Giving List Bay Area 2023

Welcome to The Giving List San Francisco Bay Area, 2023

We are thrilled to present you with this year’s edition of The Giving List

San Francisco Bay Area. We hope this will be a useful tool as you sort through the many important nonprofit organizations and causes that depend on your support for survival.

The Giving List was created out of the belief that storytelling, one of the most powerful tools we have as humans, is vastly un derutilized in educating donors on the foundational work being done by nonprofits.

What you have in your hands is a compendium of powerful stories describing the work being done by some of the most vital nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area. Organizations on the front lines of recovery, pressing for social and racial justice, uplifting our children and families, supporting the arts, and fighting to preserve our precious natural world.

These are fast-moving times with an ever-growing list of causes that demand our attention. As we move through COVID and the inequities it’s laid bare, a cataclysmic hous ing crisis, and the ongoing call for greater racial and gender equity, there are also other pressing, wide-ranging needs: the war in Ukraine, gun violence, an assault on women’s repro ductive rights, all while the wildfires and drought underscore a deepening climate crisis.

If you’re a longtime donor to Bay Area nonprofits, we hope this book can help you be more thoughtful in your giving even as you’re inundated by all the needs mounting around us. If, on the other hand, you’re newer to giving and just beginning to think about where your philanthropic passions may lie, we hope we can help direct you to some of the wonderful opportu nities that would make a huge difference in this region.

In either case, our intent is to help you break through some of the noise created by so many pressing needs by bringing your attention to some of the most important giving opportunities in this region.

That is not to say that the organizations in this book are the only ones worthy of your support. But we do believe that the nonprofits represented in these pages strongly represent the Bay Area’s vibrant nonprofit and philanthropic culture. They are organizations that are doing important work, at an important time, and are worthy of your strong consideration. We hope that the work we’ve done to tell their stories will move you as much as they have moved us!

In addition to telling the stories of some of this region’s most vital nonprofits, this book explores the foundational work be ing done by the Bay Area’s leading Community Foundations, including the journeys and perspectives of some of the most important social sector leaders and philanthropists who con sistently demonstrate a devotion to bettering the lives of those living in this community.

We have worked closely with each organization in this book to tell its unique story to you because we believe that helping organizations of all shapes and sizes gain direct access to indi vidual donors is not just important but critical. Nothing is as impactful as giving locally, and the best way to change the world is to uplift your own beloved community.

This book would not be possible without the help and sup port of some of the Bay Area’s premier institutions. We are deeply grateful to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Battery Powered, Northern Califor nia Grantmakers, Generation Thrive, and Holocaust Museum LA for their partnership in this book. The impact of your ongo ing commitment to supporting the Bay Area’s nonprofit com munity is immeasurable.

We hope you are as inspired by reading this book as we have been in making it.

Sincerely, Gwyn Lurie CEO,The Montecito Journal Media Group

Giving Back

We launched The Giving List to help the nonprofit organizations featured in this book spend less time fundraising and more time doing the critical work demanded of them.

Confronting the myriad and mounting challenges facing the Bay Area, the nation and the globe require the ingenuity and dedication exhibited by the nonprofits that fill these pages. We have assembled their stories with the hope that you will see their value and invest in them.

A large proportion of the nonprofits we feature are smaller and more grassroots. This means that while they may have the ideas and leadership to forge change, they don’t necessarily have the diversified revenue streams to reach their fullest impact. We are hoping you will change that by donating and helping them secure the predictable, unrestricted revenue they need to focus on what’s most important: the work. With your engagement, we have the chance to invest in organizations with the potential to take on some of our most pressing challenges.

Please join us by supporting your local nonprofits on the front lines of justice, whether that be fighting racism; using the arts to change culture; helping children, youth, and families in need; or striving to preserve our precious environment.

We will all be better for it.

How to DAF?

An increasingly popular and efficient tool to manage your giving is a donor-advised fund, or DAF.

A DAF is like a charitable banking account, managed by a community foundation or by some of the world’s largest investment banking firms, where you can make a donation today and direct grants to worthy nonprofits later.

A key advantage with a DAF is that it allows you, the donor, to take a tax deduction in the year you donate money or complex assets, while not compelling you to distribute the money immediately. This can mean time to make more thoughtful decisions about how you want to direct your charitable contributions.

Many financial institutions and community foundations have low start-up fees, making it possible for donors at any level to DAF.

How to Read This Book

The Giving List was created to make it easier for you to navigate the dizzying array of worthwhile causes and nonprofit organizations here in the Bay Area. To that end, we have distributed 35,000 copies of The Giving List San Francisco Bay Area to people like you: individual donors, staff within the region’s small and large private foundations, and to philanthropic advisors, wealth managers, and estate planners.

As you dive into this book, we want to point out some of its unique features, and of The Giving List program as a whole.

Ongoing Support

Our partnership with the nonprofits in these pages does not end with the printing of this book. Each profile will live on TheGivingList.com through 2023, where we will be updating each profile once a month so that you can continue to track the important ongoing work of each and every Giving List organization.

We hope that you will use the website as a guide not only for yourselves, but as an easy way to share the work of our partners – whether they be nonprofits, community foundations, or funder affinity groups – with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Matching Challenges

The Giving List was created to help nonprofits generate predictable, unrestricted revenue through storytelling. One tried and true method to accomplish this is matching challenge campaigns.

Throughout the pages of this book, please keep an eye out for matching challenges.

In most cases, these are arranged by our nonprofit partners and are fueled either by their boards or by individual and institutional donors. So if you are looking to double the impact of your gift, there are ample opportunities throughout this book, our second volume of The Giving List San Francisco Bay Area.

Staying Connected

We are building a community of people who care deeply about philanthropy and understand the vital role it plays in our world, and we want you to join.

Since launching January of 2022, our bi-weekly newsletter, The Fifth Estate, has become a venue for updates from our nonprofit part ners and stories from the frontlines of philanthropy.

We would love for you to join The Fifth Estate; please visit www.TheGivingList.com and follow the prompts.

You can also join our newsletter... ...by waving your phone’s camera over this QR code.

New Money

Philanthropy, incorporated for the public good, can and should make all its investments accordingly P. 14

From Idea to Impact

The Bay Area’s community foundations have charged a 100-year-old concept with new, exciting energy. Learn how the big four are working to make our region better every day and in so many ways P. 22

Social Sector Leaders –Community Foundations: Silicon Valley CommunityFoundation

Putting Billions to Work for the Benefit of the Bay . . . . . . . P. 24

East Bay Community Foundation

Partnering for a Visionary and “Just East Bay.” . . . . . . . . . . P. 26

Marin Community Foundation

Building MOMentum Locally and Globally. P. 28 San Francisco Foundation

Funding Opportunity for All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 30

32 Advocacy

Profile – Mona Sinha Women Moving Millions

Challenging gender inequities. P. 34

Alliance for Girls mobilizes girls’ champions to address barriers facing girls, create conditions for their success, and advance systemic change to achieve equity P. 36

Five Keys – through the use of social and restorative justice principles – provides traditionally underserved communities the opportunity to improve their lives through a focus on the Five Keys: Education, Employment, Recovery, Family, Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 38

Brady: United Against Gun Violence unites people of all identities, races, and ethnicities from coast to coast, young and old, progressive and conservative, and everything in between, fed up and fired up, to protect our country from what is killing it: guns P. 40

Human Rights Watch (HRW) defends the rights of people worldwide. HRW scrupulously investigates abuses, exposes the facts widely, and pressures those with power to respect rights and secure justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 42

44 For the Children

Profile – Rhea Suh Marin Community Foundation

Leaning into finding bold solutions for big issues P. 45

Social Sector Leader – Holocaust Museum LA: Inspiring humanity through truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 46

East Bay Children’s Law Offices (EBCLO) protects and defends the rights of children and youth through holistic, vigorous legal advocacy. EBCLO strives to provide a voice for children in and out of the courtroom and to promote positive outcomes for them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 48

Friends of the Children – San Francisco Bay Area is dedicated to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through salaried, professional mentoring. Friends of the Children advocates for and helps amplify the voices of our youth and their families who often become voiceless in the midst of systemic failures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 50

Wu Yee Children’s Services believes nothing is more essential than excellent child care and education for all our children, right from the start. Every day they partner with parents, as well as countless individuals and organizations across San Francisco, to provide a network that strengthens and connects a diverse, resilient community around our children. Because when we stand up for children, we stand up for one another P. 52

Enzo & Me Pediatric Cancer Foundation funds cutting-edge pediatric cancer research to find better treatments and cures for all pediatric cancers, as well as promotes the professional education of primary care pediatricians to improve early diagnosis and treatment P. 54

The California Children’s Trust is committed to working together to reinvent our state’s approach to children’s social, emotional, and developmental health. They are a statewide initiative that seeks to improve child well-being through policy and systems reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 56

58 Community Resilience

Profile – Judith Bell

San Francisco Foundation

Trusting nonprofits, equipping them to drive change P. 59

Social Sector Leader

Northern California Grantmakers: Aligning the region’s philanthropic sector towards impact P. 60

Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) is based in Oakland and is dedicated to improving the social, emotional, psychological, economic, and physical health of refugees and immigrants from Southeast Asia affected by war, torture, genocide, or other forms of extreme trauma P. 62

United Way Bay Area operates and invests in effective poverty-fighting programs. Together with their multi-sector partners, they make sure that individuals and families in the Bay Area have the support and resources they need to build the life they deserve. UWBA takes a racial justice lens in their grantmaking, partnerships, and programming P. 64

Urban Alchemy is a social enterprise that engages with situations where extreme poverty meets homelessness, mental illness, and addiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 66

Juma Ventures strives to break the cycle of poverty by paving the way to work, education, and financial capability for youth across America. Juma’s vision is that all young people have the opportunity to succeed, advance, and thrive in the career of their choice, competing in a job market that is inclusive, equitable, and diverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 68

70 Education

Profile – Kalyan Balaven

Dunn School

10,000 Degrees seeks to achieve educational equity and to support students from low-income backgrounds to and through college to realize their full potential and positively impact their communities and the world P. 74

Dunn School community educates whole students to their fullest potential in preparation for a life of learning and responsible leadership in society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 76

Point Foundation is an LGBTQ foundation that em powers promising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students to achieve their full academic and leadership potential. They provide financial support, a community of peers, leadership training, and mentorship to U.S. college stu dents from around the world P. 78

Students Rising Above (SRA) community is dedicated to impacting the future through the cultivation of extraordinary youth. SRA invests in low-income, first-generation college students who have demonstrated a deep commitment to education and strength of character in overcoming tremendous odds of poverty, homelessness, and neglect P. 80

Direct

is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission

improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay P. 88

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation’s mission is to strengthen disaster response in America by rescuing and recruiting dogs and partnering them with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 90

“In coming to the Marin Community Foundation, part of what is such a joy and a privilege, is that I am more proximate to the issuesand the solutions.”

– Rhea Suh Marin Community Foundation

– Judith Bell San Francisco Foundation

P. 59

92 Environment

Profile – Nicole Taylor

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Giving back close to home P. 94

Social Sector Leader – Generation Thrive: A 20-year commitment to education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 96

Civil Eats is a daily news source for critical thoughts about the American food system. Civil Eats publishes stories that shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities . . . . . . . . . .P. 98

Continuum Foundation is inspired and motivated by one ultimate truth: It’s all connected; we’re all connected. Through our thoughts, actions, and the spaces we share, we influence and impact everything and everyone around us. They want to raise awareness of these connections, big and small, so all of us can be better about tending to and taking care of them. What would come if we remove arbitrary division? That is what they will explore and discover at Continuum . . . . . . . . . . . P. 100

106 Family Well-being

Profile – Don Howard James Irvine Foundation Leveraging massive government investments for equity P. 108

Help a Mother Out works to improve baby and family well-being by increasing access to diapers for families in need. Their vision is a day when every baby has a healthy supply of diapers P. 110

Rafiki Coalition ’s mission is to eliminate health inequities in San Francisco’s Black and marginalized communities through education, advocacy, and by providing holistic health and wellness services in a culturally-affirming environment P. 112

114 Fostering Care

P. 115

A Home Within identifies, recruits, trains, and supports a network of licensed therapists who each provide free, weekly, one-to-one therapy to a single foster youth “for as long as it takes.” P. 116

Razing the Bar believes that relationships are the key to successful youth development. Through mentorship and housing support, Razing the Bar helps transitionaged youth (TAY) achieve permanent connections and self-sufficiency P. 118

120

Mercy Center

Burlingame is a retreat center and a conference center for religious and other nonprofit organizations. Mercy Center provides opportunities for people to become more attentive to the presence of the Divine in their lives and in the world, and then respond with care for the Earth and service to others, especially people who are poor and vulnerable P. 102

Plastic Pollution Coalition is a growing global alliance of more than 1,200 organizations, businesses, and thought leaders in 75 countries working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, waterways, oceans, and the environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 104

Health

Profile – Michael Tubbs

End Poverty in California (EPIC) Ending poverty in California P. 122

National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy (NCEFT) is dedicated to helping children, adults, and military Veterans with special needs reach beyond their boundaries through equine-assisted therapies, education, and research .

. P. 124

“We’re engaging with community leaders around the changes that will move the needle and make a difference in people’s lives.”

Maitri Compassionate Care offers affordable, compassionate health care for those of low income in the LGBTQ community who are recovering from traumatic medical procedures and helps them regain their health and transition successfully back into the community P. 126

RUNX 1 is a research and advocacy venture committed to funding world-class, innovative, and cross-disciplinary cancer research to find a cure for those individuals born with a RUNX1 mutation. Patients with this gene mutation have a heightened risk for developing blood cancers. RUNX1 has one goal: Prevent Cancer P. 128

Vision to Learn provides free eye exams and glasses to kids in underserved communities. More than two million children in the U.S. do not have the glasses they need to see the board, read a book, or participate in class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 130

World Telehealth Initiative provides sustainable medical expertise to the world’s most vulnerable communities to build local capacity and deliver core health services, through a network of volunteer health care professionals supported with state-of-the-art technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 132

134 Homelessness & Housing

phael House is 100% privately funded and their personalized family-centered solutions model has a tremendous success rate: more than 85% of all Raphael House families go on to achieve long-term housing and financial stability P. 144

Turntable provides housing to youth impacted by juve nile justice, sexual exploitation, and homelessness, in the de velopment of healing, positive community, and independent living skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 146

Profile

– Wendy Garen Ralph M. Parsons Foundation

The power of public-private partnerships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 136

At The Crossroads reaches out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need, and works with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives. By bringing their services directly onto the streets, they cultivate long-term, unconditional relationships with young people who would otherwise be disconnected from consistent support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 138

Catholic Charities serves California’s North Bay pro viding over 20 programs offering critical services and support. They serve and advocate for vulnerable people of all cultures and beliefs, prioritizing those experiencing poverty . . . . . P. 140

Homeward Bound of Marin is the primary provider of Marin County homeless shelters and services for homeless families and individuals in Marin, California P. 142

Raphael House helps low-income families and fami lies experiencing homelessness strengthen family bonds by achieving stable housing and financial independence. Ra

Public Square

Profile – Armando Castellano Castellano Family Foundation

Tuning a new kind of philanthropy P. 150

Social Sector Leader – Battery Powered: Matching learning and impact with good old fun . . . . . . . . P. 152

San Francisco Public Press is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that publishes independent public-interest journalism about undercovered topics, with a focus on under-served audiences. Online, in a quarterly newspaper, and on community radio station KSFP-FM, the Public Press offers local investigative and solutions reporting P. 154

Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) ad vances, educates, and inspires the field of social innovation by seeking out, cultivating, and disseminating the best in researchand practice-based knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 156

| www.thegivinglist.com |

“Our role is to meet donors where they are and help illuminate ways and places they can give so they don’t have to figure it all out on their own.” – Nicole Taylor Silicon Valley Community Foundation P. 94

– Colleen Gregerson

Battery Powered P. 171

158 Social Justice

Profile – Valerie Red-Horse Mohl East Bay Community Foundation

Moving it all to impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 159

Community Action Marin makes it possible for people to achieve well-being by providing the education, mental health, and vital services they need P. 160

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) has, since 2011, been building community and mobilizing young leaders in the movement to end youth criminalization and mass incarceration. Led by individuals who have lived through systemic violence and incarceration, CURYJ engages youth most impacted by the injustice, immigration, and foster care systems so that they can be the ones to close youth prisons and heal our communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 162

Jewish Family and Children’s Services East Bay welcomes immigrants and refugees with resettlement support, legal services, food and grocery delivery, ESL tutoring, transportation, translation, school supplies – and also offers critical care for older adults and empowers youth and families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 164

Open Door Legal is pioneering the country’s first sys tem of universal access to civil legal representation. Their goal is to show that when everyone has access to the law, poverty will be dramatically reduced. Their model of universal access is scalable, sustainable, and the most cost-effective way to ad dress poverty P. 166

Youth Law Center advocates to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems across the nation so every child and youth can thrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 168

170

The Arts

Profile –

Colleen Gregerson

Battery Powered Socializing philanthropy

P. 171

Yeah, Art! is a Black-founded nonprofit making arts education more inclusive, accessible, and relevant. They bring working artists to underfunded schools to lead art workshops. But their workshops aren’t just taught with the old-school greats, they’re taught with the new-school greats who look, sound, and move more like their students. By blending classic theory, new technology, and the pop culture that kids are loving right now, Yeah, Art! inspires young, creative minds to engage with art in more meaningful ways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 172

Youth in Arts builds visual and performing arts skills through innovative and in-depth programs that foster confidence, compassion, and resilience in students of all abilities. They develop capacity among educators and teaching artists, advocate for equitable access to arts education, and offer opportunities for youth to share their creative voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 174

Berkeley FILM Foundation is a grant and educational program for independent filmmakers founded by the City of Berkeley, Wareham Development, and the Saul Zaentz Company with a mission to nurture, sustain, and preserve the thriving local film community while attracting the next generation of filmmakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 176

Marin Art and Garden Center is a special gathering place that celebrates learning, growth, and the beauty of nature; a place to be inspired, educated, and entertained – or to just be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 178

Youth Speaks creates spaces that challenge youth to develop and amplify their voices as creators of societal change. Youth Speaks encourages youth to express themselves using their own idioms. By connecting poetry, spoken word, youth development, and civic engagement, it aims to deconstruct current dominant narratives by creating a more inclusive and active culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 180

“I’m seeing a lot of change and that’s positive, but it’s a journey to transform philanthropy that’s built on centuries of power and privilege imbalances to one that’s more equitable.”

– Mona Sinha

Women Moving Millions

P. 34

182 Youth Development

Profile – David Risher #HalfMyDAF

Inspiring the great DAF spend P. 183

Camping Unlimited was established in 1957 and provides fulfilling camping, recreational, educational, and respite services to children and adults with developmental disabilities year round. At Camp Krem, they nurture independence and selfconfidence, encourage responsibility, develop a sense of worth and respect for others, and build lifelong relationships through a warm and friendly atmosphere of planned permissiveness P. 184

The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities P. 186

John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) improves the quality of life for youth in California who have been in foster care or are homeless by advocating for better laws, training communities to strengthen local practices, and conducting research to inform policy solutions P. 188

San Francisco Youth Soccer is a comprehensive community soccer organization, benefiting San Francisco youth. Their mission is to support youth soccer and leadership through sport. Roughly 8,000 families from nearly every elementary, middle school, and neighborhood in San Francisco participate with them in player, league volunteer, youth leader, and referee capacities. Ages 8-18 P. 190

Vida Verde promotes educational equity by providing free overnight learning experiences for students who don’t otherwise get the opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 192

To learn more about joining The Giving List Community, please contact: partnerships@thegivinglist.com

CEO & Founder Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net

President & Founder Tim Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net

Executive Editor Daniel Heimpel dheimpel@thegivinglist.com

Art Director Trent Watanabe

Associate Editor & Director of Partnerships Vicki Horwits vicki@thegivinglist.com

Copy Editor Lily Buckley Harbin Graphic Design/Layout Stevie Acuña

Inside Cover Art Rachel Ngun & Yeah, Art!

Administration & Billing: Jessikah Moran frontdesk@montecitojournal.net

Contributors: Pam Avila, Dana Bartholomew, Colleen Connolly, Les Firestein, Meghan Gallagher, Brenda Gazzar, Miranda Green, Stella Haffner, Peter Langley, Alice Lloyd, Cara Masset, Nadra Nittle, Brian Rinker, Zach Rosen, Dan Schifrin, Holden Slattery, Dipti Vaidya

the giving list

is published by: Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC. Corporate Offices located at: 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108

For inquiries: phone (805) 565-1860 email tim@thegivinglist.com

ontecito

“...My philanthropy’s not just about writing checks, it’s about building and supporting organizations.”

New Money

BY DANIEL HEIMPEL

In 2021, Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced a bill to more tightly regulate donoradvised funds, commonly referred to as DAFs. While the Accelerating Charitable Giving (ACE) Act’s reforms were far from sweeping, the bill set off a bitter debate over who controls charitable funds: the donor or the public.

The Act’s supporters plausibly argued that wealthy donors could use the increasingly popular philanthropic instruments for personal gain, and that DAFs allow them to hoard and perpetually control what becomes public money once those donors accept a tax benefit.

Its detractors plausibly argued that the bill would reduce char itable donations by constraining donors’ access to an easy way to commit large sums to charity, even if the gifts to nonprofits don’t happen immediately.

For the uninitiated, DAFs are like charitable bank accounts that allow a donor to make a “donation” of money or complex assets. The primary sponsors of these accounts are increasingly subsid iaries of large investment firms – like Fidelity, Schwab, and Van guard – and community foundations. The donor receives a tax deduction for the year that the gift was made but isn’t compelled to disburse those funds immediately.

“We want to make the timing of the deduction and the ben efit to the community closer together than the current some time from today until infinity,” says Jan Masaoka, the longtime CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits, which sup ports the ACE Act.

The bill, which hasn’t moved to a vote in the Senate, but was introduced in the House in early 2022, targets the estimated $160 billion DAF industry. Most importantly, it would compel donors to spend down those accounts within 15 years or submit to 5% annual payouts if they want to retain control for 50 years.

One of the bill’s most strident opponents is the Philanthropy Roundtable, a national association of similarly-minded charita ble foundations.

“Our mission is to help foster excellence in philanthropy, to protect philanthropic freedom, and to help donors advance the principles of liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility,” says Elizabeth McGuigan, the Roundtable’s senior director of policy and government affairs. “This entire legislation is aimed at hypothetical problems. What we see is robust giving coming out of donor-advised funds… The best way forward is to protect phil anthropic freedom and donor privacy, which of course, the ACE

Philanthropy, incorporated for the public good, can and should make all its investments accordingly.

Act would violate in many ways.”

She has a point. Private foundations are compelled by federal law to give 5% of the value of their endowments out in grants every year. In aggregate they hew very closely to this number. The National Philanthropic Trust, a DAF sponsor itself, found, through its robust annual survey, that the 2020 payout rate for DAFs nation-wide was 23.8%.

For David Risher, who, alongside wife Jennifer, has in spired more than $33 million in giving through their grassroots #HalfMyDAF campaign, moving the massive wealth locked up in DAFs and charitable foundations requires an “all and” approach.

“Legislation is a pretty big hammer. But if that’s what the world needs, let’s do it,” Risher says. “But meanwhile let’s not wait for regulations to tell us what the right thing to do

is. Let’s get to it. Let’s inject some entrepreneurial spirit into philanthropy. That isn’t going to come from the government. It’s going to come from people like you and me and someone like MacKenzie Scott waking up and saying, ‘Let’s try some different things here.’”

More than the substance of the bill itself, the ACE Act’s intro duction showed that two senior senators were willing to question whether the tax benefit conferred to donors by the federal govern ment was being matched by sufficient public benefit.

And the government, working on the public’s behalf, is fully entitled to ask these questions. I would argue that it is also every individual American’s responsibility to ask whether philanthropy is living up to its purpose. After all, the donor’s acceptance of tax abatement by setting up a charitable foun

Charitable foundations can use the power of their balance sheets to offer unfunded loan guarantees to spur private investments in things like solar panel expansion or urban redevelopment.

dation or a DAF creates a legal trust wherein the trustee is the public – you and me.

Despite all the control that the philanthropic sector wields over its assets, it really is the people’s money.

In that context, we should be looking at how capital flows through the true seat of wealth in private foundations – their en dowments: the corpora.

The corpora refers to the more than $1 trillion held by chari table foundations in the United States. Remember, this collective of bodies is governed by an Internal Revenue Service rule that compels 5% of its totality be given to charity every year. The rest, the 95%, is largely invested on the private market.

Of the $485 billion that Americans gave out in 2021, charitable foundations made up less than 20% at $90 billion. As this makes clear, the real money lies in foundation endowments and – for individuals – within DAFs housed at the globe’s most successful investment banks.

So how is all that money, owned by the public, being spent? How should it be spent? And what can be done to accelerate in vestments that support, rather than degrade, this nation’s social safety net and the globe’s ailing environment?

Spending Down

Given the flood of issues affecting us – a teetering economy, an assault on reproductive rights, commonplace mass shootings, a West that burns – maybe it’s best to just spend the money held up in charitable foundation endowments or donor-advised funds as quickly as possible.

That was the tack Kathy Kwan took when deciding the fate of her and her husband’s $60 million Eustace-Kwan Family Foundation. “If all those dollars are locked up in savings accounts, they’re not going through the economy,” Kwan told me. “They’re not helping people.”

By the end of 2023 the total endowment will be spent down. Kwan isn’t alone.

In 2014, after the death of longtime Schwab COO Larry Stupski, wife Joyce declared that the foundation would “spend down” all its assets by 2029. “Spending down gives our team of staff and grant

ee-partners the opportunity to dream big, take risks, and make real change in our communities,” she said before her death in 2021.

Stupski and Eustace-Kwan are part of a growing roster of foun dations that have pledged to give all their money away sooner than the “perpetuity” the majority seek, which I will describe shortly.

Mr. #HalfMyDaf, David Risher, has a similar take, but applied to donor-advised funds. Under the model that he and his wife cre ated, anyone who commits to spending down half his or her DAF within a year is eligible to nominate nonprofits for matching gifts. These can be made by the cadre of DAF holders that have pledged to be HalfMyDaffers, or anyone who visits the website.

Since 2020, #HalfMyDAF has moved an average of $11 million a year, a little more in annual giving than a charitable foundation with a $200 million endowment would give according to the 5% rule.

But spending down means stamping an expiration date on the golden goose.

Perpetuity and Not Terrible Investments

Charitable

foundations and the firms managing DAFs, while not uniform in their investment strategies, have one key similarity: an unswerving focus on returns.

Foundations are fond of the concept “perpetuity,” wherein sage fiscal management renders the corpus immortal. To achieve per petuity, private foundation investments must produce more rev enue than their operating costs, which includes the 5% payout requirement. This requires a returns-oriented mindset, which can run counter to the public interest.

While some DAF holders may direct their sponsoring organi zations to spend down the money quickly, DAF sponsor fees are derived from the size of the assets managed. This creates a clear disincentive for managers to counsel their clients to give the mon ey away. And while that money sits, the goal is, again, profit.

Fossil fuels can be a very good investment. So too private pris ons and firearms. And investments with private equity firms that gobble up distressed apartment buildings and homes and convert them into market-rate rentals can also be lucrative.

But where is the public benefit in any of these?

Recognizing this incongruity with foundations’ missions, an increasing number have joined the now $40-plus trillion Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) industry. ESG simply means that investments in socially and environmentally unappetizing companies and funds are identified and screened out. So, if you are a charitable foun dation focused on climate change, your ESG screen will keep you from buying ExxonMobil stock.

That’s a start.

David Risher – along with wife, Jennifer – has moved more than $33 million of DAF dollars to nonprofits.

Using the Balance Sheet

When a rich kid wants to buy a home, his or her parents can either purchase or engender a modicum of self-reliance by putting up a loan guarantee to smooth the mortgage over with a bank.

Similarly, charitable foundations can use the power of their balance sheets to offer unfunded loan guarantees to spur pri vate investments in things like solar panel expansion or urban redevelopment.

The Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), launched in 2019, has pulled together major names in philan thropy and impact investing – the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Arnold Ventures, the Annie E. Casey and Kresge foundations, among others – to offer loan guarantees for a range of social ly-conscious private enterprises.

In 2021, the pool used $15 million in guarantees to leverage $131 million in capital to develop affordable housing.

“Affordable housing is an important new issue area for Arnold Ventures,” said Arnold Ventures Director of New Programs Chris Hensman in a 2022 CIGP press release. “We’re excited to par ticipate in the Pool and explore financial guarantees as a highly leverageable tool for helping to launch, test, and scale the most promising of these housing strategies.”

Better.

Patient Capital

In 1969, when Congress passed the Tax Reform Act – which included that 5% payout rule for private foundations – it also created something called a program-related investment (PRI).

Pioneered and lobbied by the Ford Foundation, which has al located more than $600 million to PRIs, these are investments, most often structured as low interest debt, that fulfill a founda tion’s mission.

Per IRS rules, making a profit cannot be the “primary concern” of a PRI. In exchange for accepting concessionary returns, the IRS allows a foundation to count these investments towards their annual payout.

This financial instrument has largely been deployed as “patient capital,” in the form of low-yield loans (1-3% over 5-10 years).

In 2015, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation launched the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in Detroit. Since, it has loaned out more than $10 million and helped create and retain 1,100 jobs.

But PRIs don’t need to be structured as loans – they can also be used to buy equity. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has deployed more than $1.5 billion in PRIs. To develop new vac cines, the foundation made equity investments into biotech start ups, while compelling those companies to make their products affordable in poor countries.

That’s promising.

Foundations are fond of the concept “perpetuity,” wherein sage fiscal management renders the corpus immortal

Real estate is one area where chari table foundations are finding double and triple bottom lines.

Market Rate Returns Meet Social Impact

In 2017, the California Wellness Foundation, which holds a little north of $1 billion in assets, began experimenting with mission-related investments (MRIs). In essence, MRIs are a fancy way of saying market-rate investments that also generate positive social impacts.

“We started with $50 million and set up a mini-endowment with very similar asset allocations to our larger portfolio, and tracked performance,” says Wellness’ chief financial officer, Ro chelle Witharana. “We were able to prove that the MRIs tracked exactly the same as the broader portfolio.”

With a flourish Witharana adds, “We are now moving our en tire billion to impact.”

Despite increasing evidence that investments can yield accept able returns with acceptable risk, mission-related investing is far from the norm. The Global Impact Investing Network estimates that while growing, there is only around $715 billion in im pact-investing dollars under management globally. For scale, U.S. pension funds alone hold roughly $40 trillion.

The reason why philanthropy has been slow to step up, Withara na says, “is the old boy network [of foundation finance committees and staff]” who “believe that MRIs can’t make the same returns as traditional portfolios, which I feel is completely incorrect.”

The Ford Foundation’s $1 billion Mission Investments pro gram, launched in 2017, is showing that returns can not only ex ceed expectations, but can also feed the vaunted immortality of a foundation’s corpus.

“Mission Investments has generated a compound annual return rate of 28% from its inception in 2017 through 2021,” Ford Pres ident Darren Walker wrote in a 2022 reflection on the program’s five-year anniversary. “That’s triple the return required to sustain the foundation’s perpetual existence.”

While Ford’s MRI carve out is significant, it is far from shift ing the whole $16 billion endowment towards double bottom line investing.

There are only a handful of foundations across the country that have done that. In California, I know of only two large founda tions, other than Wellness, that have pledged to move their entire endowment to impact: the Weingart Foundation and the East Bay Community Foundation.

Valerie Red-Horse Mohl is the East Bay Community Founda tion’s CFO. Among many accomplishments in the world of fi nance, Red-Horse Mohl founded the first Native American owned investment bank in the 1990s. She came to the East Bay Commu nity Foundation in 2020 to not only change how it invests, but how philanthropy does as a whole.

“I think the way to make reparations is to allow us [Black and Native American People] to thrive and catch up in the wealth gap,” Red-Horse Mohl says. “For me, it’s not so much looking back, even though that’s important. It’s looking forward and how do we really narrow, if not eliminate, the wealth gap?”

Part of that is investing in Black and Brown financial managers, long excluded from the upper echelons of finance. “What hap pens when money comes into Black and Brown funds from Wall Street?” she asks. “It starts to then flow into companies that are all over America in communities of color. And then we raise the level of wealth in those communities and then the need for all the philanthropic support starts to lessen.”

Cynthia Muller is the director of mission investment at the $8 billion, Michigan-Based W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In 2007, the Kellogg Foundation was one of the first major national foun dations to commit to MRIs and has deployed more than $300 million since.

Being so early in, Muller says, Kellogg could set the table on diversity, equity, and inclusion, by making investments that “don’t hurt the underlying communities, but sway markets and practice. When the Kellogg Foundation comes in, it makes it okay for oth ers to come in.”

But don’t get too caught up on the good that mission-related investing can do; market rate returns are the top criteria when investment officers like Witharana, Red-Horse Mohl, or Muller are considering an allocation.

Inasmuch, labeling these investments mission related may be too limiting. If we go back to the original premise of this essay, and accept that all these dollars are truly public, there is an argu ment to be made that all investments should be mission related.

But instead of compelling charitable foundations to align their investments, can the government incentivize philanthropy to in crease momentum towards impact investing?

California Wellness Foundation CFO Rochelle Witharana is one of only a few financial officers moving the entirety of their foundation’s endowments to impact.

Changing the Energy of Money

Since the creation of the PRI more than 50 years ago, the practice has become increasingly commonplace across philanthropy.

“In 2022, you can’t go to a foundation or family office without talking about a PRI,” Kellogg’s Muller says.

Community foundations are also taking a leadership role in directing their DAF holders towards program-related investments. The Cal ifornia Community Foundation, through its Home L.A. Loan Fund, has guaranteed returns for DAF clients who have in turn given out more than $11 million in low-yield loans to support affordable housing developments. And the East Bay Community Foundation regularly holds pitch sessions where social entrepreneurs take their ideas to the foundation’s DAF clients directly in the hopes of winning a PRI.

This is evidence that offering philanthropy an incentive can yield sector-wide change. But PRIs are still, most often, part of the 5%. How can we go bigger, move the 95%, the great corpora, to impact?

While the ACE Act uses a stick, albeit small, the federal government also can offer some carrots.

One is the excise tax. Currently, charitable foundations pay 1.39% of net gains on their investments in a calendar year.

The federal government could create any number of incentives for foundations by waiving the tax if, for example, a foundation’s portfolio used an ESG screen or reached a minimum threshold of verifiable MRIs.

Another area for reform could be unrelated business taxable income (UBTI). If a nonprofit, including a charitable foundation, generates revenue from business activities that differ significantly from its mission, it can be taxed at the corporate or trust rate. This can create tax exposure for foundations or DAFs that invest in, for example, real estate funds with debt financing.

If a foundation focused on, for ex ample, alleviating poverty, invests in a market-rate affordable housing fund, it can still be taxed on some portion of the return. The IRS could waive UBTI.

While both the excise tax and UBTI are relatively small expenses, waiving these taxes would show the federal government is supportive of the idea of impact investing.

For Debbie La Franchi, who found ed impact investing firm SDS Capital Group more than two decades ago, the real reason why foundations have been slow to impact is more about them selves than federal regulation.

“Our experience with MRIs is ei ther that foundations don’t have them, or they are very narrow, or they want to wait until you are on fund three or four when we don’t need the founda

“We started with $50 million and set up a mini-endowment with very similar asset allocations to our larger portfolio, and tracked performance,” says Wellness’ chief financial officer, Rochelle Witharana.

“We were able to prove that the MRIs tracked exactly the same as the broader portfolio.” With a flourish Witharana adds, “We are now moving our entire billion to impact.”

The Gates Foundation has made equity investments in vaccines.

L.A.-based SDS Capital Group has drawn millions in foundation invest ments to provide supportive housing to the city’s homeless population.

Investing in wind and solar can yield returns and environmental impact.

tion money anyway,” La Franchi says. “We need the money when we are launching a new concept, especially when it also has an impact.”

Part of the problem, as I mentioned above, is the whole notion of calling out impact investments as mission related. Whether it’s La Franchi’s Cal ifornia-based homeless supportive housing fund, or her fund in the U.S. South, both lead with market-rate returns. Same too for a venture fund that invests in early stage solar, wind, and energy storage companies.

By labeling investments – that could come out of any asset class – as mission related, philanthropy is curtailing the full power of its corpus. In stead of a carve out, they should use their full endowments to build up the field of impact managers, who will create products with the scale and track record to draw institutional money. Remember, pension funds hold about 40 times the wealth that U.S. charitable foundations do.

Government can help through tax policy and other financial instruments, but philanthropy doesn’t need to wait to act.

So, to my friends on the financial side of the philanthropic house, what are you going to do with that $1 trillion ball of our public money in your hands? Will you seek perpetuity through traditional means, or will you find immortality by changing markets, the energy of money?

Now that would be transformational.

Cynthia Muller of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation oversees one of the lon gest-lived MRI portfolios in the nation.

From Idea to Impact: The Bay is a Community Foundation Powerhouse

Great ideas always start with someone.

In the case of Community Foundations, which now hold more than 10% of all philan thropic funds in America, it was a Cleveland man named Frederick Harris Goff.

Having worked as a litigator for John D. Rockefeller and Stan dard Oil in the early 1900s, and as president of the Cleveland Trust Company, Goff was no stranger to wealth. He also advised families on estate planning and became increasingly concerned about what happened to those estates when the causes they were dedicated to no longer matched the needs of the community.

“How fine it would be,” said Goff, who founded the Cleveland

Community Foundation in 1914, if someone “about to make a will could go to a permanently established organization… and say, ‘Here is a large sum of money. I want to leave it to be used for the good of the community, but I have no way of knowing what will be the greatest need 50 years from now. Therefore, I place it in your hands to determine what should be done.’”

In the century since, Goff’s idea has only gained momentum with more than 800 community foundations spread out across the country today.

And in the San Francisco Bay Area, synonymous with words like progressive and innovative, the concept has not only taken hold but is defining what philanthropy should look like going into

(photo by Bob Kreisel)

the next century. The region boasts four major community foun dations, one the largest on the globe and two others part of the top 20 in the nation.

Collectively, the East Bay, Marin, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley Community foundations hold nearly $20 billion in assets and give away billions every year to respond to crises and chart a better future for people and the environment from Novato to San Jose.

The Giving List is mightily proud to carry the stories of all four of these institutions in the following pages.

In them, you will find out how each is taking Goff’s initial idea to new heights. Here are some highlights:

• The East Bay Community Foundation is one of only a handful of private charitable foundations in the nation to move the en tirety of its $1 billion endowment towards impact.

• The Marin Community Foundation, responding to the needs of 125 local women of color who are striving towards self-suffi ciency, is moving beyond grantmaking and helping them navi gate a dizzying array of public services.

• The San Francisco Community Foundation is, as CEO Fred Blackwell says, acting with urgency but not haste in building racial equity and economic inclusion for the Bay Area.

• The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is focused on in creasing local giving, doling out a whopping $2.27 billion in grants to 6,000 nonprofits in 2021, with $777 million of that sum flowing into the Bay Area alone.

All these foundations are going far above and beyond their mandates – and are pillars of the positive social change this re gion needs.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation: Leadership and Expertise are Driving Massive Donations to Local Nonprofits

It all starts with trust.

In the spring of 2022, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) – the largest community foundation in the country, with annual grantmaking of more than $2 billion in recent years – published a report called “Big Gifts for Little Learners.”

Reading the report, one of the foundation’s donors was struck by the scale of underinvest-

ment in early childhood learning and development in his home county of San Mateo, one of the richest in the world. e foundation’s director of early childhood development, Christine orsteinson, helped him learn more about the sector, and he selected ve local nonpro ts to support with grants from his donor-advised fund at the community foundation.

e result, says Judi Powell, executive vice president for philanthropic partnerships, was a win for the youth of Silicon Valley. And it demonstrates the success of SVCF’s approach, with its emphasis on local giving, donor engagement, and connecting the region’s business, civic and philanthropic communities to catalyze major change.

“ e SVCF team knows the community, the leaders, the nonpro ts, and the issues, and we are a resource readily available to connect that knowledge with our donors,” Powell says.

As the largest non-government funder in the state of California, the foundation takes seriously its vision of creating “an equitable, economically secure, and vibrant future for all.”

In 2021, SVCF disbursed an extraordinary $2.27 billion in grants to 6,000 nonpro ts, $777 million of that incredible sum owing into the Bay Area alone. e vast majority of these funds were from donor-recommended grants. e amount of funding earmarked

JUDI

“I’ve come to count on SVCF to flag the most pressing challenges facing our community.”

– KAREN LAW SVCF donor

–

POWELL Executive Vice President, Philanthropic Partnerships

Join the Community Foundation in Supporting the Bay Area and Beyond

Silicon Valley Community Foundation has myriad avenues for individual and family donors and corporations to accelerate their impact.

All are welcome to become donors of Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), and you can create a donor-advised fund with a minimum of $5,000. Once you’ve established a fund, you’ll have access to SVCF’s expert sta , who can help you define and fulfill your philanthropic goals.

SVCF donors can easily support causes locally, nationally, and internationally and begin distributing grants to nonprofit organizations quickly. Donors can also contribute to SVCF’s Community Endowment Fund to create an equitable, economically secure, and vibrant future for all residents of our two-county region. The community foundation also o ers a range of impact investing solutions.

for the Bay Area has increased by more than 50% since 2018, as the community foundation itself doubled down on its mission of serving the needs of Silicon Valley and adjacent communities, with a focus on early childhood development, a ordable housing, and nancial stability.

“ ere are far too many families struggling in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties,” Powell says. For example, she points to the 2022 Silicon Valley Pain Index, which found that 61% of Latinx households, and 46% of African American households, are unable to meet their basic needs with their current levels of income.

Under the leadership of SVCF President and CEO Nicole Taylor, the community foundation has made a strategic choice to increase support to organizations led by those with the relevant lived experience and expertise – social, economic, and cultural – of the communities they serve. Among other e orts,

this has led the foundation to support local organizations led by people of color or allies, including organizations that responded to residents’ needs during the pandemic and other local crises like wild re emergencies. It also spurred SVCF to manage the new $100 million California Black Freedom Fund and $10 million LatinXCEL Fund, both of which support capacity-building for organizations run by leaders of color.

ese connections to community-based organizations, along with trust in the community foundation’s sta , mission, and track record, have allowed SVCF to partner with thousands of local donors, following donors’ leads in their funding interests, as well as guiding them toward a deeper understanding of the systemic problems plaguing the world’s hub of innovation.

“I’ve come to count on SVCF to ag the most pressing challenges facing our community,” says Karen Law, who created a do-

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nor-advised fund at SVCF to support projects related to sustainability, the arts, and equitable empowerment.

SVCF President and CEO Taylor says she is “determined to build on the progress we made in 2020 toward lasting change in our communities.”

ere is much work to be done, but with a new emphasis on equity and local giving, “we granted record-breaking amounts of money to vital community organizations,” Taylor says. “ ere is immense wealth in Silicon Valley, but also immense need — and we will continue to bridge the two to help create an equitable future for all Silicon Valley residents.”

– NICOLE TAYLOR SVCF President and CEO

“This is a critical moment of opportunity for the East Bay community. As an Oakland native, my lived experience is the impetus for my drive for equity and justice. I left the private sector and entered the public sector to align my commitment to equity and justice in the work I do every day. With 10+ years of launching equity initiatives in New York and at home in the East Bay, I could not be more excited to join EBCF as we continue to advance a more just East Bay.”

– BRANDI HOWARD, President & CEO

Howard was recently appointed as the new President & CEO of East Bay Community Foundation. Howard will begin on November 14, 2022.

Collectively Moving the Needle

Founded in 1928, East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) partners with an active network of donors, local government funds, institutions, and corporations to distribute an average of $200 million in grants a year to nonprofits improving the lives of Alameda and Contra Costa county residents. EBCF is not only the oldest community foundation in the Bay Area, it is also an ever-evolving leader.

Years before the racial reckoning sparked by George Floyd’s murder, the Foundation’s staff saw a changing need for the largely Black and Latinx communities it served driven by the growing frustration with a socio-economic system that too often selects winners and losers based on race, class, and where a person grew up.

“As a community-based organization, we have a pulse on the community,” says Pamela Calloway, EBCF’s interim president and CEO (longtime leader James Head retired in 2021 and newly appointed incoming President and CEO Brandi Howard begins in November 2022). “All boats were not rising, everyone was not being lifted. We still had structural barriers to progress, and we thought that was important to say out loud.”

Accordingly, in 2019 the organization revamped its mission statement and decided to address head on the issues it was seeing: systemic racism and economic inequity.

The move garnered East Bay Community Foundation the title of “Boldest Community Foundation” by the widely-read trade publication Inside Philanthropy that year.

“We were making racial justice our priority before the sector declared 2020 a ‘racial reckoning,’” Calloway, who served on the Foundation’s board for eight years, says. “As a foundation, we are in a position of power, and we take the responsibility to support our community seriously.”

The Foundation’s goal is to organize donors to raise money and distribute grants, resources, and technical assistance

to community-based organizations that are both focused on addressing systemic power imbalances and are led by women and people of color, who have been historically overlooked and under invested in. In this way, EBCF serves as a convener for community transformation.

The work builds off of the history of the East Bay, where social justice platforms like the Black Panthers and the Free Speech Movement established roots and sparked a national reckoning. Similarly, East Bay Community Foundation considers truth telling to be part of its DNA.

“It’s our national motto: E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. We can pool our resources, we are an investment choice for donors,” Calloway says. “As a collective we stand a better chance of moving the needle. It’s a way for us to provide expertise that augments the knowledge and experience of our individual donors and partners.”

Using those pooled resources as part of its strategic regional grantmaking approach, in its fiscal year that ended in June 2022, the Foundation awarded $4.8 million in grants to 100 nonprofit organizations they deemed to be leaders in one or more of its core program strategies: Arts & Culture for Racial and Social Justice; Capacity Building with a Racial Equity Lens; Community Organizing, Power Building, and Movement Building; and Fostering Inclusive Economic Models.

In addition to those core program strategies, the Foundation is a leader in the burgeoning field of impact investing (see profile of CFO Valerie Red-Horse Mohl on page 159).

Not only is it ensuring that the entirety of its $679 million assets under management is invested in line with its racial justice and racial equity values, but it also offers donor-advised fund clients opportunities to make “programrelated investments” like low-interest loans, loan guarantees, and private equity investments to select Black, Indigenous, and people of color businesses and nonprofits.

(photo by Rhett Jones)

“These are new things to philanthropy. We are taking our definition of ‘community-based’ as far as we can,” Calloway says. “It means that we are examining novel ways to leverage our diverse set of resources to address community pain points and to bring parties together to exchange ideas and create support.”

The majority of East Bay Community Foundation’s staff live in the two counties that the Foundation serves and identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Unlike private foundations endowed by one ultra-wealthy benefactor, East Bay Community Foundation is supported by a community of donors who have opened donor-advised funds or other charitable vehicles. Like most community foundations, fees assessed on those funds comprise most of the public charity’s revenue, which supports its operations and grantmaking. Compared to larger community foundations, however, EBCF does not have a multi-billion-dollar endowment that it relies on to fund its annual operating costs. Instead, it must rely on donations from community members, local corporate partners, and other foundations. To Calloway, those donations are key because they represent community buy-in.

This is the core of the Foundation’s ethos wherein donors, grantees, and the Foundation itself are partners using pooled economic resources and expertise toward a vision of A Just East Bay.

