JULY 2022
2022 MIDYEAR
NEWSLETTER
As I look back on the work that The Fund for Santa Barbara has accomplished in the first half of 2022, I feel a deep sense of gratitude and pride in what we were able to carry out together. Despite the many challenges we continue to be confronted with, our work, and the movements we are helping to foster, serve as a constant source of hope and purposeful recentering. We started the year with an enriching community conversation with the one and only Dr. Angela Davis, granted over $350k, held important conversations and briefings while laying out the groundwork for actionizing the findings of the Central Coast Regional Equity Study, and found joy in our ability to gather in community to celebrate our grantees, to name a few things. These accomplishments are essential to our future success, and we enter the second half of 2022 ready to build on our mission of advancing progressive change by strengthening movements for Economic, Environmental, Political, Racial, and Social Justice. Our work is only possible due to the tireless dedication of our staff, the leadership of our Board of Directors, the vision and determination of our activist-led Grant Making Committee, the innovation of our Youth Making Change cohorts, the ceaseless support of our donors, the foundations that fund our efforts, and the critical work and passion of our grantees and partner organizations. Below I invite you to learn about the work that we at The FUND carried out in the first half of 2022. In Solidarity, .
Marcos Vargas, PhD Executive Director
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Grant Making Racial Equity Fund of Santa Barbara County The Racial Equity Fund of Santa Barbara County (REFSBC) is an initiative that came directly from grassroots organizing by Black Femme leaders in SB County who demanded that the County of Santa Barbara invest in the Black community in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing racial justice movement. Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis, made a commitment to racial justice and pledged $500,000 to begin to address equity issues in the county. Roughly half of the funds were allocated to internal/institutional County equity development with the remaining funds to be distributed through The FUND's participatory grantmaking process.
Comité Guelaguetza - Guelaguetza Popular Santa Maria, CA and Decolonial Workshops $35,000 Support of the Guelaguetza Popular ceremonial cultural festival representing all 8 regions of Oaxaca to uplift cultural value, dignity, and autonomy of Oaxaqueños, indigenous people in Santa Maria, and the surrounding areas through traditional food, dance, music, and Indigenous self-determination decolonizing workshops. Gateway Educational Services - Parent Empowerment for Equitable Education - $17,500 (Yr 1), $17,500 (Yr 2) Funding to support an initiative to engage and empower Black/African American parents to advocate for equitable and just education in Santa Barbara County through webinars designed to activate Black/African American parent participation in local educational policy decisions. Healing Justice Santa Barbara - Preservation of Black Legacy; General Operations for Healing Justice SB - $50,000.00 (Yr1), $50,000 (Yr2) Funding will support operating costs and salaries for lead organizers, to ensure the sustainability of their anti-racism through systems change work to uplift all Black/African-Americans to affirm safety, love, equity, respect and joy.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara - MLKSB Jr. Racial Equity Initiative $20,600 Funding will support the hiring of an Executive Director and to carry out programs and events that exemplify the vision and legacy of Dr. King to strengthen the organization’s presence in the community and effect the culture and policy for systemic change and increase racial equity. Martin Luther King Jr., Day Celebration Committee - A Community Multicultural Celebration - $4,800 (Yr1), $4,800 (Yr2), $4,800 (Yr3) Funding will support the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration promoting cultural/ethnic education and historical, civic, and health information to strengthen unity in the community and celebrate the life and contributions of Dr. King.
NAACP Santa Maria Lompoc 1072 - Juneteenth Celebration, Black History Celebration, Culturally Competent programming in Schools - $25,000 Funds will support NAACP’s mission to dismantle systems of racism, oppression, and discrimination by dismantling those systems that perpetuate racism, discrimination and hatred through Culturally competent programming that addresses inequities that exist in our County and an annual Juneteenth Celebration as well as a gathering celebrating Black History.
