is that?

Steve Gunther: 37:00

yeah, we work with the consulting group, and and literally the process was about a year. I mean, we, we really took a good look at, you know, our mission and our values and our history and lots of conversations out in the community with County, you know, with other, you know other, with county, with other providers, with other stakeholders in the community, really trying to get a sense of what are the needs in the community. Where might we have the most impact, make the biggest difference? At the same time, though, we were continuing to operate our early education programs, so we had, at that time, two the one on our campus in Rosemead that we can have right now 120 kids in that program and 176 kids in a program up in Duarte and we had also, in those years leading up to that, we had begun to provide community-based mental health services. So those programs were continuing.

Steve Gunther: 38:00

The biggest question was what are we going to do in terms of campus and those facilities? So we went through a very thorough process lots of conversation, a lot of prayer, a lot of discernment, a lot of discussion and, fairly soon along, we really began to focus on a couple populations. One was, you know, single moms, almost, you know, moms with smaller children. Uh, because of some of the work that we were doing in early ed and other things, and we were also looking at college age kids because there was a lot of, especially at that time. There's a lot of discussion about the need for housing or kids that were trying to going to school and were living in their cars or couch, surfing, all those kind of things and so.

Steve Gunther: 38:43

So in the end we decided to open what we call seat and house in one of the vacant buildings on our campus where we now house nine moms who have up to two small children under the age of 10. It's a six-month temporary housing program that allows us for the first time, to integrate all of our programs and services around the moms right, so we're able to provide them with the housing and all of the other supports that we want to provide them, whether it's life skills classes, financial literacy, parenting all those kinds of supports and education that we want them to get and take advantage of when they're with us. But we have our early education program on campus. So if mom has children that are in that sort of zero to five range, we can enroll them in the school and walk them right across campus and they get the benefit of an excellent early education program and then we have our mental health services. So all of that, we can integrate and support the moms, and it's been a tremendous program. It's been open for a couple of years.

Christopher Luna: 39:53

Yeah, I had the opportunity of visiting your campus. It's a beautiful property. I mean, how many acres is it?

Steve Gunther: 40:02

It's quite large, a little over 13.

Christopher Luna: 40:05

So you did a beautiful tour and just to kind of see the scope and the magnitude of this facility and everything that you do and all the lives that you touch. I mean it was very inspiring and the services that you provide to these individuals, because the idea right is there has to be a long-term solution right there. We can't fix it all, but you're assisting them and prepping them like I saw the computer rooms, you're helping them build their resumes, you're helping them get positions and you're taking care of their kids while they're having to go to work. So it's a beautiful transition that these moms need because they need somewhere to feel safe. A lot of these, you know other locations may not be as safe for them and their kids. So it's incredible.

Steve Gunther: 40:52

Yeah, we are absolutely blessed with a beautiful campus. Right, I mean it's park, it's like a park almost or, you know, a college campus. I mean it really is a beautiful space. And when you think about the backgrounds, the stories of these young women that are coming into the Seton House program, they are coming from having at some point been homeless or having been on the verge of or bouncing from place to place or having great uncertainty about you know, where they might stay and, you know, worrying about what their next meal may be or how they're going to keep their children safe.

Steve Gunther: 41:29

And you know, one of the moms, early on in a conversation with one of our staff, I think, said it best. You know she was talking to our staff and at one point she said to him she says, I can breathe, I can breathe. You know, she, for for that time, for the, for the first time in a long time, she didn't have to worry about where she was going to sleep, what she was going to eat. You know that if her children were going to be safe, she, she, was given the opportunity. And this is what we, we tell them. Yeah, yes, it's a six month program, but there's a lot that can happen in six months. This is the opportunity for you to take that deep breath, take advantage of what we have to provide you and really start taking the steps to a better life right For you and for your child. And we're here to walk with you and to help you in that process.

Christopher Luna: 42:21

Yeah, I mean, what are some of your most proud accomplishments at Maryvale since the time that you've been there?

Steve Gunther: 42:32

So I think we have, we've been able to adapt our programs or expand our programs to meet of today's situation?

Christopher Luna: 42:43

Yeah, the needs in the community.

Steve Gunther: 42:45

So we've, you know, and and we've really elevated, you know, our early education programs, we've expanded them. You know, we, as I said, we introduced the community mental health.