Illustrating the impact or selecting a single initiative of a pooled, community approach to philanthropy is no easy task. The Foundation’s multi-strategy, community-driven work can instead be conceived as a strategic regional approach to shift power to address the biggest challenges of our time. The vision of A Just East Bay is one where East Bay communities that have been historically disenfranchised have the economic, cultural, and social power to make choices for their own well-being and

opportunities to thrive.

An example the East Bay Community Foundation cites to illustrate its strategic regional approach to philanthropic giving is one that is known to most Californians: the housing crisis. In Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the cost of housing has displaced communities and skyrocketed the number of people experiencing homelessness. A well-intentioned East Bay donor might decide to donate to a local homeless shelter – essential programs that support urgent,

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immediate needs. Another donor might have a fuller understanding of the kinds of wraparound services a person needs to move from homelessness into permanent housing, and choose to support nonprofit organizations providing primary care, behavioral health, and workforce development services. A third donor might look for remedies through community organizing groups that train and mobilize community members to advocate for tenant rights and rent control.

The Foundation’s approach is all three. EBCF works with artists who inspire community imagination and social change, movement leaders in community organizing and advocacy, collaboratives establishing and democratically governing community assets for community benefit, and Black-led direct service organizations seeking support for leadership transition or long-term sustainability.

East Bay Community Foundation is gathering community support for all its work under the umbrella of the vision of “A Just East Bay” through The Campaign for A Just East Bay. Charitable donations to this campaign will be used to further the organization’s strategic regional grantmaking approach, its impact investing work to close the wealth gap, and its innovative grantmaking practices that align community assets with community needs.

“I’m so proud and pleased to be leading and part of an organization that takes this work so seriously and does it so well. Joining with us becomes a source of pride and real impact and activism for everyone who is a stakeholder,” says Calloway.

“We think it’s important to use every tool in our toolbox to advance equity fairness and justice – we are your unicorn to translate your good intentions to impact.”

– Pamela Calloway

Sustained and Gaining

“The Venture Impact Program is a triple win! I can invest in underrepresented founders who are starting socially impactful for-profit businesses. And, potential returns go back to my DAF so I continue the cycle. In short, this is my most inspired form of investing.”

- CARSON BARNETT

“H

ow are the moms? What else can we do?”

Donors with the Marin Community Foundation (MCF) have been enthusiastically asking for updates this year on one of the foundation’s newest projects. “ e moms” are a group of 125 women of color working toward self-su ciency. ey’re receiving $1,000 per month for two years to use at their own discretion through a project piloted by MCF called MOMentum.

MOMentum was designed with direct input from 93 moms around Marin County who were interviewed about living in a place – the only one in the nation – where an annual income of $117,400 deems a family of four “low income.” e women talked about how their wages and

public bene ts still don’t cover the basics, and how navigating the public assistance maze can be time-consuming and degrading. What they needed most was cash.

Many of those moms are now using MOMentum’s unrestricted cash transfers to cover job training or to move out of overcrowded living situations and into apartments where their children have more stability. Several months after the cash transfers began, moms started asking MCF for guidance, like: “Hey, I got a full-time job. But now I need childcare. Help!” Or: “How do credit scores work in the U.S.? What do I need to know?”

Foundation sta connected them with services (Marin Child Care Council for example) or set up new programming, like a nancial literacy course with Redwood Credit Union. e moms

also have the option to connect with other moms in the pilot on UpTogether, a virtual platform for building social capital via networking and sharing resources.

Inasmuch, the community foundation found itself not just as a grantmaker, but a services navigator – an insight into how charitable foundations can go so much further than writing checks.

e idea is not to assume the Foundation knows what the moms need, but to “give momentum to all of the wonderful things that these moms are, and that they come with, so that they can achieve the goals they have for themselves, their families, and community,” says Johnathan Logan, Vice President of Community Engagement. e Foundation is gathering data on the pilot with the hopes of demonstrating positive results that will in uence state and federal policies on cash transfers.

“We see this program ultimately scaling to have an even larger impact,” Logan says.

Making an impact both at the individual level and on a global scale is at the heart of the MCF’s work. e Foundation oversees more than $3 billion in philanthropic assets by managing the Buck Family Fund that bene ts Marin County and also by partnering with more than 500 individuals and families to guide their philanthropic giving locally and worldwide. e Foundation has granted $2.1 billion over the past 30 years.

is year the Foundation is working through a strategic planning process initiated by its new President and CEO, Rhea Suh, who was recruited to the organization after its longtime leader Dr. omas Peters retired in 2021. (See interview with Suh on page 45.)

“Since I’m a new leader and the organization had the bene t of having the same leader for more than two decades, this is a fresh start in perspective,” says Suh, who most recently served as President of the Natural Resources Defense Council where she championed

environmental and social justice causes. “On top of that, the Marin Community Foundation has grown so much in the last 10 years, in particular with our family and community funds. We’re really trying to think overarchingly about how the whole of MCF is greater than the sum of our parts. How does this all add up to greater impact?”

Logan, who has been part of the Foundation’s leadership team for more than six years, agrees that it’s a good time to pause and re ect.

“ e strategic plan is coming at a really important time in both the Foundation’s arc, but also the current state of the world,’’ he says. “We’re dealing with everything from communities grappling with racial inequities to climate change to wealth disparities, a ordable housing and homelessness. All of these things feel like they’re at a boiling point – and I didn’t even mention politics and democracy. How do we position ourselves to address these big problems that exist in the world? ey’re not new, but I think the magnitude of the problems has grown. To use a basketball analogy: the shot clock is getting low.”

Donors are feeling that pressure, and they’ve been asking the Foundation’s experienced team about how to create change beyond making traditional grants. ey’re supportive

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Rhea Suh

President & CEO rsuh@marincf.org www.marincf.org (415) 464-2500

5 Hamilton Landing, Suite 200, Novato CA 94949 Tax ID#: 94-3007979

of creative pilots, like MOMentum. ey’re leveraging the Foundation’s Venture Impact Program (VIP) which enables impact investing through philanthropy – providing donors with the unique ability to support both for-pro t and nonpro t businesses that are doing social or environmental good.

Take Foundation donor Carson Barnett who used VIP to provide $100,000 in seed funding to a startup called Sway. Sway is working to eliminate single-use plastic pollution with compostable packaging made from seaweed. Sway leveraged this rst investment to attract further capital; returns on Barnett’s investment in Sway will be directed into her fund at MCF, generating a cycle of good begetting good.

With projects that are larger in scope, the Foundation seeks opportunities to leverage its support to attract more funding. is is particularly true in a ordable housing projects, where it commits early with pre-development funds to add its name, and a degree of legitimacy, to the initiative, and enable the developer and participating nonpro ts to more easily attract further capital.

Logan is proud that a $500,000 grant from the Foundation helped to get Victory Village, a low-income, senior housing facility developed by the Marin County Community Development Agency, over the nal hurdle to completion in 2020. In August 2022, Logan joined leaders from Homeward Bound of Marin in cutting the ribbon for Jonathan’s Place, a modern shelter plus 32 supportive housing units for residents on the road to self-su ciency.

Logan and his Foundation colleagues are looking forward to more ribbon cuttings –signifying not only new homes, but also the power of a community coming together and building momentum. Momentum on all fronts.

- ELEANOR FRIEDMAN San Francisco Foundation Donor

San Francisco Foundation Doing Good by Doing Well

For the last 75 years, the San Francisco Foundation (SFF) has laid the foundation for countless community initiatives in the Bay Area, providing critical seed money for KQED (the region’s leading NPR affiliate), Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, Bay Area Discovery Museum, BRIDGE Housing, and many others.

For the next 75 years, they want to build a Bay Area that shines with opportunity for all. This brighter future requires funding, to be sure, says CEO Fred Blackwell. But the architecture of this better world is not only monetary. As much as anything, Blackwell says, it is a matter of will: “The belief that we can make the changes – do the personal and interpersonal work – to create the community that we need.”

Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, repeated incidents of violence against Asian Americans in the Bay Area, and the ongoing viral, political, social, and

environmental crises, the San Francisco Foundation has committed to more urgent and creative action, with a continued emphasis on racial equity. With about $3 billion in assets, the foundation supported almost 3,000 nonprofits in 2021, focusing on organizations that support communities of color in the Bay Area.

Supporting organizations led by people of color and serving Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities is central to the foundation’s strategy. In 2021, San Francisco Foundation launched the Bese Saka Initiative to respond to the needs of local Black-led community organizations. Developed and led in partnership with the Brotherhood of Elders Network, an intergenerational network of Black men, the Bese Saka Initiative builds capacity through dedicated funding, consulting services, and coalition-building with a cohort of 18 Bay Area nonprofit organizations with Black leaders.

“All philanthropy should be reckoning with atrocious inequality. How do we make these changes and keep philanthropy relevant? I look to San Francisco Foundation to be that leader.”

Photo by Brooke Ander son and courtesy Black Organizing Project, a San Francisco Founda tion grantee.

think about the San Francisco Founda tion as your grandparents’ organization, your organization and the organization of future gener ations to be able to do this work.”

FRED BLACKWELL

To make it easier for grassroots and advocacy organizations to respond in moments of opportunity and crisis, San Francisco Foundation has provided fast funding to frontline social justice organizations through its rapid response grantmaking programs since 2016. The foundation supported organizations such as Tenants Together for its work protecting Latino and other communities from eviction in neighborhoods like the Mission and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, which activated AAPI communities in response to recent waves of hate directed against Asian Americans.

The needs of the moment, Blackwell says, should not pull all our focus away from the systemic change that needs to happen. “We need to act with urgency, yes, but not with haste,” he says. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Along with grantmaking, San Francisco Foundation leverages its financial, reputational, and collaborative assets to make pivotal, definitive change. This long view, according to chief impact officer Judith Bell, requires a shift in focus.

“With issues like racial equity and economic inclusion, you have to change the rules through policy and systems change,” Bell says. “As a community foundation, we have a broader range of tools in our tool belt than do private foundations. And we’ve made it a

priority to utilize all of those tools,” including impact investments, research, and large-scale convening, along with grantmaking.

One of the foundation’s impact investing strategies, known as the Bay Area Community Impact Fund, provides local nonprofits and social enterprises with low-interest loans. In 2022, the foundation doubled down on this strategy, increasing lending to entrepreneurs of color, keeping jobs and small businesses afloat.

The foundation’s Bay Area Leads Fund supports timely research about equity in the Bay Area, convenes community conversations, and influences public opinion to help build support for a more inclusive Bay Area. One of these ongoing research projects is the Bay Area Equity Atlas, a data dashboard created in partnership with PolicyLink and USC’s Equity Research Institute to help advocates match the stories they tell with the population-level data needed to move policymakers to action.

San Francisco Foundation also sees its

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Pamela Doherty

Senior Director of Gift Planning

donorservices@sff.org sff.org (415) 733-8590

Tax ID#: 01-0679337

endowment as a key force for positive impact. How funds under the foundation’s management are invested as well as who does the investing are both important to advancing change.

“In just the last year, about 70% of our new fund managers were women and people of color,” Blackwell says. Returns have stayed strong following this shift, proving that “it’s possible to do good by doing well.”

San Francisco Foundation partners with family and corporate philanthropists to fund solutions to some of the region’s thorniest problems, including housing, worker rights, public safety, civic engagement, and leadership development. Many of their donors support the foundation because of its focus on systems change and equity.

“If you’re focused on a racial equity agenda, ultimately you’re going to need to move policy in order to achieve your end objectives,” says Justin Steele, a member of San Francisco Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Director of Google.org, Americas. To do that kind of long-term civic engagement, he says, you need an approach “that’s patient and has longtime horizons.”

Oakland-born poet Chinaka Hodge put it this way, in a roof-raising original performance filmed for the foundation: “We are worth protecting. We are worth engaging. We are worth the struggle it will take to make us our newest and best selves.” The work is hard, but “the truth of the matter is that we are courageous. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be here.”

“I like to

CEO, San Francisco Foundation

Photo by Adriana Oyarzun

Advocacy

Advocacy is about standing up for people in need and speaking up for those without a voice. Whether global or local, we are thankful for the brave advocates you will read about in the following pages.

Mona Sinha’s Journey to Gender Justice

By Gwyn Lurie

It’s a long way from Calcutta (now called Kolkata) for Mona Sinha , Board Chair of Women Moving Millions. Growing up in a family of three girls, Sinha could never escape the feeling that her parents had really wanted a son. Sh e’s since overcome this feeling of inadequacy, but it informs her world view and her approach to philanthropy which works to build a gender equal world where ever yone is valued for who they are. Supporting gender justice, for Sinha, is part of her DNA.

“I grew up very well cared for. I’d watch my mother dole out the food for the day and what needed to be cooked. Sh e would take a cup of rice and put it in a sack and it r eally intrigued me. At the end of the month, the sack would be filled up and she would give it away. So that was her form of philanthropy.”

At the age of 12, Sinha volunteered at Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity Orphanage in Calcutta, where her desire to aid humanitarian e orts in her local community sparked a revelation that gender bias in the adoption process was disproportionately favoring boys.

“She was a very revered gure in Calcutta. Volunteering each week was a wonderful experience because there were so many girls who were my age. One day, I realized that the reason there were so many girls was because the boys got adopted rst,” Sinha says.

Sinha’s understanding of the impact of philanthropy continued to take shape. At 19 she was accepted to attend Smith College, a private liberal arts school for women in Northampton, Massachusetts.

“My father told me, ‘I can’t a ord to pay for college in America.’” e p redicament was troubling, but Sinha’s tenacity to nd a solution in the face of challenges is a quality she’s always possessed.

“I was awarded a big scholarship, which made me realize that somebody I didn’t even know had the faith in a stranger, essentially, to pay their full tuition. at was an eye-opener.”

At Smith, Sinha’s determination and natural ability to lead through elevating others was nurtured on campus by the community’s commitment to foster female empowerment.

“Smith is a very activist campus, but it’s also a hugely supportive campus. With a very supportive network of not just students and alumni, but just the whole zeitgeist of people wh o’ve

been real big forces in the feminist movement. We had Gloria Steinem as a role model, and she remains so even to this day Smithies are all leaders who have, in some ways, de ned the course of some big changes in the world. And these were ver y formative years of my life living alone, guring out my identity as a young woman and being able to step into that space instead of feeling like an imposter… at’s what drew me to Smith.”

After graduating from Smith, Sinha secured a job on Wall Street, an experience she recounts as being a stark divergence from her time at school as she encountered a hierarchical culture in the workplace.

“It didn’t matter how good I was… it was a very male-dominated world. Four-letter words were tossed around in every sentence. e culture was quite sexist, but I did love the work and pivoted from there to marketing after I got my MBA and loved that too. It was all about learning how to build a brand. And then came a moment in my life where I had to decide, ‘Is this the best use of my time on Earth?’ And I decided corporate America probably wasn’t.”

ough at odds with the harsh realities dealt to women working in corporate America at that time, Sinha’s experience was far from a waste.

“The whole idea of philanthropy being only for people who are rich is a fallacy. I think you can be philanthropic in so many ways. Using your time to lift someone up or being a helping hand to somebody is also philanthropy.

It’s the love of humankind.”

“It made me a more e ective leader at large because my philanthropy’s not just about writing checks, it’s about building and supporting organizations. I come to it with a lens of restructuring; I have this unique ability to see where the easy and the di cult xes are. I will come in and start digging through, and not in a high-handed way, but just as a teacher, a mentor, and a collaborator all to help shape and grow strong organizations.

If you think about it from just a capitalistic point of view, philanthropy is risk capital because we are not looking for nancial returns. So, it’s a great way to engage in projects, to engage in solutions spaces, which could fail, which is ne. You’re never going to nd solutions if you don’t explore a few that fail and philanthropy is just the capital that can do that.”

Unlike on Wall Street, Sinha operates through “trust-based philanthropy.”

“I totally believe in trust-based philanthropy I don’t want to read a 60-page research report that took somebody six months to pull together because I gave them money I am happy to pick up the phone and say, ‘How are you doing? What do you need? And where have you seen the change and where have you made a di erence?’ at’s all I need.”

Today, Sinha chairs Women Moving Millions, a community of approximately 340 individuals who each make a minimum $1M commitment to organizations and initiatives bene ting women and girls, encouraging its members to use this form of assessing impact.

“At the end of the day, your impact is on people’s lives. And how do you measure people’s lives? It’s about letting people live with dignity and letting people have that economic agency to make decisions that impact their lives and the life of their families and communities.

“And some of that is ve ry di cult to measure from a purely investment statistic. Perhaps we can measure it when we encourage people to be investors with an impact or a gender lens. a t’s when you can ask wealth managers and investment portfolio managers to really prove that what your values are and what you would like to invest in are being showcased or realized.”

Among her many philanthropic endeavors, Sinha created the Asian Women’s Leadership University, which, as of early September, after 10 years of work, nally got its license.

“ What started as a little kernel of an idea started snowballing and we got invited by the government of Malaysia to create Women’s Leadership University in Malaysia in partnership with Smith.”

Sinha, a major force in the world of philanthropy, holds on to her deep-seated belief, from watching her mother put rice aside for those who might need more, that philanthropy is not only for the super-rich.

“ e whole idea of philanthropy being only for people who are rich is a fallacy I think you can be philanthropic in so many ways. Using your time to lift someone up or being a helping hand to somebody is also philanthropy. It’s the love of humankind. You can really express that in many ways, mentoring somebody, supporting someone, you could start with $25 or $5. It doesn’t matter what the amount is. It’s the thought and the action behind it. Also, I do believe that it is our duty to give back to the world that you’re living in.

Ever ybody should be engaged in philanthropy, no matter what you have or don’t have. It’s about sharing. It’s about coming from a place of abundance as opposed to thinking that re sources are scarce, because they don’t have to be.”

For Young Women and Girls, Community Is Power

“W YMT is special because it values the lived experiences of young moms. Being a leader in this initiative taught me that our stories are enough and that we should not have to prove the issues we navigate matter. Through this work, I have learned so much about advocating for my community and drawing from my lived expertise to enact change. In my conversations with county agencies that provide childcare and other services, I have provided feedback on how we can improve the way Santa Clara County serves young moms. There is something really empowering about driving change in this way and seeing my experience being seen, heard, and valued.”

AFG’s model centers on listening to girls and the issues most important to them, training our network to address these issues, and advocating for change with girls at the lead. Driven by the data and girl-driven recommendations outlined in our Together We Rise Report – AFG, its partners, and girls successfully advocated for $400,000 from Santa Clara County to implement When Young Moms Thrive (WYMT) in order to train, support, and address the needs of young moms.

Young women in the world often find themselves in perpetual combat with a system that has historically silenced and oppressed them. One organization is bent on dismantling those systems for girls in California.

The Alliance For Girls (AFG) is rooted in what girls* and gender-expansive youth are experiencing and the solutions they want to see made real. Comprising more than 100 nonprofits serving some 300,000 girls and gender expansive youth across nine Bay Area counties and L.A. county – AFG is the largest alliance of girl-serving organizations in the nation. As a collective of organizations, AFG works for gender equity for all young women, girls, and gender-expansive youth – driven by the leadership of girls themselves. AFG’s power is in its vast network of partners and youth-led approach.

*Girls refers to gender-expansive youth (cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth, and any girl-identified youth)

AFG was born during 2009’s Great Recession when six executive directors of girls organizations

came together with a shared vision for youth in their communities.

“If we don’t start supporting one another, coordinating services with one another, and advocating on behalf of girls and genderexpansive youth, our girls are going to really su er in the middle of an economic recession,” Founding Executive Director Emma Mayerson says of the collective thinking at the time. That genesis was critical in helping young girls navigate a much broader disaster: the pandemic.

As an alliance of organizations, AFG listens to the youth they serve, and amplifies their voices in order to achieve gender equity.

AFG’s Young Women’s Leadership Board and Youth Fellows program empowers young women to be in the driver’s seat of e ecting the change that they want to see in the world.

“My voice and those of other young women on the board have helped to shape the direction of Alliance For Girls,” says Gabrielle Battle, a Young Women’s Leadership Board alum. “Our voices help make sure that underrepresented young girls do not go unnoticed.”

One example of what AFG’s young leaders are able to achieve is the leadership of AFG Fellow Viviana Arenas, a young mother herself, during the implementation of the When Young Moms Thrive (WYMT) Initiative in Santa Clara County - a landmark initiative that trains young moms to be researchers and advocates to improve the ecosystem of care available to young parents. Rooted in the two years of advocacy work that AFG and its member organizations did to advocate for the funding from Santa Clara County to design and implement WYMT pilot initiative, Viviana worked closely with the other five WYMT research and policy fellows to engage over 150 young moms across the county in youth-led research. Viviana played a crucial role in uplifting these young moms’ policy recommendations and co-authored a policy memo that was presented to the Santa Clara County government and is in process to be adopted.

“It’s really important to understand what young moms are experiencing in the communities in which they’re living,” says Chantal Hildebrand, AFG’s Deputy Director.

– Viviana Arenas

When Young Moms Thrive & AFG Advocacy Fellow (Present)

In Fall 2021, 51 applications were received to serve as WYMT research and policy fellows. Research and policy fellows are directly impacting young parents trained as researchers and policy advocates. Six research and policy fellows – all young mothers – were selected.

Fund One Youth Fellow –Impact Thousands of Girls

AFG is focused on expanding its Youth Fellows Program. “You fund a fellow so it has an impact on that fellow but that fellow is, in turn, a voice and advocate for their community, which impacts the lives of hundreds of young people, which in turn develops a policy that can impact the lives of thousands more,” says Founding Executive Director Emma Mayerson. “One fellow has that ripple e ect.”

The cost of funding a fellow is $20,000. A clear opportunity for a donor who cares about the future of young women and girls is to give them the skills that they need, as a paid sta person, to make it better for their community – for generations to come.

Alliance for Girls www.alliance4girls.org 2323 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 629-9464

Contact: Emma Mayerson Executive Director (510) 629-9464 emma@alliance4girls.org

Together with our youth fellows and a trained base of adult champions, AFG and its membership have collectively executed 30 advocacy campaigns resulting in 25 policies, bills, programs, and public budget allocations. With AFG’s Advocacy Fellow in the lead, AFG, its partners, and the young moms engaged the community to develop policy recommendations based on the learnings and experiences of young moms themselves.

y time as an AFG fellow and Young Women’s Leadership Board member was incredibly beneficial to me and my growth as an advocate. I was trained in research and data collection that contributed to AFG’s Uniting Isolated Voices Report about the impacts of COVID-19 on girls and gender-expansive youth. As a youth leader for the Not One More Girl Campaign, I advocated alongside other impacted youth to inform BART’s new policy that reduces harassment on trains and co-authored an opinion piece for Teen Vogue magazine. "

– Uchenna Esomonu

AFG Communications Associate (2022 - Present), Membership Fellow (2021-2022) & Young Women’s Leadership Board Alum (2020-2021)

KEY SUPPORTERS

Applied Materials Foundation Blue Shield Foundation of California California Community Foundation Eva Gunther Foundation Grantmakers for Girls of Color Irene S. Scully Foundation KLA Foundation Germanacos Foundation San Francisco Foundation Summer Oaks Fund Tao Rising Tides Foundation, Advancing Adolescent Girl Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Walter & Elise Haas Fund

Women’s Foundation of California Zellerbach Family Foundation

Annie Longsworth

Raquel Donoso

Veronica Hunnicutt

Gretchen Sandler

Linda Calhoun

Lori Mackenzie

Marlene Sanchez

Mark Gunther

Rebecca Peterson-Fisher

Shakirah Simley

Tina Sandford

Shaune Zunzanyika

Sophia Andary

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Alliance For Girls

2323 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 82-1473988

By Credit Card: alliance4girls.org/donate/

"M

Only 2% of total philanthropic dollars go to women and girls, when they represent more than half the population and face many unique barriers based on gender and sex discrimination.

A Second Chance for Formerly Incarcerated Battered Women

Home Free is a program of Five Keys, a so cial justice nonprofit focusing on education, housing, workforce development, and reentry, which operates in 14 counties across Califor nia, serving over 30,000 individuals each year.

Five Key’s Home Free initiative has assist ed more than 40 abused women after they left prison, and has worked to get them on their feet.

For years, women like Palacios served prison time for either defending themselves against their abuser or because they were at the scene of a crime under the coercion of an abusive spouse or boyfriend. They were often forgotten.

A decade ago, criminal justice advocates led by Fiona Ma (now California State Trea surer) pushed legislation allowing imprisoned women barred from submitting evidence of their abuse at trial to seek a legal review of their long-term sentences.

"One of the issues I am most passionate about is incarcerated victims who are currently serving jail time... intimate partner battering was not a defense at the time... and so there are still many women who are basically stuck behind bars with no hope except for legislation and advocates."

– Fiona Ma California State Treasurer and Home Free Founder

suicide three times in prison.

As a kid, Nilda Palacios was sexually abused at home and at school. She tried to escape into a relationship, which turned abusive. She was sentenced to 27 years to life after killing her partner in self-defense during an altercation. Despite this salient his tory, the then-17-year-old Palacios was barred from giving evidence of her abuse at trial.

After 17 years behind bars, her sentence was reduced to involuntary manslaughter. But she struggled upon release. A program for drug abusers shut down. She ended up living in her car.

Palacios found her “first home” at Five Keys Home Free, the first transitional housing pro gram in the nation for formerly incarcerated survivors of domestic violence.

“I can’t believe that programs like this exist for people like us,” Palacios, who was among Home Free’s first residents, says. “When I first got the keys to my apartment, I couldn’t be lieve it… I had to learn how to open the door and then how to get in the house.”

The Home Free residence opened its doors in 2020 for up to 11 women in a converted apartment building on Treasure Island, in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.

“Home Free is righting a horrific wrong that was committed against these women,” says Five Keys Co-founder Sunny Schwartz.

Palacios, raised in Los Angeles, grew up with a history of abuse. She was molested by an uncle and stepfather and raped as a 15-year-old by a high school teacher. She lat er came to rely on drugs and alcohol, spent years living on the streets, and attempted

She is now literally “home free.” She works full time as a peer counselor in health educa tion. And she just bought a house in a suburb in the East Bay.

“I hope to help clients who are struggling with depression and other mental health is sues,” Palacios says.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.”

Nilda at the September 22, 2022 Home For Dinner II annual fundraiser and other criminalized survivors and advocates

Five Keys Home Free Needed in Los Angeles and San Francisco

Five Keys Schools and Programs is raising between $3 million and $5 million to help establish a second Home Free transitional housing program in Los Angeles County. The funds would go toward acquiring a hotel or apartment complex of between 25 and 30 units, which would be staffed by a dozen reentry coaches and administrators.

Five Keys Home Free in San Francisco is raising $200,000 in general operating funds to support ongoing programs that include financial and technology literacy, job, and computer training classes.

Mayor London Breed, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and Five Keys Founder Sunny Schwartz

Protect Your Kids, Invest in Brady

o one is immune to gun violence. And yet, after countless mass shootings and loss, this carnage continues and I continue to ask, when are we going to do something? That’s why I work with Brady, fighting tirelessly to push our lawmakers toward action and working in courts and communities to end gun violence in this country. But in order to continue this critical work, Brady needs your support — not just today, but every day. "

– Steve Kerr

In contemplating the scope and destruction wrought by gun violence, it is understandable to despair. But inaction won’t save your family and neighbors.

“We are fighting against this notion that the NRA wants everyone to believe, which is that this is hopeless,” says Kris Brown, president of Brady, a national leader in ending gun violence. “When I am asked, ‘Why should I get engaged? Why should I get involved?’ The answer is simple: there’s no other choice.”

Since 1974, Brady has enacted solutions through litigation, legislation, and educational e orts to give Americans hope in the face of a deepening crisis.

One key way Brady is saving lives is through its national PSA campaign, End Family Fire, which alerts gun owners that lives could be saved if firearms are stored safely.

Roughly 76% of school shooters, under the age of 18, used a gun from their home or the

home of a relative or friend. And an unlocked gun in the home increases the risk of death from suicide by 300%.

Despite these harrowing statistics, 63% of Americans believe that guns make households safer and more than half of all gun owners store at least one gun without any locks or other safe storage measures.

Brady knows safe storage saves lives. End Family Fire is successfully encouraging the safe storage of guns to prevent the unintentional shooting of children, mass shootings, and gun suicide.

With generous support, Brady leverages each donor dollar 5 to 1 with pro-bono advertising investment. Across all media platforms, Brady is able to target specific groups, such as Black teenage girls who are disproportionately a ected by gun-inflicted suicide, to stop this preventable carnage.

Gun owners who saw the ads were 400%

Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June 2022. This law strengthens background checks for 18 to 21 year olds, provides funds for states to raise awareness about 'extreme risk' laws and closes the 'boyfriend loophole' among other reforms. This was the first federal gun violence prevention law to pass in 30 years.

more likely to seek out information about safe storage and 250% more likely to report talking to their family and friends about safe gun storage.

Most importantly, 48% of gun owners who saw the ads changed how or where they keep their firearms and stored them in a safer manner – a critical first step to ending the ravages of gun violence.

"N

Gun Violence Survivor & Coach of the Golden State Warriors

After the Bu alo and Uvalde mass shootings in May 2022, Brady's Team ENOUGH youth movement and fed up citizens across the country coordinated school walkouts and protests advocating for Congress to act on gun violence prevention.

4.6 million children live in homes with access to an unlocked or unsupervised gun. Join us in keeping kids safe by making sure firearms

“Talk is the least we can do, which is why Brady’s work is so important. They’re taking action to curb gun violence in achievable, common sense ways by emphasizing education, litigation, and legislation, and by recognizing that gun violence a ects everyone in our country, and does outsized damage within black and brown communities.”

– Stephen Colbert

Host, Executive Producer and Writer of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Invest in Our Safety

More likely than not, your life has somehow been touched by gun violence. Whether it’s your children experiencing lockdown drills or the loss of a loved one, firearms and the human su ering they cause have reached epidemic levels.

To staunch the bleeding requires expertise, dedication, and money.

Brady is unabashed in its request of you, the donor. It needs $2 million to fuel its End Family Fire campaign this year.

Your donation pays for research to target the audiences that most need to hear Brady’s message, to produce the advertisements and to provide training for clinicians about how to talk about the risks of guns in the home and safe storage with patients.

“The next school shooter could be stopped. The suicide that you don’t know your teenager is contemplating with the gun in your closet can be stopped with this campaign,” says Brady President Kris Brown. “And even if it saves just one life, the investment will be worth it.”

Brady partners with the Ad Council (creators of 'secondhand smoke' and 'designated driver' campaigns) to promote safe storage of firearms in their End Family Fire program. This is one PSA print example of this data-driven and proven e ective campaign.

KEY SUPPORTERS

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RLC:

Marita Daly (Past Chair)

Pellie Anderson (Co-Chair)

Kath Tsakalakis (Co-Chair)

Ben Bartlett

Je Bleich

David Bray

Johanna Carney

Anne Ching

Randi Curhan

Kris Dyszynski

Jenny Fannin

Eric Havian

Steve Henry

Dan Horn

Dennis Joyce

Pam Kosinski

Nick Kenig

Coach Steve Kerr

Sonja Caldwell Kos

Brady | United Against Gun Violence

bradyunited.org

840 1st Street NE, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20002

Contact: Liz Dunning (she/her/hers)

Gun Violence Survivor & Vice President of Development and Partnerships (202) 370-8149 ldunning@bradyunited.org

76% of school shootings are facilitated by kids having access to unsecured and/or unsupervised guns at home.

Kira Dahlgren Lancaster

Reginald Lee

Mark Linton

John Maa

Dennis Mulqueeney

Christina Nooney

Jeanette Pavini

Jonathan Parkhurst

Michael Plimack

Kari & Tom Rocca

Steven Roland Michael Ronen

Juana Schurman

Louise Serio

Steve Sposato

Eric Swergold & Dawn Dobras

Brittany Votto

Joyce Wang

Saeri Yuk

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence

840 1st Street NE, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20002

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 52-1285097

By Credit Card: bradyunited.org/donate

are locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition.

Protecting Rights and Saving Lives Around the World

am incredibly proud to sup port Human Rights Watch. They are vital to lifting up human rights de fenders around the world, giving voice to the voiceless, and bringing a powerful spotlight to atrocities that if left in the dark, would continue. The impact of Hu man Rights Watch fuels hope and gives those of us that call the Bay Area home a tangible way to support human rights everywhere and anywhere. It’s about more dignity in the world – that is what HRW’s work ultimately delivers."

– Amy Rao Human Rights Watch Board Co-Chair

War. Climate change. Poverty and inequality. Protecting democracy. Advancing education for women and girls.

Multiple agencies could spend years tackling the human rights implications of each of these issues. But, for the staff at the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices of Human Rights Watch (HRW), everything threatening human dignity and justice is on the table.

For more than 40 years, Human Rights Watch has investigated, researched, and reported on human rights abuses all over the world. With a staff of experts who interview multiple witnesses and officials, Human Rights Watch protects rights and saves lives around the world.

“People trust that we have done the research and have the facts,” says Jen Haile, City Director of Human Rights Watch San Francisco.

Exhaustive research translates into powerful

influences that have repeatedly pushed governments to improve human rights conditions. That influence is strengthened by ongoing meetings Acting Executive Director Tirana Hassan and the advocacy team attend with presidents, heads of state, and political leaders.

When presented with HRW’s fact-driven recommendations to improve human rights, many governments cooperate and improve. But when a country refuses, Human Rights Watch creates leverage by leaning on trading partners or nearby stakeholders to apply political pressure.

Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 to monitor the Soviet Union’s compliance with the Helsinki Accords. Over 40 years later, some of the countries in the former Soviet Union are still a primary focus.

“We have been working in Ukraine for more than 30 years, however the ongoing conflict is

requiring much more staff time and resources,” Haile says. “Our experts are working around the clock to document and expose human rights violations, which means raising emergency funds is essential to continue this work.”

In addition to the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the situation in Afghanistan has only gotten worse. “Women can’t leave their homes. Girls can’t go to school,” Haile says. “Anyone who has been an activist is not safe. It is a complete regression of human rights in Afghanistan the past year.”

Although the effects of war in Ukraine and Afghanistan have been in focus lately, Human Rights Watch is active in approximately 100 countries investigating a broad range of human rights issues. From the repression of the Rohingya in Myanmar, to the human rights implications of climate change and COVID-19, to the refugee crisis in Europe, Human Rights Watch makes an impact wherever they are.

"I

Civilians flee the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling and bombing on March 5, 2022, in Ukraine. © 2022 Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

Upholding Fundamental Rights

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.

The nonprofit investigates and reports on human rights abuses globally. Advocacy is directed towards organizations, governments, businesses, armed groups, or anyone or anything else that has the power to enforce laws or develop policies and practices that uphold human rights.

All donations are used to support work in these areas and are carefully reviewed to ensure that they are consistent with the values and mission of the organization. In order to ensure unbiased and fact-based research, Human Rights Watch does not take funding from any government.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Silicon Valley: Gloria Principe, Chair

Jessie Brunner

Fran Codispoti

Barb Deméré Dana Fenwick

Loren Gordon Barbara Hugli-Jones Wendy McAdam Cathy Crane Moley

Jean Scheible

Marie Vought Diana Walsh

Amy Rao, Chair Emerita

Sofie Vandeputte, Chair Emerita

San Francisco: Leigha Weinberg, Co-Chair

Ipek Burnett, Co-Chair

Mark Grace

Alyssa Harper

Caitlin Heising

Danielle Kraaijvanger

Marty Krasney

Loy Sheflott

David Keller, Chair Emeritus

Lore McGovern, Chair Emerita

Nancy J. Parrish, Chair Emerita

Orville Schell, Chair Emeritus

Joy Alferness, Chair Emerita

Darian Swig, Chair Emerita

The Many Ways to Give...

Human Rights Watch hrw.org

350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 (212) 377-9479

Contact: Jen Haile City Director, San Francisco hailej@hrw.org

By Check:

Human Rights Watch, Inc.

350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, New York, 10118-3299

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 13-2875808

Note on Transfer: Human Rights Watch San Francisco and Silicon Valley

Afghan girls leave school after classes on September 21, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan. In late March 2022, the Taliban reversed its decision to reopen all schools and announced that girls’ secondary schools would remain closed indefinitely. © 2021 Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

For The Children

Children are precious, sensitive, and impressionable. And they are the future. What they need more than anything are adults that will fight for them no matter how hard that fight may be.

Rhea Suh: Upholding Democracy

As told to Cara Masset

When we at The Giving List spoke with Rhea Suh last year (“Bringing Environmental Justice Home”), she had just taken the helm as Presi dent and CEO of the Marin Community Foundation after leading the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York and serving in the Department of the Interior for the Obama Administration.

This year she settled into life in Marin County, where she regularly sports a Gold en State Warriors jacket. “I relinquished my allegiance to the Brooklyn Nets,” she jokes.

With its nationally treasured landscape, Marin County is a dream locale for the environmentalist to take her “doodle mix” named Woody on daily walks. “My dog is still levitating because he’s like: There’s trees! There’s grass!”

But bucolic Marin County aside, Suh has her eyes set on making this community a stronger, more unified place.

Q. You are more than a year in your role now. How are you enjoying the job?

A. I don’t think I could love it more than I do. While I feel so honored to have had all the different kinds of experiences I’ve had in my career, the higher I progressed, the more I had to focus on national and international issues.

While that is incredibly important, I began to feel removed from the very things that drove me to work in nonprofit organi zations. In coming to the Marin Community Foundation, part of what is such a joy and a privilege, is that I am more proximate to the issues – and the solutions.

Q. Great. Can you share an example?

A. We have a pilot project called MOMentum where we are providing low-income moms of color in the county with $1,000 a month and evaluating the difference that makes in their lives. It not only illustrates the opportunity we have in co-designing solutions with the community, but in testing high-potential projects that we could then take to scale, and, ideally effect pol icy change. (Read more on page 28.)

Q You initiated a strategic planning process at the foundation. What are the takeaways so far?

A. The strategic planning process has many parts, but one part is to identify big ideas that we as an institution would lean in on.

At the top of the list from a local perspective: affordable hous ing in Marin County and climate justice initiatives, both for Marin County, as well as for the Bay Area broadly, likely in partnership with sister foundations.

And I think there are two broad overarching issues: racial in equities and how democracy can be upheld. As a community

foundation, we can seed more authority over priorities and is sues to communities themselves to really infuse democracy and ensure the basic functioning of our society.

Q. Funders are responding to monstrous issues: Ukraine, repro ductive rights, gun violence, and the list goes on. How are you trying to keep the foundation and DAF holders focused on climate justice?

A. Climate threats are adding up, and they’re adding up quickly. One of the things that’s obvious – that, frankly, the climate prediction models have always pointed to – is that the most vulnerable communities are going to be the most affected by climate change.

In Marin County, there are communities like Marin City that have always dealt with vast inequities. And Marin City already floods. When there’s a king tide, it’s cut off completely from the rest of the county. That whole corridor is going to have to be repaired in some way.

Knowing that we are likely going to get major infusions of climate adaptation funds from the government, how can we ensure those funds are utilized in a way that truly protects the interests of a community like Marin City? Part of the challenge is: Even if the money is available, are the communities equipped to get that money?

Filling in that gap role is a great example of where communi ty foundations can make a big impact.

Holocaust Museum LA is Encouraging Upstanders

In recent years, as racism, antisemitism, and bigotry have exploded around the world, the lessons of the Holocaust seem increasingly relevant. European Jews were among the first to experience a playbook of persecution increasingly copied by leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere. This includes a reli ance on The Big Lie; the use of new media to divide and conquer; and a view of human history that dehumanizes the Other.

Enter the Holocaust Museum LA, Amer ica’s oldest museum dedicated to one of the twentieth century’s most horrific genocides. Nestled in Pan Pacific Park between West L.A. and downtown, the now-iconic building overlooks both the city’s major Jewish neigh borhoods and the site of L.A.’s most import ant civic protests. This geographic confluence, connecting the Jewish experience and Amer

ica’s growing political and social challenges, speaks volumes about the expanding rele vance of the museum’s mission.

The museum’s work “is not just about Jew ish history. It’s not even just about history,” explains Omar Sharif Jr., the institution’s new Chief Advancement Officer. Over the last few years, the institution has “redoubled its ef forts to address the pressing challenges in the world, including the rise in hate crimes. The many communities that visit the museum see in the narrative of the Holocaust lessons for their fight for justice. Unfortunately, these lessons are all too relevant today.”

In support of the museum’s important work, the California legislature awarded Ho locaust Museum LA $8.5 million in support over the last couple of years.

The goal of a Holocaust Museum LA vis

“This is why we have to educate the young people about what happened. The only way is through education.”

- JOE ALEXANDER Holocaust Survivor

it, says CEO Beth Kean, is partly to under stand that unique historical trauma. But it’s also to encourage people to transition from bystanders to “upstanders,” encouraging them to “speak out and stand up to hatred, bigotry, and antisemitism,” whether it’s in their com munity or the larger society.

The majority of the visitors to its current campus are not Jewish, and most school groups come from Latino, Black, and Asian communities. In addition to admission being free to all students, the museum also pays for school bus transportation, often the biggest stumbling block for field trips. Almost 20% of student visits come from Northern Califor nia, or elsewhere in the state.

“I never want to tell a school, ‘Sorry, we can’t accommodate you,’” Kean says.

The museum began as a grassroots effort on the part of Holocaust survivors in 1961, some meeting in an English as a Second Lan guage class held at Hollywood High School. The focus, then as now, was personal, with an

emphasis on survivors sharing meaningful ob jects and stories in real time, but always with the intention of education. Survivor founder meeting notes from the 1960s have the word “education” mentioned in English and Yid dish, as the survivors knew the importance in learning from this history. This means that the history of Los Angeles, and the experience of its refugees and immigrants, is woven into the fabric of the museum. Today every school tour is paired with a survivor’s story, either in person or by a virtual meeting.

The move to Pan Pacific Park in 2010 vastly exceeded the museum’s expectations, and in 2020 they announced a significant expansion. One goal is to increase student visits from its current cap of 28,000 to 150,000.

With the lion’s share of funding in place, the new Jona Goldrich Campus is on track to open in 2024, with a first-class theater, and expanded educational and exhibition spaces. The new building will also house the USC Shoah Foundation Dimensions in Testimo

SCAN TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOLOCAUST MUSEUM LA

Omar Sharif Jr.

Chief Advancement Officer omar@hmla.org

www.holocaustmuseumla.org (323) 651-3704

100 The Grove Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Tax ID#: 46-0503824

HELP TEACH AND INSPIRE THE YOUNGER GENERATION

Schools

in under-resourced com munities attend fewer museums, and participate in less field trips in gen eral, because of lack of funding. As gas and other prices have risen, the cost of renting buses has skyrocketed.

Donors who want to help Holo caust Museum LA fulfill its mission of welcoming every school group that wants to visit can offer support by off-setting these costs. Your donation of $2,000 can fund a bus trip from Northern California to Los Angeles.

ny program, a pioneering virtual reality tool where visitors can meet and talk with survi vors even after they are gone. Holocaust Mu seum LA will also be creating, designing, and curating a brand new exhibit around their largest artifact: an authentic boxcar from Poland. This exhibition design will pair arti facts, media, oral history, and text to present a didactic and narrative exhibit that will offer visitors a profound emotional, reflective, and informative experience.

The museum is betting that the combina tion of technology, primary sources, and per sonal stories will transmit the lessons of the Holocaust to the widest possible audience, amplifying its reach, and engaging students in an innovative way. In a unique partnership with L.A.-based Magnopus, a pioneer in im mersive experience that has worked closely with Disney and NASA, the museum, using augmented reality technology, will be able to drop a San Francisco classroom into the geog raphy of a concentration camp, and learn from a survivor about his experience and escape.

As falsehoods and fake news proliferate online, Holocaust Museum LA believes a knowledgeable population can transform the lessons of the Holocaust into positive civic action. Museum CEO Kean notes that their updated motto – Inspire Humanity Through Truth – reminds us that education is the crit ical tool for building “acceptance, empathy, and community” in a world desperately in need of all three.

Helping Vulnerable Kids Be Seen and Heard

When

young man who has his lawyer Emily on speed dial does, everyone wins. Youth are able to authentically voice their needs; and judges and service providers have the opportunity to meet them.

Visiting

More than half of EBCLO's clients live outside of the county. EBCLO lawyers and social workers drove over 70,000 miles last year visiting clients.

Here’s something you might not expect to hear from foster kids: “I want to spend more time with my lawyer.”

But this is the sentiment Kristin Mateer hears from the hundreds of kids her organization, East Bay Children’s Law Offices (EBCLO), represents in court each year.

Launched in 2009, when the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office closed its de pendency practice, Mateer and her colleagues wanted to create an organization that could more effectively – and compassionately – rep resent traumatized young people navigating the byzantine court system.

The Oakland-based nonprofit has a sterling reputation for what Mateer, its Executive Di rector, calls “holistic, vigorous legal advocacy,” helping youth understand their rights, express their needs, and be guided through a complex series of systems including the child welfare, ed ucation, probation, and mental health systems.

Mateer and her colleagues believe in youth, and this belief is reflected in EBCLO’s motto: “Children should be seen & heard.” This respect helps their clients trust in them as adults com mitted to family reunification – or, if that is im possible, legal permanency through adoption

"Agreat teacher once told me: 'Children are our teachers. They hold a mirror up to us, challenging us to do bet ter.' When we advocate for them, we advocate for the best in ourselves. That's what EBCLO at torneys and social work ers do on a daily basis. By ensuring that children are

seen and heard, they lift the voices that guide us, giving us an opportunity to do better."

– Reichi Lee EBCLO Board Member

or guardianship or sometimes “emancipating” at age 21. In 2021, EBCLO advocated at nearly 5,000 court hearings, and helped almost 300 youth reunify with their families.

The ripple effect of EBCLO’s work is part of its power. EBCLO recently represented a toddler girl removed from a family struggling with domestic violence and drug abuse. It was not until the girl’s mother trusted that EBCLO’s

goal was the same as hers – for the family to re unify – that she moved forward with substance abuse treatment. It was the EBCLO attorney who pushed the Court to send her client home having observed her and her mother together at home during weekend visits.

With the pandemic stressing the education system to the breaking point, EBCLO is also furthering its partnership with schools by iden tifying children’s special needs and connecting their clients to supports at school. And EBCLO is expanding its Youth Voices Group, a brain trust of previous youth clients who can gain the trust of children beginning their journey into this process, and show what’s possible on the other side of their traumas.

During 2021, as COVID’s impact on strug gling families became increasingly clear, EBC LO’s message got through to a lot of Bay Area folks. The number of supporters rose by 40%, running the gamut from very small gifts, to a few unexpected larger donations.

EBCLO is listening to, and helping, the most vulnerable members of our community.

Are we?

kids trust their lawyers, like this

with youth in the communities in which they live is so important to understanding their needs.

285 children like Sophia are safely home with a parent. 117 young adults like Jessica emancipated out of the foster care system.

Help Provide a

Voice

83 children like Crystal were adopted.

for Children

East Bay Children’s Law Offices protects and defends the rights of children and youth through holistic, vigorous legal advocacy. Your donations can help us provide a voice for children in and out of the courtroom and to promote positive outcomes for them.

• $5,000 can fund surveying 200 clients so their lived experiences can guide our vigorous advocacy.

• $2,500 ensures 12 foster youth have uniquely tailored education plans at school.

• $1,000 means immediate intervention and visits to five youth in juvenile hall.

• $500 can fund a year’s worth of fidget toys, coloring books, and snacks at the courthouse to reduce the traumatic experience of court.

• $100 can fund a roundtrip visit to one of the 46% of our clients who live outside the county.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Kelson Foundation

Younger Family Fund

Zellerbach Family Foundation

The Greg Smith Charitable Fund

Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation

van Loben Sels/RembeRock Foundation

The Morris Stulsaft Foundation

Firedoll Foundation

Jennifer & Steve Roop

Quest Foundation

Bigglesworth Family Foundation

he value of having a lawyer is having someone by your side who can advo cate for you in court when you may feel un easy talking in front of a lot of people about your case. They can also let your team know about your goals and any bumps in the road you might face. Sometimes lawyers even keep in touch years later to provide support or be someone to talk to."