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2022 Spring General Cycle - $100,000 805 UndocuFund / Advocacy for the Inclusion of Undocumented Immigrants in Long Term State and Local Government Funded Disaster Financial Relief and Resources - $10,000 Funding to support building 805 UndocuFund's advocacy capacity to build a state coalition to fight for undocumented immigrants in disaster. Beyond Incarceration Greater Education / B.I.G.E. Club - $7,000 Funding will pay Continued support to outreach to local At Promise (At Risk) youth and to provide a support system to reduce recidivism and pursue college and a career. Blue Sky Sustainable Living Center Cuyama Valley / Victory Gardens - $10,000 Continued support for Cuyama Valley Victory Gardens, funding to support a bilingual Coordinator position. C4 Lompoc Collective Cultures Creating Change / Heal the Hurt 2022 - $7,750 Funding will support systemic change efforts through education and outreach campaigns to engage marginalized community members and challenge direct threats to dismantling systematic discrimination and oppression. Children & Family Resource Services / Santa Maria Women’s Health Equity Initiative: Promotores Network collaboration - $10,000 Funding to create access to culturally and linguistically relevant reproductive healthcare for Indigenous and Latinx migrant women in North Santa Barbara County. Cultural and Creative Arts Center of the Santa Maria Valley (Corazón del Pueblo)/ Arts for the People: Culture and Equity for the Santa Maria Valley - $1,250 Continued support of artivism to engage in cultural advocacy, community develpment, and arts equity campaigns. El Centro SB / Staffing & Reimagining El Centro SB - $10,000 Funds to support coordination of activist-led grassroots community space on the lower west side of Santa Barbara that centers people working towards the liberation and uplifting of people of color. Little House by the Park/The Guadalupe Community Changers / Fair Housing Mobilization Project "Adelante Guadalupe!" Phase II - $8,500 Funding will support the continuation of educational housing justice workshops for parents and constituents to increase housing advocates in Guadalupe. Freedom 4 Youth (F4Y) / Advocacy led by Individuals Impacted by Criminal Legal Institutions - $10,000 Funding will support the Lived Experience Executive Division (LEED) advocates, a group entirely composed of people who are currently or formerly incarcerated, to lead advocacy efforts focused on creating systemic change to the criminal legal system. 54
Los Amigos de Guadalupe / Nonprofit Collaboration Board - $8,000 Funding to support the establishment and coordination of a coalition of service providers and nonprofits working to enhance and develop the capacity of the City of Guadalupe’s community.
One Community Action of Santa Maria Valley / One Community Action - $7,500 Funding will support One Community Action’s social change efforts through equitable, youth centered and culturally competent programming. SB County Immigrant Legal Defense Center (ILDC) / Access and Equity without Borders $10,000 Funding to support collaborative work offering a unique, holistic, multi-tiered approach to enable unaccompanied migrant youth to access the resources they need to survive and thrive.
On June 8th we had the pleasure of celebrating the work of both our Spring Cycle and Racial Equity Fund of Santa Barbara County Grantees at our Spring Grant Awards Celebration, the first time since 2019 that the event was open to all community members. There are few occasions as purpose centering and uplifting as the times we are able to come together in community to honor the transformative work of our grantees— the organizations at the forefront of shaping a region we can be proud of. While we know there is much work to be done, taking the time to acknowledge the efforts and accomplishments of our grantees yields tremendous hope for the future, and joy. These occasions also serve as reminders that we are in this together. Our work to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world is deeply interconnected, and strengthened by our collective efforts. There is power in community. 5
2021-2022 North County Grants - $11,550 Chicano/Latino Studies Students at SMHS / Ethnic Studies/POC Film Festival — $3,000 Funding for a film festival centered around the representation of BIPOC that reflects the diverse community of Santa Maria. Dream Club / Cinco de Mayo, Diversity Day, and ASBG Collaborations (Black History Month and International Women’s Day) — $2,850 Funding to support the Dream Club of Allan Hancock College to help provide undocumented students with necessary resources and legal information through several events throughout the year. Lompoc Valley Black Student Union, Lompoc and Cabrillo High Schools / Mural titled “Unify Lompoc Valley – We’re in this together” — $2,700 Funding for a mural in the city of Lompoc to express ideas of inclusion and promote equity by celebrating Black/African American leaders. Pioneer Valley High School Science and Engineering Club / Learn About Climate Change and Build Your Own SolarPowered Vehicle — $3,000
North County Board Jasmin Olivera, Facilitator Carlos Gonzalez, Facilitator Andrea Cuevas Allie Cabiles Angel Gonzalez Cesar Vasquez Daniela Cayetano Danna Hernandez Deisy Mendez Damarie Diel Harry Mullin Jade Espinoza Jamielynne Lomibao Litzy Bautista Cruz Mickayla Piñon Ray-Ar Ramos Susana Espinoza Zimin He
Funding for events at local schools to help inform youth on the importance of renewable resources and increasing interest in STEM related education by building solar powered cars.
