This organization is among the honorees to be recognized at The Business Journal’s inaugural Philanthropy Excellence Awards for its commitment to improving the wellbeing of the Central Valley. Winners in each award category will be announced during the program on Wednesday, Nov. 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at Pardini’s Catering & Banquets. Visit eventbrite.com for Philanthropy Excellence Awards tickets.
In less than three years, Heartland Compass has grown from 76 clients to 405, helping Central Valley workers through life’s toughest and unexpected challenges beyond the workplace.
Launched in 2023, Heartland Compass operates as a DBA of the Fresno Stewardship Foundation and is powered by the Fresno Business Council.
Heartland Compass meets workers at their worksites and connects them to housing, financial, health, legal and crisis support resources. Its services are bilingual.
Its mission: to help working people stay stable so they can stay employed.
Heartland Compass serves frontline employees across 11 partner employers in the San Joaquin Valley, including Producers Dairy, Wawona Frozen Foods, JD Food, Total Concept Enterprises, Valley Iron and US Cold Storage.
About 4,579 workers across the employer network now have access to services, according to the nonprofit. Most clients are in Fresno (60.5%) and Sanger (20.1%) and work in food production, manufacturing, cold storage and agriculture.
Heartland Compass served 76 clients in 2023, 360 in 2024 and 405 in 2025. So far this year, it has served more than 350 employees.
In its first three years, the nonprofit managed 735 individual cases. It also delivered $146,322 in direct financial support through its Barrier Buster Fund, which addresses workplace barriers, and its Breathing Room Fund, which covers household stability needs.
“Client growth has increased more than fivefold since the organization’s founding. Employer partners have seen measurable improvements in worker retention and stability, and the model has attracted regional recognition as an innovative employer-nonprofit partnership,” Heartland Compass CEO Kendra Devejian wrote in the nomination.
In its first few years of operation, Heartland Compass diversified its funding, secured new grants, developed bilingual employer toolkits and launched a regional workplace mental wellness initiative.
In the next two to five years, Heartland Compass plans to increase the number of member employers and direct client support funding. It also plans to grow its staff to serve more workers with the high-touch, bilingual, culturally responsive approach that defines its model.
The nonprofit also plans to expand its CalMoneySmart financial programming, help its employer partners pursue Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health certification and build a model other California regions can adopt.