– Autumn Badheartbull-Clark EBCLO Youth Voices Group Former EBCLO Client

East Bay Children's Law Offices

www.ebclo.org

80 Swan Way, Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94621

Contact: Kristin Mateer Executive Director (510) 496-5261 kristin.mateer@ebclo.org

William G. Gilmore Foundation

Share the Spirit Legal Services Funders Network

Winnie & David Lau

The Barrios Trust

Susan Cody

Oakland Athletics Community Fund

Oakland Thrives

Ticket to Dream Foundation

Hartog, Baer, Zabronsky & Verriere

Daniel Kim & Charmaine Wong

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

East Bay Children’s Law Offices

80 Swan Way, Suite 300 Oakland, CA 94621

"T

EBCLO lawyers and social workers made sure children were seen and heard at 4,821 separate juvenile court hearings.

FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN - SF BAY AREA

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

During the first few weeks after David began mentoring Ronald, he would find the five-year-old child sound asleep, not participating in kindergarten class.

Ronald had been identified as a child who has experienced intense traumas and faced the greatest systemic barriers to success by Friends of the Children – SF Bay Area (Friends-SF), a nonprofit organization that provides professional mentorship to children in Bayview-Hunters Point.

Friends-SF pairs children – all of whom identify as people of color and live below the poverty line – with salaried, professional mentors and commits to walk beside each child for 12 years until they graduate high school.

At first, Ronald was wary of his mentor. “When I first met David,” Ronald remembers, “I was like hmmm, I don’t know.”

Yet over the months, Ronald began to gain trust as they would go for walks, work together on homework, or practice skateboarding.

David also built a trusting relationship with Ronald’s grandmother Robin, who was his primary caretaker. Ronald didn’t have his own place to sleep in the small apartment the family shared and stayed up late each night to help his grandmother with chores when she returned from work.

David went to the school nurse and asked if Ronald could come to her o ce and sleep during lunch. Thanks to this accommodation, Ronald stopped falling asleep in class, quickly transforming from an “underperforming” child to one of the brightest.

Ronald is now a third grader who loves school and skateboarding. In their four years together, David has taught him the organization’s core values, such as positive relationship building, a sense of belonging, selfmanagement, perseverance and grit, and a growth mindset.

“Not only are we helping children break the generational cycle of poverty, but we’ve honed a rigorous, evidence-based approach to

was trained as an engineer and I’m the former CEO of a major Silicon Valley company, so I value data-driven, systematic approaches to tackling big issues. Here at Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area, we’re committed to tackling a very big issue – helping children and families overcome the huge barriers created by centuries of inequity. And we do that by using precisely the type of data-driven, systematic approach that I value so highly. That’s what drew me to Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area and what motivates me now to spend my time and my resources supporting the organization."

– Abhi Talwalkar Co-Founder & Board Chair

mentoring children at every stage, monitoring each child’s progress and adjusting our approach as needed,” said Tim Waters, executive director of Friends-SF.

A study by the Harvard Business School Alumni Association concluded that every $1 invested in Friends of the Children returns over $7 to the community.

With ongoing encouragement and support from David, Ronald has discovered that he has a knack for math and can solve almost any problem David throws at him. Most important, Ronald has come to develop a deep and trusting bond with David.

“When I got more comfortable things started to change,” Ronald said. “He’s got my back and I’ve got his.”

"I

Friends of the Children’s mission is to e ect generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles.

We pair children in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point with professional Mentorsnot volunteers - for 12+ years, no matter what.

We commit to stay with each child from kindergarten through high school graduation.

A Di erent Life Trajectory

Even with the deck stacked against them, most children enrolled with Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area (Friends-SF) break the generational cycle of poverty, graduate high school (83%), avoid the juvenile justice system (93%), avoid teen pregnancy (98%), and go on to college, full-time employment, or join the military (92%).

“Those numbers show that youth in our program are on a very di erent life trajectory than they otherwise would have been,” says Tim Waters, executive director of Friends-SF.

Friends-SF is committed to giving more children the opportunity to lead a rich, fulfilling life. Today, the organization has enough mentors for 125 kids, but by 2030 it plans to mentor 400 children, which will require hiring 40 more mentors. They have set a goal to raise $3 million this year to continue on the path toward that goal. You can help them do it!

Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area friendssfbayarea.org 111 Quint St. San Francisco, CA 94124 (415) 400-4998

Contact: Susan Corlett Director of Development & Communications (510) 701-2250 scorlett@friendssfbayarea.org

KEY SUPPORTERS

Amazon Cigna Foundation Daymaker

Jason & Sarah DiLullo Rene Durazzo & Pat Christen Gilead Foundation House Family Foundation Kaiser Permanente Qatalyst Group

"M y mentor David has my back, and I have his back too. I used to be bad at math. Now I’m great because David gives me hard math problems and we challenge each other. I usually beat him. David taught me how to skateboard, too. At first I was scared, now David has to run to keep up with me!"

–Ronald Age 8, Client

The Harvard Business School Alumni Association conducted an ROI study and concluded that every $1 invested in Friends of the Children returns over $7 to the community.

Quest Foundation

Helen Hilton Raiser

Arthur Rock & Toni Rembe Rock

San Francisco Foundation

MacKenzie Scott

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Su/Lin Family Fund

Abhi Talwalkar & Hang Phan

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Friends of the Children - SF Bay Area 111 Quint Street San Francisco, CA 94124

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 81-3921100

By Credit Card: friendssfbayarea.org/donate

• 83% of our youth graduate from high school • 93% of our youth avoid the juvenile justice system • 98% of our youth wait to begin parenting until after their teen years

• 92% of our youth have gone on to college, full-time employment, or join the military

Providing for San Francisco’s Youngest Residents

Nutrition is essential for early childhood brain and body development. Good nutrition positively impacts a child’s outcomes over their lifetime. At our early learning centers and home-based child cares, we provide children with nourishing meals so that they have the best foundation to learn, grow, and thrive.

Performance in the classroom, strong friendships, career success, and financial independence – these all start with a stable home life. But a parent’s love alone cannot bridge the gap of income inequality or resource deprivation that many San Francisco families face.

Named for the Cantonese “wu yee” meaning “caring for children,” Wu Yee Children’s Services was established in 1977 to combat the systemic resource injustice present within San Francisco’s Chinatown. Knock-on e ects from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 had left hard-working families without a place in the convoluted American public services system.

“Many people in Chinatown worked in the sewing factories – and parents couldn’t choose their hours. They needed to work for survival. They would bring the kids to the factories because they didn’t have child care,” says CoFounder Sai-Ling Chan-Sew.

Wu Yee Children’s Services represented a place where working parents could take their children and receive support. Today, Wu Yee

has expanded to meet the diverse and evolving needs of their community. From child nutrition classes to career guidance for parents o ered in Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic, and English, Wu Yee Children’s Services aims to support families from all sides.

“This is a deep outreach approach. It’s important to meet folks where they’re at,” emphasizes Director of Advancement Virginia Cheung.

Wu Yee Children’s Services’ innovative approach brings resources, referrals, and child care under one agency. Making their services available in neighborhoods such as Bayview Hunters Point, along with the Tenderloin, Mission, and southeast districts, where 40 percent of the families live below the poverty threshold, Wu Yee understands the importance of o ering culturally a rming programs that help families lay roots and prosper. In fact, Wu Yee is San Francisco’s largest provider of the Early Head Start program.

Thanks to the support of Wu Yee Children’s Services, the underserved children and young

“W e chose to support Wu Yee Children’s Services with a $100,000 gift because we were impressed with the di erence they are making in the lives of children from low-income and diverse backgrounds. We noticed that inequities start really early and we wanted to help level the playing field. With their various programs that serve infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, we think that Wu Yee does just that. This work is important for the future of equity in San Francisco and we are happy to do our part.”

– Jessica Lane Chief Compliance O cer/VP Operations + Director of Social Impact, SoMa Equity Partners

families of San Francisco have a reliable and accessible resource center. Ultimately however, the economic and racial inequality present in San Francisco is still a threat to families with young children. These children need our help to give them the start to life that they deserve.

Green space is critical for the health and development of every child. With Rebuilding Together San Francisco, countless volunteers, and generous supporters, we built a native plant habitat and imaginative green play space at our Kirkwood Early Learning Center for all children in Hunters Point to explore.

In San Francisco, only 15% of children ages 0-2 have access to licensed care options, leaving over 19,000 infants and toddlers without licensed care.

I n San Francisco, 32% of children live below the federal poverty line and roughly 17% live in destitution. During the COVID-19 pandemic, quality of life has deteriorated for these children, and they need your help. By donating to Wu Yee Children’s Services, you are supporting the physical, emotional, and intellectual security of San Francisco’s youngest residents. Your support ensures that children are well fed, that they have safe daycares to attend while their parents are at work, and that they have access to Head Start education. Join the Wu Yee supporters list today to make a di erence.

We are uniquely positioned to provide access to members of the community who need it most. This was most evident during the Covid-19 pandemic when we were able to promptly provide over 55.5k meals, 80k diapers, and 2k preschool activity bags to socially and economically isolated families and children.

"Iwas in the pilot program of Head Start in Sunnydale and I personally know the benefits. I was excited for kindergarten and I wasn’t afraid of starting school. I could count, line up, and was ready to learn when I got there. Those positive early experiences definitely set me up for a successful academic life. Sunnydale is one of many San Francisco neighborhoods Wu Yee serves with Head Start and Early Head Start. Now as part of the leadership team at Wu Yee, I couldn’t be more proud to continue the work that I so benefitted from."

- Michelle Lott Human Resources Director

Wu Yee Children's Services

www.wuyee.org 827 Broadway San Francisco, CA 94133 (415) 230-7519

We brought childcare services and public benefits under one roof so parents wouldn’t have to run around for di erent needs. We recognized that many families could not speak English fluently, so we became the first child care Resource & Referral program in San Francisco to provide services in multiple languages.

We are San Francisco’s biggest Early Head Start provider, which means we serve the most babies of all early care and education programs in San Francisco. We believe in reaching families from day one so that all babies can receive care in a warm, nurturing environment right from the start.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Mimi and Peter Haas Fund

SoMa Equity Partners

Katrina Lake and John Cli ord

The Mental Wellness Foundation, Inc.

Bella Vista Foundation

Bainum Family Foundation

Buck Gee and Mary Hackenbracht

Morris Stulsaft Foundation

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco Bank of the West Yiheng Capital, LLC

Wells Fargo Foundation

Contact: Virginia Cheung Director of Advancement (415) 913-7463

virginia.cheung@wuyee.org

Cindy and Gary Yang

Martin Building Company

Google, Inc.

Le Beau Nob Hill Market

Kasem Saengsawang and Iing Chatterjee

Michelle Chen Kuo & Christopher Kuo

Nonstop Wellness

Ashbury Children's Foundation

Vic and Adeline Cheung

Katherine and James Lau

Jim Chappell

Portsmouth Plaza Parking Corporation

The Many Ways to Give...

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-2387002

By Credit Card: www.wuyee.org/donate

Joining the Fight Against Childhood Cancer

When Krista and Danny Keller’s only son, Enzo, became desperately ill without an explanation, their world spun. Then Enzo could barely breathe and he was rushed to the emergency room, where he was finally diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a rare form of pediatric cancer. In a world with better pediatric cancer diagnostics, and a better understanding of pediatric cancer, Enzo and the Kellers would not have had to suffer for so long.

Although Enzo thankfully recovered, pediatric cancer is a traumatic and life-changing diagnosis for a child and a family. This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates that 10,470 children will be diagnosed with cancer and 1,050 will die from the disease. Yet, less than 4% of federal cancer funding goes towards researching childhood cancers.

“Statistically, not as many children have cancer,” explains Enzo & Me Co-Founder Krista Keller. “Although there have been improvements in some pediatric cancer

outcomes, these are typically cancers that are shared with adult populations. Pediatric cancers are different, and need their own research, funding, and treatments.”

By only directing 4% of funds to pediatric cancer research, the government is contributing to a dangerous environment, ignoring the specific medical needs of young children with cancer. Refusing to let this stand in their way, Danny and Krista started Enzo & Me to bolster the funds going towards pediatric oncology research and to provide scientists with the opportunity to change the world of oncology treatment.

“As parents, the worst feeling is not being able to fix your child,” says Krista. “We’re not oncologists, we’re not researchers, so it’s what we can do to help. If we can provide funding that brings one scientist’s research to the next level, we want nothing more than that opportunity.”

Now seven years old, Enzo is doing better, and the Kellers are relieved but forever changed. Every cough threatens to reawaken their

nightmare. The reality is that a child’s journey with cancer doesn’t end with remission. The majority of kids who receive chemotherapy are left coping with late chronic physical and mental health conditions for the rest of their lives.

Through Enzo & Me, Krista and Danny Keller imagine a world where pediatric cancer is a manageable diagnosis. As Danny Keller says, they hope that through proper funding and research, childhood cancer can become “a hurdle, not a wall.”

Enzo in the ICU shortly after diagnosis.

Enzo & Me Pediatric Cancer Foundation namesake, Enzo Keller, Burkitt Lymphoma survivor, age 7.

Krista, Enzo & Danny Keller, Founders

Brody, stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lym phoma survivor, age 7, with sister Maddie at the 2020 Enzo & Me Virtual Run/ Walk to Knockout Pediatric Cancer.

SuperEnzo!

With Your Help, Childhood Cancer Could be a Hurdle, Not a Wall

Kids are strong, but they depend on the support of generous people to change the course of childhood cancer. Despite advancements in cancer treatments, many childhood cancers still have very low survival rates, and with no available screening methods for pediatric cancer, treatment success can be compromised. As a fully volunteer-run organization, all donations to Enzo & Me are funneled into research grants and awarded to oncology research scientists. By supporting Enzo & Me, donors directly contribute to childhood cancer research and protect kids’ futures.

Enzo & Me

Pediatric Cancer Foundation www.enzoandme.org 2415 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Suite 4-444 San Ramon, CA 94583

Contact: Krista Keller Founder & Co-Director (925) 725-2624 info@enzoandme.org

Grace, relapsed Neuroblastoma warrior, age 8.

“Enzo & Me is led by a family that has been person ally impacted by pediatric cancer, and has seen first-hand the need for research funding. I couldn't believe it when they informed me that only 4% of federal cancer funding goes to kids – that's just unac ceptable. This foundation is passionately dedicated to changing the landscape of that horrible disease in the only way that they know how, through raising funds for cancer researchers. They've shown resilience through a difficult few years of COVID, and have passed on our donations directly to pediatric cancer researchers through multiple grants over the last few years with complete transparency. I truly feel that my donations to Enzo & Me are a direct step towards improving outcomes for kids. Give these little superheroes a chance by join ing me in donating to Enzo & Me so that we can help find better cures and treatments for all pediatric cancers."

KEY SUPPORTERS

Ron Conway

The Denver Foundation FedEx Clif Bar

Sereno Group, Inc. Nothing Bundt Cakes Keller Family Pathway Fund Sports Basement San Francisco Giants Golden State Warriors Amy Lundberg Blackhawk Museum Stacey Pentland Photography Jim Blickenstaff

Sprinkles

Candice Klein

David Martin

Boom Pow! Giveback Activity Greg & Joyce Carr

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Krista Keller

Danny Keller

Cassie Everson

Alecia Henderson

Luis Siu

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Enzo & Me Pediatric Cancer Foundation

2415 San Ramon Valley Blvd., Suite 4-444 San Ramon, CA 94583

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 84-3110599

By Credit Card: www.enzoandme.org/donate

– Ron Conway Founder, SV Angel

Morrison Foerster

Cupcakes, San Ramon Integrated Healthcare Association

Only 4% of the federal government's cancer research budget is allocated towards pediatric cancers.

A Reimagining of California’s Commitment to the Emotional Well-Being of Its Children

CCT advocates for peer-to-peer programs because they meet youth where they are – in schools. Studies show the benefits of programs like peer-to-peer include lower suspension rates and improved student relationships and adult connections.

our responsibility to set up the next gen eration with the mental health tools they need to succeed at school and in life. SB 803 is a great step forward in the peer-topeer world but it needs to be followed up with more legislation that includes youth under 18 at the high school level.”

Over the past few years, California’s leadership has responded boldly to the well-documented youth mental health crisis – one that was happening even before COVID. California Children’s Trust (CCT) has played a catalytic role in unifying and mobilizing the state’s historic reform efforts.

In 2018, with initial funding from the Zellerbach Family Foundation, an amazing group of advisors and allies came together to form CCT. This group included Rhea Boyd, a pediatrician and advocate who has focused her career on understanding and addressing the impact of violence and racism on the health and welfare of children and communities; Jevon Wilkes, who draws on his lived experiences with foster care, behavioral health, juvenile justice, and homelessness in California, to passionately and compassionately advocate for the needs of young people and families so they can heal and thrive; and Alex Briscoe, Principal of CCT, who has led a $700 million county health department, spearheaded high-level philanthropic initiatives, and is now leading a movement to reimagine

Medi-Cal as a tool for equity and social justice for California’s children and youth.

CCT aims to simplify California’s complex approach to children’s behavioral and mental health development by focusing on three core strategies: maximize funding, expand access and participation, and increase system accountability. Success would be to reform the maze of government agencies and programs purporting to promote the mental health of young people – and to do so through the lens of equity and justice.

The result of these efforts? A shift in how California supports the mental and behavioral health of children and youth.

At the end of 2021, with CCT’s advocacy leadership, the state provided $4.4 billion to launch the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI). As a result, youth will have increased access to mental health support when they need it, in places that feel safe and familiar, and with people who have similar life experiences. The new programs will push the health and school systems toward prevention

to help address the social and economic issues driving the crisis.

The data is staggering. Youth self-harm in California increased 50 percent between 2009 and 2018. COVID made it worse. The impact of the crisis is disproportionate as data show Black children have the highest rates of severe emotional disturbance. To add insult to injury, California ranks 48th in the country in terms of youth access to mental health care.

Jevon Wilkes, Director of Youth Engagement with the California Children’s Trust and Executive Director of the California Coalition for Youth (CCY), has helped California’s movement to center schools in reimagining youth mental health care, making it possible for teens to be part of what he calls the “protective team factor” that supports other youth who are peers.

Young people working with the CCT/CCY Youth Advisory Board (YAB) successfully lobbied the California legislature to spark interest in peer-led programs, which led to a $10 million investment to explore the expansion of peer-to-peer programs across the state.

“It’s

– Sriya Chilla Freshman at UCLA, CCT Youth Advisory Board member

KEY SUPPORTERS

Catherine Teare

- California Health Care Foundation

Kimberly Ricketts

- Casey Family Programs

Elizabeth Cheung

- Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Deborah Kong

- David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Sarah Crow

- First 5 Policy Center

Rajni Dronamraju and Elizabeth Hawkins

- Genentech

September Jarrett

- Heising-Simons Foundation

Pedro Arista

- Hellman Foundation

Cecilia Oregon

- Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy Studies

Lisa Stone Pritzker

- Lisa Stone Pritzker Foundation

Over the past decade, California children ages 10–14 experienced a 151% increase in inpatient visits for suicide, suicidal ideation, and self-injury. The pandemic made it worse. California Children's Trust is reimagining mental health delivery so young people have access to support when they need it, in places and ways that feel safe and familiar.

Supercharged

The California Children’s Trust is a time-bound initiative supercharged by partnerships with youth leaders and community-based organizations who are positioned to advance CCT’s work after the initiative sunsets at the end of 2024.

Over the next two years, if Principal Alex Briscoe and the team are right, California will be well on its way towards robust, generational support for children’s social and emotional well-being.

California Children's Trust cachildrenstrust.org

1828 L Street NW Suite 300 – A Washington, D.C. 20036 (415) 699-5552

Contact: Alex Briscoe Principal, California Children's Trust (415) 629-8142 alex@cachildrenstrust.org

“Zellerbach

Family Foundation was committed to finding a solution to California’s children’s mental health crisis. In 2017 we convened a group of stakehold ers that resulted in seed funding to jump start and help grow California Children’s Trust (CCT) as a policy advocacy coali tion to re-imagine California’s approach to children’s behavioral health and use Medi-Cal as a tool for equity and justice for historically marginalized and under served children. Fast forward to the 2022 state budget with nearly $10 billion com mitted to the behavioral health and well being of children – in schools, health care, early childhood programs, child welfare. Although no single coalition or effort can take responsibility for this unprecedented investment, CCT has become a leading voice with policymakers, and its strategic and persistent advocacy helped change minds and pave the way for a re-imag ined children’s behavioral health system.”

– Amy Price Program Officer, Safety & Belonging, Zellerbach Family Foundation

Kim Belshe

- Los Angeles First 5

Shirin Vakarhia

- Marin Community Foundation

Chandrika Zager

- Marin County Behavioral Health

Jay Liao

- Our Children Our Families Council Chevon Kothari

- Sacramento County Health Care Services Agency

Katie Albright

- Safe and Sound

Theresa Ziguera

- San Francisco First 5

Thanh Do

- Santa Clara First 5

Dan Tuttle

- Stupski Foundation

Susannah Sarlo

- The Susie Sarlo Foundation

Dr. Anda Kuo

- UCSF Center for Child and Community Health

Amy Price

- Zellerbach Family Foundation

Jenn Tracey

- Zero to Three

California ranks 43rd in the nation for providing early behavioral, social, and developmental screenings for young children, and 48th in the nation for providing children with the mental health care they need.

Community Resilience

Communities are built by the bonds that are forged among its members.

Nonprofits are often the connective fiber, giving communities the resilience they need in times of crisis and stress.

Using the Full Philanthropic Toolbox to Advance Racial Equity and Economic Inclusion

As told to Daniel Heimpel

As the San Francisco Foundation’s (SFF) Chief Impact Officer, Judith Bell’s mission is to align the foundation’s many tools around a clear goal: creating a Bay Area where everyone can get a good job, live in a safe and affordable home, and exercise their political voice.

Beyond internal alignment, the public policy veteran sees her role as an opportunity to marry grassroots organizing with the philanthropic sector, all with an aim to drive significant policy change. There are many examples from her leadership at SFF that show how this strat egy can be very effective.

Q. How does systems change factor into your efforts to advance racial equity and economic inclusion in the Bay Area?

A. Racial inequity is the result of inequitable policies, which means that we can – and must – change the rules. So, we’re engaging with community leaders around the changes that will move the needle and make a difference in people’s lives. Policy work has become such a central part of what we do that in 2019, we established an entire policy division.

Q. Which policies has SFF helped change?

A. Last year, we helped advocate for San Francisco to adopt a measure requiring sick leave for domestic workers – the people who take care of our children, our elders, and anyone else pro viding service in our homes. We supported the advocacy organi zations behind this effort and brought our voice to that debate. It’s a very big deal that San Francisco passed this legislation, especially because it will influence other jurisdictions around the country.

Q. What’s a unique way that SFF partners with nonprofits?

A. We’ve developed a powerful tool called the Bay Area Equi ty Atlas. It’s an online resource that offers a wealth of data about racial equity in the Bay Area. The Atlas allows nonprofits to educate policymakers on what’s really happening at the munic ipal, county, and regional levels. It’s made a huge difference in our collective education and advocacy work to have first-hand stories about impacted community members, combined with data that show there’s a wider swath of folks affected.

Q. What is a Chief Impact Officer, and how do you measure impact?

A. I formulate the foundation’s strategies to advance racial eq uity and economic inclusion across the Bay Area. A couple of examples of how we measure our work come from our goal of serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) com

munities and leaders, and our goal of making multi-year grants that would allow nonprofits to tackle complex problems over a longer period of time. What we’ve found is that 80 percent of our grantees are led by BIPOC executive directors, and that only 19 percent of our grants were longer than 12 months, so we know where we’re doing quite well, and where we can improve.

Q. What is the sweet spot for philanthropy to really make a differ ence when it comes to the complex challenges you are trying to solve?

A. As a community foundation, we have a broad and unique range of tools in our tool belt. We work with a group of donors who are deeply committed to the Bay Area. We make loans to social enterprises. We do mission-aligned investments with our endowment. We convene thought leaders from across sectors. We make grants to nonprofits to deliver services, organize, and advocate for their communities and the region, and to conduct research. And we bring our voice and our point of view. We can also lobby, and support advocacy and lobbying in ways that other philanthropic organizations cannot.

Q. What you’re saying is that the San Francisco Foundation is uniquely positioned to deploy more firepower.

A. We’re celebrating our 75th anniversary in 2023. Over the decades, we’ve built the credibility and social justice track re cord that gives our partners – donors, nonprofits, policymakers, and other foundations – confidence in our ability to impact the region and help make it a place where everyone can thrive.

“We want to shine a light on what’s working” in the realm of equityfocused philanthropy, he says. By exhibiting what is possible, “we can demonstrate that we can do good by doing well.”

DWAYNE S. MARSH President and CEO, Northern California Grantmakers

Mobilizing Bold Philanthropy

Dwayne S. Marsh, who recently joined Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) as President and CEO, doesn’t have time for business as usual.

“There is no need for mediocre philanthropy,” Marsh says. Instead, the times call for something exceptional – leveraging the extraordinary innovation and resources in the Bay Area to address the equally extraordinary challenges. NCG’s goal, put simply, is to mobilize philanthropy to what Marsh calls, “that tipping point moment, at which the amazing becomes the norm.”

For more than 40 years, NCG has been bringing together foundations, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government to tackle the region’s most pressing social issues. Covering 48 counties, NCG currently works with 220 institutions and more than 4,000 individuals, helping grantmakers of all types reach their potential through leadership development, capacity-building, the exchange of ideas, and strategic networking.

Examples of this work include a new partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy, with whom they presented at the National Forum on Family Philanthropy in San Francisco in October 2022. This program is one of several designed to help families manage the unique issues and opportunities connected to family giving and running a family foundation.

Autumn also brought the next round of NCG’s New Grantmakers Institute, a sevenweek introduction to the art and craft of grantmaking. This deep dive into best practices brings new philanthropic leaders into a network of peers, offers mentorship with seasoned philanthropic leaders, and resources them to show up in alignment with their values.

Zuleika Godinez, a program officer at the S.H. Cowell Foundation in San Francisco, participated in the 2021 Institute. She explained that the value of a program like this is that “there is a power of bringing leaders in the sector together, and beginning to build relationships,” with the goal of “having that network to lean on, to learn together, and ask questions.”

Underlying NCG’s work is a significant, strategic move toward centering equity in the philanthropic ecosystem. In 2021, with a gift from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, NCG partnered with Open Impact, a San Mateo-based philanthropic advising firm, to create a new framework called “Get It Right: 5 Shifts Philanthropy Must Make Toward an Equitable Region.”

Based on research and wide community input, the effort looks to change the underlying systems in a region of unprecedented economic inequality. Its call to action recognizes the difficulties of making institutional and sector change, while calling on philanthropy to “embrace

here is a power of bringing leaders in the sector together, and beginning to build relationships,” with the goal of “having that network to lean on, to learn together, and ask questions.”

ZULEIKA GODINEZ Program Officer,

new narratives of possibility and inclusive decision-making, invoke new mental models, shift organizational and philanthropic sector culture, change default behaviors, and make bolder, more generous, and communityresponsive commitments.”

NCG’s goal, says Marsh, is to help change the system, and then effectively share those changes. “We want to shine a light on what’s working” in the realm of equity-focused philanthropy, he says. By exhibiting what is possible, “we can demonstrate that we can do good by doing well.”

The challenges of the last couple of years – which included a national reckoning on race, a pandemic, and a visceral worsening of climate change, including unprecedented forest fires – spurred NCG to simultaneously plan for a more equitable philanthropic landscape, as well as supporting nonprofits to keep on operating during multiple crises.

When the pandemic hit, NCG leveraged major investments from local government and foundation funders by an order of magnitude to support community organizations. Among the hardest hit sectors was the arts. With the sudden, open-ended shutdown of almost all live performances, “our goal was to help arts institutions keep

Cowell

the lights on – literally,” says Marsh.

Since 2019, NCG has leaned into one of its superpowers – turning networks into vibrant, action-oriented investors. That work has led to new partnerships like the Youth Power Fund, which supports youth-driven change, and the Bay Area Census Funders Collaborative, to ensure democratic processes like the census support an equitable future.

NCG has also doubled down on its more peer-learning, cohort-driven network models. These include:

· The Communications Institute, which supports narrative strategists and storytellers in philanthropy to help shape and envision just futures.

· The Rising Leaders Cohort, a space for philanthropic staff to develop a rigorous level of leadership skills and learn from senior leaders in the field.

· The Racial Equity Action Institute (REAI), offering leaders in business, government, and other sectors space to learn and model best practices to operationalize racial equity in their institutions.

Michael Arnold, a Director at the Berkeley Research firm Informing Change, was a 2019 REAI Fellow. For him, the proof of true social change will happen “when I see a stronger commitment across sectors.”

Marcia Quinones, Program Director for Education and Immigrant Integration at Marin Community Foundation, pointed to an additional value of these collaborations.

“When you are with like-minded people who are rooted in social justice, it can actually be joyful,” Quinones says. “And it should be joyful.”

“Joy is central to our work. We can’t do business as usual unless we do it by centering resilience and joy.” Marsh understands the demands of trying to build a better philanthropic ship, especially at a moment when staff are being pushed to build a better philanthropic ship while sailing on ever rougher seas. It’s one reason why NCG created a series of weekly mindfulness sessions for its staff and member organizations, with the express goal of supporting their health, resilience, and creativity.

“It’s a privilege to have a livelihood that can actually help improve people’s lives,” he says. But the intensity of the work can take its toll. His advice? “Try to hold on to the joy that comes with making a difference.” SCAN TO

Kayla

“T

Healing Trauma with Refugee Youth

New Light Team: Elijah Chhum, Bun Chanton, Peejay Ai. New Light is a wellness program supporting families impacted by incarceration and deportation, forging relationships with people deported to Southeast Asia. The most vulnerable are children survivors of war and genocide, who were resettled in the U.S. during the War on Drugs. CERI joined the anti-deportation movement alongside activists, elders, and children to fight against I.C.E. and to keep families together.

Kanley Souet-Pich was familiar with the struggles of refugees as a young mother living in Oakland in 2019. Born in the U.S., she is the daughter of Cambodian refugees who survived the horrors of the Khmer Rouge genocide. She experienced the lasting emotion al and economic obstacles her family faced as a result of trauma, poverty, and resettling.

What Kanley and her five children never expected to face was their own nightmare when her husband was arrested by I.C.E. for a non-violent crime he committed decades earlier, for which he had already served time. I.C.E. threatened to deport him to Cambodia, a country he hadn’t seen since he was six years old.

She and her children turned to the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) for help. Founded in 2006, the Oaklandbased nonprofit’s mission is to improve the social, emotional, physical, psychological, and economic health of refugees and immigrants through culturally relevant mental health and other services.

On behalf of Kanley and her five children, CERI staff jumped into action, helping with lobbying, petitions, and rallies, to aid in freeing her husband. Her children were warmly

welcomed into CERI’s community and found comfort in CERI’s youth programming. CERI’s youth services program is built on the premise that trauma is intergenerational.

“CERI is an organization that is here for the long haul,” says Dr. Mona Afary, CERI’s executive director and founder. “We are building a healthy community and helping people understand their trauma through our collective intergenerational work.”

CERI’s youth programs are designed to promote resiliency, build self-esteem, and help youth develop coping skills through a range of programs that include art, individual and group therapy, case management, mentoring, and camping trips. Based on CERI’s evaluations, 75% of youth participants reported improved grades, stronger friendships, and a reduction in use of drugs.

“If my five children did not go through the youth programs with CERI, we would be in a very different place in our family,” Kanley says.

For adult immigrants and refugees, CERI offers a wealth of services, support, and community. The organization serves refugees and immigrants from over 12 countries and is still expanding as they welcome newly-arrived Afghan refugees. CERI provides: counseling,

left Afghanistan and my family for an education and for my freedom. I am proud to serve on the staff of CERI, and help the hundreds of newcomer Afghans who have just barely made it out of Af ghanistan, many of whom have been on military bases for months. There is so much to do to help them settle into their new communities here.”

– Weeda Rahimi Outreach Worker

family support groups, workforce development, food and rental assistance, vaccination outreach, field trips, and a community garden project.

For Kanley, CERI was a lifesaver. They helped bring her husband home, helped him obtain citizenship, and kept her children safe and centered. CERI staff saw her commitment and passion to serve her community, and Kanley was asked to join CERI’s staff as an Outreach Worker.

“I

Kanley Souet-Pich (center), her husband, Roeun Pich (left), and their five children celebrate the annual ancestral holiday, Pchum Ben.

For the 1,200+ clients served annually, throughout two East Bay counties, CERI has outgrown their space in Oakland. CERI needs a new home for dozens of community programs and to expand its youth programming.

s CERI's Community Programs Co ordinator,

work with elders in weekly support groups, community service projects, and cultural field trips. CERI has been a healing place for me, as a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide, and years in refugee camps. Through helping to provide healing to the community, I have largely healed myself. "

– Sophal Yin

Uplifting Underprivileged Refugee Youth

Recognizing that trauma, suffered by adult refugees and immigrants who have lived through genocide and resettlement, is often passed down through generations, CERI developed a comprehensive array of youth programming. The nonprofit’s programming has ended the cycle of trauma for countless refugee and immigrant youths in the East Bay, and across generations, through its innovative and holistic approaches to healing.

You can support CERI’s work to heal generational trauma in many ways:

– $100: supplies CERI’s youth after-school program with three volunteer tutors, and snacks for afternoon programming for one month.

– $500: provides for two outdoor experiences for CERI’s Youth Green Jobs program.

– $1,000 : provides two months of trauma-informed weekly group therapy for survivors of trauma and violence.

– $5,000: helps provide for case management and mental health provision for the Afghan refugee community, and funds utility and food subsidies.

"I have had the honor of serving as CERI’s psy chiatrist for the last 16 years. I’ve seen hundreds of community members over that time, 1st and 2nd generation survivors of genocide, many from refugee camps and currently living in poverty. Each and every person I serve fills my mind with awareness and my heart with gratitude. It is a privilege to provide health care and contribute happiness to this community. To work with CERI’s extraordinary staff is a highlight in my own life."

– Dr. James Gracer CERI Psychiatrist

Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants www.cerieastbay.org 544 International Blvd, Suite 9 Oakland CA 94606 (510) 444-1671

Contact: Mona Afary Executive Director (510) 684-7386 mona.afary@cerieastbay.org

KEY SUPPORTERS

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services

New Breath Foundation Rippleworks Magic Cabinet Devata Giving Circle Kaiser Permanente

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants

544 International Blvd, Suite 9 Oakland, CA 94606

| www.thegivinglist.com |

Korean Community Center of the East Bay Asian Health Services

Archstone Foundation Asian Law Caucus

Sierra Foundation Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy California Arts Council

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 76-0822958

Memo: The Giving List

"When community comes together, there is power in healing. Many in our group talk about their improved mental health, family bonding, and friendships." – Member of Blossoming Khmer Women's Group (Punlu Setrei Khmer)

"A

I

Building Pathways to Prosperity

The American Dream tells us that with enough grit and determination, anyone can pull themselves up by their boot straps and their troubles will be fixed. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

“It’s not a lack of talent or hard work or resolve. These are not the root causes of poverty,” says United Way Bay Area Chief Advancement Officer Christopher Berini. “People are working hard. In some cases, the folks we serve are financial magicians, who are living on a tiny budget and are doing incredible things in order

to make it. They are just on the wrong side of a system that is not adequate to support them.”

Celebrating 100 years of service, United Way Bay Area partners with over 300 organizations to dismantle the root causes of poverty and create pathways to prosperity. With such a wide reach of impact, United Way Bay Area plays a unique role within the community, acting as a convener between peoples, services, and policies. Serving over 640,000 Bay Area residents this year, United Way Bay Area has provided aid in a variety of ways from COVID-19 relief to housing assistance to financial literacy education.

“We need to make sure that these systems and policies are serving the people they are intended to serve. In the meantime, we get people the support, resources, and tools they need,” Berini says.

This year, Adele Corvin will celebrate her 100th birthday. That makes her one of United Way Bay Area’s longest supporting donors. A native San Franciscan, she’s a founding member of the Tocqueville Society, and has given so much of her time and talent to making a difference in the lives of others. Her wisdom spans decades of change and un certainty, of hope and elation.

“Things are never smooth and easy,” Ms. Corvin re flected. “There’s always a challenge and always a need for leadership.”

“You learn about the different communities with in your city, and you learn about the needs of other people. So, it’s a learning process for yourself as well,” she said.

Though United Way Bay Area is early in our anti-racist journey, we are committed to embodying the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are taking a deliberate approach to ensure that our internal and external practices combat institutional racism, bias, and ethnic discrimination.

The first step in providing people with resources is understanding what they need. Because of their scale, United Way Bay Area is uniquely equipped to identify areas of need within the community. Operating in eight Bay Area counties, United Way Bay Area collects and synthesizes the essential data on resource need to pass along and coordinate with public systems and philanthropic partners. Collecting this data means that they always have an ear to the ground and are prepared to respond to the needs of the community.

Through their emergency assistance network, Kati received safety net services to help her avoid homelessness; through their emergency food and shelter program, Jorge was able to provide for his children; through their SparkPoint program, Marcia, a first-generation college student, learned how to access the services she needed to thrive. This is the United Way Bay Area model for success: Give people access to the help they need while advocating for a system that works for the people, not against them.

We are expanding our partnerships, programs, and initiatives regionally to address the unique and most urgent needs of geographies and communities disproportionately impacted by systemic racism. This includes our work in financial stability programs and housing justice policy.

United Way Bay Area helps families struggling to meet basic needs, assists students and workers seeking employment and better careers, supports our neighbors working to achieve their financial stability goals, and advocates for housing justice for all Bay Area residents.

Alleviate the Root Causes of Poverty in the Bay Area

United Way Bay Area is asking for your help to build a more equitable future, but they are also asking for your help to build a more equitable NOW. The insight data has demonstrated a true need among Bay Area residents.

As a donor, you have the opportunity to alleviate the root causes of poverty and help the people around you build pathways to prosperity.

United Way Bay Area is seeking your help to fund their portfolio of povertyfighting programs, which provided over 5 million meals, serviced nearly 50,000 calls for assistance, and assisted over 6,100 individuals with shelter in the past year. Join the United Way Bay Area donor list today to bolster this essential community support.

I n March 2020, Paris knew her family needed help. After the birth of her daughter during the pandemic, her fiancé was laid off, and the couple fell behind on rent payments just as they were searching for sup port for Paris’s other son who needed help adjusting to remote learning.

Paris learned about United Way Bay Area’s SparkPoint program. SparkPoint® Centers work with families to meet basic needs, increase their income, build credit, increase their savings, and reduce their debt.

“Credit counseling has been the most effective. When you grow up in poverty, you’re not taught the benefits of credit. So, to have someone help me and help me teach my kids – it’s been the most beneficial to me. Being financially secure is the ultimate goal.”

The Many Ways to Give...

struggle to meet basic needs because a family of four needs to make $110,000 to make ends

Urban Alchemy Practitioners Heal San Francisco’s Troubled Streets

Ian, a former prison inmate paroled on the streets of San Francisco, knows how to do a tough day’s work. He helps others.

Armed with a nasal spray that halts opioid overdoses, Ian looks out for unhoused residents in trouble. Who may be hurting. Strung out. Who need a place to sleep.

The most rewarding part of his job?

“Saving lives,” Ian declares. “I’ve participated in over 50 Narcan overdose reversals. It keeps my cup full.”

Urban Alchemy is a nonprofit agency that hires people who were once incarcerated to provide street cleaning, mobile hygiene ser vices, community engagement and outreach, and temporary shelter. Their work uplifts the entire community by providing these critical services with respect, compassion, and love.

Since it was founded in San Francisco in 2018, the fast-growing nonprofit has helped trans form men and women who’d done time behind bars for decades into community treasures. And they provide good paying jobs and a ca reer path in four cities in Northern and Southern California, and Texas.

From parolees to Practitioners, the non-

profit’s more than 1,300 employees have en gaged unhoused residents, promoted positive behavior, and connected people to local services.

They’ve removed tons of garbage from the streets, restoring pride to neighborhoods. They’ve set up and overseen bathrooms and showers, restoring dignity to those in need.

They’ve developed and operated safe camp ing, safe parking, tiny homes, and hotels, restor ing the security of a good night’s sleep.

In the past year alone, Urban Alchemy Prac titioners have saved the lives of more than 700 people through overdose reversals. In San Fran cisco, they helped locate safe camping areas and tiny home villages for unhoused residents to re place blocks of lawless sidewalk encampments. Due in part to these efforts, San Francisco saw a 15% reduction in unsheltered homelessness.

“We are working to transform neighborhoods that have been ignored for decades,” says Lena Miller, Chief Executive Officer. “Urban Alche my helped reduce the number of tents in the Tenderloin from 500 to under 50. Our secret sauce is developing relationships with people who are struggling, with empathy and respect and love.”

When Ian got out of prison, he was paroled to the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Fran cisco, where he found himself on the edge of homelessness.

Then he heard about Urban Alchemy, which sought long-term offenders like him with the hard-won skills to navigate the streets – to build, rather than to destroy communities. Before long, he was working to keep the area around Civic Center and United Nations Plaza clean and safe. He realized the essence of his job was community service – a parolee keen to improve the public good.

“Who better than us to do this work?” asks Ian, now a Contract Manager for Urban Alchemy. “We’ve been in dark and ugly places like prison. I’ve been down and out. I’ve been homeless.

“I took so much from the world, so I have a strong desire to give back. We have to har ness dignity and understanding because we’re talking about people’s lives here.”

"Many Practitioners are driven by a need to make amends for damage they’ve done to their communities. My job as a recruiter and trainer gives me a chance to help others have the opportunity to give back and know they are making a difference in individ ual lives.”

– Loving Louie Hammonds Director of Recruitment and Training

Urban Alchemy provides meaningful jobs to people who are often denied opportunities.

Over 20,000 formerly incarcerated individuals are on parole from state prisons in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas. They face a greater risk of unemployment, homelessness, and poverty. Urban Alchemy creates meaningful, living wage jobs that harness their skills and empowers them to give back to the community.

Urban Alchemy staff always walk the extra mile to sup port our neighbors in San Francisco

"After having spent most of my life incarcerat ed, I am so grateful for the opportunities that Urban Alchemy has given me. I have been allowed to grow and advance. I have been able to truly give back for the first time in my life. I cannot think of another company that would have done this."

Bay Area Job Creation

Urban Alchemy is seeking support for its campaign to hire more people who have been incarcerated to help unhoused residents and keep neighborhoods safe and clean. For formerly incarcerated people with people skills, emotional intelligence, and empathy, Urban Alchemy provides a living wage and excellent benefits.

“Your support will help Urban Alchemy develop more jobs, uplift more neighborhoods, and provide complementary strategies to policing,’’ says Bayron Wilson, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, who was once incarcerated. “It’s a revolutionary and simple idea, but nobody thought of it before. Urban Alchemy has turned the whole notion of incarceration on its head.”

In the midst of an unrelenting homelessness crisis, Urban Alchemy is forging a hopeful path. You can join them.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Bartz Marr Family Foundation Bloch Foundation Trust

Crankstart Foundation

Dignity Health

Eric Wimsatt

Feysan Lodde Google.org

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. Keith and Priscilla Geeslin Family Trust Lava Mae REDF

Saint Francis Foundation Sam Haynor

Urban Alchemy urban-alchemy.us

1035 Market Street Suite 150 San Francisco, CA 94103

Contact: Jeff Kositsky Chief Growth Officer (415) 757-0896 jeffk@urban-alchemy.us

– Tom Bramer Guest Services Supervisor

Silicon Valley Community Foundation SOMA Equity

St. Mary's Medical Center

Sutter Health

The Eucalyptus Foundation

The Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Foundation

The San Francisco Foundation

Tipping Point Community Virginia Smith

Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP

Yerba Buena Lodge No. 15 Zendesk

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Urban Alchemy

1035 Market Street, Suite 150 San Francisco, CA 94103

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 82-5408579

By Credit Card: urban-alchemy.us/donate

Urban Alchemy stepped up during the pandemic, providing meals, shelter, and to support unhoused San Franciscans.

Connecting Youth to Jobs And Career Pathways

am dedicated to supporting Juma because I know that my contributions directly impact low-income youth who are intent on improving their lives.

At Juma, it starts with a job, but it doesn't end there. Juma youth build confidence, form lasting friendships, and learn the skills they need to thrive in careers and life.

Perhaps, if you were watching the Giants and Padres play in Oracle Park one recent evening, you might have seen a shy but enthusiastic teen named Felix selling ice cream to shivering fans. He turned the “I scream, you scream” ice cream song on its head, getting fans to end it with “we all scream at Padres fans!”

Felix, who emigrated from Ghana as a kid, credits his grace under pressure to his mother, who instilled in him a sense of joy and possibility, and to Juma Ventures, the nonprofit program that hired and placed him in this job.

Juma began in San Francisco in 1993, with a single ice cream store employing homeless youth. That experiment provided anecdotal proof of what the data now clearly shows –early job success for underserved youth is a critical indicator for future work and educational achievement.

Today, Juma’s social enterprise model has given almost 10,000 young people their first jobs, not just in San Francisco but in San Jose, Sacramento, Seattle, Houston, and Atlanta. Many of those jobs are partnerships with major sports franchises like the Giants, or at its 20

social enterprise operations, including Steep, a boba and ice cream shop in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Founded by Juma alumni Angela and Alvin Yu, Steep will serve as Juma’s first youth-focused Management and Leadership Training Lab.

Juma provides job skills training, mentorship, career exploration support, financial literacy training, and ultimately, a first job. With positive adult role models and supportive peers, the Juma community is a lifeline to many who face substantial barriers in entering the workforce and who may not otherwise succeed without the support of the organization. I am continually inspired by the Juma youth I meet who, in spite of hardships and disadvantages, remain optimistic and are enthusiastic to take advantage of all that Juma has to o er. The countless success stories of Juma youth that have completed the program are a testament to the commitment and dedication that Juma puts forth in accomplishing its mission."

– Jane Thornton Board Member

For CEO Adriane Gamble Armstrong, Juma’s success is wrapped up in the commitment of the young people it works with, and the quality of their work. “Employee satisfaction is through the roof,” Gamble Armstrong says. “And there is very little employee turnover.”

For employers who hire Juma youth, there is yet another return on investment: the opportunity to learn from an organization that has turned its emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion into an economic asset.

“Companies are trying to create supportive workplaces for an increasingly diverse workforce,” Armstrong says. “We can help make that happen.”

Felix’s post-ballpark journey led to a mentorship opportunity with investment firm Farallon Capital, and he was beaming with excitement after receiving a letter of acceptance from Brown University. He credits Juma with helping him build a resumé and giving him the financial and public engagement skills that will help him no matter what he does next.

"I

Since 1993 Juma has employed more than 9,700 youth, who have earned $13 million in wages, saved $6.4 million for higher education, and generated $40 million in enterprise revenue to continue advancing Juma's mission.

For many Juma youth, earning a paycheck to help their family pay bills is critical. At Juma, youth have the opportunity to earn the income they need while being supported by a management team who put their growth and development first.

Support the Potential of Young People

Juma Ventures is helping to break the cycle of poverty by paving the way to work, education, and financial capability for youth across America.