Steve Gunther: 42:58

So we have a contract with the Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles County for the mental health services and wraparound services since closing the residential program. And I think making that decision and making that transition is one of the things that I'm most proud of because, as I've had folks say to to me, that's a decision that some organizations would just be afraid to make and and, you know, might not make unless they were absolutely forced to make it. And we were able to come to that place and make that decision early on and, as it turns out, many other organizations made a similar decision, you know, after us, because of these changes that were going on. But then, having gone through that, that transition, so we've now, since closing that program, we've now opened two new programs. So Seton House is one, but we've also opened a program called Connections by Maryville, which is another mental health program that focuses on mental health and substance use for adolescents or kids from 12 to 17. So it opens us up to serve a broader population of kids and you have other locations.

Steve Gunther: 44:11

Yeah, we have three locations. We have our main campus in Rosemead we opened in 2011,. We opened a new large facility up in Duarte and then we have another early ed classroom in South El Monte. Now, so long-term, we'd like to even expand that geographically. Our hope is to try to.

Christopher Luna: 44:29

I mean, it's an honor to really help carry a legacy of 170 years. I don't think a lot of people understand it's not like you're out there promoting it. You're a rare organization because a lot of these non-profits have to continuously promote, promote their services right to help with the funding and service. But you guys are in a unique position where it's a little different but at the same time we do have to help tell your story because it is kind of a hidden gem, like you guys are. I've been in that area so many times and I never knew it was there. So how do you help balance that?

Steve Gunther: 45:08

so we've made a real effort in in that in that way, you know, and in you know when. When I first arrived and the campus was primarily the residential program, we were housing minors that were placed through the courts. So we purposely kept kind of a low profile in a lot of ways in that regard, we wanted people to be aware of who we were and what we were doing. But you and many others have either driven by or grew up in the area and really had no idea what was behind the gates, what was on the campus. Since we've sort of moved into these new programming and we've moved into some new areas, we've been making a really concerted effort to find every opportunity to be able to tell the story and make people aware of you know who we are and what we're doing.

Christopher Luna: 46:00

What are some of your priorities for the next 10 years?

Steve Gunther: 46:03

um, well, so right now our our main priority is to expand our seat and house program. So, as I said, we the one building we can house nine moms with their children. We have a large dorm building on campus that we are, in the next month, hopefully going to actually start the renovations to convert all that dorm space into 20 more individual living units, and we think that's going to take us 12 to 18 months and then we're going to be able to basically triple the size of that program and be able to house up to 29 moms with their kids on the campus. So that's been our biggest focus over the last couple of years and we're finally at the place where we're going to actually start to work, and so getting that finished and then getting that program expanded is a big priority right now finished and then getting that program expanded is a is a big priority right now.

Christopher Luna: 46:56

Have you ever thought about, uh, going back into teaching like, maybe as an adjunct professor or like a guest speaker, a lecturer, it it?

Steve Gunther: 47:04

there there's been some opportunities to do some of that. I mean I, I do, you know, enjoy that sometimes I haven't really thought about it as a as a professor, because I I don't know what would be involved with that.

Christopher Luna: 47:14

Well, I mean, I think it's like I said, you're faith-based, you're a leader, but you you're a ceo of a massive organization, right, so you bring a lot to the table. I'm just curious to say I mean I wish I could have you here for eight hours, kind of learn from you, right. But like, what are some top subjects or topics? Like how could we inspire this leadership, these skills, to these emergent leaders to kind of help follow them in your path?

Steve Gunther: 47:43

Yeah, you know, I think some of the, some of the lessons that I've learned along the way we've talked about, about some of it, right For me, because my faith is such an integral part, you know, of who I am and I don't see it as being separate in any way from the work that I do. I mean even to the point where I've spent most of my career working in Catholic organizations, right, I mean, you know, starting with the teaching, right, and so that's always been really important to me. But that means that I have to live that, as I described. For example, the decision I made when I was at St Anne's, all of that was really based on trying to live the faith that I profess and trust. I do believe in God, I do believe he's alive and active.

Steve Gunther: 48:29

So, listening and following that, but even if that's not where somebody's coming from, I think you know being true to who you are, knowing what's important to you, right, knowing what your values are and then making decisions and putting yourself in positions that are consistent with that. You know, we see today, you know, lots of organizations, because of what's going on in society, that are really put in positions where they're either going to you know, live up to the values that they profess, or they may drift away or or, you know, go counter to that. So I think it's you know, first and foremost I think that's that's really critical is you know, knowing who you are, knowing what's what, what your values are, what's most important to you, and then finding the opportunities to really live that and then, if you stay true to that, even when things get really difficult, ultimately you'll find a path, a path forward.