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2021-2022 South County Grants - $11,550 Arts Mentorship Program/ Inclusion Coalition — $2,000 Funding for Diversity Equity and Inclusion training and creating an inclusion implementation Toolkit to help local studios. Cops Off Campus SB Youth Coalition / Community not Cops — $2,400 Funding for supporting the organizing of youth in Santa Barbara to hold an event to discuss and reimagine alternatives to safety and educate the community on ways to abolish the school to prison pipeline. Future Leaders of America / Bridge the Divide Workshop — $2,800 Funding for a workshop so that teachers, administrators, and students can create a more inclusive environment for BIPOC students. Isla Vista Compost Collective / New compost pile and operation expansion — $3,000 Funding to support the compost pile efforts in Isla Vista that helps educate the community on sustainable living while promoting environmental justice.
South County Board Clare Schneider, Facilitator Margherita Scussat, Facilitator Allegra Cullen Anna Lucia Muñoz Awan Haj Christy Guerrero Jimenez Dawson Kelly Florence Wang Gabriele Scussat Halie Bissell Jocelyn Pacheco Morales Kavya Suresh Kim Mendoza Lorenzo Lara Diesel Huerta Norah Ferguson Sophie Suh
MiSendero / Spring Student Workshop and Website Development — $2,500 Funding for supporting a youth-led initiative for monolingual Spanish speaking students to be leaders as Spanish tutors to their peers. Youth Leadership Council / CAN DO! (Change Agent Network for Dismantling Oppression) — $3,000 Continued support for one of the only fully bilingual programs that helps educate and promote social justice while providing a safe space for monolingual Spanish speaking youth to engage.
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Both YMC boards collaborated to put together this 2021-2022 highlight video
Building Capacity Central Coast Regional Equity Study Rooted in a vision of transformative change and equity, the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative, a partnership led by the UCSB Blum Center and The Fund for Santa Barbara, Initiative aims to deepen our understanding of regional disparities, facilitate a region-wide multisectoral conversation, and advance equity through a community and research-informed action framework. Since launching the report in December 2021, our collaborative team has engaged in community discussions intended to weave together various sectors and facilitate conversations centered on collective action movement building. Our organizing efforts have laid the groundwork for deep-rooted regional change, and we are looking forward to the second half of 2022 to engage in a community-informed strategic planning process which will further build a regional movement for equity along the Central Coast. Some of the powerful conversations we’ve engaged in include: (March) Community Discussions with Board and Grant Making Committee (April) Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties Policymakers and Philanthropic Leaders Briefing and Discussion (April) UCSB Community-Engaged Research Call for Proposals + Researcher Discussion (April and May) Housing Forums with UCSB Blum Center (May) Central Coast Immigration Network Briefing + Community Discussion (June) Southern California Association of Governments Briefing + Regional Discussion (June) Alliance for Community Transformation Briefing + Community Discussion
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Capacity Building Offerings:
February 2022 - Grant Application Workshops Ahead of our Spring Grant Cycle we hosted three free grant application workshops intended to help applicants navigate through the application process.
April 2022 - The Conflict Campaign w/John Rogers and Veronica Terriquez As a response to the aggressive attacks on youth at Santa Barbara Unified School District meetings, The FUND partnered with Future Leaders of America and members of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center to hold a forum to discuss the history of right-wing antagonism in school board rooms across America/
April 2022 - Nonprofit Advocacy & Lobbying 101 w/Nona Randois of Alliance for Justice Intended for nonprofit organizations, the aim of this workshop was to provide a clear understanding of how to maximize nonprofit advocacy, the kinds of advocacy activities 501(c)(3)s can engage in, and when a communication is considered lobbying.
May 2022 - Building Language Justice into Your Budget w/Nayra Pacheco-Guzman Intended for organizations who are looking to grow their language justice capacity by creating a budget to match. Participants learned basic Language Justice principles and practiced how to build a budget to improve the quality of engagement of multilingual communities both in the short and long-term. This was a Capacity Building Collaboration with the Center for Nonprofit Leadership 9
May 2022 - Working Together for Transformative Change w/Marcos Vargas and Kathleen Knight This first community building session highlighted key findings of inequity facing Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties from the Central Coast Regional Equity initiative’s first report, "Towards and Just and Equitable Central Coast", and served as a space for community groups to come together to discuss addressing and advocating for equity within the Central Coast.