You can help Juma with your support: $1,000: Creates one job opportunity for a Juma youth $500: Supports one youth to complete the Career Program Series $100: Helps youths meet basic needs

Ultimately, Juma youth connect to the next steps toward a bright future. Juma youth leave the program with a letter of recommendation, a resumé, a plan for their next steps forward, and the knowledge that no matter where they go, they can always reach out to their Juma mentors for support. In addition to the job, Juma youth have the opportunity to learn real life skills like financial capability, resumé writing, and interviewing through workshops, JumaINSPIRES career panels, and JumaEXPLORES career tours.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Alaska Airlines Bank of America Deloitte

Ahsha and Dylan Haggart

REDF

Juma Ventures juma.org 131 Steuart Street, Suite 201 San Francisco, CA 94105

Contact: Jessica Yost Individual Giving Manager (262) 825-2523 jessicay@juma.org

never really understood what a job was until now. Juma has taught me skills like professionalism, great customer service, accountability, and responsibility."

– Jasmine Youth Program Participant

The San Francisco Giants

The Schultz Family Foundation

The Sobrato Family Foundation

Jane Thornton

Michael and Tory Winnick

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Juma Ventures

131 Steuart Street, Suite 201 San Francisco, CA 94105

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-3203203

By Credit Card: juma.org/donate

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Education

No great society has existed that didn’t grow its children and youth in the fertile soil of education. For their contributions, we applaud the organizations that put their shoulders to this important task.

The ‘Other,’ Kalyan Balaven

By Gwyn Lurie

As the rst person of color to ser ve as Head of Dunn School in Los Olivos, California, Kalyan (“Kal”) Balaven is, in many ways, a long way from his youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, where his family found itself houseless, sur viving on what Balaven calls community wealth.

From an ethnic perspective, Balaven says that he’s always thought of himself as “other ” An outsider identi cation that informs his work today as the head of an esteemed private residential school with a rich histor y that didn’t always include leaders (or many students) that looked like him.

“ e idea of being part of a globally Black diaspora community was part of my upbringing. At 18, I became Muslim, but I identify myself mostly by my faith practice now because I feel it identi es me more as a human. But I know who I walk through the world as. I’m part of the larger African diaspora; I’m also part of the Tamil diaspora. But every time I tried to belong to a group, I found myself on the outskirts somehow. When confronted with boxes, I’m like, where do I t in? So, I resonate with outliers. I want to make sure the outliers are taken care of Because they’re the afterthoughts who are often not seen.”

Chasing Mr. Lindsey

It was in high school, and completely by accident, that Balaven ended up in a rhetoric class with a teacher named Tommy Lindsey who, despite Balaven’s attempt to conceal his family’s transient living situation, saw what was going on and reached out to help Lindsey became a lifelong friend and mentor and supporter of Balaven. “ is man really saw me,” Balaven says.

It’s to Mr. Lindsey that Balaven attributes many of his important life choices. “I think I got to UC Berkeley because he really encouraged me. en I attended law school at UC Davis, but realized that wasn’t a t, so I got into education and I became a teacher… My whole life, my whole educational career has been chasing Mr. Lindsey.”

Identifying as “other,” and a deep appreciation for the impact that one Mr. Lindsey can have on a student, have greatly informed Balaven’s career as an educator committed to creating opportunities for outliers to feel seen – something Balaven sees as a key element of “inclusion” that is very hard to measure. But that didn’t stop him from trying.

It was as the number two at e Athenian School in Danville, California, and head of diversity, equity, and inclusion, that Balaven set out to nd a way to measure the idea, out of which came the creation of the Inclusion Dashboard.

“It was a great victor y moment,” Balaven says. “But then I started to see Athenian and many other schools using the dashboard as an indication that inclusion was happening as opposed to a tool to respond to exclusion, which is what it was meant to be. It became the very thing it was tr ying to identify ”

When Balaven arrived at Dunn School, he recognized Santa Barbara as a good “lab” in which to begin exploring ways to respond to exclusion.

“So, the dashboard is telling you there’s a problem,” Balaven says. “In the lab you start to identify how to approach that problem and solve it.”

With this in mind, Balaven created the rst-ever Inclusion Lab in Santa Barbara County, regularly bringing together educators from private and public school worlds to collaborate on this issue.

“There’s always a war somewhere on the planet.

I want to do it for Dunn and to inspire other schools, in Los Angeles, in the Bay Area, and beyond, to create refugee endowments to save students from these conflicts, wherever they are.”

“It’s an imperative as far as an educational outcome, that the world is represented at the school that is trying to graduate students to do good in the world. But the world is not all privileged people with the means to write a check for tuition. But the program is as important as the people in the class. Our philanthropy at Dunn is tied to providing students nancial aid so that they can have that experience. Our mission is about responsible leadership in society. And the philanthropic piece is... How do we give students, the afterthoughts, that opportunity?”

The Public Purpose Of Private Education

Balaven believes that schools like Dunn have an important public purpose. “So there’s two veins. One is giving students that are afterthoughts, the opportunity And then what public purpose can you, as a school, have?”

Under Balaven’s leadership, Dunn has found that purpose by expanding the concept of inclusion not just to “others” like himself, but to students around the world, forced into “other” or refugee status by ongoing con icts.

Dunn School got into the business of taking in refugees completely by accident when Balaven received a call from a mother in Ukraine, desperate to place her student in a safe educational environment. at call sparked Balaven’s interest in creating an ongoing opportunity for refugees from around the globe to attend Dunn School. Since receiving that call, Balaven has raised the funds to pay the tuition of six Ukrainian students. But to guarantee that these students can remain at Dunn for all four years, they are now faced with raising an additional $450,000.

Balaven has no intention of stopping there.

“I want to nd the right partners to create a refugee endowment,” he says. “ ere’s always a war somewhere on the planet. I want to do it for Dunn and to inspire other schools, in Los Angeles, in the Bay Area, and beyond, to create refugee endowments to save students from these con icts, wherever they are. So we have a place for them to land and we can set them up for life, like only residential boarding schools can. You have a home, you have a place to stay, you have all of it.”

“I also want to create a program for refugee studies so the students graduating from a school have all been part of a program and they understand the impact of con ict, and when someone seeks refuge, what happens in terms of culture? What happens in terms of politics, economics, etc.? And as they go on to seek responsible leadership in society, that is part of their toolkit. S o as people in positions where they can stop or start wars, they deeply consider the human impact because they’ve lived it, and they’ve been around it.”

Balaven likens this work to the building of water wells – a metaphor he was introduced to while helping, as a student at UC Berkeley, at a fundraiser in Hayward, California, to build wells in Sudan and Bangladesh.

“ ere was a speaker on the stage, and he was talking about the wells, and he said, ‘ When you build this well, you’re going to be quenching thirst for generations. Even when you’re gone, people will be able to drink clean water ’ And I was... Wow ere’s only one other thing like a well, and that’s a school. When you build a school, generations will come and get knowledge. For me, philanthropy is that thing that will last longer than you do And if you believe in the school’s mission, and in what it can do for students, you give to the school because it sets up the next generation and beyond.”

10,000 DEGREES

Helping First-Generation Students to & Through College Across the Bay

"Growing up, I was taught that education is the road to success. My parents immigrated to the U.S. without a lot of money but with a strong education. They used their college degrees to provide for their family and to give me the best educational opportu nities they could. My education is what has led to a successful career. It’s important to me to mentor and help others have access to education the same way I did, and show them how it can lead to success. That’s why I support 10,000 Degrees and volunteer as an ac ademic tutor."

– Monica Mehra with her family

10,000 Degrees achieves unmatched success rates: 80%+ of their four-year college students earn bachelor’s degrees vs. 31% of their national peers – with 88% less student loan debt than the national average. And their community college students transfer to and graduate from four-year colleges at three times the national average.

Believe. Partner. Connect. These three values animate the work of 10,000 Degrees, a uniquely successful Bay Area organization supporting students from low-income backgrounds to and through college and beyond.

Begun as the Marin Education Foundation in 1981, supporting only a handful of college seniors, the organization has grown to be a national model for equity-focused educational support, serving more than 12,000 students and their families each year in the Bay Area.

Although a college education has become increasingly necessary for economic stability, the barriers for student success have remained high for some students, with rates of college graduation stunningly low for first-generation students, or those from under-resourced communities.

10,000 Degrees Board Member and Securitized Products Portfolio Manager, Loomis, Sayles and Company

mostly with 10,000 Degrees alumni, in which these “near peer” advisers work closely with students who share similar backgrounds.

“During the pandemic, it became even more clear that the most important thing is relationships,” said Christopher Gonzales, Chief Strategy Officer. “When school officials couldn’t get a hold of students, our Fellows would call, and the students would answer. Sometimes that was the critical difference for them” in continuing their studies.

10,000 Degrees supports 12,000+ students and their families annually across the Bay Area—including 3,000+ current college students receiving compre hensive, 1:1 support and scholarships. 100% of their students are from low-income backgrounds, 89% are students of color, and 85% are first-generation college students. (Photo: Alma Perez.)

The good news is that 10,000 Degrees has time-tested a model of support that has achieved unmatched success rates. Their partnership with community colleges, for instance, has led to 10,000 Degrees’ students tripling the rate at which they transfer to and graduate from four-year colleges, compared with the national average. Another stunning result: 80% of 10,000 Degrees’ students graduate with a bachelor’s degree, compared with 31% of their national peers.

Part of this success has to do with personal connections. A crown jewel of 10,000 Degrees’ program is their network of Fellows, staffed

After helping 20,000 students earn college degrees, and providing more than $80 million in financial assistance, 10,000 Degrees is seeing the impact of its students out in the world. From Abigail Cadelina, who teaches health education at the KIPP Summit Academy in San Lorenzo, to Pepe Gonzalez, Principal of Laurel Dell Elementary School in San Rafael, 10,000 Degrees alumni are eager not just to improve themselves, but to work to expand educational opportunities to under-resourced communities. It’s no wonder that the organization’s tagline is “10,000 Degrees: College Graduates Who Change the World.”

(Photo: Kristopher Macedonio)

Changing Students’ Lives One Degree at a Time

Your donations can have a transformative impact on students from low-income backgrounds. Help 10,000 Degrees, a nationally-recognized nonprofit organization, support these students to and through college and beyond.

Your generous support will allow us to hire full-time, near-peer Fellows to support more students in your local communities. It will fund programs to give high school seniors a jumpstart on college. Your gift will allow us to present financial aid workshops and support at our partner schools so that more students can complete FAFSA and gain access to free federal financial aid. And so much more.

And through June 30, 2023, the first $50,000 donated through The Giving List will be matched thanks to a generous challenge grant from Susan and Mitch Cohen.

"For anybody philanthropically driven in the Bay Area, 10,000 Degrees should be part of your core portfolio. Be cause what they are doing, their breadth, how many people they are impacting through scaling their Fellowship model, it's benefiting everybody."

– Mitch & Susan Cohen

10,000 Degrees Angel Investors & Supporters Since 2010. Invested in launch of Fellowship program in 2012

Why Your Support Matters

Undergraduate college enrollment is down 10% in California (compared to 2019) with a starker decrease for students from low-income backgrounds and students of color—250,000 fewer students did not enroll in higher education last year. 10,000 Degrees is scaling to meet this challenge.

“10,000 Degrees was there all along the way, helping me realize what was truly possible. With their support, I attended the University of San Francisco on a full scholarship, and graduated with honors in economics.”

–Saul Peña, First 10,000 Degrees Alumni Board Chair, Vice President, Dodge & Cox, University of San Francisco, 2000

KEY SUPPORTERS

Adobe Inc.

Suzanne Badenhoop & Guy Lampard

Susan & Mitchell Cohen

Dodge & Cox

Herb & Jane Dwight

First Republic Bank

Goldman Sachs

Gruber Family Foundation

The J-P Conte Family Foundation

Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation Marin Community Foundation

10,000 Degrees

10000degrees.org

1401 Los Gamos Drive, Suite 205 San Rafael, CA 94903 (415) 451-4013

Contact: Caroline Silverstein Chief Development Officer (415) 451-4016 csilverstein@10000degrees.org

"10,000 Degrees has supported and guided me throughout my en tire college career! Without them, I would not have made it this far… They continuously come through for me with academic, financial, and personal guidance.” — Rakia White, 10,000 Degrees Alumna, University of California, Berkeley, 2022, College of Marin, 2020

Alison & Mike Mauzé

MR Macgill & Ho Nam

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

NPX Advisors

Susan & Allen Preston

Sand Hill Foundation

Sobrato Philanthropies

Stupski Foundation

Jen & Ryan Sweeney Wellington Management Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: 10,000 Degrees Headquarters 1401 Los Gamos Drive, Suite 205 San Rafael, CA 94903

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 95-3667812

By Credit Card: donate.10000degrees.org/givinglist2022

Saul Peña with his wife Charmaine Chow & family

Saying Yes to Students Who Need a Supportive School Community

“

Ne Tentes Aut Perfice.”

This is the Latin motto that students and faculty at Dunn School, a private co-ed college prep boarding and day school in Los Olivos, live by. It translates to, “Attempt not, but achieve.” And it perfectly represents the school’s deeply-felt community and entrepreneurial spirit.

Kalyan Balaven, Head of School at Dunn since 2021, talks about the important interlocking puzzle pieces that embody the school’s spirit and set Dunn School apart from other private schools.

The first is a dedication to Whole Student Education, the guiding philosophy Dunn was founded on more than 65 years ago. Says Balaven, Dunn student life focuses on an allencompassing experience – emotional, mental, physical, and social – and its goal to help students find their moral core.

The second is Dunn’s entrepreneurial mindset. “That idea of getting it done. Not just talking about it, or attempting it, but to achieve it – we have to get it done,” Balaven says.

Finally, Dunn is also a residential school, where the curriculum takes place “24/7.” Students often share meals, walks, and the give and take of ideas with their teachers throughout

the day and evening.

Nowhere is this spirit more evident than in Dunn School’s push to provide financial aid and scholarship money to deserving students both locally and abroad.

“It’s really, really hard for me to say no to an impressive young person who’s trying to do something better for themselves… You feel the potential and just try to make it happen,” Balaven says.

And happen it does. In 2014, with help from generous grandparents of Dunn alumni students, the African Scholars Program was established to help up to three African students attend Dunn. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the school quickly reached out to their Central Coast community for help and the Emergency Ukrainian Student Scholarship was born, enabling the school to welcome six Ukrainian students to campus.

“We’re taking kids who’ve had a traumatic situation as a result of poverty or as a result of war and we’re supporting them,” Balaven says.

Founded by Anthony Dunn in 1957, the school sits on 55 bucolic acres and includes a middle school (added in 1978) and high school. Classes are small, teachers are passionate about the

hen the war in Ukraine started, school was canceled, and we spent most of our time in shelters. An airplane exploded over my house at 4 am. At Dunn, I feel safe here, like I can relax."

– Dunn Student

experiential curriculum, and graduates are so invested in their school that they’ve returned after becoming successes in life and endowed both an entire program (Jurgensen Entrepreneurship Program) and a dorm (Boone Hall).

With so much to offer, Balaven just wants to be able to offer more underserved students the opportunity to be able to experience that Dunn School spirit.

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Emergency Ukrainian Student Scholarship Recipient

Building Community: The annual all-school color run.

Each year, student leaders are tasked with helping new students become oriented with the Dunn campus and culture, which can include a gelato break on a warm day.

Helping to Build Generational Wealth for the Underserved Student

Dunn School is seeking donations to build an endowment to provide financial aid and opportunities to local underserved students as well as students fleeing foreign countries.

“The phrase ‘generational wealth’ is important to me,” says Kalyan Balaven, Dunn’s Head of School. “By giving to this they’re giving in per petuity for perpetuity. Our goal is to set up our students to be gener ational wealth builders for their villages, their communities… We only have six Ukrainian kids at this one moment in time, but we can have greater impact if the philanthropy is there.”

Every donation of $70,000 provides tuition, travel, legal support, full room and board, school supplies, clothing, and allowance. Each time this goal is reached it allows Dunn School to rescue one more student in need, to prepare them for a successful life and, imbued with the school’s entrepreneurial spirit, learn to be the catalysts for genera tional wealth.

Dunn School

dunnschool.org

2555 West Highway 154 Los Olivos, CA 93441 (805) 688-6471

hole student education really is a holistic ap proach to learning and teaching, and it reflects the opportunity for the students to learn not just the aca

– Guy Walker Alumnus & Board of Trustees Chair

Contact: LynnRae Dunn Director of Philanthropy (805) 686-0627 ldunn@dunnschool.org

The first-ever student from his school in Ugan da to come to the United States, Isaac is the latest success story in Dunn's African Scholar program, which has provided four-year, fully paid schol arships for students like Isaac since 2014.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Robert Day & W.M. Keck Foundation

Jonathan Day Mike Boone

Autumn & Steven Badelt Janet & Barry Lang Arn & Nancy Youngman

Cindy & Adam Bronfman Eric Roberts

George & Leanne Roberts Stephane de Bord & Kimberly Branagh Whitney & Philip Arnautou Stephanie Bailey

The Many Ways to Give...

Maria Zhang

Tina & Jonathan Grunzweig

Kristen Carlson

Scott & Lisa Ramsey

Mary & CJ Jackson

Susan Jorgensen & Alice Gillaroo

Ike & Lara Zekaria

Tim & Virginia Bliss

Janice & Julian Gangolli Randall Day Guy R. Walker

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demic, but the social, the cultural, and some of the softer nuances about being successful in life."

Outdoor Education: Enjoying a zipline adventure trip off campus.

55. The percentage of students that receive need-based financial aid, and without it, would not be able to attend.

Higher Education as a Pathway to LGBTQ Rights

For many young people, the world can feel hostile. For LGBTQ youth, this feeling is too often a grim reality.

Without the financial and familial support afforded to their peers, LGBTQ youth are disproportionately excluded from higher education. On average, LGBTQ students report having roughly $16,000 more debt than

their non-LGBTQ counterparts. Furthermore, 41% report delaying their education because they didn’t have support from family to meet the cost of college. At Point Foundation, a nonprofit that provides scholarships and vital programs to LGBTQ students, a new future is being paved.

“Financially, college is very inaccessible for a lot of people, so the need is there for the financial support, but the need is also there for community,” says Chief Development Officer Eddie Pelto.

The success of Point Foundation can be attributed to its two-pronged approach: scholarship along with mentorship and coaching. By providing students with the financial and emotional support to enter higher education, Point Foundation is not only changing the lives of these motivated students but also changing the trajectory of our country.

“In the last 20 years, acceptance of LGBTQ people has grown,” Pelto says, “but what we’re facing now is a resurgence of oppressive bills and laws, a war on people’s rights.”

Over the next three years, Point Foundation has committed one million dollars to fund

James Point Flagship Alum - Class of 2022, University of Texas, Austin

– Isaac

students dedicated to social change. This scholarship money will be awarded to students pursuing degrees in law and political science as well as students in cultural impact fields, such as filmmakers who will document and tell the stories of LGBTQ people.

“There are forces that are still trying to take away the rights of LGBTQ people. It is important that we nurture and grow the leadership that will be needed in these areas,” Pelto says.

By alleviating students’ financial burdens, Point Foundation opens up opportunities for development inside higher education and within their own leadership and service classes. With guidance from mentors and coaches who are themselves from the LGBTQ community, students at the Point Foundation grow into the leaders, artists, and scholars that the next generation needs.

“H aving support, whether financial, or mentors, or community in general I think is vital for continu ing to build the next generation of LGBTQ+ leaders.”

Logan Alcosiba, Point Flagship Alum, delivers remarks at the Point Honors gala in Los Angeles in June 2022.

Incoming and graduating Point Flagship Scholars gather for a National Leadership Conference in Los Angeles in June 2022.

Some of Point's graduating Flagship Schol ars at the Point Honors gala in Los Angeles in June 2022.

Seeding the Future of Human Rights

Point Foundation is supporting our country’s future generations through a variety of scholarships. From one-time financial assistance to graduate school and beyond, Point Foundation packages monetary support from donors into life-changing opportunities for LGBTQ youth.

During the 2022-2023 academic year, Point Foundation will support more than 550 students, the largest class in their 20-year history.

By donating to the Point Foundation, contributors provide LGBTQ students with the support they need to attend college, pursue their dreams, and help lead our country.

KEY SUPPORTERS

CBRE EY MacKenzie Scott

Point Foundation pointfoundation.org 6230 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 890 Los Angeles, CA 90048 (833) 887-6462

Contact: Eddie Pelto Chief Development Officer (212) 909-2425 eddie@pointfoundation.org

New and graduating Flagship Scholars meet at the Nation al Leadership Conference in Los Ange les in June 2022.

Victoria's Secret & Co. Wells Fargo

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Point Foundation P.O. Box 60108

Los Angeles, CA 90060

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 84-1582086

By Credit Card: pointfoundation.org/donate

Point Foundation receives 2,000 applications annually for our four-year scholarship program. 41% of applicants reported that they delayed their education because of the cost or lack of familial support.

More than Success, Students Rising Above is Giving Young People Lives of Fulfillment

Students Rising Above (SRA) empowers students facing systemic barriers to define and find success through education, career, and in life. SRA works to enable social and economic mobility for low-income, first-generation students with college-to-career programming and personalized wrap-around support.

U pon college graduation, Jose was o ered a job at the world’s largest tech company. Last summer, Jose and his brother, Hulices Iglesias, also an SRA Alum, purchased a home, the first for their family, in the East Bay.

For 24 years, Students Rising Above (SRA) has helped thousands of students facing poverty and systemic barriers achieve success.

“We envision a world in which every person, regardless of who they are or where they come from, can achieve economic and social mobility,” says Elizabeth Jordan Devaney, SRA’s chief executive o cer.

While 77 percent of middle- and high-income young people earn bachelor’s degrees by age 25, just 10 percent of their low-income peers are able to accomplish the same feat, according to SRA estimates. To change these outcomes, the San Francisco nonprofit serves more than 400 students annually from nine area counties as part of its flagship program, Rising Stars.

Ninety-eight percent of these youth are people of color and from low-income homes and nearly all are first-generation college students. With a college graduation rate of over 80 percent, these Rising Stars show that success can be achieved no matter your ZIP code or net worth.

SRA provides students with mentoring, career guidance, medical, financial, and mental health support. In addition to Rising Stars,

the organization’s pillar programs include the SRA Hub and the Students Online Achieving Results (SOAR) program. The Hub is SRA’s proprietary online resource, o ering interactive tools and resources with self-guided access to college and career coaches as well as an online student community. The SOAR program leverages technology to scale the power of SRA’s personalized advising model, by matching SOAR students with virtual SRA advisors, to increase college graduation rates and entry into career-ladder jobs.

“We want this generation of students to create their own pathways through life, to find fulfillment, as well as economic stability and strength, and then go back and change the systems to help those who come behind them,” Devaney says.

A pivotal moment in the organization’s history, the nonprofit’s new strategic plan focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jennifer Naecker, head of philanthropic relations for SRA, says, “We are excited to take ambitious steps to enhance SRA’s organizational practices and strategically expand programming.”

A critical complement to its core college access and success program, SRA will keep

“Throughout my college journey, I did very well in obtaining summer internships that helped strengthen my professional resumé but fell short in achieving academically at school [...] My biggest motivation to finish my degree was so I could work for a company where I was valued.”

– Jose Iglesia Serrano SRA Alum; Brand Protection Specialist

building out its career development program to expand students’ exposure and readiness for a broader spectrum of well-paying career options, tapping into its over 270 corporate and career partner organizations. SRA alums have achieved notable career successes, including scoring jobs at Apple, studying at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and earning invites to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“All students, not just the stellar ones, deserve a chance to succeed,” Devaney says.

“We believe that education and contribution to the workforce is a basic human right,” she says. “Everybody should have the chance to seek education and participate in the workforce.”

SRA also o ers individual mental healthcare services for all SRA students and sta . Thanks to the support of SRA’ s donor community, nearly 40% of the Rising Stars students and multiple sta members are accessing SRA's private therapy portal, and in 2022-2023 these o erings will only continue to expand.

Give Students the Resources They Need to Succeed

n today’s world, there are many young people with extraordinary academic capacity and leadership potential. However, access to the opportunities and resources needed to get to and through college and into a career are not equally available. Education is a lever that can shift poverty to prosperity, and inequality to equity. Local individuals and companies have the exciting opportunity to partner with SRA to directly influence these transformations."

– Julius Robinson

SRA Board Chair; Managing Director, Corporate Social Responsibility for the Americas for Union Bank

As a part of SRA’s Career Development initiatives, students participate in targeted professional development workshops and networking events, work with resumé editors, find relevant internship opportunities, and attend interview prep sessions with SRA’ s more than 270 corporate and community partners.

Donations

to Students Rising Above (SRA) will be used to support, prepare, and mobilize low-income students to pursue a postsecondary education and find career success and economic stability for their future. CEO Elizabeth Jordan Devaney explains, “We utilize these funds in providing everything that we can to help students realize their innate potential as human beings.”

A $500 donation can provide books and academic materials for a student for one semester, while a $1,000 gift can provide a laptop for a first-year student in college. A $50,000 contribution can fund a student’s entire college-to-career journey in the Rising Stars program, which covers up to six years.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Autodesk

Dolby Gap Inc. Genentech

Hobson Lucas Family Foundation Joseph Pedott Trust

JW Bagley Foundation Kimball Foundation

May & Stanley Smith Trust McMurtry Family Foundation

Students

Rising Above studentsrisingabove.org PO Box 192492 San Francisco, CA 94119-2492

Contact: Jennifer Naecker Philanthropic Relations (513) 256-3633 JNaecker@studentsrisingabove.org

O'Shea Foundation

Odell Fund

Quest Fund

Ross Stores

Shartsis Friese

Solid Rock Foundation

The Julia Burke Foundation

Union Bank Warriors Community Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

"I

capability training, socioemotional support, healthcare navigation, and financial support.

On average, 45% of low-income youth will enroll in college, but only 11% will complete postsecondary degrees. 100% of SRA’s Rising Stars will enroll in college and more than 70% earn degrees .

Emergency Services

When emergency strikes and people are suffering, we need a swift, compassionate response. Whether human or canine, these two organizations exemplify both.

Wilma Melville: Dogged Determination

By Les Firestein

Wilma Melville is the most inspirational person I’ve ever met. She has done more during her retirement than most people have done during their entire careers. I recently had the pleasure of visiting her at the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Training Center in Santa Paula, California, and then again in the hangar where she lives with her airplane. “Spark plug” is an overused term I have never used before. She is a spark plug. She is Annie Oakley. She is Amelia Earhart. Above all, Wilma Melville is an exhauster of my internal thesaurus of superlatives.

One of the things I nd so inspirational about Melville is she has achieved so much without having any particular advantages. She was a public school gym teacher from a working-class neighborhood in Newark. If there’s one advantage Melville thinks she had, it was her grandmother Pauline who mentored her and cared for her during the summers of World War II. at granny showed Melville the importance of hard work, self-reliance,

and charity – attributes that would eventually blossom into the $7 million-plus annual revenue National Disaster Search Dog Foundation and training facility Melville founded more than a quarter centur y ago

As Melville tells it, she always pushed herself and her body hard. “Lots of energy came my way from some DNA combination. Running felt so good, I wondered why so many people were walking. Right through high school, Phys Ed was my favorite class. Eventually I came to understand I had an adventurous spirit, so let’s get on with hiking, camping, and even endurance horseback riding.” Endurance rides are what brought Melville to Ojai – it was the incredible, beautiful, and plentiful network of trails. Having trained on those ro bust Ojai trails, Melville twice rode the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile horseback endurance ride in the Sierras of Nor thern California, in less than 24 hours. She has always pushed it, even now as she’s pushing 90.

“Some shelter dogs are extremely driven, hyper focused, and tenacious. It’s what makes them di cult but also what makes them great. It’s just their personality. But because of that, the dogs need a lot of tasks and much personalized interaction as an outlet for all that determination and energy. Is it a surprise I get along with that type of animal? Probably not.”

is is Melville in her own words: “Living 88 years is a lengthy time with endless opportunities to learn. I’ve learned a great deal in those years. Not everything, mind you, but I’ve gone through signi cant changes. Some of the happenings that changed me were painful, while others took growing up and simply becoming a realist.”

Melville’s journey to rescue dog royalty was by no means a direct path. She always loved animals even though she grew up in the city But it wasn’t until much later when she was “retired” in Ojai and her horse got injured requiring a lengthy recovery that the always-goal-oriented Melville decided to train a dog to “do something special!” e next goal would be to attain certication as a FEMA canine disaster search team. at requires developing skills in dogs and handlers that are highly unusual –such as training dogs to climb up and down ladders, or to walk upstairs backward, or to nd a missing person amid a myriad of confusing smells (including a generous drenching of jet fuel).

What especially appealed to Melville were many of the best dogs for search and rescue are those that were abandoned. “Many of these dogs would likely have been euthanized,” she says. “ e Search Dog Foundation looks for dogs that are extremely driven, hyper focused, and tenacious. It’s what makes them di cult but also what makes them great. It’s just their personality But because of that, the dogs need a lot of tasks and much personalized interaction as an outlet for all that determination and energy. Is it a surprise I get along with that type of animal? Probably not.”

Melville trained Murphy to be FEMA-certi ed in 24 months. Not long thereafter came the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building by domestic terrorists. Melville saw the carnage on the news and had the inkling she might “ get the call.” She was right. From Palm Springs where she was vacationing, Melville was deployed for 10 days with Murphy to the federal building (what was left of it). e truck bomb destroyed that building and damaged or destroyed 424 other structures within a 16-block radius. One hundred and

Melville on one of her Tevis Cup Rides in 1990

Melville at training with Murphy

IN WILMA’S WORDS

LF: To what do you contribute your moxie?

WM: I was an extremely shy child with many fears I missed out on a great deal of fun, so at about the age of 12, I decided on my own that fear was misplaced energy I had to face my fears and battle to overcome them one by one I did just that in the way of a 12-year-old, and have honed that skill ever since And it only took me about a century!

LF: As for your capacity to get things done?

WM: I think this is an attitude One has to “ get done what’s on one’s plate today” because tomorrow is another day Another group of demands will be made tomorrow If I don’t complete all my tasks today, how can I possibly handle tomorrow too? I don’t understand procrastination. Sometimes I have to think on a topic so that item does not get done today But to push o until tomorrow what can be done today is just going to make tomorrow very di cult.

LF: Where did you get the “bug” to become a pilot?

WM: My first husband, a physician, was out shopping for a plane thinking he would take flying lessons in that plane I immediately signed up for lessons thinking, I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit in a plane with him and not know how to fly. I had completed perhaps a dozen lessons and the guy never did buy a plane Dilemma. Since I do not like to stop in the middle and leave a project undone, I completed the course and became a licensed pilot. Flying added a tremendous lift to my self-confidence! My thinking wa s, If I could fly, I could do most anything. Then came a divorce with four very young boys to raise. Yep, that was one of the tough times and di cult decisions Fortunately that divorce was perhaps the best decision I’ve made over the years. [ Three of Melville’s four sons have become pilots.]

LF: What has made you so fiercely independent?

MW: The divorce taught me that no one would ever take care of me as well as I could myself I was enraged that I had bought into the culture of the 1950s. I was intensely angry with myself that I had even imagined that another person had to be counted on. I had worked as a teacher so that the now-divorced husband could go to medical school. He could pay enough child support so that with me teaching, the money flow was adequate Time passed. Some lessons are more di cult than others Eventually I met my next husband while hiking with my kids at Mount Baldy

LF: Would you say there is value in knowing not just who you are but who you aren’t?

WM: I realize I have only normal intelligence My education was adequate for a teacher I recognize that I was a “late bloomer” when it came to making a change in the tiny sliver of dogdom that we call “canine disaster search.” I learned to take anger and turn it into useful energy When a pilot in the air finds herself in a tough situation, what follows is an air tra c controller saying, “ What are your intentions?” That is a sobering question. My hair stands on end. There is no one else to answer One can delay by saying, “Standby.” But moments later, one’s intentions must be spoken. Becoming a pilot was an outstanding help in my life I give myself credit for a vision plus the knowledge that I had to surround myself with those who knew a great deal about things of which I knew very little To this day, I know very well the dir ection that the Search Dog Foundation must go The future and the horizon are clear to me At 88, I likely have little time remaining. What will be the best use of my time? Standby

Melville and Murphy

sixty-eight people were killed – 30 of them children in the building’s daycare facility. As Melville tells it: “I saw the best of humanity and the worst of humanity in Oklahoma. e destruction was caused by the worst of humanity, but the average Oklahoman was doing anything and everything they could to help We – the search dogs and their handlers – were own in on a militar y plane and every day our job was to go wherever the re department and other rst responders needed us. e blast had pancaked all the oors together, so as they excavated, you knew what oor you were on based on the contents of the

the accounting oor And sadly, when we got to the toys and little juice boxes, we knew we were in the daycare.

“Every day we would go in for 12-hour search-and-rescue shifts, and every night we’d come out with our dogs, and Oklahomans would be at the gates, asking us if we had found this person or that person. I remember this one guy was there every night, patiently standing vigil, waiting to hear what happened with his wife, holding out hope. Hope can be in nitesimally small, but so long as there’s still that ember, this guy was going to be there every night. I remember one night I was coming out with Murphy and the guy stopped me, and held up a picture of his wife and said, ‘Have you found my wife yet?’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him that because of the force of the blast, we were not nding a great number of intact bodies. So I just told him we would not stop searching until every single person had been accounted for. is was true. We certainly had the tools to do that.”

Almost 30 years later, this woman who seems so tough – this modern-day Annie Oakley – quietly and undramatically weeps as she tells that stor y. She talks about the importance of closure, of people holding out hope. Melville continues, “ When these dogs make a discovery, what it does is allow the family to close that chapter and eventually start a new one.”

From her experience in Oklahoma, Melville learned there were only approximately 15 FEMA-certi ed dogs in the entire United States – a completely anemic and insu cient number. increase that number, because the greater the number of local dogs spread out over the countr y, the faster they can be deployed and the greater likelihood of a “live nd.” After the Murrah Building bombing, Melville created the Search Dog Foundation. e rst goal was to train 168 certi ed canine disaster search teams – one for each person who died in Oklahoma. is was completed in Februar y 2020 and Melville was there to witness it. Today, the number 168 is engraved on the sculpture of Melville and Murphy that stands proudly at the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation training facility in Santa Paula.

Murphy searching the ruins of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation at work at Ground Zero on 9/11

Global Aid in Time of Global Crisis

In 1945, William Zimdin, an Estonian immigrant who had fled fascism to California, dedicated his fortune to sending relief parcels to war-torn Europe, sparking the organization that would eventually become Direct Relief.

More than 75 years later, Direct Relief provides emergency response and humanitarian and disaster relief to all 50 U.S. states and roughly 100 other nations. Their organization’s work is unabating and often in areas overlooked in the headlines. The Santa Barbara-based nonprofit shipped 27 tons of medicine to Sri Lanka when an economic crisis pushed the island-nation’s healthcare system near collapse. These ongoing e orts across the globe meant that Direct Relief is always ready, with supply chains and partnering organizations ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

For years, Direct Relief had been working in Ukraine. After the invasion, the organization began receiving requests for items they’ve rarely had to send, everything from body bags to treatments for chemical weapons. Since then, it has shipped more than 900 tons of medical aid to 400-plus hospitals and clinics in Ukraine.

Direct Relief has also provided $15.9 million of direct financial assistance, both within the country and to refugees in surrounding areas like Poland and Moldova, for medical essentials such as pharmaceutical prescriptions.

“Before the crisis in Ukraine started, we were already delivering medications to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine. When the war started, we didn’t have to start from scratch and try to figure out who to work with; we already had a really clear channel of how to get medicines into Ukraine,” says Heather Bennett, vice president of partnerships and philanthropy.

To generate support for Ukraine, Direct Relief has had to get creative in its fundraising, with e orts ranging from a Carnegie Hall concert hosted by Richard Gere, to partnering with Epic Games, who donated two weeks of revenue and subscriptions from the video game Fortnite – a total of $27 million – to Direct Relief and four other nonprofits.

Direct Relief is supported purely by their contributors and any donated funds can be directed to a specific program or area. Take a look at where and what crises are happening in

Ukrainian American and my parents were Ukrainian refugees who met at a displaced person camp at the end of World War II. I just have to say a big thank you to Direct Relief for all the work that you are doing over there. I know Direct Relief does so much all over the world, but this means so much to me. I so much appreciate and admire Direct Relief and thank you for all that you do."

– Ana A. Taras Chief of Strategic Development, Ryan Health

the world. Given its vast range of geographical regions they serve and medical causes they support, there’s a good chance Direct Relief is already there with boots on the ground, continuing their legacy of aid.

"I’m

E cient. E ective. Transparent. Four Star Charity and 100% rating (Charity Navigator) 100% E ciency Rating, Top 10 U.S. Charities (Forbes)

#1 Top 10 Charities Changing the World (CNBC) Top 10 Most Innovative Nonprofits (Fast Company)

Emergency medical backpacks depart Direct Relief's warehouse bound for Lviv, Ukraine. The backpacks, which contain medical essentials for triage care, were requested by Ukraine's Ministry of Health.

The Power to Save Lives

Many

vaccines and other medications need to be refrigerated, something severely complicated amid war and natural disaster. Recently, Direct Relief installed almost 1,000 Tesla solar panels with both battery and generator backup at their headquarters in Santa Barbara to store insulins, vaccines, and other temperature-controlled medications, even during power outages. But the healthcare facilities that receive these lifesaving medicines also need reliable power.

Now, with the Power for Health initiative, Direct Relief is helping these facilities install solar power arrays, complete with battery storage. They have already begun installing backup power systems in high-risk areas, including the Mendocino Health Center and Marin Community Clinic.

Direct Relief plans to continue these installations throughout California and other high-risk regions with 20 more sites in development. The average cost is $400,000 per system, which is rated to last 20 years. Supporting the Power for Health initiative can help ensure that these facilities continue to operate when the community needs them most.

A

KEY SUPPORTERS

Tom and Carrie Cusack

Mary Dwyer

Pamela Gann and David Hardee

Stan and Betty Hatch

Jim and Chana Jackson

Dorothy Largay and Wayne Rosing

Mark and Kim Linehan

Siri and Bob Marshall Jay McGonigle

Harry and Jacquie McMahon

Direct Relief

www.DirectRelief.org

6100 Wallace Becknell Road Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (805) 964-4767

Contact: Heather Bennett Vice President, Partnerships and Philanthropy (805) 879-4934 hbennett@directrelief.org

Jane and Ron Olson

John and Mary Romo

Jamie Ru ng and Rhys Williams

Denis and Jennifer Sanan

Nancy Schlosser

Mark and Lynda Schwartz

Jim and Patricia Selbert

Thomas and Heather Sturgess Elizabeth Toro and Mark Hauser

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Direct Relief

6100 Wallace Becknell Road Santa Barbara, CA 93117

| www.thegivinglist.com |

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 95-1831116

By Credit Card: www.DirectRelief.org/donate

provider from HOPE Hospital responds to flooding in Bangladesh with an emergency medical pack provided by Direct Relief.

From the Tragedy of the Oklahoma City

Bombing Was Born a Human-canine Bond That Relentlessly Saves Lives

“Over the years, the Search Dog Foun dation has paired many ca nine disaster search teams that serve the Bay Area and we are grateful to have these canines as a resource to call upon when needed for our urban search and res cue team as part of the San Francisco Fire Department and California Task Force 3. The search dogs are a vital part of any deployment response—whether earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, or missing person searches, these highly trained canines are instrumental in completing our search missions. The Search Dog Foundation provides these canines as invaluable assets for our department and part of Task Force 3 free of charge, ensuring we stand ready to serve our community when called upon to help.

– Jeanine Nicholson Fire Chief, San Francisco Fire Department

When two children got lost during a hike in rural New York with oncoming rain commingling with the darkening night, it wasn’t drones or thermal heat sensors that found them. It was Luka, a Belgian Mali nois search dog. His enthusiastic signal led his handler away from the search area to a steep ravine, where they were found in the dark, cold but unharmed.

It was only a few years earlier when Luka him self needed rescuing. Found by an animal con trol officer in Central California as a stray, a ro tating host of temporary owners deemed Luka “un-adoptable.” That is, before the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation found him.

The National Disaster Search Dog Foun dation is unlike any other organization in the U.S., having pioneered a model that has helped hundreds of dogs, created highly skilled search teams, filling a critical need by pairing the res cued with rescuers.

Teams have been part of search-and-rescue efforts including 9/11, earthquakes in Haiti, the Camp Fire (in the Sierra Nevada Mountains;

this was the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history) and the deadly mudslides in Montecito in 2018.

Oddly, certain behavioral traits that often make dogs poor pets make for great rescue dogs.

“These dogs won’t quit,” says Denise Sanders, senior director of communications and handler operations. “We look for those that are super high energy, toy obsessed, and have laser-like focus on the job at hand. That’s what you need to ensure resilience during deployments when there’s difficult terrain and rough conditions.”

The foundation combs shelters, finding dogs that train for up to 12 months at their 145-acre National Training Center in Santa Paula, Cali fornia, and are teamed with first responders across the nation to complete their certifica tion. The foundation also provides a lifetime commitment of care for the dog and ongoing training for handlers.

“The reason that these search teams are able to do this work so well is because of the relation ship between handler and dog,” Sanders says.

“Our handler training program focuses on the depth and longevity of that bond, building on the historical foundation that humans and dogs have always partnered and been companions.”

This vision was born in 1995, when founder Wilma Melville combed through the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing with her search dog, Murphy. That harrowing experience made her realize the need for more highly trained search teams.

She started with the goal of training 168 certified canine disaster search teams to honor the 168 victims of the bombing. The founda tion exceeded that goal in 2020 and has now trained and certified more than 229 teams, with 84 currently working across the country assisting with landslides, missing persons, and collapsed structures this year alone, including 21 in the Los Angeles area (12 in the Bay Area and 57 across California).

The bond between handler and canine provides the solid foundation for their work together, and extends into all aspects of their lives, whether at home or on the job.

Disasters happen. It’s not a matter of if, but when...

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) has proudly served our country and the world since 1996, recruiting, rescuing, and training shelter dogs to become search dogs, looking for survivors in the wreckage of natural and human-made disasters alongside their first responder-handlers during more than 230 incidents, including Ground Zero after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and the Montecito mudslide in 2018.

With active teams across the nation, SDF continues to support current teams and the next generation of search dogs, providing ongoing training and veterinary care for their entire lives. Dogs unable to complete disaster search training are placed in another career or loving home, and once rescued, they will never need to be rescued again.

Join us in supporting these incredible canine heroes and show them we believe in the power of rescued dogs becoming rescuers.

Be Part of the Search today.

Saving Lives, Both

Human and Canine

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation has rescued and trained 279 dogs that have, in turn, rescued humans in disasters. Over 26 years, these expert teams have worked in the largest disasters: from 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the earth quakes in Haiti to missing persons and small structure collapses throughout the country.

The foundation has pioneered a model for screening, train ing, and providing a lifetime of care for each dog it rescues, along with ongoing expert support for handlers.

But the U.S. only has half the amount of search teams truly needed. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation has a goal of training 20 teams in the next year, while ensuring every dog that enters its program will be suc cessful, whether as a disaster search dog or in another career, by foster ing the bonds that will create the next generation of working dogs.

With a gift to the foundation, you can save lives both human and canine.

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

6800 Wheeler Canyon Road Santa Paula, CA 93060

Contact: Rhett Mauck Executive Director (805) 646-1015

Rhett@SearchDogFoundation.org

atching the Search Dog Foundation grow from a small group of ardent volunteers into the nationally recognized or ganization it is today has been an inspiration and an honor. I value the opportunity to both encour age and be part of that growth."

– George Leis Chair, Board of Directors, National Disaster Search Dog Foundation; President & Chief Operating Officer, Montecito Bank & Trust

KEY SUPPORTERS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

George Leis – Board Chair President and COO, Montecito Bank & Trust

Dennis Kuykendall – Board Vice Chair Project Executive, Balfour Beatty Construction

Mike J. Diani – Secretary President, Diani Building Corp.

Richard Butt

Retired EVP, Executive Creative Director, VMLY&R

Robert Harris Battalion Chief, Los Angeles County Fire Department

George R. Haynes, Ph.D. CEO, National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

Crystal Wyatt Leadership in Board Governance and Creative & Sustainable Philanthropy

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

6800 Wheeler Canyon Road

Santa Paula, CA 93060

By

DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 77-0412509

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Intense drive, athleticism, and energy are innate traits we look for in the canines recruited for disaster search work.

Environment

Our global degradation is already, and will continue to be, humanity’s greatest challenge. These organizations are rising to the challenge with determination and bold solutions.

Lifting up the Region that Gave Her So Much

By Gwyn Lurie

Nicole Taylor’s passion for “power-building” and lifting up those living on the margins has its inspirational roots 350 miles south in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, where her Jamaican immigrant mother’s spirit of giving and of ser vice was, according to Taylor, unparalleled. “She just continuously gave to others and expected me to do the same. Even though we didn’t have literally anything to give, I was always expected to help.”

Despite being raised in Los Angeles, Taylor, CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the largest community foundation in the nation, feels a deep debt of gratitude to her adopted region.

“I went to Stanford, and I was fortunate to have a full scholarship. It was a place that transformed my life and opened so many doors for me. I wanted to come back to this region because it gave me so much,” Taylor said. “I was heartbroken when I saw what was happening in this valley, the inequity, and I wanted to be part of helping to change that.”

Taylor received both her M.A. in Education and A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University and began her career as an educator in the Oakland public schools. Teaching is a profession Taylor considers “one of the most giving ever.” She’s also been an administrator at both Stanford and Arizona State University, working closely with students.

“I was an educator, and I’ve been working in philanthropy, and I’ve gone back and forth in my career with both. Every day I get to think about: how are we making our communities better? How are we making life better for those among us who are facing the most di cult circumstances? What am I doing to contribute to a region that can be more equitable and more hospitable to everybody who is here? And I do it with an amazing team of people, from the sta that I get to work with, to our board, to very generous donors and companies with whom we work.”

Formerly the head of the East Bay Community Foundation, Taylor believes strongly in the role foundations can play to help both seasoned and newer donors engage meaningfully in their community.

“Our role is to meet donors where they are and help illuminate ways and places they can give so they don’t have to gure it all out on their own. Many next-generation philanthropists are still running companies. Many are still very busy or starting young families… So, we come up with ways for them to engage in issues that they care about, in the communities where they’ve been making their wealth, where they’re living, where they’re raising their families. We provide them options to help them get in the game.”

Taylor points to early childhood development and a ordable housing as her most passionate areas of focus, personally

“I’ve been in education from early years through higher ed. Children need a solid beginning – those early years are absolutely the most critical and are the marker for how they will succeed in K-12 and what their career and their earnings trajectories are. Early education is about a human

being’s development. Investing in early childhood development is a sector with the biggest return for our society and for our communities.”

As for housing, she notes that anyone living in the Bay Area is familiar with the scarcity and high costs of housing. “We have to think about how we actually get more people permanently housed and secure. If you don’t have a roof over your head, how can we expect you to do much else and to thrive? It’s about our common humanity!”

At the center of Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s community-focused work is what is known as power-building – building up people’s capacity to use their own power and to have control over their own futures and their own lives.

“We believe in investing in building community power and building up the leaders in communities so that they can identify e ective solutions for themselves and for their communities. Investing in the organizations that are working on the ground to make that happen is what we believe will fundamentally change the trajector y of our communities. We listen to them: What are the solutions you’d like to see in your communities? And then we support them without a lot of strings tied to it.”

Trust-Based Philanthropy

This sort of “trust-based philanthropy” is a concept that is taking hold in philanthropic circles, and one that Taylor says she believes in 100%. “We believe that we are partners alongside the folks doing the work on the ground; that they know best what their communities need. We can provide guidance or information that we might learn from other communities and bring that to them.” But mostly, she says, SVCF’s

approach is to help community and nonpro t leaders do the work and trust their process.