Christopher Luna: 49:28

It's beautiful because I think that's a common thread that I see between all these leaders that I've been interviewing is that there's a passion and there is a center right. There is a mission that you have and at the end of the day, it's about giving back and it's about being a servant. I think that when you're able to find a role that aligns with that passion, it's not work so much, it's really just part of who you are in your life, so it's unique. A lot of people don't have that opportunity. A lot of people are just looking for that day to day. I mean just people that I know, or even like nieces and nephews, like always keep that open mentality, because everywhere you go is an interview. It comes down to your character. It comes down to who you are as a person.

Christopher Luna: 50:24

I remember growing up I have had friends that would work like at a department store and I would say every interaction is an interview, everyone you talk to, because you never know who they are or who they become. You may be recruited from here. If they see that you're passionate about folding the clothes, even right, like you're passionate about helping, um, there's something more for you. So I think a lot of emerging leaders are people who really just want to get out of that day-to-day or that nine-to-five or that job that they really just are not passionate about. But I always say, take every job personal right and really find a way to align it with what you're doing now.

Christopher Luna: 51:01

Because when I was hiring employees for a family business, I loved hiring servers from restaurants because they know how to serve right. They're providing an experience and a service to their client and they're providing a good service to their client, right. So it's those little things that I'm trying to capture that maybe you know, I think we all read these leadership books, but it's hard to convey that and that's what I'm trying to expose from these skills that you have that I don't even think you may even think you know that you have those skills. But that's what I'm trying to expose from these skills that you have that I don't even think you may even think you know that you have those skills, but that's what I'm trying to capture.

Steve Gunther: 51:41

You know it's as you in my story right, I started out doing direct service, Started out as a social worker, as a clinician, you know, working directly with, you know these young women at St Anne and eventually moved up into management and doing other things.

Steve Gunther: 51:58

And so, even though I'm not doing the direct work now, it's so critically important that I keep in mind that my role, while I'm not doing the direct service, ultimately supports and allows that work to occur, and so I have significant responsibility and obligation to make sure that we're doing things, or providing the resources or doing whatever we can to allow the folks that we hire, that we put into those positions, to be able to do it and to do it well, and that you know that's not always easy, right?

Steve Gunther: 52:43

And you know, finding folks that embrace, you know, the values of the organization, that recognize and can celebrate the history of the organization and recognize that you know we're right in the next chapter. I mean, that was the conversation we were having back in 2020 as we started going through a very tumultuous time, and it caused a lot of fear and anxiety for folks whose jobs weren't directly affected. But gosh, if we close that program, what about ours? Is you know, is it going to close? Was sort of in people's minds, um, and and reminding them no, this organization has been around a long time. It's been through a lot of different seasons. We're we're just going into a new season, right, we're going to have the opportunity and the privilege to write the next chapter for the organization, and as long as we sort of kept ourselves focused there, we were able to kind of get through the challenges and move forward in some pretty significant ways in a short time.

Christopher Luna: 53:46

With your team do you have monthly? How close are you to your your team? Because it's a big staff, right? So I'm sure there's a lot of different layers, like how do you continue to inspire them? Because I'm sure you can't pay everyone great wages, right? So the people who are hard to retain, they have to stay grounded in that mission, right, because we have to remember why we join these organizations and why we're passionate about what we do. Um, it's not always about the money, but how do you continue to inspire your team that way?

Steve Gunther: 54:18

You know. So you have to certainly work through the folks that you put in place in the organization, right? So you know I really focus. We have what we call our senior leadership team, which are all the folks that are in the key positions, whether they're directing programs, directing departments or key positions within departments. That group now comes together collectively twice a month and we use that time to remind ourselves what is our mission, what are our values. We talk about those things. We ask folks to give examples of mission moments when they've seen the mission lived out. So we're constantly trying to find ways to remind folks, to keep them inspired.

Steve Gunther: 55:08

We have a group of staff that is called the Mission Integration Team and they come together about once a quarter, sometimes more often, and they plan activities around church seasons, around holidays, around feast days for our founders, like St Vincent de Paul and so forth. We've been around feast days for our founders, like St Vincent de Paul and so forth, so that we can continually be reminding our folks of our history. What are our values, how are we trying to live and integrate these things? So we really make a real concerted effort to do that and to do everything we can to appreciate our staff and and and to support them and to acknowledge the the good work that they're doing every day. We've been very blessed. You know, we've recently, uh, for example, uh, assemblywoman blanca rubio selected us as her non-profit of the year for her district.

Steve Gunther: 56:06

Um, and I attribute that with her in sacramento yeah, so we're going to be up there later this month for that celebration, and you know and we're, we're, you know, we're certainly, you know, honored that, that she recognizes the good work you know that that Maryville does in the community and and and selected us for that. And the message to our staff is that's because of all you right, you know, you know, because of the work that you do, you know we've been, yeah.