June 2022 (initiated) - Making Movements: Changemakers, Nonprofits, and Action A DEI summer institute partnership between The Fund for Santa Barbara, The Center for Nonprofit Leadership, and the McCune Foundation that aims to create a dedicated space for understanding allyship and moving towards co-conspiratorship for different marginalized groups on an individual and organizational level, and perhaps most importantly – how we as individuals and organizations can organize to be park of the larger movement for regional social justice.
Activist Brown Bag Lunches
Collaborations:
In the first half of 2022, we held 6 monthly Lompoc & Santa Maria Valley Activist Brown Bag Lunches (online)— an open and informal space for activists, advocates and organizers to learn from one another and share about our work building more just communities locally while nurturing North County’s social change ecosystem.
Central Coast Climate Justice Network Central Coast Immigration Network Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative Latinx & Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force Nonprofit Resource Network NPRN - Partnership for Excellence Regional Capacity Building Collaborative Santa Barbara Foundation Roundtable Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties Funders Forum
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Sponsorships: Fielding Graduate University / A Community Conversation with An Icon, Angela Davis (January 2022) Healing Justice / Prioritizing the Preservation of Black Legacies in SB (February 2022) Women’s March Santa Maria Valley / Still We Rise (April 2022) UCSB Library / A Call to Action, Documenting Santa Barbara’s Art & Activism (April 2022) Family Service Agency / Supporting Youth Mental Health (May 2022) Environmental Defense Center / Green & Blue (June 2022) Future Leaders of America / Latino Legacy Awards (June 2022) ILRC / Ask an Able Bodied Person (June 2022) Juneteenth / Caring for the People (June 2022) SBCAN / North County Awards (June 2022)
Staff Updates: In February, Andrés Armenta (he/him/el) came on as Office Manager/Executive Assistant. Prior to moving to Santa Barbara in 2014 to attend UCSB, he spent 8 intermittent years in the rural hometown his parents are from in Sinaloa, México. Having spent multiple years in different regions he was able to see how the environment shapes individuals and this ethnographic lens was later refined as he completed his B.A. in Cultural Anthropology. Similarly, the adversity he faced as a child alongside the violence against women he witnessed instilled an affinity for issues revolving around youth, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Alex Murkison (he/him) came on as our Development Assistant in March. Alex grew up in Lompoc and earned a degree in Business Administration from Allan Hancock College and decided to stay in Lompoc to give back to the community where he was born and raised. He is a local advocate and activist who is passionate about social justice and mental health support in schools. With these passions, as well as the turmoil of the world in 2020 and the future uncertainties it caused, Alex found ways to bring folks together to ensure that the voices of the community's sizable population of underrepresented and disadvantaged individuals were heard, respected, and valued.
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THANK YOU TO OUR INCREDIBLE TEAM!
Board of Directors Rev. Julia Hamilton - President David Landecker - Vice President Gloria Soto - Vide President Marsha Bailey - Treasurer Jennifer Hooten - Secretary Susan Wax - Board Liaison to GMC Ruth Ackerman Maria Garcia-Cacique Eric Cardenas Diane Fujino Chelsea Lancaster LeeAnne McNulty Andrew Oman David Pellow Erica Reyes Ted Rhodes Cuco Rodriguez John Steed
1219 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Mailing: PO Box 90710 Santa Barbara, CA 93190-0710 120 E. Jones Street, Suite 110, Santa Maria, CA 93454 Santa Barbara: 805-962-9164 | Santa Maria: 805-922-1707
Grant Making Committee Feliciano Aguilar - Co-Chair Rachel Johnson - Co-Chair Suzanne Valery - GMC Liaison to Board
Lupita Cervantes Lyam Galo Jessica Duarte JP Herrada Dr. Leonie H. Mattison Jennifer Navarro Rios Bailey Needham Juliana Neel Wendi Pacheco Rich Sander Lucerito Salgado Vickey Smith Bob Thiel Chuy Valle
Staff Marcos Vargas - Executive Director Patricia Solorio - Associate Director Andres Armenta - Office Manager / Exec. Asst. Alex Murkison - Development Associate Alina Rey Keswani - Development & Communications Manager Kathleen Knight, Capacity Building Manager David Melendrez - YMC Coordinator Tania Reyes - Grant Programs Manager
Interns Nancy Avoce Peyton Bivona Angela De La Vega Naz Haidarian
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