“ When I talk to donors and they want to have strings attached or barriers in place, if you will, for their giving – for example, they want speci c reports on the nonpro t’s work, or for them to achieve certain outcomes, or they want to prohibit their grant from going to an organization’s crucial overhead costs – I often ask them if when they invest in a company, they go to the CEO and say, ‘Here’s my money, but I only want it to go to this.’ ”

Taylor likens investments in nonpro ts as similar to investments in for-pro t companies. Once you have done the due diligence, you don’t micromanage your investment. e same should go for nonpro ts.

“If you believe in them, they will use your money wisely,” Taylor says.

Overall, Taylor wants philanthropy-minded people o the sidelines and into the game – to embrace the power they have to bring about real change.

“ e people who are going to be reading e Giving List, they have an extraordinar y ability to get into the game and dig deep and be part of creating an even more vibrant region than we have now. Because it can’t really be vibrant if not all of us are thriving. And right now, we have a whole lot of people who aren’t thriving. People don’t know where to go to get help with their giving. It can be over whelming to know where to start. But we are here. We have community foundations all around the Bay. Find your local community foundation. We are here to help make it easy and frictionless for people to give.”

“The people who are going to be reading The Giving List, they have an extraordinary ability to get into the game and dig deep and be part of creating an even more vibrant region than we have now. Because it can’t really be vibrant if not all of us are thriving.”

“The Warriors Community Foundation is a central pillar of our franchise’s passion to impact our community. With a dedicated focus on educational equity for youth in the Bay Area, we have a unique platform to work with our partners to change the lives of young people in the Bay Area.”

The ‘Bay’s Team’ On and O the Court

While the Golden State Warriors’ dominance on the court has global reach, the franchise and its foundation are deeply rooted on both sides of the San Francisco Bay.

Established in 2012, the Warriors Community Foundation works to support education and youth development to promote thriving students, schools, and communities. e Foundation makes annual grants to improve educational equity in Alameda and San Francisco counties, and has generated over $30 million in impact since inception. rough the Makin’ Hoops Program, the Foundation has refurbished over 90 public basketball courts around the Bay Area. e Foundation also grants access to

NBA basketball through the donation of thousands of tickets each season to local schools and nonpro ts. e Foundation –sustained by generous contributions from Warriors owners, players, partners, and fans – extends the team’s impact locally and continues a longstanding tradition of community involvement.

“ e Warriors Community Foundation is a central pillar of our franchise’s passion to impact our community,” says Warriors President and COO Brandon Schneider. “With a dedicated focus on educational equity for youth in the Bay Area, we have a unique platform to work with our partners to change the lives of young people in the Bay Area.”

And when the Warriors left Oakland for their new state-of-the-art arena across the Bay, they maintained their commitment to the city they had called home for decades. In 2019, the Foundation and Kaiser Permanente announced the launch of Generation rive, an unprecedented 20-year commitment to the East Bay’s educational nonpro ts and the students they serve. e team transformed its practice facility into a rst-of-its-kind nonpro t hub that helps Bay Area nonpro t organizations and schools through education and wellness programming.

“ e Warriors are, and always will be, the Bay’s Team!” Schneider says proudly. “Oakland is a huge part of our team and franchise identity, and is the longtime home of Kaiser Permanente. O ering this access to educators in Oakland is paramount as we continue to push for educational equity for the young people in the region.”

Despite being born on the eve of the pandemic, the Foundation and Kaiser have been hard at work ensuring that the

– BRANDON SCHNEIDER Warriors President and COO

– NICOLE LACOB

Warriors Community Foundation President of the Board Nicole Lacob

innovative space is being used to support students and educators.

“ e response to Generation rive programming, both virtual and in-person, has been incredible, and speaks to the glaring needs in the educator community,” Schneider says. “To date, we have hosted over 500 educators in person, using the Oakland Generation rive location for a variety of use cases over the span of 700 hours, including meetings, strategic planning retreats, collaborations, celebrations, and of course, health and wellness programming.”

And this was all before its formal opening and launch of full operations in October of 2022.

“As a former educator, I am all too familiar with the ongoing challenges of teaching,” says Warriors Community Foundation President of the Board Nicole Lacob. “I am ecstatic that we are able to support educators, teachers, and nonpro ts that serve students and shape the next generation of young minds.”

e 20-year commitment and the name of the initiative – Generation rive – were no accident. e Warriors Foundation and Kaiser Permanente’s goal is to make a transformational impact on an entire generation of youth.

“To lock arms in a 20-year commitment with Kaiser Permanente for Generation rive is huge,” Schneider says. “ ey have a proven community impact track record and are tenured Warriors partners; it was a perfect t for both parties to make a commitment of this magnitude to the Bay Area educational community. Kaiser Permanente and the Warriors Community Foundation have access to show up and provide resources that educators and nonpro ts have not had to-date, and we are uniquely positioned to o er tools to serve and support young people.”

“Along those lines, mental health is a main priority for us,” Schneider continues,

SCAN TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WARRIORS

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Nicole Lacob

President of the Board

Foundation@warriors.com community.warriors.com/foundation 1 Warriors Way, San Francisco, CA 94158

Tax ID#: 45-4001645

“and is an evolving space with resources to address human behavioral needs. With Kaiser Permanente, we are working to provide responsive programming and resources for educators in this space. We know healthy people support healthy people to thrive!”

While California’s overall high school graduation rates have increased signi cantly in recent years to an average of 81 percent, Black and Latino students’ graduation rates continue to lag in the Bay Area. Working together, the Foundation and Kaiser are laser focused on helping school districts close this glaring achievement gap.

And they are not alone. Notable corporate and community partners have stepped up, including: Accenture, Chase, Mimi & Peter Haas Fund, Rakuten, Rocket Lawyer, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, and the Hellman Foundation.

Whether a program o cer at a charitable foundation, the head of CSR at a global corporation, or an individual donor, you too can join in this e ort to change the life trajectories for a generation of young people.

“ ere are a multitude of ways to support our work. It could be as simple as thanking a teacher in your life or community,” Schneider says. “Of course, we are always looking for volunteers, and have a donation platform to Generation rive at https://community. warriors.com/donate. As fundraising increases, so will our impact.”

Civil Eats TV Spotlights the Inspiring Stories of Women – the Backbone of the Nation’s Food System

Episodes have explored racial and gender equity, sustainability, and Indigenous culture; from visiting a 1,000-acre pasture where one woman’s humane approach to shearing sheep is disrupting the male-dominated industry, to a woman beekeeper’s e orts to breed climateresilient queen bees after losing everything in a wildfire. The series has received numerous accolades, award nominations, and inclusion at an international film festival.

“Women really are the backbone of the food system, and yet their stories are so underreported,” says Founder and Editor-inChief Naomi Starkman.

Robinson’s story of taking on food apartheid and creating a beautiful urban farm with a viable business model to bring fresh food to her community – including a free produce stand and food boxes for those in need – is remarkable and needed to be told, Starkman says.

Doria Robinson grew up in a tough neighborhood in Richmond, California.

Liquor stores and fast food restaurants lined almost every block and healthy, a ordable grocery stores were nonexistent. Robinson longed to bring a ordable fresh vegetables and fruit to her low-income, struggling neighbors. She realized the answer was literally under her feet – urban farming.

“Nature is everywhere,” Robinson says. “Sometimes we just have to break up the concrete.”

Which is exactly what she did. Robinson’s journey to turn a vacant, garbage-strewn patch of land into a vibrant urban farm filled with kale, cabbage, collard greens, and tomatoes was featured on Civil Eats TV, a character-driven documentary series on women transforming the food system, produced in partnership with Mizzica Films.

The documentary series, cinematically shot using iPhones and drones, is the latest addition to the hard-hitting nonprofit newsroom Civil Eats’ mission to pull back the curtain on the country’s complex food industry.

Since 2009, Civil Eats’ solutions-oriented reporting has delivered a clear and compelling voice to complicated and often underreported stories on climate change, the environment, and social justice – all through the lens of food.

Launched at the height of the pandemic, Civil Eats TV showcases a myriad of inspiring women who’ve dedicated much of their lives to producing sustainable, just, and accessible food for all.

–Ruth Reichl American chef, food writer, former editor-in-chief, Gourmet Magazine

After the episode was posted, Robinson raised enough money to finally purchase the lot. In recognition of her long-standing food equity work, Governor Gavin Newsom also recently appointed Robinson to the State Board of Food & Agriculture.

“It’s an honor to tell these stories of amazing women impacting our food system,” Starkman says. “Because food reporting is not just about recipes and restaurants; it’s about showing the ways that good food is a right, and not just a privilege.”

“Anyone who eats should be reading Civil Eats. I check in on a daily basis, counting on the site for the most important food news.”

Civil Eats TV: Planting with Purpose at Urban Tilth How Doria Robinson, the force behind the community-focused urban farm, transformed a ‘food desert’ into verdant farms, gardens, and open spaces in Richmond, California.

Civil Eats TV: Let Them Bee

‘To save ourselves, we have to save the bees:’ Caroline Yelle is breeding queen honey bees to survive the changing climate and multiple other threats.

Lora Kinkade, a 30-yearold traveling shearer — a rarity in a highly competitive, male-dominated industry — demonstrates her unique and humane approach to shearing in an episode of Civil Eats TV, "Women in Wool."

Karla McNeil-Rueda preparing chocolate with Indigenous Mayan Q’eqchi' women who work with Asociación Maya Q’eqchi’, Wajxaqib Tz´ikin, an association of cacao farmers, in an episode of Civil Eats TV, "Cacao Is a Food of the People."

Donate to the Trusted Source for Food Justice News

Civil Eats is seeking $100,000 to expand the important work of Civil Eats TV. Without philanthropic support, stories like Doria Robinson’s – and the many women working in the field – simply wouldn’t be told. Help Civil Eats TV put women in food in the spotlight, where they deserve to be.

Each episode of Civil Eats TV costs roughly $25,000 to make. Please consider making a donation to fund an entire episode. Donations of $1,000 to $5,000 will receive name screen credit; donations of $5,000 to $10,000 will receive “supported by” screen credit; and donations of $10,000 to $25,000 will receive “presented by” screen credit.

This year, Civil Eats seeks to profile more exceptional women, including a community grazing steward employing regenerative agriculture practices; a mobile farmworker health clinic run by Indigenous women; a young BIPOC wheat farmer; and a mushroom forager and mycologist.

“We believe the power of storytelling can change people’s hearts and minds and can truly make a di erence,” says Civil Eats’ Naomi Starkman.

–Michael Pollan Journalist, author

KEY SUPPORTERS

Liebe Patterson

–Elizabeth R. & William J. Patterson Foundation

Wendy & Eric Schmidt

–Schmidt Family Foundation, 11th Hour Project

GRACE Communications

Esther Park, Sallie Calhoun

–Cienega Capital

Mark Menning & Lara Park-Menning

Nell Newman

–Nell Newman Foundation

Panta Rhea Foundation

Joyce & Irving Goldman Foundation

Ida & Robert Gordon Family Foundation

Lisa Holmes

–Hunter Grubb Foundation

Merck Family Fund

Jay Pritzker Fund

Sye Fund

Cindy Daniels & Doug Lipton

William Rosenzweig & Carla Fracchia

Christine Schantz

Michael Pollan & Judith Belzer

Kat Taylor

–TomKat Educational Fund

Clif Bar Family Foundation

Cedar Tree Foundation

New Venture Fund

Ruth Reichl

Marion Nestle

Civil Eats

Contact: Naomi Starkman

Founder/Editor-in-Chief (917) 539-3924 editor@civileats.com

By Check:

Civil Eats

502 E. Cotati Ave. No. 7014

Cotati, CA 94931

By

By Credit Card: www.civileats.com/about/donate

"I hope you will join me in supporting Civil Eats, the best online food politics magazine. If you’re interested in changing our food system, it’s one of the most important things you can do."

Civil Eats TV seeks to bring to light the tremendous e orts of remarkable women in its character-driven documentary series. It features the dynamic, hard-working, and creative women who grow and produce our food, and the challenges they face and innovations they imagine.

Helping People Grasp Interconnectedness

he work Continuum is doing in the world is so important and funda mental to healthy

The Continuum Foundation, a twoyear-old nonprofit with big ambitions, is developing a completely sustainable and regenerative retreat center on 30 acres of ecologically diverse land in Bodega, California. They plan to host retreats there for all kinds of groups – from corporate teams to small non profits and for school students without regular access to the healing power of nature.

While yogis and meditators will also have access to this space, The Continuum Foundation intends to differ greatly from your typical California wellness retreat center. Its founders, Colleen Quinn and Jonathan Norling, are creating a new model to show people how to embrace the interconnectivity of everything (the planet, our bodies, and each other) – and to use that insight to advance social and environmental justice.

When Quinn, a physical therapist, and Norling, an environmental attorney and sustainable building expert, met and began dating in 2017, they shared ideas about visions for the future. Their skills from their respective careers, and their mutual drive to make the world better, led them

to conceive this concept together.

By creating a sustainable retreat center, where the infrastructure and nature work together as a thriving ecosystem, they want their guests to experience how they can implement sustainable practices in their own lives – regardless of why they’re visiting the center.

“What we’re addressing and measuring are the ways that anyone can really tend to these issues that seem so big, in small, everyday, rightnow moments,” Quinn says.

The pair has pledged to bring in guests who rarely get access to nature, let alone lavish retreat centers. Once per month they will offer discounted rates to nonprofits working to achieve social and environmental justice, and once per quarter they will fully subsidize retreats for groups that represent underserved communities.

This plan was inspired by data on the nature gap. In the contiguous United States, 74 percent of communities of color live in nature-deprived areas, compared with just 23 percent of white communities, according to a 2020 report from the Center for American Progress.

The nonprofit wants to make an impact beyond the grounds of the retreat center, so they are planning popup events that bring the mission of Continuum into the community in fun and engaging ways. They are also building an online platform where people can connect, learn, and share sustainable practices with one another.

“T

living, healthy communities, and a healthy planet. The vi sion Colleen and Jon are bringing to Continuum is one that runs deep and has long lasting ripples of positivity, joy, and well-being, which is essential in a time where fear, anxiety, and confusion are unprecedented.”

– Heather Sullivan Executive Director, Co-Founder Balanced Rock Foundation, Continuum Foundation Board Member

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one... I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one."

- John Lennon

• $250,000 is needed right now to begin holistic land management to mitigate wildfire risk to benefit the land, its wildlife, as well as surrounding farms.

• $175,000 is needed to continue on with the sustainable infrastructure/architectural designs and the environmental studies that measure the carrying capacity of the land.

• $5,000 will build the semipermanent sustainable infrastructure on the land this fall, allowing for accessible micro retreat experiences as soon as possible.

• Finally, $1 million can purchase the 30 acres of land, which they've leased for two years.

"Continuum’s founder Colleen Quinn’s teachings have been the best-kept secret of the privileged few. Her mentorship in healthy, balanced, and integrated living are straightforward, easy to implement, and enable the type of fundamental shifts in the mind, body, and spirit that have changed my life. Continuum, under Colleen’s vision and guidance, will multiply her reach and achieve greater access with a state-of-theearth home for mind-body connection and abundance in spirit that mirrors Sono ma County's inherent systems of natural balance and beauty."

– Farrah Summerford Client

Help Build a Sustainable, Regenerative Retreat Space

This fall, The Continuum Foundation will add the first semi-permanent infrastructure to the retreat space in Bodega by setting up tent platforms, solar panels, and batteries, and they will subsequently begin creating mission-focused experiences there for the public.

Their next move is to raise $250,000 to conduct holistic land management throughout the property. This includes cleaning up wildfire risk spots, which will not only benefit the retreat space, but make nearby residents, farms, and wildlife safer, co-founder Colleen Quinn says.

Simultaneously, they need $175,000 to continue the environmental studies that measure the carrying capacity of the land and create sustainable designs before they can start building permanent infrastructure on the site.

Finally, they hope to raise an additional $1 million to purchase the 30 acres of land, which they now lease.

A donation will help create this place, that, in turn, will help people from all walks of life experience our shared connectedness and feel energized to act, to make the world better for all of us.

Nature as medicine.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Catherine Garvey Simon Stephen Simon Antonia Rudenstine Kimberly Kraemer and Marc Watrous Catherine and Greg Stern Tracey McLeod

Cristopher and Nicole Pisciotta

Members of the Quinn Family

The Norling Family

Dr. Daniel Quinn

Anonymous Donors

Continuum Foundation www.thecontinuumfoundation.org 170 Janes Street Mill Valley, CA 94941

Contact: Colleen Quinn Founder and Director (202) 907-9545 colleen@thecontinuumfoundation.org

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Continuum Foundation

170 Janes Street

Mill Valley, CA 94941

By

DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 85-1144050

Mercy Center Burlingame: Retreat and Conference Center

soon as I cross the threshold onto the beautiful Mercy Center Burlingame grounds my whole Being palpably settles into the sacred space that it is. I can feel the spiritual nourishment present in the soil and soul of this treasured place, always leaving refreshed and rejuvenated to engage my work in the world. It is a gift to all who retreat here.”

– Heather Ruce Wisdom Spiritual Director and Retreat Leader

hand-built, sacred labyrinth designed for med itative walking.

Mercy Center in Burlingame has been a spiritual oasis for the last four de cades, a place of healing and trans formation. During the challenging times of the pandemic, climate crisis, and political angst, there has never been a greater need for just such a refuge.

“It’s a time of a lot of big questions,” Mary Dillard, Director of Mercy Center, says. “Mer cy Center is an open and inclusive place to process what’s happening around us.”

The Catholic women’s order of the Sisters of Mercy established Mercy Center in Bur lingame in 1981 as a retreat and conference center.

“We welcome the exploration of many spir itual and religious perspectives and we are respectful of the spiritual journey for each in dividual,” Dillard says.

Attracting more than 10,000 people every year, Mercy Center has 88 beds and hosts a wide range of events and training programs that encourage spiritual and personal development.

They also provide free weekly meditation and centering prayer programs online to sup port their guests’ dedication to participating in

is my privilege to lead retreats at the Mercy Center, where warm hospitality, beauti ful grounds, and a careful ly cultivated atmosphere of rest and contemplation combine to create a true spiritual haven for guests. I'm so grateful for the rich resources that Mercy Center provides, especially at a time when so many of us need welcoming spaces in which to reconnect with the sacred."

– Debie Thomas Author, Retreat Leader

regular spiritual practices. The Center’s com mitment to inclusivity is seen in the programs they feature in Spanish and Cantonese. Being within 15 minutes of San Francisco Interna tional Airport, they easily welcome guests from all over the world.

Their campus is set amid 40 acres of im maculately landscaped grounds that feature Christian and Buddhist inspiration, and a

Prominent spiritual leaders and nonprofit organizations find the environment at Mercy Center to be the perfect place to host their own retreats and conferences. With lots of large conference rooms and beautiful spac es to gather, delicious vegetarian meals, and warm Mercy hospitality, it is one of those “best-kept secret’’ kind of places that will keep you coming back for more.

Additionally, the pandemic facilitated the Center to develop virtual programming for its spiritual direction, prayer, and medi tation classes.

Dillard, who has a background in working for both technology startups and ministry, hopes that the expansion into online classes will continue to extend Mercy Center’s teach ings beyond the tranquil setting in Burlingame to allow anyone seeking spiritual guidance the ability to access their offerings.

“We’re finding new ways to use technology to carry the message and make it broadly avail able to more people,” Dillard says. “Anybody who’s been on the frontlines of the pandemic –medical professionals, teachers, cooks, clerks, therapists – and experienced this collective trauma needs a place like the Mercy Center to gather, heal, and explore their spiritual lives in a healthy, inclusive way,” Dillard says.

"It

The Labyrinth at Mercy Center in Burlingame is a favorite place for quiet walking meditation.

“As

"Mercy Center is my sanctuary! Once through its doors, the worries of mod ern life disappear.

"All Mercy staff allow for this. Actually, as a guest, all staff are welcoming. It is wonderful to be greeted warmly in the lobby. Housekeeping keeps everything spot less. The Mercy kitchen deserves a couple gold stars. Obviously there are many, many individuals (both those who are seen and not seen) who work to make each retreat run so smoothly."

– Maryann S. Guest

The Dawning of a New Era for Mercy Center

“We have the reputation for providing a beautiful space for retreats, where you can come to explore your spiritual life, and that’s needed right now, especially in the wake of the pandemic,” says Mary Dillard, Director of Mercy Center. “To really ensure the sustainability of the Center, we need to have more funding in place.”

Seeking to raise $1.2 million in donations over the next 3 years, Mercy Center plans to expand its reach by creating professionally-produced webinars and podcasts. The campaign will help us to expand our team with new technology support staff and spiritual formation leaders. A donation of $125,000 will help design, build, and equip a recording studio. Grants of $1000-10,000 will contribute to our participant learning grant fund.

With many of the sisters now in their elderly years, Mercy Center plans to hire the next generation of caretakers to ensure the healing institution remains sustainable for the years ahead.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Mercy Center Burlingame

mercy-center.org

2300 Adeline Drive Burlingame, CA 94010 (650) 340-7474

Contact: Mary A. Dillard Mercy Center Burlingame Director (650) 340-7492 mdillard@sistersofmercy.org

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Mercy Center Burlingame

2300 Adeline Drive Burlingame, CA 94010

A Tangible, Actionable Vision of a World Beyond Plastic Pollution

PPC seeks to shift the culture around plastic pollution. Through its Flip the Script on Plastics initiative, PPC is working with the global entertainment industry to model real-life solutions to the plastic pollution crisis, both on-set and in storylines. “This project… educates writers and content creators so that they can tell real stories about plastic pollution and how plastic impacts human health, contributes to climate change, is the ‘new coal,’ and disproportionately impacts low-income, rural, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities,” Dianna Cohen, CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition, says.

By advocating for an end to plastic pollution via legislation, the arts, and industry, PPC is ensuring that the movement to eliminate plastic pollution reaches a wide swath of the public. Each year, Americans throw away more than 30 million tons of plastic, 99 percent of which is made from fossil fuels, contributing to climate change at every step – from production to disposal while breaking down into microplastics and releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

“Our focus has always been to engage people’s hearts, because once you realize how [plastic pollution] impacts all of us or may have contributed to health issues for someone that you love or for yourself or for your children, you can never look at it the same way,” Cohen says.

- Justin Hofman, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Justin Hofman captured this photo of a seahorse carrying a plastic cotton swab off the Indonesian island of Sumbawa in 2016. It’s just one of many sad and powerful images showing the impact of plastic pollution on our oceans and other natural places around the world.

Plastic is causing unprecedented damage to the earth, wildlife, and humanity. This year, researchers found microplastics in Antarctica’s snowfall and in the human bloodstream and placenta.

Since 2009, Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) has taken action to address this global planetary crisis. PPC is composed of over 1,200 organizations, businesses, and thought leaders in 75 countries working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact.

PPC’s advocacy work includes urging the U.S. Congress to pass the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act with requirements and incentives to reduce the production of single-use plastics. In California, PPC is advocating for the Attorney General and the Governor to lead the way by enforcing the state’s existing plastic bag law and by passing the California Plastic Waste Reduction Regulations Initiative.

PPC continues to iterate its Global Plastic Legislation Database, the primary resource for activists, civil society, public-interest lawyers, policymakers, and journalists. The database is a key tool for use by Coalition members and Break Free From Plastic movement partners’ in their global policy efforts, including advocating for a legally binding Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution currently being negotiated through the United Nations Environment Assembly.

Seahorse

PPC works with business members to scale up reusable and refillable systems to replace single-use plastic. Some non-toxic alternative materials to plastic include stainless steel cups and straws, cloth bags, bamboo utensils, glass, aluminum, and packaging innovations made from seaweed and mushrooms.

Help Plastic Pollution Coalition Reduce Plastic Pollution

Donations to Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) help the organization expand efforts to educate the public, empower individuals to take action, and hold elected officials and corporations accountable.

“Funding is used to support our programs to educate, connect, and advocate, including creating free tools, guides, and databases that empower people to make healthier choices and to better understand and act to stem this global planetary crisis,” CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition Dianna Cohen says.

Plastic Pollution Coalition

www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org 4401A Connecticut Ave. NW #143, Washington, DC 20008 (323) 936-3010

Contact: Julie Hudson Director of Development (323) 936-3010 x712 julie@plasticpollutioncoalition.org

Founder of The Last Plastic Straw and PPC’s Advocacy & Engagement Manager, Jackie Nuñez, speaking at the press conference introducing The Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Beagle Foundation

Elbaz Family Foundation

Haas-Teichen Foundation

Marisla Foundation

Mental Insight Foundation Plastic Solutions Fund

Zegar Family Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Earth Island Institute Memo: PPC 2150 Allston Way, Suite 460 Berkeley, CA 94704

By Credit Card: www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/givinglist

By DAF or Stock Transfer please contact donate@plasticpollutioncoalition.org for details

PPC’s Youth Ambassador, Xiye Bastida, marches for climate justice and to stop the petro chemical buildout. Plastic is made from fossil fuels and contributes to the climate crisis.

99% of plastics are made from fossil fuels. Despite the urgent need to cut our reliance on fossil fuels to stop climate change, the plastics and petrochemical industries plan to quadruple plastics production by 2050.

Family Well-being

Families are the foundational pillar of a stable and compassionate society. But here in this country, the bonds that tie families together are frayed and in need of leaders willing to provide support and services – small and large – that can ensure their well-being.

Philanthropy’s Opportunity to Leverage Trillions in Federal Spending Towards Equity

As told to Daniel Heimpel

In the summer of 2022, Don Howard, the President and CEO of e James Ir vine Foundation, penned an essay for e Chronicle of Philanthropy calling on the eld to ensure massive federal infrastructure spending was allocated with an eye to equity

Pointing to the $3.1 trillion pouring into the economy through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue plan, Howard called out the need to go beyond “repairing roads and bridges, upgrading water infrastructure, expanding broadband access, and building a national network of electric-vehicles,” but changing “who decides who builds and who bene ts.”

Before coming to Ir vine in 2012, Howard led Bridgespan’s San Francisco o ce, consulting with dozens of charitable foundations and nonpro ts. Since taking the helm of the $3.4 billion foundation, he has oriented its focus on low-income workers in California.

With tens of billions in federal dollars coming to the state, Howard sees this as an opportunity not to be missed.

Q. Why is it so damn important that philanthropy step up on infrastructure right now?

A. e resources of philanthropy and private foundations pale in comparison to the resources of state and federal governments. Philanthropy can leverage these public resources by helping communities prepare to deploy these dollars that help them achieve more inclusive and resilient economies, provide jobs for overlooked workers, and build wealth for minority businesses through procurement. Philanthropic support can also connect communities with federal and state agencies for more feedback loops and accountability

Here in California, there’s an increase in the appreciation of the need for workers to have a greater say in the economy. And low-wage workers are predominantly workers of color In many of the professions these workers are women, who are often quite vulnerable. I think Californians and the policy establishment have realized the importance of leveling the playing eld in the economy

We see the opportunity for inclusive economic development

planning, where di erent sectors, including grassroots and worker leaders, are setting the agenda and priorities for local economic development. ese leaders want to see an economy that o ers better jobs. ere’s also an opportunity to increase racial equity with these new resources. For example, if federal funds used for procurement to rebuild our infrastructure can build wealth for minority-owned enterprises, that is a huge opportunity to rectify some of the inequalities baked into the current system.

Q. You are calling out a very strategic and structural approach to fighting racial inequities. How have you brought that thinking to the Irvine Foundation?

A. We’ve organized our grantmaking toward a singular goal: ensuring that low-income California workers have the power to advance economically. Within that we have various initiatives to help advance that goal, focused on workforce, worker power-building, local economies, and statewide advocacy

Each of these have a set of core grantees to whom we pro vide exible grant funding. Flexible support allows institutions to do the work they need to do on their terms. a t’s one step

Another step is to ensure that the grantmaking processes are organized in ways that work for smaller institutions. Many of these institutions are led by people of color and have been historically undercapitalized because they’ve been excluded from the social networks of many grantmakers. So we need to have processes that can make smaller grants while also shedding the more onerous aspects of grant reporting for these grantees.

It’s also important for philanthropy sta and boards to represent the communities we’re trying to ser ve

Q. So you have this focused approach internally How do you bring that to bear when tr ying to guide billions in statewide infrastructure spending?

A. At one level you have on-the-ground support for communities to set their own agendas. And I think an important concept we’re tr ying to support is ‘community governance’ –not just a voice in setting the priorities but holding agencies accountable for achieving those priorities. is requires being on the ground, knowing and supporting local, grassroots organizations in ways that build their capacity and exibility

e second is the actual spending of resources. ere’s an opportunity to ensure equity in hiring and equity in procurement.

ose are two areas we’ve focused on. As we looked at jobs post-pandemic, we realized that skilled trades and infrastructure were going to be big areas of growth.

We realized philanthropy can help support outreach to communities to better position them to secure these jobs. For ex ample, we have a pilot project with the Community Coalition in Los Angeles – for them to lead outreach in South L.A. for pre-apprenticeships that can turn into apprenticeships in the unions for infrastructure jobs.

e third piece is feedback loops between communities and the public sector. You have too few folks in the federal and state agencies, and the money is coming too quickly for communities to develop shovel-worthy projects. And we must ensure that communities can say that a grant program isn’t working, so that the implementing agencies can adjust over time. I call it ‘adaptive policy making’ – so that yo u actually have the chance to adjust course during implementation. is is really important.

Philanthropy can also build government capacity by funding time-limited technical positions in key agencies. ere is tons of money, and the agencies need that expertise critical to get the workforce piece of the new funding programs right.

Q. Your solution is somewhat technocratic. We have all these pressing issues surrounding us. How do y ou keep people focused on something as transformative as what yo u’re suggesting –that’s also highly complex – but not apparently meeting the immediate needs?

A. One thing we’ve done is set a singular goal for our work, and to put a group of people at the center of that goal: lowwage workers.

And that means there are some things that we don’t participate in that are very urgent needs, and we have to acknowledge that we are not the best to do that. Otherwise, we would spread our resources thin, like peanut butter. And you would end up not bringing anything to scale.

I think other institutions often move to the next shiny thing and diminish their impact over time.

I don’t know if that’s technocratic or not. I think of it as focus. And I think there’s too little focus in the philanthropic sector.

Don speaking on an Aspen Institute panel in Washington, D.C., with nonprofit and labor leaders on May 26, 2022. [in photo: Ai-jen Poo, President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance; and Dorian Warren, Co-President, Community Chang e and Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Economic Security Project.] (photo by Laurence Genon)

Access to Diapers Should be a Right, Not a Privilege

"We have known Lisa and Help a Mother Out for over ten years now, and what a delight it has been to watch them grow from a scrappy kitchen table idea to an industry leader distributing over 12 million diapers a year.

"As parents, we know that while diapers are a small item, they make a huge impact on baby and family well-being. Thanks to the grassroots efforts by Help a Mother Out, more Bay Area families have the resources they need to keep their babies healthy and dry. We are proud to have been an early booster of such an impactful organization, and we look forward to many more years of doing good together. "

The San Francisco Bay Area is an exceptional place to live and raise a family. But it shouldn’t be just for families who can afford it.

“With inflation and high gas prices, increasingly more struggling families can’t afford diapers for their babies,” says Lisa Truong, executive director and founder of Help a Mother Out. “There seems to be a huge disconnect as the income divide is wider than ever.”

Help a Mother Out has been a lifeline for financially strapped families who are forced to choose between buying food, filling their cars with gas, or something as essential as buying diapers for their babies.

Diapers cost upwards of $100 a month and aren’t covered by most public assistance programs. If a family can’t afford diapers, a baby may spend extended periods of time in a soiled or even a re-used diaper, leading to serious health problems. Most childcare programs require a clean supply of diapers. That means families have to take time off work to provide childcare, impacting a family’s ability to become financially self-sufficient.

Truong founded Help a Mother Out (HAMO) in 2009, in the wake of the Great

Photo Credit: Kola Shoba (https://www.ksjpix.com/)

Recession, to help mothers who had fallen on hard times gain access to as many diapers as they needed. Today, across all programs in the Bay Area metropolitan region, HAMO serves over 6,000 families with diaper-age babies and toddlers every month.

Since the pandemic, HAMO has expanded from distributing diapers to providing additional essentials like baby formula, baby wipes, soap, lotion, hand sanitizer, and feminine hygiene products. HAMO is also expanding its San Francisco Diaper Bank to include families on Medi-Cal. Founded in 2015, the SF Diaper Bank is a partnership with the city of San Francisco,

Families are healthier and happier after receiving diapers from Help a Mother Out.

We recently worked with Public Profit to evaluate the impact of our programs. We want to thank First 5 Alameda County and the San Francisco Human Services Agency for their un derwriting and support of this independent evaluation.

Betsy Ellis Chung and Peter Chung

and is the nation’s first publicly funded diaper bank. Additionally, HAMO has developed a grassroots advocacy arm, which successfully helped to push the state to include, in its 2022 budget, a $30 million investment over three years to expand diaper banks statewide.

“This movement to expand access to diapers grows each year and is inspiring more people, municipalities, and communities to figure out ways to provide equitable access to diapers for families in need,” Truong says.

Long-time Help a Mother Out supporters

Help a Mother Out - diaper giveaway event in San Francisco

Every

$1 Donated Diapers a Baby for a Day

The cost of diapers has gone up 25-30% since the start of the pandemic, making it even harder for low-income families in the Bay Area to access them. Already families have to contend with astronomical rents and overall cost of living increases.

Karen is one of many mothers in the Bay Area who can’t afford to buy diapers for her baby girl. And the shame she feels as a result is at times overwhelming.

“A lot of people don’t understand how bad I feel when I don’t have enough money to buy a bag of diapers. I want to be able to provide for my daughter,” Karen says.

Even just $1 is enough for Help a Mother Out to provide one baby with enough diapers for a single day.

KEY SUPPORTERS

49ers Foundation

Adobe Airbnb Apple, Inc. Cisco Systems

EarthBaby - the Compostable Diaper Service

East Bay Community Foundation Eat.Learn.Play Foundation Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund Google, Inc.

Intuit Jewish Community Federation Marin Community Foundation Microsoft Netflix PayPal, Inc. Peninsula League Salesforce Foundation United Way of the Bay Area Women's Capital Collaborative of RSF Social Finance

The Many Ways to Give...

Help a Mother Out www.helpamotherout.org 101 Broadway, Suite 250 Oakland, CA 94607 (415) 508-3710

Contact: Director of Philanthropy development@helpamotherout.org (415) 508-3708

By Check: Help a Mother Out 101 Broadway Ste 250 Oakland, CA 94607

| www.thegivinglist.com |

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 83-2001085

By Credit Card: www.helpamotherout.org/donate

"I’m

a single mom of beautiful twin boys. I am also a recent widow. When I was laid off from my job one month after my husband's passing, I felt lost. I was hopeless. Then, two weeks ago, a friend introduced me to this program, and it offers so many services to me and my babies, including job assistance and enrollment in the diaper program. For the first time in a long time, I feel hope."

– “Valerie”

Help a Mother Out diaper bank client, Oakland

Photo Credit: Christie Hemm Klok (http://christiehemmklok.com)

“Anne”, Help a Mother Out diaper recipient – San Francisco

Photo Credit: Christie Hemm Klok (http://christiehemmklok.com)

The cost of diapers has gone up 2530% since the start of the pandemic. Your support matters – just $1 will diaper a baby for a full day.

RAFIKI COALITION FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS

#Black Mental Health Matters

did

love myself.

thought that to love myself I had to hurt myself until I learned that I am just killing my insides and running from my issues. I didn’t want to face my problems. I didn’t know who I was or what I liked. I had to slowly figure all that out. Rafiki supported me in taking care of myself, and nourishing my body, my mind, and spirit. This has made me happy, humble, and grateful."

– Miss Wanda Green Rafiki Community Member

Dr. Monique LeSarre wakes up in the mid dle of the night, over and over again, with the same thought: “I don’t want to fail anyone today.”

This is the pressure Dr. LeSarre feels as executive director of the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness, a center for holistic wellbeing focused on San Francisco’s shrinking and besieged African American community. Begun in 1986 during the AIDS crisis to support a community routinely underserved by the healthcare system, Rafiki set out to create an agency based on healing and support, not neglect and discrimination.

Through its network model, Rafiki offers access to services including acupuncture, counseling, nutrition, dance therapy, massage, meditation, and health screenings. The goal, as much as anything, is to support people as whole beings, not as statistics.

“We have sacred relationships with people in our village,” Dr. LeSarre says.

What does this mean day-to-day, especially for mental health?

Dr. LeSarre tells a story of a woman who had fostered dozens of children, then lost her

husband prior to COVID-19. Before dying, he urged her to keep looking out for youth who needed help. But after two strokes, she wasn’t sure she could continue. Rafiki helped her with acupuncture, massage, and physical therapy, and after regaining her health she decided to foster a boy. Rafiki set the family up with a therapist who worked with them for a number of years, and continues to do so on Zoom after COVID-19. Very recently, a judge signed off on an adoption.

The organization has grown under Dr. LeSarre’s leadership, earning the trust and funding of organizations like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Its budget has also expanded in the last five years from $1.7 to just under $7 million. But that’s still a drop in the bucket, especially when an increase in health, housing, and political pressures is pushing Rafiki’s own practitioners to the brink.

“Our own staff can’t even get regular mental health support through our health insurance,” Dr. LeSarre says plainly. “The systems are failing.”

Despite her own fear of failing, Dr. LeSarre is not giving up.

"I had a real prob lem with my drug addiction and I didn’t want to let it go because I

not

I

Rafiki nature hikes are an extremely popular component of our Wellness Programs bringing together community members ages four months to 80 years old!

Rafiki pops-up in communities to offer our Comple mentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) wellness services such as massage and acupuncture.

"Mental

From 2014 to 2019, the suicide rate among Black Americans increased by 30%, data shows." – From The New York Times 9/21/2022

"At a time when daily life has become a struggle for many of us, those with mental health challenges often face serious obstacles to getting care, especially for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness is the oasis for mental, physical, and cultural well-being, their person-centered, culturally-responsive services are the needed balm for individuals, families, and the community."

– Dr. Joy DeGruy

Nationally and internationally renowned psychologist, researcher, educator, bestselling author, and presenter

Community engagement during the "Be the Healing" Black Health Summit at Rafiki in April 2022.

Help Meet a Consuming Need

Rafiki offers free community mental health services to children, adults, and families.

With long waiting lists, underserved San Franciscans are being denied treatment during a moment of expanding need.

With suicide now the second leading cause of death among Black children and youth, the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness is looking for a transformational gift of $500,000 to hire additional culturally qualified therapists.

Rafiki’s long-term goal is to secure an endowment to provide consistent, stable mental health care to the community.

In addition, Rafiki is looking to acquire new laptops to coordinate care, and record and share data with clients and partners (about $10,000).

Community youth members engaging in Expressive Arts group therapy at Rafiki. This is one of multiple mental health group offerings.

Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness www.rafikicoalition.org

601 Cesar Chavez Street San Francisco, CA 94124 (415) 615-9945

Contact: Dr. Monique LeSarre Executive Director (415) 615-9945 mlesarre@rafikicoalition.org

KEY SUPPORTERS

Reverend Dr. Carolyn Scott Shannell Williams Shirley Strong

Dr. Mark Gaines

Lisa Williams Rachel Bryant Dr. Kim Rhoads

Dr. Joy DeGruy Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Department of Public Health UCSF

San Francisco AIDS Foundation Mental Health Services Act

SF Human Rights Commission YMCA

HOPE SF

Mayor's Office of Housing and Community development Bayview-Hunters Point 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic Collective Impact YCD Stupski Foundation Crankstart

Chan Zuckerberg Institute Sierra Health Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness

601 Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco, CA 94124

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-3098879

By Credit Card: rafikicoalition.org/support

health disparities are rampant in the United States, where Black patients are less likely to be treated for mental health conditions than are white patients, and Black patients are more frequently misdiagnosed.

Fostering Care

Despite the fact that more than 400,000

children are living in foster care in the U.S. today, their fates are too often overlooked. Giving young people support – who have invariably experienced trauma before and during life in the system – is both noble and critical work.

Evolving from ‘Checkbook Philanthropy’ to Community Collaboration

As told to Colleen Connolly

When Susan Hirsch started Hirsch Philanthropy Partners in San Francisco in 1999, the field of philanthropic advising was nascent.

As one of the nation’s first philanthropic advising firms, Hirsch set out to change the game from “checkbook philanthropy” to a much more collaborative experience where donors work with the community, and together they embark on a mission to create change. “People come to philanthropy at different times and for different reasons,” Hirsch says. “One of the important values for us is that we meet people where they are. Then we look for opportunities to motivate, educate, and create ideas.”

To date, Hirsch Philanthropy Partners has worked with over 2,400 community partners and directed more than $1.5 billion in donor funds to create a more equitable and uplifting world.

Q. What inspired you to begin Hirsch Philanthropy?

A. It really was one person – investment banker and philan thropist Warren Hellman [a past president of Lehman Brothers, Hellman was also the founder of San Francisco’s beloved music festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass] – who motivated me to think about what it means to do this work. Philanthropy at that time was very much dependent on giving to an individual, to people, to an issue. There wasn’t a lot of strategy to it, and it was all about records, reporting, big meetings, and thinking about outcomes.

We work very closely with donors to help identify their mis sion, vision, and values. We work with organizations in the community and identify what the needs are. Then we think about what the impact may be and develop programs based on the interests and needs of the community and our clients. Sometimes we work with existing nonprofit programs, and oth er times we will create our own.

Q. What’s a common misconception about philanthropic advising?

A. It is definitely far beyond writing checks. Our team brings deep knowledge and expertise across issues, nonprofits, and the public and private sectors, combined with commitment and passion for creating meaningful change. For some clients, we help align their philanthropic and political giving portfolios.

We’re not a distant consultant who has a conversation and then walks away. We do a lot of stirring the pot and thinking about what’s possible. We build relationships and partnerships – often between clients, communities, and the public sector –that go deeper than a transaction.

Q. What’s a project you are particularly proud of?

A. We worked with Bob, Bill, and John Fisher, the sons of the founders of The Gap, and they wanted to do something in San Francisco that would have meaning and impact. I went around and talked to a lot of people at nonprofits and in the public sector about what’s keeping them awake at night.

After looking at a whole array of issues, we landed on the

need for more playing fields in San Francisco. We created a public-private partnership with the city, and the first field we renovated was in a low-income neighborhood in The Mission. Ten years later, we had restored and expanded access to 21 fields across the city that provide over 90,000 additional hours of field time annually for local kids and families.

There was a family we talked with, and the mother was cry ing. She said, ‘People have talked to us for a long time and promised us something. This is actually happening.’ It’s very rare in philanthropy that you have a problem that you can iden tify and solve. There were challenges along the way and people questioned us and threw up roadblocks, but we overcame them and the city and communities greatly benefited.

Q. How has philanthropy changed over the years?

A. Our work has been about equity from the beginning, but today’s language around racism and structural change wasn’t as prevalent. DEI work was implicit, but not explicit. The growing understanding of how DEI intersects with all issues has been critical progress.

Over the last few years, the pandemic and racial uprising led by the Black Lives Matter movement have changed a lot. One of the things we did was act with urgency in a time of need, while con tinuing to invest in transformational structural change. Get mon ey out the door and trust those who are doing the work. There’s been a shift toward what we call community-centric grantmaking. We’re not just standing at the door and handing out checks, letting the donor tell communities what they should do. The future of philanthropy needs to build on what’s possible when philanthro pists and communities collaborate in true partnership.

Helping Foster Care Survivors

‘Weather the Storms’

– Mae Howard, LCSW, RPT A Home Within Volunteer Clinical Director

Anthony Pico was homeless, unemployed, and had aged out of the foster care system when he started seeing a therapist weekly from A Home Within.

Today, Pico is a nationally recognized keynote speaker on child welfare and a community engagement manager for a social care network that connects people with programs. He credits his therapist with helping him transition to “enjoying stability and happiness for the first time.”

“My therapist has been my anchor through this storm,” says Pico, a board member of A Home Within.

The national nonprofit was born nearly 30 years ago in San Francisco out of a recognition that foster youth need to have sustained, one-on-one weekly therapy sessions with a single licensed therapist, free from the limitations of insurance, cost, or the confusion of the public mental health care system. In addition to San Francisco, A Home Within maintains large chapters in Alameda County and Los Angeles.

“We’ve grown to 20 chapters in 11 states and

have served thousands of young people but to this day, our home and our heart is here in the Bay Area,” says Reed Connell, the nonprofit’s president and executive director.

For foster youth who often bounce around from place to place, the concept of “home” is fraught and changeable.

“We are establishing lasting relationships for young people that transcend the many challenges and changes they go through,” Connell says.

Clients voluntarily request therapy, express their preferences, and, once matched, partner with their therapist to determine the goals and duration of therapy.

A Home Within serves foster youth as young as three years old and former foster youth through middle age. Most A Home Within clients, however, are young adults who have aged out of the foster care system and are no longer eligible to receive services.

"Having the opportunity to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with an individual impacted by the foster care system has been among the most humbling and rewarding experiences of my career to date. It is truly a privilege to bear witness to her story as it unfolds organically and without the external pressures of time, cost, or access to care. "

- A Home Within volunteer

1,800 clients in California since its inception.

The average “match” between client and therapist lasts three years, though many last much longer. The nonprofit has served some

“A Home Within is helping people who have already survived a lifetime of rough waters build on that experience and see the strengths they have now, rather than the things they never had,” Pico says.

“B

eing part of the solution and making a commitment to one youth can have a valuable impact for an entire community.”

"I believe in A Home Within’s mission because I know that growth comes from healthy, sustained connections.”

- A Home Within volunteer

"A Home Within helped me to feel capable, loveable, and worthy." - A Home Within client

A Lifelong Ripple E ect

AHome

Within seeks $500,000 to grow its sta and quadruple the number of current and former foster youth it serves in California to 260 over the next year.

Their individual, relationship-based therapy not only helps their clients “heal and learn to thrive,” but also has a ripple effect that radiates throughout the community, says Connell.

“Our young people talk about having healthier relationships with family, friends, and partners,” Connell says.

Donations to A Home Within help the organization recruit and support more therapists around the country, and provide them with clinical supervision, training and continuing education, recognition, and celebration – all of which combine to sustain and honor the commitment each volunteer makes.

"My own experiences with healing were facilitated with a pro-bono therapist who helped me change my life. I want to keep reaching back and holding the door open for others." - A Home Within volunteer

A Home Within www.ahomewithin.org 195 41st Street, #11172 Oakland, CA 94611-9991 (415) 621-1749

"Helping this population feels meaningful, adds dimension to my perspective, and brings me joy to o er a person psychotherapy, who otherwise might not have the opportunity." - A Home Within volunteer

“For foster youth, whose access to mental health services is often shortterm, episodic, or compulsory, the voluntary long-term one-on-one therapy provided by A Home Within’s therapists can be transformative.

The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust has long supported A Home Within because it is one of the few organizations that matches foster youth with volunteer therapists who build long-term relationships with youth and commit to working with them for as long as they need. A Home Within is meeting a critical need that has only grown during the COVID pandemic and as mental health challenges continue to be among the top pandemic-related issues cited by youth and youth-serving organizations, A Home Within’s work is more important now than ever.”