Christopher Luna: 56:37

I mean you're, you're definitely a lot, not a leader that we see very often. You're, you're, you're behind the scenes quite a bit. Um, there, there's. I'm trying to help amplify that because I feel like you need to be a little bit out more in front of the camera like this, because you do inspire so much, and I think that the team needs someone like you to help tell that story, because a lot of times those stories are not being told and you guys do such great work we were just thrilled.

Steve Gunther: 57:10

We had no idea that it was coming. Great work we were just thrilled, we had no idea that it was coming. And so when we got the notice that she had selected us, we were, you know, certainly honored and excited. And again, it's the result of lots of folks who work very hard.

Christopher Luna: 57:26

And how do you work with your community right now, other partners, your donors, your board, like, how does that work right now? Other partners, your donors, your board, how does that work right now? Into your vision.

Steve Gunther: 57:37

Well, as I said, I'm trying especially to focus more and more outside the organization. So having opportunities like this is wonderful and I'm grateful to be here today and we're looking for opportunities to tell the story, to be in the community. We've gotten engaged with a number of local city chambers LA's chamber, san Gabriel Valley, economic Partnership I mean groups maybe that you wouldn't normally think of. A nonprofit like us might sort of move in those circles, but we recognize how important it is to be connected to the business community, to leaders in the community, not only because of potential financial support that may come our way, but opportunities for those people to become involved with our organization, the opportunity when we're needing to find members for our board or whatever those things are, or if we have a specific challenge or something that we're facing. The more of those relationships that we have, the more that we're connected in the community, the more resources we have available to us. So that has been a big push for us in these last years and right now.

Christopher Luna: 58:53

Yeah, and that's great when you work with these organizations because you meet so many people from so many different areas and you never know. But I think there's a sense of support from whoever I meet. It's like everyone really wants to help and it's not always financial. A lot of it is resourceful. Like you, you're going A lot of it. It is resourceful. Like you, you're going through a lot of development. Like I said, your campus is so large and beautiful. You still have a lot of undeveloped acreage that you have as well. So it's always good to kind of see what the community needs to be part of that, because you don't want to just be in your gated community and not know what's going on externally.

Steve Gunther: 59:36

Well, and there's kind of a thought in the fundraising world that you want to match the donor's heart with the mission of the organization. Well, the only way you can do that is if you're out sharing with people what your mission is and the work that you're doing, and telling those stories and every opportunity that I have or that we have to do that. You just never know who you're going to come across and who might be at a particular point in their life where they're interested in getting involved with something or supporting something.

Christopher Luna: 1:00:09

So I again I appreciate everything you do and thank you for being here today. Before I let you go, I just have some quick, rapid uh questions. Um, what is the most meaningful place you visited?

Steve Gunther: 1:00:22

The most meaningful place I visited. Oh my God, you didn't tell me you were going to do this.

Christopher Luna: 1:00:29

I didn't tell you, I didn't A lot of these questions. Yeah, you didn't this.

Steve Gunther: 1:00:34

I didn't tell you a lot of these questions. Yeah, you didn't. Uh, the most meaningful place I visited, um probably assisi. I had an opportunity to, to travel with the choir way back and do a tour in europe and um went to some really neat places, but there was something about walking in some really neat places, but there was something about walking in the town of assisi where saint francis uh had lived and and uh and to just sort of have known and sort of felt that sense of that, that presence and what you know, because I've got a real heart for saint francis, I've always wow, yeah.

Christopher Luna: 1:01:11

Have you ever been beside the Pope?

Steve Gunther: 1:01:13

Any. Pope yeah well, part of that part of that tour, we sang for John Paul II at the Vatican as one of the general audiences. Yeah, so that was.

Christopher Luna: 1:01:23

It was a neat, a neat. Two weeks I was in Europe when he passed away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you again for your time. I appreciate it. I look forward to working with you more and kind of help amplify your organization and your mission. I think that, like I said, you do a lot of great work and I'm happy that you're here to help share your story. Well, thank you, I appreciate it Enjoying it.

Christopher Luna: 1:01:44

Thank you. Thank you for joining us. You can find all their information on the descriptions and I look forward to the next one.

Narrator 1: 1:01:53

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast, hosted by Christopher Luna. We hope you found our conversation as inspiring as we did. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us bring more of the content you love, and be sure to follow us on social media for updates behind the scenes content and to join the conversation Until next time. Keep leading, keep innovating and keep making a difference.