– Elisabeth Cutler

Senior Program O cer, the May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

KEY SUPPORTERS

May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust Sarnat-Ho man Family Foundation In-N-Out Burger Foundation Kaiser Permanente MYDAR Foundation

Glass Half Full Foundation Mental Insight Foundation Aviv Foundation

Contact: Reed Connell Executive Director (510) 387-7518 rconnell@ahomewithin.org

The Louis and Harold Price Foundation

Renaissance Charitable Foundation

The Battery Foundation

CASA organizations throughout California

Foster Care Research Group at the University of San Francisco

11 California Family Foundations

Over 350 Individual Donors

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

A Home Within 195 41st Street, #11172 Oakland, CA 94611-9991

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# #94-3402610

By Credit Card: www.ahomewithin.org/donation

Since the start of the pandemic, A Home Within has seen a steady increase in referrals for young people seeking therapy. We need your help to expand our program to serve the over 100 people on our waitlist, and the dozens more who contact us every month.

Razing the Bar: Turning Institutions Into Family

– BK Mentee

At 18, after a youth spent in foster care, homeless shelters, and other county in stitutions, Dontae Lartigue rolled up his sleeves and got to work to reform the system, itself an institution that was meant to constitute family, but never could.

“I was tired of seeing my peers dying on the street, without the experience of folks taking the time to invest in them,” Lartigue, 32, who grew up in the Seven Trees neighborhood of San Jose, says.

Lartigue had a mentor, Ty Thompson, who believed in him, as did the community leaders he met as he advocated for a different kind of support for those entering adulthood with a similar history of trauma, poverty, and family separation. He joined Santa Clara County’s Joint Foster Youth Task Force, which brought policymakers, nonprofit leaders, and foster youth to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors in 2018. There, Lartigue learned how the systems of budgeting and policy worked – or didn’t.

The question he kept asking, over and over, was, “How do we create support that feels like family, and not like an institution?”

At 27, he co-founded Razing the Bar, a new kind of organization he hoped would answer that question.

Based in San Jose, Razing the Bar provides housing, basic needs, and mentorship to Silicon Valley youth aged 18-24. Its approach is anti-institutional: Young adults live in a house together, share meals, and work with mentors that invest several hours a week in the relationship. Most mentors have had similar life experiences, which means their advice on work, lifestyle, and especially mental health carries weight.

“We want to create support that sees youth as whole people, not merely as data points,” Lartigue says. And while the nonprofit does track traditional data for itself and partners, “the data we really care about is a different kind, like how are people doing on a self-esteem index? Or how has their self-image improved?”

That data is encouraging, with a positive correlation between those results and more traditional metrics of health and economic success, like steadiness of employment and educational attainment.

Razing the Bar is about to raise the bar, with new government funding making it possible to

triple the number of youth they can support. But living prices in San Jose are astronomical, and to do this work, Razing the Bar needs further financial support to make sure no one falls between the cracks.

“Our young people see themselves as a community, and that’s how we operate,” Lartigue says. At the end of the day, “we are a family.”

Mentee BK says, "Razing the Bar is providing the support I need to establish stability in my life. I’m now able to focus on my studies. I love to read, and I now have the resources and space to pursue my educational and intellectual goals." Razing the Bar homes like this allow every youth, not just mentee BK, to find stability.

A great evening having dinner with the Razing the Bar community. These dinners are where we plant seeds that allow our mentees to thrive. Come break bread with us at the next community dinner!

Razing the Bar Founder Dontae Lartigue doing the final walk through on the new transitional home for their new cohort of Mentees.

40% of all unhoused people under the age of 25 have spent time in the "Foster Care System" and roughly 25% formally emancipated out of this very system in Santa Clara County into homelessness within two years of leaving the system!

"I knew the impacts I made on youth were tied directly to my ongoing, genuine com mitment to their betterment. If I believed they could succeed, they would slowly start to be lieve the same. Based on our own relationship, Dontae and I knew this approach would be transformational."

–Ty Thompson Co-Founder

hanks brother, I love doing family things. You know kids like us didn't have these types of privilege," SR Says to his mentor and founder of Razing the Bar, Dontae Lar tigue, while enjoying a San Jose Barracudas game.

– SR Mentee

azing the Bar is uniquely led by people with lived experience; by foster youth using their experience surviving the current system to create better opportunities for those coming behind them. They're creating lifelong community and belonging for our youth, and driving systemic change from within."

-Chad Bojorquez, Board Chair

Stable Housing for Young People Exiting Foster Care

KEY SUPPORTERS

Chad Bojorquez Board Chair

Ty Thompson Co-Founder/Board Member

Allstar's Helping Kids

Razing

the Bar is set to receive a substantial, $1.6 million federal grant to support its work over two years. But there is a catch. This is a matching grant, and the San Jose-based nonprofit must raise 25% of the money, or $400,000, to secure it. Those funds will subsidize housing, furniture, support services, tuition, and professional development or training certificates.

Razing the Bar is also about to begin a capital campaign to purchase its own property, ensuring that changes in rent or other unexpected housing issues don’t throw the program, and the lives of its youth, into disarray.

Dontae Lartigue Co-Founder/Board Member

Jennifer Kelleher-Cloyd, JD Board Member

John Hogan Honorary Board Member Katherine Lartigue Co-Founder/Board Secretary Liz Carter Board Member

Stephanie Williams, PhD Board Member

Steve Winchell Board Member

Blue Shield of California Comerica

David & Lucile Packard Foundation

Destination: Home Excite Credit Union Junior League of San Jose Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor, Cindy Chavez The Links Incorporated, San Jose Chapter Verizon Foundation Zoom Cares Fund

Razing the Bar www.razingthebar.org

123 E. San Carlos St. #513 San Jose, CA 95112 (669) 295-2180

Contact: Dontae Lartigue CEO (408) 210-8898 dontae.lartigue@razingthebar.org

"T

"R

Health

Mind and body, our health is fundamental.

Whether on horseback, through the gift of improved vision, or care at the end of one’s life, each of the nonprofits highlighted here is making a significant contribution to our most fundamental need.

Time to Switch ‘Our Investment Thesis’?

As told to Holden Slattery

Michael Tubbs was just 26 when he was elected mayor of Stockton in 2016. Raised by a low-income, single mother, he became the youngest-ever mayor of a large American city. Under his leadership, Stockton was named an All-America City in 2017 and 2018 by the National Civic League.

Tubbs was named a fellow at MIT media lab, was a member of Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and he launched a groundbreaking Universal Basic Income program in Stockton that has led to pilot programs in cities across the nation, thanks to his Mayors for a Guaranteed Income coalition. Made up of mayors in cities from Seattle to Pittsburgh, they advocate for direct, recurring cash payments for those living in poverty. He is now the founder of a nonpro t he recently formed called End Poverty in California (EPIC). e organization’s mission is right in its name: end poverty in California.

Q. As mayor of Stockton, you pioneered the guaranteed income experiment. Where did that idea come from, and why did you make it a priority?

A. Poverty has always been an issue that’s personal to me. My lived experience – being born in Stockton, having a single mother, having an incarcerated father, and watching my mother work incredibly hard but still struggle – gave me a passion at an even earlier age for guring out how to make our economic system more fair.

When I became mayor and began trying to solve a myriad of issues in Stockton, it became very apparent that at the crux of what we were tr ying to solve was poverty. I wanted my administration to be an anti-poverty administration. rough research, I discovered guaranteed income as a way to create an income oor It’s funny looking back at it – now that we have 90 mayors who are part of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), we have pilots happening every day in cities – but I mar vel at how ve years ago, it was just me. But I was very steadfast, and I just felt that this is what I got elected to do. If I’m not going to do it, why would I be in o ce?

Q. Many people recognize you for that program, as well as your age – having been elected mayor at 26. What’s something else you’re proud of from your experience in public office?

A. I’m proud of the Stockton Scholars Program. I raised all

the money for it myself – over 20 million dollars – and for the next half decade, every single student who graduates from Stockton’s largest school district is guaranteed a four-year, twoyear, or trade school scholarship For me, that’s a real legacy project because it’s about opportunity.

Q. You’ve started a new organization to end poverty in California. Tell me more about your agenda and strateg y.

A. It’s a continuation of the wor k I started as mayor. California is a progressive state, but when you factor in cost of living it has the highest poverty rate in the countr y. And to me that’s unacceptable to have such extreme disparities.

e goal of End Pover ty in California (EPIC) is to do the work around the narrative, like what stories we’re telling about poverty, and also about policies. It’s also about building power in local communities because it’s not just about the state government. It’s county governments and local governments – from land use to policing to contracting – that are making decisions that impact economic development. It’s really about how we organize with our local leaders to make sure that our local governments are helping everyone enjoy prosperity

Q. How is your work applicable to Los Angeles?

A. Los Angeles is at this intersection of so many interesting things. On the narrative front, the creative world is created in L.A. at’s why L.A. is so central to this e or t. What are the stories we’re telling about poverty, about folks who are unhoused?

L.A. also has a lot of folks who are living paycheck to paycheck, a lot of folks who are in poverty, who are doing work we deem essential, doing work to power our economy L.A. is also ground zero for basic income. You have two of the largest pilots in the countr y in the City and County of L.A. So, you have folks who are looking at the problem and guring out how to x it.

Q. What can philanthropy and individual donors do to support these efforts?

A. Number one is narrative change. Help us invest in our narrative strategy to align the culture and art with public opinion and really change the conversation we’re having.

Number two, we’re spending a lot of time with local governments on pilots. People like to test ideas, so, for example, let’s test out how to make public bene ts more accessible to people. How do we create a tool that allo ws us in real time to track the progress the state and our local municipalities and counties are making on poverty?

Number three, we’re building our own internal capacity. Our team is expanding to bring on policy sta and community organizers, and support from donors can help make that possible.

Q. You have been appointed as a special advisor for economic mobility and opportunity by the Governor What are you trying to do in that role?

A. I’m trying to make sure that the administration’s e orts to end poverty are reaching local municipalities. Part of it is going to communities and saying what’s happening in the state government and how you can access it. And then making sure that there’s one persistently annoying, high-pitched, squeaky voice, saying: What about poverty?

Q. You have said we have everything we need to end poverty in California. What needs to happen now?

A. It’s a political question. It’s a power question. Do we want to end poverty in California? Because it’s going to cost something, but we’re already paying for it.

We pay for it in our criminal justice system. We pay for it in our hospital system. We pay for it in the loss of economic activity. We pay for it in premature death. So, the question is: Do we want to switch our investment thesis?

Q. If you are successful in your work, what will California look like a decade from now?

A. California will look like a place with opportunity for ever yone where ever yone can a ord to live. Ever yone has the opportunity to work. Ever yone has access to clean air and water. Ever yone’s able to contribute. Ever yone’s able to rest. Ever yone’s able to spend time with their family Ever yone has paid time o . Everyone has access to childcare. Ever yone has a living wage job or some sort of income oor that allows them to be fully human.

FACILITATED THERAPY

Changing Lives Through the Power of Horses, Hope, and Healing

Horses. Hope. Healing. NCEFT's mission is to help children, adults, and military Veterans with special needs reach beyond their boundaries through equine-assisted therapies, educa tion, and research.

Founded in 1971 and nestled on 12 acres in Woodside, the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy (NCEFT) is internationally recognized as a leader in equineassisted programs, providing life-changing and long-term healing for adults and children living with physical, cognitive, psychological, and behavioral disabilities.

“Partnering with horses to create a healing experience is uniquely powerful,” says Nancy Contro, NCEFT Executive Director. “Just grooming a horse can be regulating, bringing down blood pressure and reducing anxiety.”

NCEFT is the only Bay Area facility that offers such a breadth of equine-assisted programs, which include Therapy and Adaptive Riding & Horsemanship, as well as their newest area of programming, Mental Health and Resilience. Each program is designed to provide clients physical and emotional benefits and measurable outcomes.

Therapy is medically-prescribed Physical, Occupational, or Speech Therapy, incorporating the horses’ movement into treatment instead of being inside a clinic using

inanimate equipment. Clients diagnosed with physical, cognitive, and neuromuscular disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, down syndrome, or autism, sit astride horses in many positions. Therapy sessions enable clients to develop core strength, balance, and stability, all essential in functioning in their daily lives, says Contro.

Adaptive Riding & Horsemanship offers recreational horseback riding and horsemanship lessons adapted for the individual’s abilities.

Mental Health and Resilience programs help people dealing with trauma and other mental health concerns. Clients range from individuals with chronic illness such as cancer to first responders and military veterans to youth and adults experiencing anxiety and depression.

Contro recalls a breakthrough that happened in a workshop for adolescents. One teen with severe anxiety initially refused to get on the horse. With the other participants encouraging him to try, he finally said he would “sit on a horse, but that’s all.” After some calm breaths atop the horse, he quietly said, “Okay, let’s go.” His ride incorporated reading affirmations and experiencing the five senses on a sensory trail.

When it ended, he said it was the most fantastic experience he’d ever had and all of his peers were very excited for him.

“It’s tremendously powerful when the horses, the outdoor experience, and mindfulness all come together to create a safe and powerful experience for people,” says Contro.

“We’re doing life-changing work,” Contro adds. “We are improving the lives of people every single day.”

Program fees paid by clients only account for about 15% of NCEFT's annual budget. The remaining 85% –about $2 million – is raised through donations . Nearly 40% of all NCEFT clients receive some level of financial assistance.

You Can Make a Difference For Someone Living with a Disability

“As a healthcare provider, horseman, and NCEFT Board member, my experience came full circle by becoming a pa tient. I fractured my neck in a horse competition and was paralyzed. Af ter a lengthy stint in a rehab unit and months of in-clinic therapy, I started treatment at NCEFT. My discharge prognosis was wheelchair use for the remainder of my life. Today, I no longer use the wheelchair, walk with canes, and am an independent competitive horseman. I believe that the balance and core strength ening components of hippotherapy provided by NCEFT was (and is) the key reason I can walk today. NCEFT is truly where miracles happen. I encourage you to support NCEFT, so that others may achieve their potential and gain freedom from their limitations.”

– Dr.

Casey Terribilini

NCEFT Board Chair

NCEFT is about compassion, inclusiveness, and offering the highest level of service to those in need.

NCEFT delivers thousands of program sessions year-round, benefiting over 300 people each year. NCEFT never charges veterans or first responders for any services.

Your donations accomplish the following:

- $100,00 underwrites staff therapists, instructors, or barn staff

- $50,000 supplies horses with feed & bedding for 1 year

- $25,000 supports 1 year of Special Education School Programs

- $10,000 underwrites a Mental Health & Resilience Workshop

- $5,000 subsidizes 1 year of PT/OT financial assistance

- $2,500 supports a veteran or first responder for 8 weeks of Horsemanship Academy

- $1,000 underwrites the Spring Fling Riding Showcase

- $500 sends a client to Happy Trails Summer Camp

NCEFT www.nceft.org 880 Runnymede Road Woodside, CA 94062 650-851-2271

Contact: Cherie W. Hammer

NCEFT Development Director (650) 851-2271 ext. 7 development@nceft.org

“As a volunteer, I sidewalk in sessions and can see firsthand the beauty of the horses’ spirit and the connection with the clients. The skilled therapists and instructors, in conjunction with the experienced horse handlers, provide help and hope for the youth and adult clients. The horses are seasoned, patient, well-kept, and loved and enjoy the experience as much as the clients. The communication between the horse, the NCEFT team, and the clients is the pinnacle of success with NCEFT! The grounds are well kept, and experienced management promotes the organization’s success. I have seen clients make incredible progress and remain in awe of the miracles that happen. It is a thrill every time to see the magic between horse and human. NCEFT ROCKS!”

– Hermione NCEFT Volunteer

KEY SUPPORTERS

Atkinson Foundation

Barulich, Dugoni & Suttmann Law Group, Inc./Paul & Donna Barulich Bayhill Equine/Wayne Browning DVM Bear Gulch Foundation

Dr. Harvey J. Cohen

Fast Response Onsite Testing, Inc. Bill & Lee Ann Gilbert

Betsy Glikbarg

Hurlbut-Johnson Charitable Trusts Chris Iverson

Susan Lang & Robert Levenson

Ligara Farms

Lawrence E. Pelzner & Associates

Susan & Gary Martin

Palo Alto Community Foundation

Peninsula Health Care District

Sequoia Healthcare District

Spring Down Equestrian Center

Tack Gives Back

Dr. Casey and Sandra Terribilini

Anne Van Camp & Peter Van Vlasselaer

Rebekah & Dean Witter III

Woodlawn Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-2378104

By Credit Card: www.nceft.org

Maitri O ers a Safe Place for People to Recover After Gender-A rming Surgery

As Daniel prepared to have gender-affirming surgery, he knew he would need a safe place to heal for several weeks after the procedure. But in New Mexico, where he lived, there wasn’t a medical facility where he could afford to go to get around-the-clock care.

So, he hopped in his van and drove 900 miles to San Francisco’s Castro District to undergo his surgery and stay at Maitri Compassionate Care, a nonprofit, 15-bed residential facility offering 24-hour nursing care.

For 35 years, Maitri has been providing hospice care and medical services for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. Maitri was founded in 1987 by Zen monk Issan Dorsey, who opened the Hartford Street Zen Center to care for a homeless student dying of AIDS. As

the nature of the disease has changed, so has Maitri’s programming; originally a hospice, today most of their care is focused on respite and restorative care. They have now expanded that same level of care to people in need of pre- and post-operative care after genderaffirming surgery.

“Transgender health care is woefully underfunded even though transgender folks are the most underrepresented, most vulnerable population we serve,” says Natalie Yemenidjian, Maitri’s grants manager.

Through various supportive services – 24-hour nursing care, healthy meals, case management, trauma-informed groups – Maitri helps people regain their health after traumatic medical incidences and transition back into the community so that they can live independently for as long as possible.

For Daniel, Maitri was a lifesaver. After a previous surgery, Daniel was forced to recover in his van with nowhere to go. He washed up and cleaned the wounds in rest areas, risking infections and complications. He could have died.

After his most recent surgery, instead of living in his van, Daniel spent his recovery at Maitri, with 24-hour care, a private room, and three meals a day – all for less than the price of what a hotel room or Airbnb would cost.

“Transgender people deserve a much higher level of care than we’re providing right now and Maitri’s A rmation Center will ensure that no one has to transition alone,” says Tomas Moreno, Maitri’s development director.

For 35 years, Maitri has provided compassionate care to people with nowhere else to go. Our memorial books remain a lasting legacy for those we will never forget.

Matching Challenge

Maitri needs your support and thanks to a generous donor, all donations will be matched up to $100,000.

GENDER AFFIRMATION: In the last 20 years, dozens of transgender patients have not had to transition alone. Now, Maitri’s A rmation Center (MAC) will be an expansion of our care from one to three rooms dedicated to pre- and post-gender a rmation surgical care.

HOSPICE CARE: Maitri originally started as a hospice for people dying with HIV/ AIDS. Today, Maitri is the only residential care facility and hospice for people with disabling HIV/AIDS in San Francisco.

Because They Deserve It

Many transgender people like Daniel don’t have access to a ordable care after gender-a rming surgery and recover alone. Maitri Compassionate Care is expanding its medical facility from one room to three rooms dedicated to pre- and post-genderaffirmation surgical care. This new wing offering compassionate care will be known as Maitri Affirmation Center (MAC). Building MAC and sustaining the care staff and equipment for a year is expected to cost $1 million. Maitri needs support and will match all donations up to $100,000.

RESPITE CARE: The goal of respite care is to meet clients’ independent mental and physical health goals to the point where our social work case managers can help them transition to independence and autonomy in the community.

"I needed someone to grab onto me and they did. I was very sick – six months left to live. I didn't think I would make 40. And here I am, almost 70! I'm so grateful for Maitri's care. It's exactly what I needed."

– Bill N. Maitri Client

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Maitri Compassionate Care

401 Duboce Ave. San Francisco, CA 94117

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-3189198

By Credit Card: www.maitrisf.org

One Goal: Prevent Cancer

scientific

critical questions

Despite living with RUNX1 familial platelet disorder (RUNX1-FPD), Tim Babich lived a happy life with his wife, Monica. After the birth of their sons, their lives changed forever when they learned that Tim’s RUNX1 mutation had been passed down to one of their boys.

This diagnosis meant that their young son was at a greatly increased risk of developing blood cancer. For Tim and Monica Babich, this was unacceptable.

“When they found out that one of their two sons had this disease, they started doing research,” says Executive Director Dr. Katrin Ericson. “They quickly learned that there wasn’t a lot out there. There was very little research on this disease.”

With a one in two chance of developing a fatal blood cancer, those born with a RUNX1 mutation grow up knowing any day could be the day they receive devastating news. And with little to no medical research on the disease development and outcomes, families with this disease are stuck navigating life in the dark. Determined to change this for the better, Tim and Monica Babich founded the RUNX1 Research Program.

So much about the process of cancer development is still unclear. Why do only some people develop cancer? What protective

factors are present in those who do not develop cancer? How can this information be utilized to help prevent cancer?

By pursuing these questions, the RUNX1 Research Program is not only contributing to a better understanding of all cancers and positively changing the lives of those born with the RUNX1 mutation, they are also paving the way for an under-researched area of cancer prevention medicine.

“If you look at the dollars being spent on cancer research, 90% of it is going towards cancer therapeutics,” says Dr. Ericson.

“Instead, we’re focusing on an area of significant unmet need, one that has very few dollars and huge potential. Let’s identify the disease as early as possible, before full-blown cancer, through advanced early detection methods, and then let’s intervene. Let’s prevent it from turning into the malignant disease it will become.”

Through their cutting-edge research, genetic testing awareness initiatives, and patient advisory committee who help guide this new era of cancer prevention science, the RUNX1 Research Program is dedicated not only to patient empowerment but population empowerment. After all, no one is living with a 0% risk of developing cancer.

Currently, the only treatment available for RUNX1-FPD patients who develop blood cancer is a risky procedure called a stem cell transplant whereby their entire blood system is destroyed by chemotherapy and then replaced with healthy stem cells from another person. There are many possible complications that are fatal, so those who survive consider their transplant date their new “birthday” as their bodies are as vulnerable as a newborn for close to a year.

"R RP does things di erently –applying dollars to fill the biggest knowledge gaps that guide us in the right direction on our road to cancer prevention. We continuously evaluate the

landscape, identify the

that need to be answered, and design a program to fit the purpose."

Dr. Katrin Ericson President & Executive Director, RUNX1 Research Program

Would you still be smiling after having 29 vials of blood drawn? For RUNX1-FPD patient Brennan, this is just part of life. He, his father, and one of his brothers visit the NIH annually to check for any changes in their blood and bone marrow that might indicate early signs of blood cancer.

The predominant type of blood cancer RUNX1-FPD patients develop is acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the second deadliest of all blood cancers, and 72% of AML patients pass away within five years.

tools

CRISPR gene editing to uncover how cancer develops

Scientists are honing in on inflammation and working hard to determine exactly which inflammatory pathways are responsible for promoting cancer so that they can test anti-inflammatory treatments that could prevent cancer.

Stop Cancer in Its Tracks

As part of their mission to stop cancer in its tracks, all donations to the RUNX1 Research Program fund cancer prevention initiatives – a mission that has never been more important. Medical professionals predict that, in the next year, cancer will become the number one cause of death in the United States. Your donations to the RUNX1 Research Program will fund research at the forefront of cancer detection and intervention. By studying the earliest signs of cancer today, we can prevent a fatal diagnosis tomorrow.

Before we started the RUNX1 Research Program, we didn’t know of anyone else having RUNX1-FPD beyond our family - but we knew others like us were out there, waiting to be found. Over the past six years, we’ve had 287 patients join our community from across the world, and we know there are so many more. We are proud that RRP has granted over $10M to support 31 research projects towards finding a cure to benefit all our families.

– Monica Babich

RRP co-founder, wife and mother of patients

Can you imagine waking up every morning wondering if today is the day you find out you have blood cancer? Or discovering you’ve unknowingly passed a rare gene mutation on to your child that makes it 30 times more likely they’ll develop a fatal blood cancer in their lifetime? These issues are a reality for RUNX1-FPD patients due to a hereditary mutation in their RUNX1 gene.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Tim and Monica Babich Georgetta and Charles Blackburn Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation The Edward P. Evans Foundation Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Mark Foundation for Cancer Research NeoGenomics

The Many Ways to Give...

RUNX1 Research Program www.runx1-fpd.org 1482 E. Valley Rd., Suite 137 Santa Barbara, CA 93108 (805) 252-9906

Contact: Alex Gonzalez Director of Development (916) 212-0410 agonzalez@runx1-fpd.org

Dr. Ravi Majeti at Stanford University (standing) and his group are using cutting edge

including

in RUNX1-FPD.

Studying RUNX1-FPD o ers a rare opportunity for doctors to monitor how cancer develops in the blood in real time. This could help us discover how to detect cancer early, even before it's classified as full-blown cancer, and create cancer prevention interventions that could be applicable to all.

Eyeglasses: The Critical Difference for So Many Struggling Students

hen we sat down with the folks from Vision To Learn... we were just blown away at how many children didn't have access to glasses, and how the opportunity to have an eye exam, the follow-up from an eye exam, and the opportunity to get glasses would increase their opportunity to learn."

– Michelle Figlar Vice President, Heinz Endowments

Five-year-old Noah was almost legally blind, pressing his nose against the page to make sense of the words. Then a mobile eye clinic showed up at his kindergarten and or dered him his first pair of glasses, for free.

“When I didn’t have my glasses I couldn’t see with my scooter, and I always fell,” Noah says, beaming. “Now that I have my glasses, I can ride my scooter.”

Noah is among the nearly 500,000 kids across the nation with poor eyesight given a clear shot at the blackboard by Vision To Learn, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency dedicat ed to ensuring each child has the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life.

More than two million students across the country lack the glasses they need to suc ceed in school. Students with uncorrected vision problems often avoid reading, suffer headaches, and have trouble focusing in class because most learning in the first 12 years is visual.

Many end up failing grades, dropping out of school, or engaging in disruptive behavior. Up to 70 percent of juvenile offenders have issues related to uncorrected vision, the non profit reported.

Enter Vision To Learn, founded a decade ago with a single mobile eye clinic in Los Angeles and the vision of its founder: businessman and philanthropist Austin Beutner.

“Every child, every school, everywhere in the country should have the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life,” says Beutner.

Bringing the care involves rolling up in a spe cially designed mobile vision clinic. A licensed optometrist then provides eye exams for all stu dents who fail an initial screening. Kids who need glasses then choose among a variety of frames.

Two weeks later, Vision To Learn returns to hand them a free pair of prescription glasses.

If they’re lost or broken, they’re replaced free of charge.

Studies at UCLA and John Hopkins Univer sity show that the free eyeglasses from Vision To Learn have enabled kids with poor vision –especially those at the bottom of their classes – to do better in school.

Vision To Learn helps thousands of stu dents throughout the nine-county Bay Area and Sacramento. Nationally, they have 42 clinics that serve more than 750 underserved communities in 13 states and the District of Columbia. This year, the organization expects to give 100,000 pairs of prescription glasses to needy kids, an agency record.

“Time and time again, every day, when a child gets their glasses, they put them on their nose, and then there’s this huge smile on their face,” says Ann Hollister, Vision To Learn’s president.

For Noah, the new glasses were a godsend.

“He was actually two lines away from being legally blind,” his mother says, choking with emotion during a YouTube testimonial. “Amaz ing, just to see the growth that has happened since he’s gotten his glasses – he just seems like a happier child.”

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Vision To Learn was founded in Los Angeles in 2012 to ensure that every child in America has the glasses they need to succeed in school.

We serve kids in 13 states, Washington, D.C., and more than 750 communities, from Honolulu to Baltimore.

More than 2 million children in the U.S. do not have the glasses they need to see the board, read a book, or participate in class, and according to a study published in The Journal for the American Medical Association Ophthalmology by researchers from the Center for Research and Reform in Education and the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, children who received glasses did better in school and the impacts were greater than more costly measures such as lengthening the school day, providing computers, or creating charter schools

hen we're thinking of challenges related to attendance, academic interventions, behavior challenges, not being able to see, in my opinion, comes before all of those interventions and all of those supports."

– Chelsea Montgomery Executive Director, Office of Student Supports in Fulton County Schools

Each of our mobile clinics is serviced by a trained optician and a licensed optometrist, and is outfitted with the exact same equipment that you’d find in a eye doctor’s office.

No Kid Without the Glasses They Need

Vision To Learn is looking for the support it needs to give free eye glasses to every needy kid in America. That means it won’t stop until the two million kids who need glasses, have glasses.

“Our goal is to scale this so that no kid goes without the glasses they need to succeed in school,” says Ann Hol lister, Vision To Learn’s president. “We want to go wherever there is a need not being met.”

Vision To Learn

visiontolearn.org

12100 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1275 Los Angeles, CA 90025 (800) 485-9196

Contact: Damian Carroll National Director (310) 893-2336 damian@visiontolearn.org

We are committed to providing high quality eyecare and continue to strive to help as many kids as possible, because as our founder Austin Beutner is fond of saying, "Every day we help at least one child get glasses is a good day."

KEY SUPPORTERS

Beutner Family Foundation

Blue Meridian Partners

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Chan Zuckerberg Initiative OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation

San Francisco County County of San Mateo Sobrato Philanthropies

Warby Parker Warriors Community Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Vision To Learn

12100 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1275 Los Angeles, CA 90025

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 45-3457853

By Credit Card: visiontolearn.org/donate

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Providing Healthcare to the World’s Most Vulnerable Communities

he World Telehealth Initiative program is the most emerging, innovative, and helpful health program for patient care. Our physicians are exposed to very experienced consultants from different disciplines, sharing their knowledge with them and learning from them. Patients are also satisfied to receive specialist healthcare services from foreign doctors by telehealth device. They express their excitement and satisfaction to us.”

– Dr. Saiful

MBBS, MPH

Esperanza was 19 years old and living in Malawi when she faced a serious health crisis. While giving birth to her first child, she suffered an obstetric fistula, one of the most devastating childbirth injuries that requires intricate, advanced surgery to correct.

In the small southeastern country in Africa, many women in Malawi do not have access to the necessary care. They typically have few options, and like Esperanza, often become ostracized from society due to the incontinence and smell, and are forced to live out their lives, in pain, hidden away. According to the World Health Organization, more than two million women in Africa have suffered from obstetric fistulas.

Fortunately, Esperanza had two surgeries performed by a local surgeon who built her skills through the World Telehealth Initiative surgical mentorship program in Malawi. Through the program at Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, novice surgeons are mentored by surgical

experts from Baylor College of Medicine. The local surgeon is now able to perform almost all fistula repair surgeries independently and allow these women reentry into society. It is World Telehealth Initiative’s mission to provide sustained, quality healthcare to the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Telehealth technology enables World Telehealth Initiative’s volunteer medical specialists to deliver healthcare expertise to anywhere in the world that has internet. World Telehealth Initiative uses a global cloud-based network and telehealth devices donated by Teladoc Health, the world’s leading virtual care company. The devices are used to teach and mentor local providers diagnostic and surgical skills, which embed these skills into their communities for years to come.

The World Health Organization reports that 50 percent of the world’s population does not have access to essential healthcare services. World Telehealth Initiative is the

only humanitarian organization that utilizes telehealth to provide peer-to-peer training, surgical mentoring, clinical consults, and emergent high-acuity care to serve patients and strengthen health systems in underserved communities worldwide.

According to Co-founder and Executive Director Sharon Allen, access to healthcare should not be determined by where you were born. She adds that World Telehealth Initiative is working to transform global healthcare by providing quality medical expertise where and when it is needed.

As for Esperanza, she made a full recovery, thanks to her local doctor and World Telehealth Initiative. She became an ambassador for World Telehealth Initiative and, with a phone and bicycle, has been traveling to nearby towns letting other locals know about the program.

“T

Islam,

Physician and Clinical Coordinator at HOPE Field Hospital in the Rohingya refugee camp

World Telehealth Initiative cares for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by supporting HOPE Field Hospital in the refugee camp. The program provides medical expertise in various specialties to care for the Rohingya’s diverse health needs. Scheduled telehealth consultations enable specialized healthcare for patients and learning opportuni ties for local clinicians.

World Telehealth Initiative serves two children’s hospitals in Northern Argentina with high-acuity, emergent care. Spe cialists from Buenos Aires connect at a moment’s notice to pediatric hospitals in Salta and Santiago del Estero to avoid high-risk transfers of fragile children. They assist with diagnosis, care plan development, and guide complicated surgeries.

Help Get Healthcare to Where It’s Needed Most

Imagine you or your child has a medical emergency and you’re unable to get the necessary care or specialized treatment because the only doctor that can help is over 100 miles away and your only means of transportation is on foot.

World Telehealth Initiative strives to make quality medical care accessible to under-resourced communities, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, wherever, whenever it is needed. Technology makes this possible.

World Telehealth Initiative is seeking to raise $1.5 million so they can expand their services to more underserved communities. Currently they have 33 programs across the globe, in areas as diverse as Togo, Bhutan, and Kashmir. By the end of 2022, World Telehealth Initiative’s goal is to expand to 40 programs and, by the end of 2023, they hope to expand to 65 programs in order to double the number of patients served per month to 500.

support World Telehealth Initiative because of the care and hope they provide patients around the world without access to critical health needs. Not only do they provide quality health care for patients today through their telemedicine technology, WTI also builds the skills of local clinicians to serve future patients. I am proud to be part of their important work globally."

– Sheri Sobrato Brisson Social Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Mortality rates from oral cancer in West Africa are among the highest globally, in part because there are not enough dentists. World Telehealth Initiative’s program provides den tal students in Guinea with training from global dental experts. The students are now qualified dentists who provide quality dental care in West Africa.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Intel Pfizer

Teladoc Health Jan Campbell

Virgil Elings

Matt and Sheri Fay

Susan Hackwood

Jody Dolan Holehouse

Angel Iscovich Robert Skinner

Yulun and Susan Wang Ron Werft

The Many Ways to Give...

World Telehealth Initiative

www.worldtelehealthinitiative.org 7402 Hollister Avenue Goleta, CA 93117 (805) 886-8016

Contact: Erin Goldfarb Chief Development Officer (818) 687-3700 egoldfarb@worldtelehealthinitiative.org

By Check:

World Telehealth Initiative

7402 Hollister Avenue Goleta, CA 93117

By DAF : Tax ID# 82-4657634

Stock Transfer: Contact Erin Goldfarb

By Credit Card: worldtelehealthinitiative.org/donate

"I

World Telehealth Initiative’s volunteer medical specialists host virtual lectures and hands-on skills training for clinicians in Cambodia to build their capacity. Additionally, bedside con sultations are educational opportunities for local clinicians, while simultaneously providing specialized care for patients.

“8.6 million people in middle- and lowincome countries die annually from treatable conditions.”

Homelessness & Housing

The United States is riven by a crushing homelessness crisis. Many have tried and failed to make an impact, but these organizations are all –from different tacks – making a positive impact.

Systems- Change Provocateur

As told to Daniel Heimpel

The 2013 murder of an 8-year-old named Gabriel Fernandez at the hands of his mother and her partner, dominated the headlines of the Los Angeles Times and every other news outlet in the region.

Outraged, the County Board of Super visors empaneled a Blue Ribbon Commission to make recommendations to improve the county ’ s sprawling child welfare system. On e called on child-ser ving public agencies to partner with philanthropy

Philanthropy stepped up with one of its most prominent cheerleaders, Wendy Garen, the longtime President and CEO of e Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

In the near decade since, Garen, with partners across philanthropy and throughout the County’s Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, have collaborated and committed funds and ser vices. All this work leaves the county at an important point of in ection, with a cohered group of cross-sector partners ready to tackle ever bigger challenges. And importantly ser ves as a blueprint for other region’s looking to forge deep and lasting public-private partnerships.

Today, e Parsons Foundation, with Garen in the lead, in concert with key public and private partners, is aiming to end the foster care-to-homelessness pipeline in L.A. County A bold and achievable goal made possible because of the years of collective e ort spurred by that unforgettable 2013 tragedy.

Q. In 2014, you and a number of funders wrote a letter to the County supporting the Blue Ribbon Commission’s recommendations. How did this moment fertilize the blossoming of public-private partnerships in L.A. County?

A. In my time in philanthropy, which began in 1986, I had never obser ved us stepping up to use our voice rather than passively funding grants. We were compelled to express our values, motivated not just by the Blue Ribbon recommendations, but by the tragedy that led up to it.

All of us felt that they were our children, and we were failing them. And it was our personal responsibility to object to a system that was so damaging. So, we used our soft power, our informal authority, in a way that we’d never used it before.

Using our collective voices created a basis of collaboration around systems change, where instead of working as independent

funders, we were working as systems-change provocateurs. is was accomplished by working more closely with government.

Q. When is it appropriate for philanthropy to use that soft power?

A. I think we have to be careful, because with great wealth comes great responsibility. If you overuse any of your levers for change, you lose. Government players say, ‘Yeah, it’s just them talking again.’

Q. e Center for Strategic Partnerships is an agency within the L.A. County CEO’s Office, which matches philanthropy to govern ment initiatives. How has it accelerated reform in the county?

A. The Center creates those r elationships and pathways between the philanthropic and public sectors that make change happen.

When philanthropy focuses only on nonpro t organizations, we ’ re missing the primar y actor where the policy decisions and the execution happens. If you only focus on the nonpro ts, you’re missing out on who has the power and the control to actually make a di erence in children’s lives.

We don’t want to supplant government. We want to be the secret sauce, the innovation, the ability for them to do their jobs better And they embrace that! We can also help them do it faster. e reality is we must keep pressure up to create change because the bureaucracy is lumbering. It moves really slow. e children don’t have time to wait; they’ll be grown up. So, we must keep prodding in a helpful way to keep change happening.

Q. What lessons from the vibrant public-private work in Los An geles can be taken to the San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Barbara, and beyond?

A. Having a formal way to interact with the human services-facing functions of government is critically important.

One of the things that philanthropy can do is help those departments talk to each other, help smooth this problem of silos where government has lines of business that are not collaborative.

Because the reality behind each of these human welfare programs is that they’re often ser ving the same people, but not often talking to each other. And we know that if we can get these departments talking to each other about these clients, we can get better outcomes. We can do more coherent, knitted together activities to help move people out of poverty or out of danger and into better circumstances.

Q. Has this strateg y yielded any home runs?

A. Research is very clear that children in foster care do better if they’re placed with family.

But family members are often constrained nancially And if it’s a young child, the cost of childcare is a barrier

We knew that we had to step up with childcare vouchers to make placements with kin possible. It’s a simple solution, but it requires government money because it’s an ongoing need. We funded a pilot in collaboration with the Department of Children and Family Ser vices.

It was a success. And we used that experience with Sacramento, and they stepped up with money and on a statewide basis. In 2018, the state launched the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program with $17 million funding, which grew to more than $40 million in 2021, and now more than $80 million. So, we solved a problem

I believe that it’s an anti-racist activity to place children with the family. It’s not just talk, it’s action.

Q. With this public-private ecosystem in place, what is next for L.A. County’s child welfare system?

A. What’s next is to step up and be bold. Too many children who mature out of foster care become homeless. at’s more trauma and tragedy And we know young people need adults standing by them in their twenties.

We know that the homeless crisis is something that ever yone is riveted by. And there’s something quite hopeful about stepping up for these young people who have su ered trauma just by being in foster care.

So, we, with our partners across philanthropy and the public sector, are stepping up to end the foster care-to-homelessness pipeline.

We’re working through bold, innovative, and deep collaboration to create 2,000 units of housing in Los Angeles, because there are roughly one thousand young people a year who exit care without permanent connections to adults. We want to ser ve them, help them go to college, nd work that’s meaningful, all in a safe place to live where they can thrive.

We can do it. It’s harder than most things, but achievable. We have the levers to make this happen!

“All of us felt that they were our children, and we were failing them. And it was our personal responsibility to object to a system that was so damaging. So, we used our soft power, our informal authority, in a way that we’d never used it before.”

Giving San Francisco’s Unhoused Youth and Young Adults a Chance to Thrive

25years of unconditional support. 25 years of long-term relationships. 25 years of never kicking anyone out of their program.

“We’re one of the very few organizations that really has a stated mission of meeting people exactly where they are and not providing an obstacle course to get help,” says Executive Director Artavia Berry. “All you need to do is say hello and we can go have a meal together.”

What started as a grassroots movement with co-founders Rob Gitin and Taj Mustapha handing out supplies to unhoused people on the streets of San Francisco has grown into a holistic program that helps their young unhoused clients with whatever they need, no strings attached. That could be as simple as a sandwich given out on the street to more complex services, like mental health counseling or help with enrolling in school or regaining custody of a child.

“We ask, what kind of help do you want from

us? What kind of support would you like? We approach each person with compassion, we respect their individual journey, and we’ve found that has been most empowering to the people we work with.” Berry says.

At The Crossroads (ATC) serves individuals that are often disconnected from support that could make their lives healthier and more stable. They might have been kicked out of other programs, or maybe they distrust service providers, often for good reason. But once they get involved with At The Crossroads, many of them stick around. Over 70% of the clients ATC works with have been with them for three-plus years.

Take one young man who came to ATC at 18. It took five years for him to find housing as he cycled in and out of the carceral system, but finally, at 23, he had a home to call his own. Soon after, he was able to enroll in school. This momentum and added stability gave him the foundation to find full-time employment. This

– Anonymous

ATC Client of 8 years

is what success looks like at ATC.

“It’s not that when someone gets housed, they’re at the finish line,” says Program Director Demaree Miller. “The harder part is maintaining your housing and building through the hierarchy of needs until you get to self-actualization. Let’s figure out what we can do not just to help them succeed, but to thrive.”

“At The Crossroads has been the most consistent relationship I’ve had in my life in the past decade, without a doubt. Other organizations and providers have an agenda. ATC’s agenda is me. All they want to see is me healthy and happy, on my terms.”

Founded in 1987, At The Crossroads is celebrating its 25th anniversary! ATC has worked with over 8,000 people experiencing homelessness across San Francisco. Our services have expanded and evolved over the years, but they have always been centered around the needs of each individual client.

carefully ensures that all counselors center compassion and empathy in their interactions with clients, whether on outreach or in 1:1 sessions.

Help Young People Find Housing – and Thrive in Life

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, At The Crossroads is raising $25,000! This support will be earmarked for new client centered solutions and to expand to new outreach routes.

ATC clients shared their own ideas and solutions for homelessness during a special focus group this year. With your support, ATC will pilot two of their ideas in 2023, further centering client voices in their work.

As they walked their traditional routes, ATC Outreach Counselors noticed the pandemic displaced many people into different areas of the city. With your support, in 2023 ATC will explore and expand to new outreach routes.

Due to the many obstacles that come along with government funding, ATC focuses primarily on donors like you to support their unique approach. In fact, only 6% of their $1.2M budget comes from the government. This allows them to keep their services individualized and client centered; and also allows them to focus on partnering with community members like you to solve homelessness with compassion.

Your support this year will help build a Bay Area where our unhoused neighbors have the support they need to thrive.

At The Crossroads atthecrossroads.org

167 Jessie Street San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 487-0691

he Five Bridges Foundation provides fi nancial and consultative support to non profit organizations in the Bay Area who have a core mission of supporting TAY youth. We have partnered with ATC for over a decade as they have shown their unwavering commitment to helping the most vulnerable and at-risk segment of this population. Their commitment to meeting their clients 'where they are' and to truly cultivat ing personal connections that let the individuals know they are heard, valued, and have an advocate in their corner is, we believe, the first and most crucial step towards positive outcomes. We are excited and proud to continue our partnership in the years to come."

Contact: Artavia Berry Executive Director (415) 487-0691 ext. 101 artaviab@atthecrossroads.org

By bringing our services directly onto the streets, we cultivate long-term, uncondi tional relationships with young people who would otherwise be disconnected from consistent support.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Charlotte Johnson Whitney Wineroth Hai Truong

The Moca Foundation Five Bridges Foundation

Matthews Asia Bella Vista Foundation Hellman Foundation Full Circle Fund Illinois No. 3 Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

At The Crossroads

167 Jessie Street San Francisco, CA 94105

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 27-2603924

By Credit Card: atthecrossroads.org/donate

"T

– Chuck Kallgren President, Five Bridges Foundation

ATC

90% of our counseling clients achieved one or more of their individual goals, including improving their housing, addressing their mental health issues, and finding employment.

Tackling Poverty

"S imply put, this is the best idea I have ever seen for getting people housed, healthy, and back on their feet. Caritas Village, put forward by Catholic Charities, is the right project, in the right place, at the right time, and led by the right people. "

– Vic Trione

Amother passing you on the sidewalk. An elderly man waiting for the bus. A child playing soccer with your son or daughter. The teenager handing you your groceries. Homelessness and poverty permeate the areas all around us, yet often go unnoticed. This is a crisis that knows no boundaries in California.

As a multi-service provider, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa is uniquely positioned to address this crisis. Their team operates homelessness and housing programs, provides legal services to low-income immigrants, and assists individuals a ected by wildfires and other disasters across the North Bay. 2022 marks a new chapter for the nonprofit.

Completing a seven-year planning journey rallying unprecedented levels of community support, Catholic Charities recently opened Caritas Center, the most comprehensive e ort to address homelessness in the area’s history. It will include housing support services, a medical clinic, recuperative care, and an emergency family shelter. The neighboring Caritas Homes project will bring 128 units of a ordable and permanent housing to the area.

CEO Jennielynn Holmes stresses that the agency welcomes individuals from all walks of life to participate in services or serve with their team.

“We serve people of all cultures and beliefs. No matter what it takes, we make sure that people are not overcome by the pain poverty brings,” Holmes says. To help in this mission, the organization strives to foster community partnerships. “We can’t do it alone. We believe that pulling the tested expertise of our team with the partnership of our peers is the best way to solve our community’s toughest challenges. We build relationships with our community, local officials, and fellow nonprofits in a way that has served as a model for communities beyond Northern California.”

As an example of the role partnerships play, a few years ago, a member of the Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) was talking to a deaf man who had been on the streets for years. The man had been approached by other providers, but no one else could connect. He was shrouded in fear. HOST was able to work through the fear, build trust, and form a relationship.

Catholic Charities and its healthcare partners provided the man with urgent medical attention and support services at the drop-in center with access to hot showers, mail, and laundry services. Through this demonstration of love and collaboration, the man learned how to trust again. He found a home for the first time in 12 years. He is at peace.

Donor and Caritas Village Campaign Co-Chair

"After over a year of living out of our van, it was the greatest blessing we could ask for having a home for Christmas..."

According to the 2022 Sonoma County Point in Time Count, there was a 37% increase in veteran homelessness. Your gift will ensure we can turn the tide

Volunteers make our food distributions possible. This service puts food on the table and even provides a connection to other stability tools that rebuild lives.

Serving the Vulnerable

Tackling

poverty. Feeding the hungry. Counseling immigrants.

Catholic Charities provides service to nearly 20,000 people each year from all faiths and walks of life. Individuals are welcome from Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, and Humboldt counties.

Catholic Charities provides shelter, housing solutions, immigration legal services, financial counseling, and more. Your support will help transform lives right away and help all year long.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Tipping Point Community Day 1 Families Fund Ginnie and Pete Haas and the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund Vic and Karen Trione

"I am so grateful to reside in a safe and beautiful space, where I can help support the people I care so much about. I feel like I can make an impact every day."

– Robert Transitional Resident Program Participant

Kaiser Permanente Norma Person - in memory of Evert Person Providence

The Many Ways to Give...

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa srcharities.org

987 Airway Court Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Contact: Cyndi Yoxall Director of Development (707) 284-3845 cyoxall@srcharities.org

By Check:

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa

987 Airway Court Santa Rosa, CA 95403

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-2479393

By Credit Card: srcharities.org

Catholic Charities' Transitional Residency Program helps formerly homeless participants learn new skills, contribute to their community, and find stable housing.

on this growing issue.

Everyone Needs a Place to Call Home

Andrew S. rents an apartment in Novato as part of a permanent supportive housing program provided by Homeward Bound of Marin. He is one of 54 veterans served last year by the agency, which has set its sights on ending veteran homelessness in Marin County.

ince joining Homeward Bound of Marin’s board in 2008, I’ve witnessed the organization grow in ways that a family grows: with two eyes on its past, and two feet toward its future, giving honor to both. I became involved because homelessness is one of the world’s most crucial economic, social, and moral issues. I remain involved because Homeward Bound continues to provide unfaltering compassion, dedication, and innovation to ending homelessness, one key at a time.”

– Anita Gail Jones

Serving in the U.S. Army, Andrew learned to persevere through adversity. He later spent years living outdoors in a tiny shelter in the hills above Fairfax. Life grew harder as he suffered seizures, debilitating migraines, vision problems, and memory issues.

“I lived outside for so long, I didn’t know how to get it together,” Andrew says. But then he found Homeward Bound of Marin, a nonprofit that aims to end homelessness across Marin County.

Founded with backing from Marin County’s interfaith community in 1974, Homeward Bound of Marin began with one family shelter that

housed four families. Today it operates five shelter programs and 16 supportive housing programs that served 886 people (adults, families, seniors, and veterans) in the 2021-22 year.

Mary Kay Sweeney, the nonprofit’s co-CEO, says Homeward Bound is reaching for a goal called ‘functional zero.’ She describes it as “that point when someone falls into homelessness… It’s unusual, it’s brief, and it’s solvable.”

Veterans like Andrew make up seven percent of the adults served last year by Homeward Bound. Its programs offer counseling, case management, transportation, credit repair, and connections

to services like health care. Homeward Bound provides the county’s only year-round shelter for families, programs for people with persistent mental health challenges, and job training at Fresh Starts Culinary Academy.

At New Beginnings Center, an 80-bed shelter for adults, a partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, designates 12 beds for veterans and provides an onsite VA representative to assist with specialized housing support and benefits.

After a 20-year military career, Joyce became a live-in care provider for an elderly couple until they sold their home and moved. Left without resources, she turned to Homeward Bound of Marin, where specialized services for veterans helped her back on her feet and into an apartment of her own.

This month, they will break ground on their newest project: a 24-unit veterans housing community adjoining Homeward Bound’s main campus in Novato.

“What we’re trying to do as a community is work on subpopulations of people – the chronically homeless, the veterans, the families, transitional age youth,” Sweeney says. By collaborating with community partners to target different needs, she adds, “…we’ll eventually get to nobody homeless.”

Andrew now is settled into a cozy home in Novato. “It’s very quiet here,” he says. “And that’s exactly what I needed. It fits. It’s perfect… I have connection. This is a home.”

“S

Author, visual artist, and member of Homeward Bound’s Board of Directors

Marin County shares the #1 spot on a list of most expensive places to live, with an hourly wage of $61.50 required to afford an average twobedroom apartment.* The housing crisis is acute, yet 95% of people in supportive housing in Marin County remain housed. Supportive housing works for the whole community, saving trips to the emergency room and calls on first responders as well as allowing more people to thrive.

Homeward Bound of Marin last year served 252 parents and children, growing services to meet needs exacerbated by the pandemic. Cecilia G. and son Arnie lived at Homeward Bound’s Oma Village after being forced from their apartment by mold and finding nothing affordable. "Homeward Bound was a light in the dark for me,” she says.

Help Open Homes for Heroes

Building new apartments for 24 unhoused veterans in Novato is the latest campaign by Homeward Bound of Marin in its quest to end homelessness in Marin County.

That goal has never been more urgent, with the National Library of Medicine noting the average lifespan of an unhoused person is 17.5 years shorter than that of the general population.

“It just got to be real hard,” says Andrew, a veteran who received help from the organization. “If Homeward Bound wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t be here anymore.”

With a gift of $1,860, you can provide a month of accommodation and support for a veteran, senior, or other individual facing the crisis of homelessness.

Your gift of $25,000 helps complete the new housing for veterans, with naming rights for one of 24 apartments scheduled to open in 2024.

Your gift of $1,000,000 includes the exclusive opportunity to name the veterans building.

Homeward Bound of Marin hbofm.org

1385 N. Hamilton Parkway Novato, CA, 94949 (415) 382-3363

Contact: Corry Kanzenberg Development Director (415) 382-3363 ext. 216 ckanzenberg@hbofm.org

y mom worked three jobs and we often count ed on food banks. I always worked in restau rants since I was a teenager. Even when my husband and I had our own business, it helped stretch the budget with our kids. When the wildfires happened, everything shut down – my job disappeared. It was my chance to go to Fresh Starts Culinary Academy at Homeward Bound, which I knew about but I never had the time. Even though I had a lot of experience, there was so much that I gained. It was life-changing for me.”

KEY SUPPORTERS

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Built for Zero Catalyst Kitchens

Chef John Ash

Chef Heidi Krahling

Chef Joanne Weir County of Marin Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust Dominican Sisters of San Rafael Sammy Hagar

Harbor Point Charitable Foundation

The Hellman Foundation

The Jacques Pépin Foundation

Kiosk

Marin Charitable Marin Community Foundation

Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund

REDF

Tamalpais Pacific Valley Oak Wealth Management

The Many Ways to Give...

Check: Homeward Bound of Marin 1385 N. Hamilton Parkway Novato, CA, 94949

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 68-0011405

By Credit Card: hbofm.org/donate

“M

– Janin Harmon Executive Chef at Mary Isaak Center and 2018 graduate of Fresh Starts Culinary Academy

By

*”Out of Reach 2022,” National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Personalized Family-Centered Solutions to Homelessness

t was great having Ralitza to explain that not only was college an option for me, but that there were other options available, too. She was the biggest help when I was applying for college. It meant a lot to know that I have someone who believes in me.

"Raphael House also helped my family get through the first three months of the pandemic when my mom was sick. It was a huge weight o her shoulders getting financial help to pay for the water bill, the electric bill, and the rent. Having that extra support was a humongous help."

– Yaiza P. Former Tutoring Student

Support doesn’t end when you leave Raphael House, a long-term family shelter with a legacy of breaking barriers in Lower Nob Hill. Founded in 1971, Raphael House was among the first to keep families experiencing homelessness together instead of splitting them apart, a principle that remains central to their mission today.

“We develop personal relationships with families and see ourselves as a long-view organization. Families have access to all the services that they receive in the shelter long after they move out,” says Marc Slater, executive director of Raphael House.

As Slater says, “Raphael House is more than just a shelter, it’s a continuum of support.”

It’s those strong relationships built in trust that compelled Janice, who first came to Raphael House over 10 years ago, to call when she found herself once again facing housing instability. Through their growing Financial Assistance for Family Stability service, Raphael House provided a security deposit and first month’s rent to move Janice and her family into a safe, a ordable home.

Privately funded, Raphael House is able to determine how best to help each family, bypassing systemic barriers to services. Some families require a few months of financial aid

to pay rent while others have more substantial needs. “Our private funding model gives us flexibility to pivot quickly and to create the best solutions for each individual family,” notes Slater.

Challenges are par for the course in this line of work, however, as rising inflation and a lack of a ordable housing options are contributing to longer stays in shelters and increased financial needs.

“Our families’ stays in our shelter are flexible and tailored to their individual needs. While they are with us, they don’t have to worry about where they’ll sleep or where their next meal is coming from,” explains Nora Niesen, director of development. “They can just focus on doing the work to move forward in their lives.”

One single mom staying at Raphael House recently enrolled in a Medical Assisting Certificate program knowing that she had the time to focus on her education and pursue her career goals. When basic needs are no longer of utmost concern, families are able to look ahead and plan beyond the next day.

“For many families, it’s the first opportunity they’ve had to consider a di erent future,” Slater shares.

And as parents work toward housing, career,

and financial stability, children participate in after-school tutoring and academic enrichment programs designed to bolster confidence and ensure continued success in school.

Family by family, Raphael House is breaking the cycle of homelessness.

“I

Be a Part of This Small but Mighty Community Fighting Homelessness

Over the next year, Raphael House is seeking $250,000 to increase its shelter and operational capacity in response to rising levels of need. Key to this growth are sustainable investments that help fund programs aimed at preventing family homelessness and moving families into stable housing.

• The Financial Assistance for Family Stability service directs critical funds to families to help pay essential bills and rent.

• The Academic Enrichment and Children’s Programs target children’s academic success, health, and development to break the cycle of poverty.

None of this continuum of intensive wrap-around support would be possible without a compassionate community working together. “We might be small but we’re mighty and we do a lot with a little,” Nora Niesen, director of development, says. “Everyone can make an impact… Raphael House sta , volunteers, donors –everyone is part of this extended family to help the families that we serve.”

“When I got to Raphael House, it just felt like a relief, like here we go, we’re on to the next step. Coming to Raphael House was the best thing I did because not only did your sta help us find housing, but they fed us. There were times before when we didn’t know where our next meal was going to come from. You always find a way to help a family regardless of circumstances.”

– Maisha L. Former Resident

KEY SUPPORTERS

Thomas B. Miller, Board Chair

Laura Larsen, Board Vice-Chair

Charlie McEachron, Board Treasurer

Tom Poser, Board Secretary

Elizabeth Dollar, Director

Yannis Dosios, Director

Ralph Drybrough, Director

Orlando Harris, Director

Bethany Johnson-Kerner, Director

Amanda King, Director

Heather Sager, Director

Karl Werwath, Director Bank of the West Benificus Foundation

Calvary Presbyterian Church Children of Shelters

Cigna

Dodge & Cox

Priscilla and Keith Geeslin

Barbara Hager

Maverick Capital Foundation

Jon and Danielle Mewes

Qatalyst Partners George H. Sandy Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

Raphael House www.raphaelhouse.org 1065 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 345-7200

Contact: Nora Niesen Director of Development (415) 345-7266 nniesen@raphaelhouse.org

By Check:

Raphael House of San Francisco, Inc.

1065 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94109

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-3141608

By Credit Card: raphaelhouse.org/give/

Since 1971, Raphael House has helped over 20,000 people, and 97% of Raphael House families move into and maintain stable housing.

In this past year, Raphael House served 289 children with supportive programming that will help break the cycle of family homelessness. We need your support now to continue serving the most vulnerable among us, guiding them on a path to a brighter future!

Turntable Won’t Stop Until Young People Find Their Safe Place

Robynne Jeisman simply wants young peo ple to find a safe place where they feel like they truly belong. As the executive direc tor of recently launched Turntable, that’s what Jeisman gets to do every day.

The San Francisco Bay Area-based nonprofit provides housing and support for youth who have experienced juvenile justice, sexual exploitation, homelessness, and those at-risk of human trafficking.

The name “Turntable” itself has significance. DJs often use two turntables for mixing

songs together to create a new sound and, as Jeisman says, they feel strongly that growth and transformation can happen by working alongside the youth they help.

“The aim is that wherever they’re at, they’ll ultimately feel safe in their mind, in their body, in their bedroom, in their house, in their neighborhood, in their city, and in their world,” Jeisman says.

Jeisman, who has over 20 years of experience working with at-risk youth in both her native country Australia and the U.S., “feels a calling” to be working with young people aged 12 to 25.

When it comes to housing needs, Turntable coordinates community-based support in order to make an assessment on the “risks, needs, and goals” of the youth Turntable seeks to serve.

“We provide pathways… and once we have established a safe place for them to live and we integrate that in with the community-based support, then I begin to assess if they need a mentor or other support,” Jeisman says.

Australian Founder & Executive Director Robynne Jeisman has worked with high-risk adolescents for over 23 years in Australia, USA, and Thailand. Youth experiencing homelessness, juvenile justice, and sexual exploitation/trafficking are close to her heart. Youth need a place to call home, and a sense of belonging in our ever-changing world; the reason Turntable was established.

One of Turntable’s most impactful cases, according to Jeisman, was when a young man got the keys to his own place. “Now, he’s got all these dreams for the future that he didn’t have before, just [that] simple fact … was enough for his eyes to lift and start to dream,” she said.

– AJ Young Person

From teaching youth how to budget and optimize their time efficiently; stressing the importance of emotional intelligence and effective communication; helping young men and women with resumé writing and job searches; also making the necessary resources available to young and single parents, Turntable’s impact knows no bounds.

"I don't think I would have found a place of my own as quickly, without the help of Turntable. Everyone at Turntable are real committed to helping people find their own place.

"I get better rest… I don't have to worry about having to go diffuse a situation because they can't handle it on their own.”

Mentoring is "coming alongside" to support young people. Supported by our Volunteer Coordinator, people from the community journey with a young person. Mentoring is a great way to make a differ ence in the life of a young person, as many have not had consistent, reliable adults in their life.

Helping Provide Stability for At-Risk Youth

Turntable, which launched during the pandemic in 2020, is small but mighty.

Executive Director Robynne Jeisman has a vision to grow Turntable in the years to come. Towards that end, Turntable is seeking to raise $250,000 to expand their “Lead Roommate & Independent Housing” program in order to provide more housing and support services to youth ages 1825. This program offers youth communal housing and prepares them to successfully transition to living on their own.

With your help, Turntable hopes to set up their first Lead Roommate housing in Bayview, San Francisco in 2023 to help accommodate the young people who are referred to them that they currently do not have the capacity to take on.

Jeisman also hopes to add two full-time case managers and an on-site therapist in order for underserved youth to get “the full support… that we often take for granted.”

All funds up to $2,500 will be matched as part of The Giving List’s novel matching program.

Turntable www.turntablehousing.com 4646 3rd Street San Francisco, CA, 94124 (415) 779-0841

Contact: Robynne Jeisman Founder & Executive Director (415) 779-0841 robynne@turntablehousing.com

Our Gift Catalogue is a unique way for people to engage in a direct way and is available on our website year-round, but promoted more actively during the Hol iday season. Everything from Welcome Packs, Mentor Sessions, Wilderness Sessions, and more! Direct support like this to Turntable’s programs makes an impact at every level.

KEY SUPPORTERS

San Francisco Foundation Australian Construction Company Citizens SF Leong Films

A & J Troth Ministry Pacific Yvonne Padilla Chew K & J Montague

Mission Blue Coffee & Gifts M & B Mahan

The Many Ways to Give...

One Community Church

J & L Modica

V & E Holmes T & A Nichols

Martha Sihner Sanctuary Church SF Kelly Dowling Naomi Mbakwe Admin Hub N & M Ryan

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 83-4313739

By Credit Card: turntablehousing.com/donate

| www.thegivinglist.com |

2/3 of young people coming out of the foster care system are victims of child trafficking in the United States. The push and pull factors of why youth are impacted by sexual exploitation and the juvenile justice system are why Turntable needs to immediately raise more funds. We need to make sure we increase the number of our Lead Roommate houses so that young people can stop the cycle of recidivism and exploitation risks.

Public Square

“One of the objects of a newspaper is to understand popular feeling and to give expression to it; another is to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments; and the third is fearlessly to expose popular defects.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

With a Musician’s Ear, Armando Castellano Steps Aside and Listens

As told to Daniel Heimpel

As one of the only Latino students in a big elementar y school, a young Armando Castellano was put in a challenging situation.

“It was right after the laws had changed, and they were allowing people of color to move into these neighborhoods,” Castellano says. “I experienced an incredible amount of racism. It really chipped at my self-esteem. But somehow in music class I felt more at ease.”

His experience at school encouraged a lifelong passion for classical music. But it also illustrated the reality of living within the antiquated, racist hierarchies of our country.

As Castellano progressed from a edgling musician to a professional French horn player, he would continue to see the claws of racism and white supremacy around him. From his philanthropic work in grant funding to his performance in orchestras, the deafening narrative of white power was ever present.

In his remarks, Castellano discusses the implications of working within white-dominant spaces and re ects on the re sponsibility he holds as a high-visibility, high-net-worth person of color.

Q. I know you are a part of the Castellano Family Foundation, which distributes funds to Latino-led initiatives. How did you and your family come into philanthropy?

A. My parents were lifetime social change activists and organizers in the Latino community in San Jose. ey won the lotter y 22 years ago and started the foundation to fund the nonpro ts they had always supported previously but could now support on a di erent level.

Q. You are also a founding board member of Donors of Color Why is it important to you to be involved in this type of work?

A. For me what’s important is empowering the communities that I want to ser ve. But it’s not really about me. I feel like I live in a bubble because of my wealth, so if you ask about why I do what I do, it is about ser ving others.

Donors of Color is important to the world because philanthropy and the way we talk about wealth, as well as the way it has too often been distributed, works through the lens of

white Eu rocentricity. e people in powe r, the people having conversations control the narrative. So, it is important to have a national organization of philanthropists and highnet-worth individuals that look and sound like me and care about similar things as me to come together and think about how we as a BIPOC community want to do philanthropy and change the narrative.

Q. You started studying music at San Jose City College in 1988, which means you have been involved in the music world for over 34 years. Since you started, a lot has changed in our country, a lot has changed in education. How would you say the landscape of classical music has changed? And how would you say this is related to our evolving conversation on racial equity?

A. I used to say philanthropy and classical music are races to

see who can be the least woke. It is slowly, slowly changing. But again, the narratives are controlled – especially in classical music – by white folks, so that’s where the funding is going.

I am the only Latino-advocating organization in classical music in the United States. We’re tiny. We’re nothing. We’re the only one. at’s why just over 1% of professional musicians in orchestras are Latino

In California, over 50% of the students in public school are Latinos. And yet, when I play in a professional orchestra almost 100% of the time, I’m the only one. It shows something that has not changed since I was 17, when I rst played in an orchestra and I was the only one. ere are places that are getting better For example, I do a lot of public speaking both in philanthropy and classical music. I n 2020, for the rst time, I used the word “racism” at a conference for classical music. I have been saying racism since I was in college, but I was nally allowed to say that and not have to hide behind the cloak of diversity or social change.

Q. What do you find rewarding about your work?

A. Getting to see change at the highest level when systems are in uenced. What I learned as a family member trustee with a corpus is that I wield a lot of po wer, as opposed to being a sta person. e things I say are heard and trusted by other highnet-worth individuals di erently.

Because I am carr ying a racial equity narrative, I feel really empowered and honored that I am asked to talk and that I am heard when I speak. But there is a sadness there because there are so many people who speak much more eloquently than me on this issue. It is just that I’m heard because I have money Sometimes I’ll bring someone along who I can share that

power with. e p ower of wealth – of having a corpus and a foundation.

Sitting inside my home in Menlo Park, I’m not able to solve any problems really I don’t live a life where I am seeing struggle near me. Instead, I ask the folks that are experiencing that problem what their ideas for solutions are and use my power to push their narrative for ward, not my own. at’s really important to me. It’s not about me and my solutions. It’s about the community that I’m ser ving, what they say the solutions should be. at’s why we started the LatinXCEL fund. We listened and we were empowered by asking: Where do community members think the money should go? e LatinXCEL fund is a manifestation of what our grantees say should be done to ser ve Latino-led nonpro ts.

Q. A big theme in your work seems to be the importance of the individual. What would you say on the issue of responsibility? Do you feel you have a responsibility to do this work?

A. It’s a moral obligation. It is my obligation as a high-networth individual, as a person of the global majority to carr y that narrative and share that power. More than an obligation, it’s a moral imperative to do it. at’s how it feels for me. If I don’t use the privilege that I have and what my parents have given me, what they have built, it feels immoral.

“In California, over 50% of the students in public school are Latinos. And yet, when I play in a professional orchestra almost 100% of the time, I’m the only one. It shows something that has not changed since I was 17, when I first played in an orchestra and I was the only one.”

Battery Powered Makes Collective Giving Easier (and More Fun) for Bay Area Philanthropists

“Battery Powered creates a space for a diverse community to come together and really learn deeply about the issues that are all around us. We may not always agree but by learning together we can come together to make really meaningful grants to a portfolio of organizations.”

- SARA LOMELIN Chief Executive Officer of Philanthropy Together

When tech entrepreneurs Michael and Xochi Birch launched a pri vate social club, dubbed The Bat tery, in San Francisco almost a decade ago, they were committed to adding a philanthrop ic component.

The couple had not come from means but had sold their social networking site Bebo to AOL for $850 million in 2008. Finding the right organizations to donate to was dizzying – and they wanted to help others navigate the process as well. So, after a year of research and consulting, they launched

the club’s nonprofit giving circle – Battery Powered – in 2014.

“It’s a community of people who have pooled their resources and then jointly learn about issues they care about in order to make meaningful grants to amazing organizations –and usually grants much larger than they can give on their own,” says Colleen Gregerson, the nonprofit’s executive director.

Battery Powered, which has about 550 members, has doled out more than $28 mil lion dollars in grants so far since its first gifts in December 2014.

Most members donate $4,000 a year to participate in the club’s giving circle though some give even more. (It generally costs around $2,800 a year to join the club, which hosts nightly enter tainment, lectures, and work shops at a former marble facto ry on Battery Street in historic Jackson Square.) Organizations receive grants averaging around $200,000.

Giving circles like Battery Powered get philanthropic dol lars off of the sidelines and into the communities most in need. It’s also more efficient – and more fun – when people do it together, Gregerson says. Moreover, they allow grantees significant flexibil ity in spending by making gener al support grants.

While there are now more than two thousand such giving

- COLLEEN GREGERSON Executive Director,

circles around the country, few if any others are attached to a social club, she says.

“It makes sense to bring philanthropy into a space where community is already gathering, so we’d love to see that grow with social clubs across the country,” Gregerson says.

Battery Powered members select three themes a year that pose challenges in the Bay Area and beyond, such as homelessness and housing, early childhood education, and up lifting youth. Members are privy to research and hear from experts about the root causes, which often surprise them, Gregerson says.

For homelessness, for example, many point to the prevalence of mental health and sub stance abuse as the cause because that is what they encounter on the streets. But in reality, the lack of housing and particularly affordable housing in California is the primary driver.

“We’re taking time to learn about these is sues together so we can all be more informed citizens,” Gregerson says.

Suzanne E. Siskel, a Battery Powered mem ber since early 2021, attended one of the nonprofit’s “expert nights” on global poverty following a friend’s invitation. The veteran

philanthropist was pleasantly surprised to see relatively prosperous people taking the time to think about how best to address complex societal issues. When Siskel was invited to The Battery for lunch by another friend several years later, she was struck by how open and welcoming the club’s members were.

“I joined The Battery club because of Bat tery Powered,” says Siskel, executive vice pres ident and chief operating officer at The Asia Foundation. “It’s also a way to meet people outside of my own office and profession... but who have a commitment to philanthrop ic work that is meaningful and well-thought out.”

RUNWAY, a nonprofit that builds commu nity wealth for Black and other communities of color through early-stage funding, business support, and innovative financial partner ships, recently received nearly $200,000 in multi-year funding from Battery Powered. The donation came as RUNWAY was prepar ing to co-launch the REAL People’s Fund, a community-controlled loan pool to invest in small businesses that anchor economic oppor tunity in their neighborhoods.

The general operations funding from Bat tery Powered offered them the flexibility to respond to the real-time needs of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) busi nesses.

“We were able to be really innovative be cause we had the flexibility of a funder that isn’t holding us to specific outcomes,” says Nina Robinson, RUNWAY’s fund director.

That enabled businesses like Something Better Foods, a vegan meat company, to have the capital it needed to expand into local school districts, providing K-12 students with healthier and tastier options, Robinson says.

In the coming year, Battery Powered is ex panding volunteer opportunities for its mem bers. The nonprofit is partnering with the Full Circle Fund to tap pro-bono experts among their members to help organizations selected for a Battery Powered grant accelerate or com plete projects that are of importance to those organizations.

They’re also experimenting with fami ly-friendly pop-up events, essentially 90-min ute giving circles open to anyone who wants to give – whether it’s $50 or $5,000 – to an organization chosen by the participants in the community.

“Our mission is to activate generosity, not just through being a part of our giving circle,” Gregerson says. “If we can introduce you to an organization and you then go on and support or volunteer for or sit on the board of [that organization] – then mission accomplished for us as well.”

Now that is fun with a purpose.

“S

Battery Powered

Supporting Local Journalism and Empowering Our Collective Social Health

am so thankful for the San Francisco Public Press, because it takes seriously its mandate to shine light on under-cov ered stories, including providing much-needed context, perspective, and information to help in form the public. This type of journalism is critically needed to ensure a robust and healthy democracy. I am honored that such a quality outlet would include my podcast, 'News in Context,' on KSFP, so that I can do my part to support its important, consequential, and essential mission."

– Gina Baleria

The San Francisco Public Press wants you to know two things: the truth be hind the major problems afflicting the Bay Area, and the role that journalism can play in fixing them.

Created by local journalists in 2008 as news papers around the country were laying off re porters or closing their doors, the San Francisco Public Press produces print, digital, and radio journalism about urgent civic issues, especial ly those affecting underserved communities. Their exposés about homelessness, data priva cy, and the environment have been reprinted in

marquee publications like ProPublica and the Los Angeles Times. The organization is also reaching new audiences through its weekly “Civic” radio show and podcast.

This year, staff writer Yesica Prado received a prestigious Ida B. Wells Fellowship from Type Investigations. She is one of only four reporters in the country to receive this honor and partici pate in this year-long, intensive program where she will do investigative reporting with some of the most accomplished journalists in the field.

“We are the eyes and ears of San Francisco,” says Executive Director Michael Stoll.

But getting to the truth through investigative reporting about local issues is only half the bat tle, Stoll says. The other half is inspiring people to make changes.

“What happens if, in reaction to our rigorous exploration of broken systems, people just get depressed and give up?” he says. “Our respon sibility is to report on what’s wrong, but also to say, ‘Here are three things we can do about it, and here are the pros and cons of those ap proaches.’ This is so much more empowering.”

When the process works, there is a virtuous circle of journalism, community engagement, and solutions.

For example, Prado’s reporting about in creased fires in homeless camps during the pan demic revealed that a small community in East Oakland successfully deployed water-based fire extinguishers, which were easily refilled. The re sulting article became part of community con versations, and this simple fire-fighting hack likely saved lives.

Moving forward, the Public Press hopes to engage in more conversations about important issues, creating a faster feedback loop between understanding a civic problem and developing a strategy to address it. To do so, they need to become more financially secure, as well as con tinue to make the case that local journalism is fundamental to our collective social health.

“Journalism is experiencing twin crises. One is its business model, and the other is a lack of trust in our age of misinformation,” Stoll says. But unless local citizens want to interpret raw data sets on their own, “the only solution is sup porting the best of local journalism.”

"I

Host, “News in Context” podcast; Assistant Professor, Journalism, Media Writing, Digital Media & Podcasting, Sonoma State University

Mel Baker interviewed Harold Phillips, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, about returning attention to HIV and AIDS public health challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Phillips visited San Francisco for an AIDS Memorial Quilt unfurling — its largest in a decade — in Golden Gate Park.

Public Press staff and freelancers gather outdoors for a team-building and brainstorming session.

Through a ProPublica Local Reporting Network Fellowship, Nuala Bishari spent 10 months working with the Public Press investigating the city’s methods for getting people out of tents or other short-term shelter and into permanent supportive housing. She interviewed residents of this sanc tioned encampment, where people live while waiting for housing.

NewsMatch

As 2022 comes to a close, NewsMatch — a national campaign to increase support for nonprofit newsrooms — will match year-end donations to the San Francisco Public Press. The organization is eager to collaborate with major donors who could join this effort with a special local match

With these funds, the Public Press plans to hire more staff to report on the region’s most pressing concerns, including government transparency, housing affordability, homelessness, public health and environmental equity, sea level rise, transportation safety and elections.

The team is also aiming to launch in 2023 a community correspondents program to provide audio journalism training to diverse San Francisco residents from underserved communities to report on their key issues. They will contribute to podcasts and radio shows that will air on KSFP 102.5 FM, the Public Press’ low-power FM radio station broadcasting from Sutro Tower.

San Francisco Public Press sfpublicpress.org

44 Page Street, Suite 504 San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 495-7377

"What is incumbent upon us as news guardians is enabling people in San Francisco to stand up and say, 'Hey, I need more in formation. I'm overlooked in discussions at City Hall. So, I’m turning to you, Public Press, as my interlocutor.' It’s mind-opening to see that there is a growing number of people out there who care. If we can tailor our reporting, so it makes sense culturally and connects with people in our great community, we can amplify their stories. We are more engaged with audiences by working with them. This is what I love about community journalism and what I love about the Public Press: We know what's going on, out on the community's streets, because we're part of it."

PBS, and Board Member, San Francisco Public Press

Contact: Lisa Rudman Development Director (510) 459-8558 lrudman@sfpublicpress.org

While reporting about fires at Bay Area encampments, Yesica Prado spoke with Derrick Soo, who uses a water extinguisher to help his neigh bors in Oakland. Prado is reporting on the experiences of people living in encampments for the Public Press through an Ida B. Wells Fellowship with Type Investigations.

KEY SUPPORTERS

The Reva and David Logan Foundation

The James Irvine Foundation

The San Francisco Foundation

Inasmuch Foundation

Craig Newmark Philanthropies

Jay Pritzker Foundation NewsMatch

Nicholas B. Ottaway Foundation

The Fund for Investigative Journalism Institute for Nonprofit News

PRX Journalism Podcast Accelerator

LION Publishers

American Press Institute

Solutions Journalism Network USC Annenberg Reporting on Health Program

BOARD MEMBERS

Patricia Bovan Campbell, secretary

David Cohn, president

Neal Gorenflo

Lawrence Groo

Lila LaHood, treasurer

Ricardo Sandoval Palos

Peter Scheer

Michael Stoll

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: San Francisco Public Press 44 Page Street, Suite 504 San Francisco, CA 94102

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 27-1275141

By Credit Card: sfpublicpress.org/donate

– Ricardo Sandoval-Palos Public Editor,

From the Public Press: “We recently surveyed San Francisco residents, and many said their biggest concerns were homelessness and housing affordability. We need to raise funds now so we can hire journalists to do essential reporting on these issues. We know where to direct our attention — we just need resources to expand our team and reporting capacity.”

The Social Sector’s Preeminent Source of News and Knowledge

The year was 2003, and the philanthropic sector was going through a period of significant evolution. Every day, new technologies were emerging that changed the way that people were engaging with one another and learning about issues that mattered to them. Many of these same new technologies were also bringing newfound wealth to the people who were pioneering them, who in turn, started looking for new ways to apply their talent and treasure to address societal and environmental challenges.

At the same time, traditional philanthropists and grantmaking institutions began exploring new methods for achieving greater impact on the issues they were addressing, and nonprofits and social enterprises (still a relatively new idea) were adopting successful strategies and approaches from the for-profit world to make their work more effective and efficient.

These converging forces inspired a group of individuals at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business to launch a quarterly print publication that would inform and inspire the emerging field of social innovation: Stanford Social Innovation Review

As the first Editors’ Note explained, the publication would be “dedicated to presenting useable knowledge that will help those who do the important work of improving society do it even better!” SSIR’s approach “is based on a philosophy of dissolving boundaries and brokering a dialogue between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors…”

The publication still takes this “cross-sector” approach, bringing together ideas and insights from philanthropists and foundations, nonprofits, and NGOs, businesses and social enterprises, policymakers, academics, and

leading thinkers and doers.

In 2010, SSIR became a part of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society, the preeminent academic research center dedicated to expanding the body and reach of quality research on, and improving the practice and effectiveness of, philanthropy, civil society, and social innovation. It was at that time that the leadership of SSIR decided it was necessary to live the ideals that the publication espoused, becoming itself a social enterprise of sorts.

SSIR receives no funding from Stanford University, relying instead on earned revenue from subscriptions, conferences, webinars, and other editorially-related products and services to provide the income needed to cover its ongoing operations.

Today, that quarterly print magazine – which at one time was mailed out by hand – has grown into a modern media enterprise, reaching a global audience of nearly three million people each year. With six locallanguage editions (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish), SSIR produces print and online articles daily, along with webinars, conferences, podcasts, and an array of educational and informational resources to help inform and inspire those who strive to make the world a better place.

The first Editors’ Note said it best: “‘Social innovation’ stands in our name for a reason: to remind our authors, our audience, and ourselves that this journal’s purpose is to lead in the search for new and better ways to redress social problems… We invite you to join with us in exploring new ideas and thinking more broadly about these issues.”

ndividuals are the backbone of the philanthropic and nonprofit world… people who are willing to give of their time, talent, and treasure to make things better! SSIR’s job is to help provide people with the insights and in spiration they need to be more effective, and realize the change they hope to see in the world.”

– Michael Gordon Voss Publisher, Stanford Social Innovation Review

“

SSIR isn’t here to tell you what or how to think. We’re here to provide you with the latest information and perspectives on innovative solu tions to social and environmental issues so that you can make your own decisions and achieve greater impact on the issues that matter to you.”

– Eric Nee Editor-in-Chief, Stanford Social Innovation Review

“ S tanford Social Innovation Review is one of my top ‘go-to’ sources for the latest thinking, research, ideas, and innovations happening in the social sector – both in the U.S. and around the world. Audience en gagement with people working in foundations, corporate philanthropy, NGOs, government, and business steadily grows year-over-year as more people find, and contribute to, this top-notch content and share it in their networks. The cross-pollination of seven different language issues of the magazine – English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean – has also added to the richness of the SSIR content.”

– Lindsay Louie Program Manager (f.), Effective Philanthropy Group, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

nearly two decades, I have counted on SSIR to present the cutting edge ideas and the key debates of our field. The Stupski Foundation has valued the opportunity to partner with the team at SSIR to explore critical ideas with foundation leaders and renowned experts.”

– Glen Galaich CEO, The Stupski Foundation

Change starts with individuals. Whether you’ve been a donor for years, or are just starting on your philanthropic journey, you need up-to-date information to help you make informed decisions about your giving. Stanford Social Innovation Review provides readers with the latest research and practice on social issues and solutions, giving you the tools you need to be a better partner in social change. With a cross-sector approach that includes perspectives from philanthropists, foundations, nonprofits, social enterprises, government, business, and academia, SSIR is the preeminent global publication for anyone looking to be more effective and efficient in helping to support positive change.

“I

“F or

Social Justice

Striking a course to justice is not straight, rather it is a path that fades in the darkness of bigotry and indolence. Whether in the courts or on the streets, maintaining that path requires people dedicated to seeing justice realized.

On a Mission to Change the Energy of Money

As told to Daniel Heimpel

While a UCLA undergrad, Valerie Red-Horse Mohl dreamed of being a filmmaker.

But Red-Horse Mohl needed a day job, and wound up at an interview with Drexel Burnham Lambert, the firm that changed U.S. markets through the high-yield bond. “I think I learned more from that experience than I would’ve if I had gone anywhere for an MBA,” the CFO of the East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) says.

With her “College-of-Life” business degree in hand, RedHorse Mohl went on to found the first investment bank fo cused on Indigenous Tribal Nations where she structured and managed over $3 billion in capital, led Social Venture Circle, which helps move investors to impact, and even made a few films along the way.

In her current role, Red-Horse Mohl is on a mission to change how capital flows, starting with the $1 trillion locked up in charitable foundation endowments. For her, a double bottom line won’t do. She is looking for a quadfecta, where returns for EBCF’s $1 billion endowment meet racial equity, closing the wealth gap and stemming environmental degradation.

Q. Why has it taken charitable foundations so long to move into impact investing?

A. Well, you’re asking me a question that is my life’s work and passion.

My passion came because I had the same realization, Daniel, that money and closing the wealth gap will address most of the issues we’re trying to solve, whether it’s affordable housing or poverty or hunger.

The problem is the money [foundations] invest in the market.

Foundations typically hire external consultants, all the big names – Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, or one of the big banks to manage the assets, and those managers have an auto pilot menu of investing to keep their fees low.

No criticism, but if they were to do something a little more active, they would have to charge more. So, when I came into East Bay Community Foundation with my knowledge and my licenses, I said, I’m going to create that portfolio working with our external consultants, because I actually know the asset class es. I know how to move capital with that racial equity priority.

My hope is we can make a difference by sharing that as a model portfolio, and be able to say, here’s what we’ve done.

Q. Why have founda tions and other institu tional investors been so slow to deploy capital to Black, Brown, and fe male fund managers?

A. In moving to 100% mission align ment, we are focused on 100% racial equity investing. So that means all diverse asset managers.

And we’ve often heard people say, “we don’t know who they are. There’s not enough.” We have dispelled that myth.

Q. How does this work relate to your Cherokee ancestry? How important is the redeployment of private capital in making amends for the U.S.’s unforgiving treatment of First Nations and Black people?

A. I feel very much in alignment with the Black community. If you think about this country, it was built on land that was taken from my people, my ancestors, and then developed by African slaves who were forcibly brought here. That’s a big debt in my opinion.

But I think the way to make reparations is to allow us to thrive and catch up in the wealth gap that I’ve been talking about. For me, it’s not so much looking back, even though that’s important. It’s looking forward and how do we really narrow, if not eliminate, the wealth gap, and what happens when money comes into Black and Brown funds from Wall Street?

Many of those funds are not based in New York and Boston. It starts to then flow into companies that are all over America in communities of color. And then we raise the level of wealth in those communities and then the need for all the philanthropic support starts to lessen. There will always be a need for philan thropy, but it’s not going to answer the problem that we’re talking about.

Changing How We Think About Poverty

Despite being one of the wealthiest counties in the country, Marin County is one of the least racially equitable in California across all indicators of well-being.

It might surprise you to learn given Marin’s a uence that 37 percent of households struggle to meet basic needs – or that one in five families often can’t put food on the table. As more people age into poverty, it’s also true that one in three seniors is food insecure.

However, with these challenges come opportunities. “We have the capital, the resources, and the will. If anyone can create stronger pathways to racial and economic justice, it’s the people of Marin through the power of community action,” says Community Action Marin (CAM) Chief Executive O cer Chandra Alexandre.

Alexandre describes people of low income, often people of color here, as the “Invisible Marin.” These are communities that are twice as likely as white households (83% of the population) to face di cult choices between

paying rent or putting food on the table each month. It’s families that lack access to high-quality childcare and people who are precariously housed or homeless.

CAM’s mission is to alleviate the causes and consequences of poverty. The agency’s goal is to help build power with people, change laws and policies, deliver services without barriers, and ensure that they are telling new stories about what’s possible for people on the road to thriving.

Through its wide range of programs, CAM assists over 20,000 people each year. For example, the agency provides organic, culturally-relevant meals to more than 550 children daily in its blended Head Start and state-funded early education centers. Its financial coaches offer tools and strategies for budgeting, debt reduction, and credit repair to over 200 people every year. Its CARE mobile outreach teams help get people to safety, to services, and on the way to a home. Most importantly, staff across all of the agency’s service areas are listening to

seen how Community Action Marin has strengthened advocacy to help keep people housed and safe during the pandemic. They have taken on challenges no one else could sustain through homeless outreach, mental health, and basic needs. As a neighbor in Marin, I’m so proud to stand with Chandra and Community Action Marin in the work of achieving AN EQUITABLE RECOVERY.”

– Isabel Allende Author & Philanthropist

the needs of their community and fighting to meet the urgencies of today while making an equitable future a reality.

“We are stronger together,” Alexandre says, “and the team is living its values of Service, Relationship, Unity, and Inclusivity. Each day they are helping to ensure that every Marin resident can live with dignity and respect. If it is possible to create racial and economic equity anywhere, I believe that it’s here in Marin County.”

"I’ve

At Community Action Marin, we make it possible for people to achieve well-being by providing the education, mental health, and vital services they need. Together, we break down the barriers that get in the way of fair and lasting change in service to better outcomes for all.

At our spring Step up Marin community event, "Building Towards Equity Together," Kelli McMains received the inaugural Community Courage Award. Kelli was homeless. Divorce happened, the market crashed, and she lost everything. As she put it, Community Action Marin was there to help with all of her basic needs, a true example of being in your corner.

The agency’s sta is committed to creating pathways for people to thrive, promoting prosperity and hope through a powerful set of financial empowerment and workforce development programs.

– Barbara Clifton Zarate Marin Community Foundation, Director for Economic Opportunity

Community Action Marin provides services, like free and a ordable childcare, that help over 5000 households each year to meet their needs and attain self-su ciency.

Aid the Fight for Racial and Economic Justice

By giving to Community Action Marin, donors will make an equitable pandemic recovery possible.

• $250 gives preschool children a new learning garden with seeds and digging tools.

• $500 helps a teacher get a professional training and wellness day.

• $1,000 ensures that safety net services get to the hardest-toreach people.

• $5,000 supports civic engagement and advocacy e orts for racial justice.

Give to the Step Up Community Fund and see your dollars help people and change lives!

Community Action Marin is working hard to address and eliminate food insecurity by growing food, providing meals to children in our programs, and partnering across the county.

KEY SUPPORTERS

BOARD:

Roger Crawford

Christopher Carey Mary Donovan

Je Babcock

Maria Frias

Meredith Parnell

Tony Psychoyos

Jennifer McInnis Samantha Ramirez

Violeta Krasnic

Tonya Newstetter Nicolette Van Exel

OVER $1 MILLION DONORS: California Department of Education County of Marin U.S Department of Health and Human Services (including Head Start/Early Head Start)

$100,000 TO $999,999 DONORS: Anonymous donor Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund

Marin Community Foundation United Way Bay Area U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Many Ways to Give...

Community Action Marin www.camarin.org

555 Northgate Drive, Ste. 201 San Rafael, CA 94903 (415) 526-7500

Contact: Chandra Alexandre, Ph.D. Chief Executive O cer (415) 526-7511 calexandre@camarin.org

By Check:

555 Northgate Drive, Ste. 201 San Rafael, CA 94903

| www.thegivinglist.com |

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-6136365

By Credit Card: www.camarin.org

“M

ore than anything, thank you and your incredible sta for showing up day in and day out to serve those in Marin that need it the most. CAM is a gift to the people of Marin!”

$20k is what 20% of people in Marin earn a year, compared to the $149.5k that a family of four needs to cover their basic needs.

Building a World Beyond Incarceration for Bay Area Youth

Alex Diaz, 26, first encountered the youth organizing and community building nonprofit Communities United for Re storative Youth Justice (CURYJ, pronounced “courage”) when he was 17. Diaz was staring down what would have been effectively a life-destroying 15-year prison sentence in Ala meda County adult court.

CURYJ arranged for legal assistance and provided stabilization support for Diaz while he fought his case. That support saved his life. Diaz’s sentence was drastically reduced and he was released at 21, rather than having to survive as a kid in an adult prison.

Upon release, Diaz embraced his second chance and enrolled in Berkeley Community College. He earned a 3.92 GPA and transferred to U.C. Berkeley where he graduated last May with a bachelor’s in business administration. Next on Diaz’s radar: joining CURYJ staff as a Dream Beyond Bars Program Coordinator while he prepares for law school.

“That’s what happens when we invest in young people,” says CURYJ Executive Director George Galvis, who co-founded CURYJ in 2011 with the aim of ending youth

incarceration and empowering youth impacted by the foster care and juvenile justice systems to become community leaders and advocates through paid internships and culturally-rooted political education.

To Galvis, Diaz’s triumphant story – while impressive – isn’t exceptional, he says. With the right support and resources, any young person can transform their lives for the better.

“Unfortunately, a lot of young people are not getting their needs met and in many cases that has been a trigger for their incarceration,” Galvis says.

In the Bay Area, where rents are astronomical, CURYJ is doubling its efforts to provide safe and stable housing for transitional age youth, which is essential for maintaining security in adulthood, he says.

Last year, CURYJ was awarded a 99year lease – effective ownership – of the commercial space in an affordable housing development across from the Fruitvale BART station where Oscar Grant was killed by BART police on New Year’s Day in 2009. The high-profile incident was the subject of the movie Fruitvale Station. The 7,000-squarefoot space, called the Oscar Grant Youth

Power Zone, will house CURYJ’s programs, offering young adults a safe space to rebuild their lives and an opportunity to become community changemakers.

Opening in May 2024, CURYJ's Oscar Grant Youth Power Zone (OGYPZ) will include a 7,000-square-foot permanent home for CURYJ. The floors above our program space will provide 181 units of 100% affordable housing, making it one of the largest affordable housing developments in Oakland in decades.

CURYJ youth, pictured here with 56th District Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, participated in the 2022 Quest for Democracy at the California State Capitol. They met with legislators to advocate for AB503 (End Endless Probation), which would limit excessive probation terms for youth.

support CURYJ because I believe that young people should have the power *right now* to shape the communities they will spend their futures in. CURYJ develops young lead ers who are both idealistic and realistic, guiding them to develop critical self-awareness and self-knowledge. They turn that knowledge into power for their communities day in and day out."

– Sam Jacobs Resource Generation, Grassroots International

What an Alternative to Incarceration Looks Like

The Oscar Grant Youth Power Zone will be the home base for CURYJ’s programs – life coaching, community healing, and its flagship leadership development programs Homies 4 Justice and Dream Beyond Bars, which provide paid fellowships for systemsimpacted youth to work toward building life-affirming alternatives to incarceration and policing.

Slated to open in 2024, CURYJ believes the Oscar Grant Youth Power Zone will be more than just a resource center and community hub, but a symbol of hope, healing, and resilience for young people who want a better life.

“The Oscar Grant Youth Power Zone will be an example of what an alternative to incarceration looks like in Alameda County,” says George Galvis, CURYJ’s executive director and founder.

To build out the new space and maintain the construction timeline, CURYJ is raising $500,000 this year, with a matching pledge from their capital campaign committee chair, Sam Jacobs, of up to $200,000.

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice www.curyj.org

1946 Embarcadero Oakland, CA 94606 (501) 232-7230

Former program participant and current Homies 4 Jus tice Program Coordinator, Cristina Flores, gives away backpacks and other school supplies at one of CURYJ’s community-building events.

Contact: Tristan Williams Development Manager (925) 391-3705 twilliams@curyj.org

Homies 4 Justice interns and CURYJ volunteers spread the word about alternatives to policing in East Oakland.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Quinn Delaney

- Founder of the Akonadi Foundation Edgar Villanueva - Founder of Decolonizing Wealth Norris Henderson - Executive Director of VOTE Tulaine Montgomery - Co-CEO of New Profit Andrus Family Fund Borealis Philanthropy The California Endowment

California Wellness Foundation

Galaxy Gives Heising-Simons Foundation Kresge Foundation

Latino Community Foundation NDN Collective Open Society Foundations

San Francisco Foundation

Sierra Health Foundation Tides Center Zellerbach Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice dba CURYJ

490 Lake Park Ave Ste. 16086 Oakland, CA 94610

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 27-5008441

By Credit Card: curyj.org/donate

It costs Alameda County approximately $667,000 per year to lock up just one young person. How different might that young person's life be if those resources funded community-led approaches to safety instead?

"I

Welcoming the Stranger: Helping Refugees Build a New Life

“

When my family arrived in 2020, a JFCS East Bay case manager helped us apply for food stamps, English classes, and other essential benefits. Now I’m a JFCS East Bay case manager myself. I’m glad to give new arrivals the same opportu nities I was given.” – Majd Alshaar

Every week, JFCS East Bay resettles three to four refugee families, the majority of whom have been arriving from Afghanistan since Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021. By December 2022, the agency will have resettled 1,000 Afghan refugees since the onset of the crisis. Additionally, they are currently providing supplies and assistance to over 200 Ukrainians who are seeking safety in the East Bay.

“Repairing the world, pursuing justice, upholding the dignity of every human being. These are our values,” says Chief Executive Officer, Robin Mencher. The organization champions these values by making support readily available to everyone, not just the Jewish community. Whether distributing reparation funds to Holocaust survivors, supporting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, representing immigrants in court cases, or offering mental health services for young children and their families, JFCS East Bay is building stronger communities by weaving in the rich traditions and strengths of welcoming and partnering with our neighbors to flourish with dignity.

JFCS East Bay was started by a group of forward-thinking women from Temple Sinai

and gro cery

in Oakland in 1877. Rooted in Jewish values and built to welcome refugees into their new life, the agency has spent 145 years resettling refugees and serving the needs of our newest American citizens.

These community building efforts are powered by philanthropic support from donors, channeling funds where they are most needed. Rental assistance and food insecurity represent two urgent issues for the refugee community. With $25,000, JFCS East Bay can provide 10 families with a month of rent. With the same amount of money, 100 families can receive emergency grocery assistance.

– Majd Alshaar

JFCS East Bay Refugee Services Staff

JFCS East Bay serves 200+ newly-arrived Ukrainians with legal consultations and immigration assistance. We provide toiletry kits, gift cards, help with food

delivery, ESL tutoring, transportation, translation, school supplies, warm blankets, and other resources.

JFCS East Bay welcomes Afghan refugees at the airport. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, we have helped close to 1,000 Afghans rebuild their lives in the East Bay.

Our diversity is our strength. JFCS East Bay provides support to families of all religious and cultural traditions.

Our agency also provides early childhood mental health services for 360 East Bay children and their families annually through consultations, parenting workshops, and screen ings/referrals to increase children’s academic, social, and emotional success.

In addition to refugee services, we provide caregiver support services to families caring for an aging or chron ically-ill loved one. Our social workers provide caregiver as sessments, care management, support groups, individual counseling, and respite ser vices. We serve 60+ families and 250 Holocaust survivors in this program annually.

Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay jfcs-eastbay.org

2484 Shattuck Avenue, Ste. 210 Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 704-7475

Contact: Michael Chertok Chief Advancement Officer (925) 644-7539 mchertok@jfcs-eastbay.org

“Forty years ago in post-war Vietnam, my parents fled to America, a land completely unknown to them. They sacrificed all they had to give my sister and me the one thing they could: hope for a better future.

"Decades after my parents' journey, the images of evacuees desperately seeking escape in post-war Afghanistan hit extremely close to home.

"Last summer, I sought out JFCS East Bay, an incredible organization who have helped welcome and settle nearly 1,000 Afghans into their new lives.

"I am matching every gift up to $100,000 to welcome and support the next generation of families starting in a new country. I hope you will donate and provide them with the most important gift I once received: hope for a better future.”

– Tien Nguyen

Co-founder of CPC Strategy, later acquired by EliteSEM, now Tinuiti

KEY SUPPORTERS

Meryl & Alfred Norek

Donald and Carole Chaiken Foundation Tien Nguyen

Joan Sarnat and David Hoffman Donor Advised Fund

Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation Fereshta and Mark Roberts Area Agency on Aging of Contra Costa County

Giving Forward Fund Hellman Foundation Fund

HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)

Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund

Justice, Justice Foundation

Kaiser Permanente NorCal

Koret Foundation

Lillian Lincoln Foundation

Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY)

Walter & Elise Haas Fund

Bernard E. & Alba Witkin

Charitable Foundation Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)

Contra Costa Public Defender (Stand Together Contra Costa)

Zellerbach Family Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Jewish Family and Community Services East Bay 2484 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 210 Berkeley, CA 94704

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-3250304

By Credit Card: jfcs-eastbay.org/donate-now/

Pioneering a New Legal System Aimed at Ending Poverty

"I felt like I did not have real rights. I came into court raw from trauma. I have a history of domestic violence with my ex-partner. He threatened me, said he would kill me, and broke my things. I tried to get a restraining order, but the judge denied it. It turned into a custody issue in family court for my daughter.

"Thank you for supporting us. Open Door Legal has been a life raft in a storm, and I was out in that water. I had a life jacket, but I needed a life raft. Because of ODL, I did not feel alone in this process."

– F. Stewart Family Law Client

While Adrian Tirtanadi was working in community development, he came upon an idea: If everyone could access legal help, poverty would be dramatically reduced.

“We as a society don’t guarantee civil legal help to people who are low income, unlike every other developed country,” says Tirtanadi, executive director and co-founder of Open Door Legal. “Low-income communities of color are routinely stripped of assets.”

Across the U.S., low-income residents are often victims of wage theft, domestic abuse, and wrongful foreclosure, but don’t have the finances to challenge these injustices. In California, studies have found that foreclosures alone strip about $2.4 billion in wealth from low-income communities every year.

Realizing this, Tirtanadi decided to go to law school where he founded Open Door Legal. Today, the nonprofit employs 42 full-time staff who work in San Francisco’s Bayview, Excelsior, and Western Addition neighborhoods, connecting with residents in need where they live.

But Open Door Legal’s vision is to do more than provide help; it wants to change the legal system writ large.

“We’re pioneering the country’s first system of universal access to legal help,” Tirtanadi says. “What we are trying to build is similar to the general hospital for the medical system. It’s the

provider of last resort to make sure everyone gets medical care. A similar institution does not exist in access to civil justice.”

Many of Open Door Legal’s clients come to them via word of mouth. One San Francisco resident, Claudia, found the group after she had been thrown out of her house by her abusive husband. She was living on the street separated from her two children. With the nonprofit’s help, Claudia was able to take back full ownership of her house, get sole custody, child support, and a divorce.

Tirtanadi says the cost to the nonprofit to represent her was $3,000, significantly less than it would have cost taxpayers for child protective services, homeless shelters, or emergency room visits if Open Door had not intervened.

Despite this victory, Tirtanadi says the need for free legal help continues to be overwhelming. Open Door Legal has worked with a resident in every fifth home in Bayview alone. About 95 percent of Open Door Legal’s clients are people of color and 75% earn less than $30,000 a year.

“What people don’t realize is the scale of the need. It’s like building the first well in the desert,” Tirtanadi says.

Frontline Partner, Hakika, welcomes clients to our Western Addition neighborhood. Open Door Legal also has o ces in the Bayview / Hunter’s Point and the Excelsior District.

Founders, Adrian Tirtanadi and Virginia Taylor. Adrian serves as the Executive Director of Open Door Legal and Virginia presides as the Director of Legal Services / General Counsel.

Becoming a National Model

A s Open Door Legal is set to hit its 10-year anniversary in January 2023, the group is hoping to dramatically expand its operating budget.

It plans on raising $10 million over the next two years in order to open up three new o ces in the Sunset, Mission, and Tenderloin neighborhoods and increase its full-time sta to 90. The growth would allow Open Door Legal to take on at least 2,000 cases per year –doubling its current capacity – and would put the nonprofit on track to work on 24,000 cases by the end of the next decade.

“Investing in us is investing in the system that will make San Francisco the first city with universal access to legal representation,” says Executive Director and Co-founder Adrian Tirtanadi.

“Our vision is to make San Francisco a model for the nation.”

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Open Door Legal

60 Ocean Ave. San Francisco, CA 94112

Tax ID# 45-3360280

By Credit Card: opendoorlegal.org/donate

* please include ‘Giving List’ in your comment/memo if giving by credit card or check

Michelle Carrington, Board Member and former Open Door Legal Client.

Youth Law Center Carves Paths to College for Justice-Impacted Youth

Youth Law Center is truly a cornerstone organization, successfully building a network of nonprofit and public sector advocates committed to promoting pathways to and through postsecondary education for youth connected to the juvenile justice system. By fostering links between the probation system and California’s higher education institutions, YLC and its policy advocacy strategy have advanced the notion that justice reform must meaning fully include youth. The team at Youth Law Center is a valuable thought partner to Cal Wellness as we con sider our investments to help improve the wellbeing of youth who are too often ignored."

At 20, Jacqueline Rodriguez found her self at a critical junction in her life. If she continued on her path, the future looked bleak. Jacqueline was pushed out of high school without a diploma, and now, as a mother of two with a history of involvement in the juvenile jus tice system, the statistics weren’t on her side.

“I wanted to avoid prison and to better my children’s future, so I chose higher education,” Jacqueline, now 26 years old, says.

Youth Law Center (YLC), a legal advocacy nonprofit with a 40-year track record of using the law to advance justice and create opportu nities for vulnerable youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, has successfully advo cated for state policies that support college ed ucation for juvenile justice-impacted students like Jacqueline.

“Education is one of the most effective strat egies to keep youth out of juvenile detention and the juvenile and adult justice systems; how ever, college is often completely out of reach for these youth,” says Jennifer Rodriguez, YLC’s Executive Director.

Jacqueline enrolled in the College of San Mateo – and was connected to a program, Proj ect Change, providing wrap-around services, resources, and community for justice-impacted young people. YLC successfully advocated for

policies and state resources that created similar programs across the state to serve thousands of other students in order to position community colleges as alternatives to incarceration.

– Jeffrey S. Kim, JD Program Director, The California Wellness Foundation

“Project Change changed my life for the bet ter. I had so much support, so much communi ty,” Jacqueline says. “Now, I am graduating from UCLA and applying to law school and hope to become an attorney to advocate for other youth like me.”

YLC’s body of advocacy work over the last four decades has impacted the lives of count less children in juvenile justice and foster care, including the closure of dangerous youth pris ons and institutions, and outlawing the practice of sending youth to out-of-state institutions where youth have died and been seriously in jured.

YLC celebrated another advocacy milestone in June of 2022 when Governor Gavin New som signed the state budget, approving a his toric ongoing annual investment of $15 million to fund programs at community colleges that specifically support youth impacted by the ju venile justice system.

“YLC is leading the way towards a future where every student has opportunities like Jac queline,” Jennifer says.

"The

Jacqueline Rodriguez at her graduation from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Give to Create Opportunity for Justice-Impacted Youth

Donations

to the Youth Law Center will directly support its advocacy to transform foster care and juvenile justice sys tems so that every young person has access to postsecondary education.

“With additional funding, we can expand our advocacy to en sure that more youth become tomorrow’s leaders,” says Jennifer Rodriguez, Youth Law Center’s Executive Director.

To illustrate the important impact of donations:

• A $1,000 gift would allow YLC to invest in the leadership of a justice-impacted youth to work in partnership with advocates on policy reforms.

• $20,000 is enough to fund an entire advocacy leadership acad emy to give young people the skills they need to change the very systems that so often hurt them.

• With $100,000, YLC could launch a campaign to secure ad ditional state investment in postsecondary education for jus tice-impacted youth in order to ensure equitable futures for tens of thousands of vulnerable young people.

YLC staff and amazing youth leaders take a photo break from advocacy on policy reforms to California lawmakers.

Youth Law Center

www.ylc.org

832 Folsom Street, #700 San Francisco, CA, 94107 (415) 543-3379

Contact: Jennifer Rodriguez Executive Director (415) 314-4386 jrodriguez@ylc.org

KEY SUPPORTERS

Alyssa Martin Anderson

Babak Naficy

Chrystie Chung

Fatima Goss Graves

Heidi Foreman

Honorable Tomar Mason Howard and Carol Fine

Iris Hu

Joy Singleton

Katee Peek

Matthew and Moon Gemello

Mehrzad Khajenoori

William S. Koski and Sundari Wind

Akonadi Foundation

Andrus Family Fund

Annie E. Casey Foundation

The California Wellness Foundation

May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

Tipping Point Community

van Löben Sels/RembeRock Foundation

The Walter S. Johnson Foundation

Zellerbach Family Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Youth Law Center

832 Folsom Street, #700 San Francisco, CA, 94107

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-1715280

By Credit Card: www.ylc.org

Juvenile justice-impacted students advocating for postsecondary education for all at a YLC convening.

YLC’s policy advocacy to create postsecondary educational opportunities for the tens of thousands of youth impacted by the juvenile justice system has taken on particular urgency this year due to 1) students involved in the juvenile justice system experiencing increased pandemic related challenges accessing education and 2) success in YLC’s larger advocacy to end incarceration and punitive treatment of poor Black and Brown youth, which has created new opportunities to develop community alternatives.

The Arts

The arts, and aligned artistic pursuits, breathe imagination and inspiration into communities. From the design of our open spaces to giving young people an avenue of expression, the arts are far more than additive; they are essential to the human experience.

Using the Full Philanthropic Toolbox to Advance Racial Equity and Economic Inclusion

By Brenda Gazzar

Colleen Gregerson led an exciting international devel opment career raising $1.9 billion for global health ini tiatives, traveling to Africa and tapping philanthropists to end extreme poverty – all by her mid-30s.

But after a decade with Population Services International (PSI), the now-executive director of Battery Powered – the non profit philanthropic arm of the San Francisco-based social club, The Battery – felt called to tackle challenges closer to home.

“I began to feel a little bit like ‘who am I to go to these countries and try to help with their healthcare systems when we don’t have a very good or equitable healthcare system at home?’” Gregerson says.

She heard of Battery Powered after her then-employer was nominated for one of the nonprofit’s grants. While PSI didn’t receive the grant, that didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for the innovative model of working with individual donors who pooled their funds together to support impactful nonprofits. She was also impressed that these grants didn’t tie organiza tions to a long list of spending restrictions but provided much needed general support funds.

Gregerson had other options when she received an offer from Battery Powered in 2017. But after learning through a personality test that “love of learning” was her strongest trait, she accepted the offer and hasn’t looked back since.

Gregerson and Battery Powered members dive deep into issues affecting the Bay Area and beyond from housing and homelessness to journalism and the media to the future of food to understand their root causes and how best to direct their philanthropic dollars. She loves that each year, they get to

tackle three different societal challenges.

“My favorite [topic] is always the one we’re working on right now because I’m just deep into it and I’m having all these a-ha moments,” she says.

Technology and innovation are what the Bay Area, which has both tremendous wealth and inequity, is known for and philanthropy’s evolving in that spirit, Gregerson says. Many philanthropic institutions are now taking stock of power imbalances and inequities that affect resource distribution.

“I’m seeing a lot of change and that’s positive, but it’s a journey to transform philanthropy that’s built on centuries of power and privilege imbalances” to one that’s more equitable, she says.

As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, she grew up around the country and first became an activist while in high school, championing the cause of animal welfare.

If the wife and mother of two had a motto today, it might be: Always tell the truth and always tell the truth right away.

Creating honest, open, and trusting relationships is a philoso phy that has served her well in her personal and professional life.

“What else are we going to think about on our death bed?” Gregerson asks. “We’re going to think about the peo ple we loved, cared about, and were in relationship with. It’s always worth the time to create those trusting, honest, and open relationships.”

Helping Underserved Students Thrive Through Arts Classes That Reflect Their Reality

“You can’t be what you can’t see.” This quote from civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman is the guiding force behind Yeah, Art!, a Black-founded Oaklandbased education nonprofit.

As the social justice uprising of 2020 gained attention, teaching artists Ja Ronn Thompson and Mike Blankenship channeled their emotions

and experience towards strengthening their community. Yeah, Art! was born, a nonprofit that makes arts education more accessible and equitable.

The key to their vision is making sure students have learning materials they can relate to.

“Arts education is not diverse enough,” said Co-founder Mike Blankenship. “Throughout history, textbooks have erased contributions of people of color. Yeah, Art! exposes our students to new creative heroes who look, sound, and move more like them.”

Yeah, Art!’s workshops aren’t taught only with the classic works of Beethoven, Van Gogh, or Whitman – they’re taught using new-school greats like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ava DuVernay, and Kendrick Lamar. These modern references inspire students to engage with art in more meaningful ways.

Yeah, Art!’s pilot program is running at Oakland’s Roosevelt Middle School, a largely Black and Latinx community just a few miles

“Y eah, Art!'s teaching sta mirrors the diversity of our classrooms. Most of us were born and raised right here in the same communities. Our ability to relate to our students is central to our mission. We have first-hand understanding of our students’ challenges and, more importantly, their potential.”

- Ja Ronn Thompson Co-Founder & Executive Director

from where Co-founder Ja Ronn Thompson grew up.

“Our teaching sta mirrors the diversity of our classrooms. Most of us were born and raised right here in the same community,” said Thompson. “Our ability to relate to our students is central to our mission. Our team has first-hand understanding of our students’ challenges, and, more importantly, their potential.”

At Roosevelt, students are learning vocal performance, songwriting, and music production – all using the latest creative technologies to empower students with digital skills. Yeah, Art! is committed to Roosevelt for three academic years, with plans to simultaneously expand classes throughout the Bay Area.

Young artist Demi Taylor rocking the mic. Photography by Darius Riley. Illustrations by Rachel Ngun.

Young artists doodle on the Yeah, Art! augmented reality mural.

Students

— Americans For The Arts

Driving Artistic Careers Through a Living Wage

Yeah, Art! also creates more equitable arts education for teachers. A core component of the organization’s mandate is to pay its diverse teaching team the radically ethical wage of $125 per hour. “This ensures teaching artists are compensated for not only their time in the classroom, but their hours of preparation and years of experience,” said Education Director Angel Adedokun.

The organization is hoping to raise funds to grow its sta to reach more students. Currently $6,000 pays one teaching artist of color for one course of instruction for one trimester, while $20,000 covers one teacher for one course for an entire school year.

Additional needs include technology to help students record and produce their projects. $10,000 provides the technology for students to develop modern digital art skills, with a goal of purchasing 10 new laptops plus arts software.

“We’re designing arts education for a new generation,” said Thompson. “We want to see this as the new standard in the Bay Area and beyond.”

“Art is an endangered subject. When schools face budget cuts, arts programs are often the first to be sacrificed. Grassroots organizations like Yeah, Art! are helping keep creativity in classrooms, with a focus on the historically marginalized districts that need it most.”

- Rickey Minor

Yeah, Art! www.yeahart.org 3400 Cottage Way, Suite G2 #5437 Sacramento, CA 95825 (510) 938-9096

Contact: Ja Ronn Thompson Co-Founder & Executive Director (510) 938-9096 jaronn@yeahart.org

The Many Ways to Give...

of low socioeconomic status with a high participation in the arts have a dropout rate of 4% compared to 22%.

Giving North Bay Area Students a Voice Through the Arts

"I feel proud when I do all my emotions into the art, and the art comes into real life. In art, if you mess up and if you do something wrong, there are always ways to try it again. Seeing my art they learn that I may not be the same person as them, but they know that it's me and I'm the person I want to be and who I am created to be."

Jasmine

Since 1970, Youth in Arts has been helping students find their voices through the arts and creativity.

“We try to step in where schools or districts are having a challenge providing consistent, equitable access to arts education for whatever reason – whether it be geography, finances, sta ng,” says Executive Director Kristen Jacobson.

The mission of San Rafael-based Youth in Arts is to build visual and performing arts skills that foster confidence, compassion, and resilience in kids of all abilities. They also aim to provide arts education more equitably in the region, providing more to the schools that need it most. Since 1981, Youth in Arts has been the primary provider of arts education in special education classrooms in Marin.

Several decades ago, a change in California tax law – Prop 13 – led to decreased school funding. Arts education across the state took a hit, and the impact is still visible. Today, only 11% of California schools comply with the state requirement to provide students with access to the visual arts, music, dance, and theater, according to a recent report from SRI Education.

Youth in Arts is there to fill in that gap in the North and East Bay communities.

To date, the organization has provided arts education for over one million students. They hire professional artists to teach in the classroom, and host gallery shows in their youthfocused gallery. Their award-winning `Til Dawn teen a capella ensemble gives students the opportunity to pursue advanced vocal music, and many have gone on to become professional musicians or teaching artists themselves.

Youth in Arts’ teaching artists focus on the process of creating art, not just building technique or skill. They use the arts as a vehicle for youth mentorship and community building, providing programs that address social emotional learning, connectedness, and individual development.

Over the last two years, students worked with a visual artist to create a collaborative public mural promoting social justice that will be installed in October 2022. In another program, elementary students worked with an architect to design solutions to real-world problems in their communities, such as sea level rise and a lack of a ordable housing. They even presented their ideas to the San Rafael City Council.

A student proudly presents his finished collage sculpture. Youth in Arts is reaching over 5,000 students of all abilities in the fall of 2022, with impactful visual arts, music, and dance programs.

“We want to see students understand that they have a voice,” Jacobson says, “and that they can use that voice to make change in their community through the arts.”

–

Youth in Arts 5th grade student

Students perform at Youth in Arts' "C Street Celebration: Festival of Creativity" in June 2022. The annual free, community focused event, featured multiple student dance and music performances, and hands-on art-making projects, including a children-created chalk mural on the pavement in front of the YIA Gallery.

Students working on a collaborative painting. Youth in Arts believes that students develop creativity, confidence, and compassion through the arts when they are able to work together, share ideas, express themselves, make choices, and take risks.

Bringing Three Years of Arts Education to San Rafael Students

Youth in Arts is asking for $65,000 to expand a partnership they recently developed with San Rafael City Schools to provide a total of 30 weeks of arts education with a professional teaching artist (in visual arts, music, or dance) once a week for three years.

Over the past few years, despite the challenges of the pandemic, Youth in Arts has expanded even more, with a goal of creating sustainability. The partnership emerged out of this thinking, and they created a multisource funding model that will distribute resources equitably.

Youth in Arts youthinarts.org 917 C Street San Rafael, CA 94901 (415) 457-4878

Contact: Morgan Schau er Director of External A airs (415) 457-4878 morgan@youthinarts.org

Student in a visual arts residency working on their Paper Playground. Youth in Arts believes in celebrating young people as artists, knowing one important impact of the arts is bringing joy to human lives.

KEY SUPPORTERS

"Art, it can express how you feel and express to everyone things that I like and that I care about. You don't have to worry... you can just relax your head and paint whatever you like."

– Samuel Youth in Arts, Arts Unite Us high school student

Irene S. Scully Family Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Youth in Arts 917 C Street San Rafael, CA 94901

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-2178597

By Credit Card: youthinarts.org/donate-now

Buck Family Fund California Arts Council Hewlett Foundation

The Milton & Dorothy Sarno Raymond Foundation Kimball Foundation

`Til Dawn, Youth in Arts' award-winning teen a cappella ensemble celebrates the value of the arts, and provides ample space for members to work through social issues, and question the world around them. It's a tuition-based program, but no student is ever turned away because of inability to pay.

Youth in Arts is serving over 5,000 students this year in visual arts, music, and dance, with 73% identifying as low or very low income.

All funds raised ensure equitable arts education access for participating students.

Berkeley FILM Foundation Helps Young Filmmakers Drive Social Change

In this golden age of documentaries, turbocharged by the streaming revolution, who is making sure that film’s potential to drive social change isn’t lost?

The Berkeley FILM Foundation, that’s who.

Dreamed up by the Saul Zaentz Company, Wareham Development, and the City of Berkeley to nurture, sustain, and preserve Berkeley’s thriving local film community, the Berkeley FILM Foundation (BFF) serves storytellers in the wider East Bay.

Since 2009, BFF has provided critical funds to dramatic and documentary filmmakers, with a spectacular return on investment. BFF was the first organizational funder for Jacob Kornbluth’s influential film Inequality for All, featuring former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich. And its early support of the film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution helped get the film to the Sundance Festival, where it won the coveted Audience Award. Perhaps most importantly, the film was included by Barack and Michelle Obama as part of their distribution partnership with Netflix, where it can still be viewed. To date, BFF has awarded 181 grants totalling more than two million dollars.

“Whatever issues need to be raised, whatever

community stories need to be told, we want to be there to fund that work,” said Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and President of the BFF board.

BFF’s funding for films is open-ended, meaning that filmmakers can apply for any stage of production, post-production, or distribution. BFF also provides workshops and mentorship opportunities for new filmmakers, helping them to accelerate their learning, as well as join Berkeley’s extraordinary community of documentarians. BFF has awarded more than $150,000 to 46 student filmmakers alone.

“Making a film is expensive, but even a few hundred dollars can help a young filmmaker learn critical skills and make necessary connections,” says Isabella Miller, Berkeley FILM Foundation’s Program Director.

BFF has high hopes that films in the pipeline like Alex Bledsoe’s Oaklead, which explores lead poisoning in Oakland, will follow the success of recent grantee Emily Cohen Ibanez’s Fruits of Labor, about a young Mexican American farmworker dreaming of college. In 2021, Fruits of Labor was presented on PBS, bringing one more critical topic and vital new perspective to a screen near you.

Film has the power to move people. It o ers a lifeline to a time of greater empathy, understanding, and equity. Film helps us examine the broad range of human experience, reflect on our personal and collective journeys, and allows us to imagine and shape a new world.

he grant I received from the Berkeley FILM Foundation kept me fed and housed during the heart of the pandemic and allowed me to fully focus on the post-production phase of our film. Without this grant, the series would not have been finished. Our time is rarely valued as creators, whose careers are economically very fragile. Thank you for keeping us creative."

"T

– Yvan Iturriaga Grant winner in 2017 and 2019 & Writer and Director, The North Pole

Grant-winning class of 2019 gathers at the Berkeley Arts Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). It is extremely di cult to fund, produce, and distribute a film. Our grants, no matter how small, go a long way in helping these projects come to fruition.

he Berkeley FILM Foundation has been integral in supporting me and my project, "Black Mothers." The Al Bendich Award enabled us to bring key creative members to our team and improve our sizzle reel. This was integral in elevating our materials to make for more competitive fundraising moving forward. Ultimately, all the support has allowed us to tell such an important story, especially in the current social and political context we are living. We’re so grateful for the Berkeley FILM Foundation!”

–Débora Souza Silva

When projects are completed, BFF hosts screenings at The New Parkway Theater in Oakland. This provides needed visibility for a project, local interest, and sometimes leads to further screenings at the venue if the film is in high demand.

Even a

of Support Can Move the Needle for an Emerging Filmmaker

For $150, the Berkeley FILM Foundation’s (BFF) Continuing Education Fund will subsidize filmmaker attendance at workshops with world-class storytellers and technical advisers.

For $1,000 , BFF can pair one grantee with an established filmmaker to advise on their project as part of the Film Mentorship Program.

For $25,000 , a multi-year “Named Grant” can fund a top award named for the donor, bringing dramatically more attention to the filmmaker.

$15,000 per year will fund the work of three student filmmakers.

KEY SUPPORTERS

The City of Berkeley Wareham Development

The Saul Zaentz Company

The Nancy P. and Richard K. Robbins Family Foundation

The Robertson Family Foundation Bayer

The Berkeley FILM Foundation www.berkeleyfilmfoundation.org 2600 Tenth Street, Suite 427 Berkeley CA 94710 (510) 705-1481

Contact: Isabella Miller Program Director (510) 705-1481 isabella@berkeleyfilmfoundation.org

BFF hosts free, annual workshops at The David Brower Center in Berkeley to help local filmmakers further their education on relevant topics in the film industry. Whether a lesson on Animation, the business of Distribution, or how to write your pitch, BFF partners with industry experts to teach real-world techniques on how to bring projects to the next level.

The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation

The Fleishhacker Foundation

Cal Humanities

The City of Emeryville

The TIDES Foundation

Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Berkeley Film Foundation 2600 Tenth Street, Suite 427 Berkeley CA 94710

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 26-4484794

By Credit Card: berkeleyfilmfoundation.org/b donate

"T

Grant winner in 2019 and 2022 & Director, Black Mothers

BFF is working towards a generous $1 million matching grant to substantially increase our funding pool, build on our existing filmmaker programming, and sustain our ongoing operations. We are one third of the way there and need your help!

Few Hundred Dollars

An Inclusive Community Asset

The Marin Art and Garden Center was established in 1945 through the foresight of a group of local women who wanted to preserve the 11 acres of land that once made up the former home of settlers to this enclave north of San Francisco.

Determined to keep the area undeveloped amidst a boom in infrastructure and construction, the group of pioneering women set the center on the path it’s on today: establishing a place where they could engage, inform, and educate the public around both art and the preservation of public greenspaces through community enrichment. For decades, the site hosted the county fair from 1946 to 1970.

Since the dedication of the site, located in the heart of Ross Valley, the Marin Art and Garden Center has grown to be a refuge for community use. It o ers free visitation to those who wish to partake in its lush landscapes, community-based public programs, and sites for memorable events including weddings and celebrations of life.

The buildings on site retain the original architecture of both the estate period (1880s) and post WWII mid-century modern design. The Gardens boast a Giant Sequoia tree planted in the 1880s, a rose garden, and a unique ring of

Magnolia trees grown from a single Magnolia planted in the original estate period.

At the core of the nonprofit’s mission is accessibility and community.

Recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Center is open sun-up to sun-down. It o ers art exhibitions, lectures, a summer concert series, and is home to an outdoor-focused preschool. One popular class teaches homeowners how to landscape drought-resistant yards.

“We want to provide a place of respite but also a place of inspiration, of education,” says Antonia Adezio, Executive Director of the Center. “We’re trying to support our ecosystems of birds and butterflies by watering conscientiously and teaching how to integrate climate adaptive garden design.”

In a new push, the Marin Art and Garden Center is expanding its public programming and increasing a focus on preservation of the natural ecology of the space.

“We want you to feel a sense of place when you’re here,” says Tom Perry, President of the Board of Trustees and sixth-generation Ross Valley native in addition to being a descendant of George and Annie Worn, the builders of the original estate located on the grounds of the

have sought solace and found peacefulness by drawing and painting at the Marin Art and Garden Center. My love for nature fuels me, providing me with inspiration and a tangible haven, always an indelible pleasure and resource. "

Marin Art and Garden Center. “The center is an intimate space that really incorporates community and multi-generational aspects. You can come with kids and your grandparents. There is something for everyone and it’s accessible to everyone.”

"I

– Liz Campbell Exhibited Artist at Marin Art and Garden Center

Generations of families and friends gather for the annual Summer Concerts in the Garden series featuring local musicians.

hen I came to the Center, I knew I wanted to be an architect. My internship has allowed me to explore the relationship between building design, construction, and landscape architecture. I was amazed at how many architectural styles can be represented on a single property. "

There is magic making art. Outside. Instructed and encouraged by a working artist whose passion for her subject matter is matched by her desire to share that passion and craft. Marin Art and Garden Center has partnered with Bridge the Gap College Prep to bring enriching art experiences to students from Marin City, shown above with artist Josie Iselin.

Growing History

More than 75 years since its establishment, the Marin Art and Garden Center is focused on adapting to be able to best serve the Marin community.

The Center is currently raising funds to o er more cross-community visitation, inclusive programming and expanded access to its preschool and outdoor-focused programs.

A donation to the historic site would be a pledge to help continue the center’s historic legacy: to harness the power of an inclusive public greenspace to inspire curiosity in the arts and the natural environment and foster the next generation of environmental stewards.

KEY SUPPORTERS

The Berkshire Foundation Phoebe Cowles & Robert Girard Michael & Dudley Del Balso Andy & Stephanie Evans Peggy Haas Melissa & Shep Harris Robert & Jennifer Leathers Robin & Candy McNaughton

Marin Art and Garden Center www.maringarden.org

30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Ross, California 94957 (415) 455-5260

Contact: Anna Castagnozzi Bush Development Manager (415) 455-5260 anna.bush@maringarden.org

Edward & Betsy McDermott

Tom & Jan Perry

Ned & Ellin Purdom Rockridge Foundation Christopher & Eileen Sheldon Pamela Sher

June & John Sullivan Tricoastal Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Marin Art and Garden Center PO Box 437 Ross, CA 94957

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-1085734

By Credit Card: www.maringarden.org/donate

"W

– Giovana Goncalves Marin Art and Garden Center Intern and Redwood High School Student

Our

is part of our vision for the future to address

expansion needs to serve a wider community as part of our commitment to convene and educate, to inspire wonder and curiosity, and to foster an appreciation for and responsibility to care for the natural world around us.

College of Marin watercolor instructor Carol Lefkowitz brings students to Marin Art and Garden Center twice a week to find inspiration in the gardens. "The variety of life, color, light, and texture we experience at Marin Art and Garden Center is endless. There is much resistance when we return to campus when our time at the Center is over, and we all discuss the magic we've experienced."

Youth Speaks Amplifies the Narrative Power of a New Generation

Co-founder of the only tech news website for Black millennials; head writer for Disney+’s upcoming superhero series starring a Black female; founding cast member of Hamilton. What do these three creatives driving new and diverse narratives into the American mainstream have in common?

They are all Youth Speaks/Brave New Voices program participants. Youth Speaks is the San Francisco youth development cultural organization with the mission to develop and publicly present the young voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) through storytelling, poetry, and spoken word.

“We help young people discover their voices in a way that’s authentic so that they can apply them in powerful ways and bring youth culture and literacies into whatever spaces they’re in,” says Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee, Youth Speaks executive director and longtime Bay Area poet.

BIPOC youth, especially those who are most passionate and vocal, are left out of the literary canon in America, Lee says. For 25 years, Youth Speaks has worked to change that narrative by nurturing new generations of emerging artists who will use their talents to drive social change.

Using its deep roots in the Bay Area’s arts and culture scene, Youth

98% of surveyed Youth Speaks audience members reported feeling more connected to their community.

Speaks propels new and diverse youth voices into global conversations about the issues that are most urgent to them.

Youth Speaks gained widespread acclaim with its popular annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam and the International Brave New Voices Festival, where teenagers share deeply personal, powerful, and emotional spoken word as they perform at sold-out, world-class venues. These events have been featured on HBO, spurred national public health campaigns, and have even activated policy change.

And, after two and a half decades, they are beginning to see the fruits of their labor as successful alumni take their crafts into high-profile careers. One such example is Daveed Diggs, the Youth Speaks alumnus who went on to star in the blockbuster musical Hamilton, popularizing a non-white narrative that had woefully been missing in the founding story of the country.

Not only are Youth Speaks alumni transforming the essential role of culture and youth voice in American democracy, but as creative leaders, they are opening doors and expanding the tables of storytelling and decision-making to other young creatives of color to fully participate in defining a new cultural imperative, Lee says.

“There’s nothing more tragic than the stories that are told about us without us,” said Lee. “That is why we matter.”

A recent CDC study found that from 2009 to 2021, the percentage of American high-school students who reported feeling “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” grew from 26% to 44%. Youth Speaks envisions a world in which young people are heard, honored, and connected through creative ecosystems of interdependence and care. 100% of recently surveyed audience members reported a positive e ect on their mental health.

Life is Living is a community-powered and community-run festival in West Oakland's Lil Bobby Hutton Park that is dedicated to resilience, the joy of living, and the health of the environment and all its inhabitants.

Building Power for Bay Area Youth

Dream boldly and help Youth Speaks support young people as they set out on their own creative journeys to develop their unique voices and find a sense of inclusion and belonging.

Youth Speaks is seeking donations to fund its Power Lab, a $3 million, 3-year initiative that brings together youth artists, organizers, industry experts, and community leaders to leverage the power of storytelling and culture to influence policy, combat misinformation, and reinvigorate democracy.

“We engage the stories of young people in order to create youth-driven cultural narratives that ultimately will impact policy and the larger national discourse around all of the issues that young people feel are most pressing to them,” says Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee, executive director of Youth Speaks. Donations up to $750,000 will be matched.

Youth Speaks www.youthspeaks.org 265 Shotwell Street San Francisco, CA 94110

Contact: Kaylé Barnes Advancement Director (832) 493.1335 kbarnes@youthspeaks.org

"When I was a young person, I needed a place where my voice was honored and reflected back to me, and where I could celebrate my experience, but also bring Oakland culture into new spaces where I deserve to belong. Without Youth Speaks, there’s no way I’d have the faculty with language, the confidence in myself to celebrate and dignify life with that language, and the support of the community it takes to be a world-class creative. I am proud to return to Youth Speaks as a board member at this exciting moment in the organization’s story."

–

Chinaka Hodge

Poet, Educator, Playwright, Screenwriter, and Producer

KEY SUPPORTERS

Deborah Santana

Jenny Fan Raj and Nehal Raj

Renée DuPree

Walter & Elise Haas Fund

The Morgan Plou e Family Crankstart

Hellman Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Families

San Francisco Grants for the Arts

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: Youth Speaks, Inc. 265 Shotwell Street San Francisco, CA 94110

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 91-2134499

By Credit Card: www.youthspeaks.org

Youth Speaks' International Brave New Voices Festival is the only festival of its kind bringing together 500 young poets and the nation’s leading artists to convene in a di erent U.S. city for four days of arts education, performance, and civic engagement.

Youth Development

Young people’s minds are plastic; they live in the throes of “developing” every day. In this tender development, the organizations highlighted below are all doing their part to ensure the generation coming of age has the tools it needs to be better than the last.

Moving DAF Inertia into Action

As told to Daniel Heimpel

David Risher is, like you’d assume of many high-level tech execs, into big goals. The Amazon alum’s nonprofit, Worldreader, has reached 21 million children across the globe.

But Risher’s goal by 2025 is to serve 25 million kids, get them reading at least 25 books a year, while expanding Worldreader’s budget from $10 million to 25.

“There’s no such thing as a wealthy society that’s not a literate society,” Risher says. “Without reading, it’s really hard to solve the big world problems.”

Funnily enough, Risher and his wife, Jennifer, sparked nearly $30 million in charitable gifts with much less defined objectives. Since 2020, when their #HalfMyDAF initiative was launched, the couple has – alongside other donor advised fund holders – vastly accelerated donations.

So, kind of by accident, Risher is on the vanguard of a movement to tap into this wealthy society’s charitable giving to help solve some of those big world problems.

Q. Mr. David Risher, what is a DAF (Donor Advised Fund)?

A. A DAF is like a charitable checking account.

Typically, you have some life event that creates some mon ey. And your financial advisor says, ‘We’ll put it in a donor advised fund, which will let you get your tax break right now, but we’ll allow you to deploy it over time in whatever charita ble way you want.’

That’s the good news. The bad news is oftentimes people do the first part. They put the money away, but they never get around to the second part. And the result is we have $160 bil lion nationally sitting in DAFs right now that hasn’t been put to use.

Q. What guidance did you get from the financial advisors man aging your DAF funds? I ask this because their management fees are based on total assets managed, not on how many gifts are doled out.

A. You’ve put your finger on it. There’s very little interaction. There are all kinds of incentives to get these things set up be cause it’s an annuity for the business [the financial advisors].

I don’t want to be entirely cynical about it. You’re really lock ing people into doing something charitable. So that’s all good.

But there are all kinds of reasons why this structure is like a lobster trap. It’s easy for lobsters to get in and hard for them to get out.

Q. So why #HalfMyDAF?

A. The idea is super simple. If you, as a donor, commit to spending down half of your DAF over the course of a calendar year, we will match all your grants up to however much money we can find.

So far, $27.5 million has been granted this way over the last three years. You can see all the organizations the community has supported at www.halfmydaf.com.

Q. For context, the San Francisco-based Zellerbach Family Foundation has given out about $150 million over the past 66 years, averaging $2.2 million a year. So, what you are doing easily rivals a small-to-midsize private foundation.

A. That’s an insanely cool way to think about it.

What does that tell you? It tells you that a lot of this money is sitting there, stuck through inertia. It’s not stuck because people are hoarding it. They’re just looking for ways to give. And we happen to give them a way to do that.

When you compare the $27 million we have raised, com pared to the $160 billion in DAFs nationwide, that suggests we have just scratched the surface. You have to ask yourself: ‘What can we do to really make this bigger?’

Imagine if there were a matching fund, not of $1 to $3 mil lion, but of $100 million.

Q. You’re the kind of guy who likes goals. A. I do, I do. [Laughs.]

Q. So how long till you get to $100 million? A. It’s a step-change problem. The first question is, how long do we get to $10 million? We have got to find someone who shares the vision and is just as excited about it as we are.

You can learn more about what #HalfMyDAF has accomplished, and even get involved yourself, at www.halfmydaf.com.

An Exceptional Place Where Exceptional People Can Be Themselves

Camping Unlimited

- Camp Krem serves disabled children, teens, and adults of all ages with our overnight Summer Camp, and Year-Round Respite Program, while providing valuable respite to parents and caregivers.

After emigrating from Bulgaria in 1928, Alexander Angel Krem graduated from George Williams College in Chicago with a degree in recreation and group work. It was during his studies that Krem developed his central ethos: Recreation isn’t simply time o , it is re-creation – a time to gain self-knowledge and clarity.

During his career as a special education teacher in San Leandro, Krem lamented how his students were held to restrictive schedules that lacked the freedom of their neurotypical counterparts. Krem learned that most of his students had never been camping, an essential independence building experience that Krem prioritized for his own sons. Determined to provide developmentally disabled students the same freedom and autonomy that was a orded to their classmates, Alexander Krem established Camp Krem in 1957 in Boulder Creek.

Camp Krem’s winning formula is founded on the idea that all people deserve a space to be accepted for who they are, to self-actualize, to gain independence, and to develop confidence. Today the camp’s mission is supported by a diverse portfolio of programs and activities.

“Arts and crafts, sports, games, dance, drama, music therapy, hiking, going in the swimming pool, spending time with our farm animals. Our

philosophy is to have a lot of options available but give the campers complete freedom of choice,” says Alexander Krem’s granddaughter and current Camp Director, Christina Krem DiGirolamo. “Our campers’ lives are very structured, and they don’t always get the choice of how to spend their time. At camp, we want as many options available as possible, and for the campers to be able to choose. It’s a really wonderful chance for campers to enjoy activities they don’t always have the opportunity to try.”

Through their daily free-choice activities to the more structured animal and music therapy programs, Camp Krem o ers a critical learning experience for those with developmental disabilities. Their Summer Camp and Year-Round Respite programs are open to all campers, regardless of age, disability, or income. Many of their campers return year after year.

“We’re creating a place for exceptional people to be themselves,” says Christina Krem DiGirolamo.

Staying true to the Camp Krem mission means not only prioritizing recreation but also prioritizing accessibility. This is a space where learning opportunities are created for individuals who are often sidelined and financial aid is made available for low-income families. After all, everyone deserves to go to camp.

"M

y son Zane cannot walk, is not toilet trained, and must be fed using a feeding tube. Because of all of his needs, we never imagined that we would find a place we would be comfortable leaving him for the night – let alone for five or six nights!

"Until we learned about Camp Krem when Zane was 11, he had never slept over at another child’s house or even spent the night away from us. Camp Krem gives Zane – and us — what we never thought we would find: a chance for him to socialize and enjoy life with a community of loving and friendly campers and counselors on his own without his parents.

"He loves going to camp. And for us, the idea that our child can gain some independence and find a community of friends outside his family and caregivers –just like a typical teenage boy – is absolutely priceless."

– Dan Robinson Zane’s Father

Since 1957, we have provided an estimated 200,000 days and nights of independencebuilding programs to thousands of disabled children and adults. In the last few years, we have provided over $100,000 in financial aid to 115 families with low incomes, who would not have otherwise had the opportunity to attend our programs. Your support will help Camping Unlimited provide financial aid, make urgent accessibility improvements to our facility near Yosemite, & help fund the portion of our wildfire recovery that FEMA will not.

Everyone Deserves To Go to Camp

For many people, growing up with developmental disabilities means being excluded from the confidence-building experiences that other people have access to.

At Camp Krem, exceptional individuals are encouraged to learn, grow, and exercise their independence – a one-of-a-kind opportunity for these kids and adults.

In 2020, their beloved 63-year-old camp in Boulder Creek was destroyed by wildfire. They are currently working hard to rebuild, and in the meantime are operating at Camp Krem Yosemite, in Ahwahnee, so that they can continue to serve their campers and their families.

Camp Krem's sta come from all over the world. We aim to nurture the ethos of service to others, and help our sta gain valuable skills and experience working with our population. Many of our sta go on to rewarding careers in Special Education, Therapeutic Recreation, Music Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and more.

"Five of my students were given the most precious gift they have ever received: full scholarships to attend Camp Krem. To say this experience was amazing for my students would be an understatement. Camp Krem was life-changing for them.

"They were in a place where they truly felt safe. It struck me that they never had a safe place to go in their own neighborhood. This was the first time in their lives where they could put their guards down and relax.

"My students were much more verbal during camp. In the six years I have known these students, never have I seen them talk as much as they did at camp. It was remarkable. They came out of their shells, and from day one it was clear that all of them felt like they were in a place where it was not only acceptable to be who they are, it was encouraged."

– Sean Reimers Special Education Teacher

KEY SUPPORTERS

Bothin Foundation

Brotzman-Van Bladel Family Fund

Coequantem Fund

Danford Fisher Hannig Foundation

Donald Etzbach

Donna Rosenstein

Dr. Fred Cohen & Dr. Carolyn Klebano Enidina Canty

Escher Family Foundation

Fahringer Foundation

HARTS

periences these campers deserve.

By donating to Camping Unlimited, you are helping build self-confidence in people who are often overlooked and left behind by our education system. You are helping provide their parents and caregivers respite, and valuable and much-needed time to themselves. Furthermore, supporters of Camping Unlimited are funding camp scholarships for low-income families who want the best for their children, too. Join the Camping Unlimited donor list today to help fund the healthy, happy recreational experiences these campers deserve.

Camping Unlimited for the Developmentally Disabled www.campingunlimited.org 102 Brook Lane

Boulder Creek, CA 95006 (831) 338-3210

Ireland Family Foundation

Contact: Christina Krem Director (510) 504-1736 christina@campingunlimited.org

Janet Morgan

June and Julian Foss Foundation

Ken Weakley

Kennedy Family M&M Caldwell Foundation

Mel Deane

Norman Raab Foundation

Nicholson Family Foundation

Peter Morris

Ralph and Lois Stone Family Foundation

Teichert Foundation

Vera Wilson

The Many Ways to Give...

Check: Camping Unlimited for the Developmentally Disabled 102 Brook Lane, Boulder Creek, CA 95006

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-6104601

By Credit Card: campingunlimited.org/donate

By

Inspiring Black Male Youth to Build a Bold, New Future

The Hidden Genius Project was named 2021 Inc. Best in Business honoree for Youth Entrepreneurship.

"Being a part of The Hidden Genius Project has been a transformative experience for me. Initially serving as an advisor and eventually becoming Board Chair, has given me an appreciation for the commitment the team has for the mission to educate, inspire, and support every young Black male in our program. Every year, we are reenergized by the excitement in our new Geniuses that join. I consider it an honor to support the organization, especially for what can be achieved when you expose a young mind to technology and a network of like-minded individuals committed to improving themselves and their communities. I encourage others to support the work by giving so we can continue to expand the number of young Black males reached each year."

Well before Silicon Valley’s diversity problem routinely made headlines, The Hidden Genius Project began to tap into the talents of Oakland’s Black male youth population. With training and mentorship, these young people thrived in fields that have traditionally excluded African Americans –particularly technology, business, and leadership.

“Our young people are already constantly innovating with tech, be it by social media or other avenues,” says Dr. Brandon Nicholson, executive director of The Hidden Genius Project, which began in 2012. “We weren’t necessarily trying to build the next wave of engineers for a specific company. It’s really about trying to inspire young people to build di erent products.”

The Hidden Genius Project has developed their own teaching model called “Catalyst Opportunities” where they o er free single and multi-day technical workshops designed to expose youth of color to its mission.

Catalyst events have been held as far away as England and South Africa. Having received training in a variety of computer science concepts, including web development and robotics, Hidden Genius alums teach all of the Catalyst curriculum.

“Working in South Africa, taking Geniuses who are from Oakland and training them up and having them… train other kids and ultimately

being able to take them around the world was another amazing point on this journey,“ says Sean Valentine, director of strategic initiatives for The Hidden Genius Project.

Increasingly, Catalyst participants are successfully applying to The Hidden Genius Project’s core, award-winning 15-month Intensive Immersion Program for Black male high school students. This free cohort-based training program teaches them leadership, entrepreneurship, and coding skills.

All Hidden Genius participants graduate from high school, and about 90 percent enter college. They have received college acceptances to the University of CaliforniaBerkeley and Nicholson is especially pleased that a student on the autism spectrum was

Known for its flagship 15-month Intensive Immersion Program, The Hidden Genius Project provides Black boys and young men in grades 9 through 11 more than 800 hours of training in computer science education, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills.

– Bi Clark Board Chair, and Managing Partner, Coe cient Technologies

admitted to California Institute of the Arts.

After students finish the Intensive Immersion Program, their journey with The Hidden Genius Project doesn’t end. Inspired by the Ron Brown Scholar Program, which provides college scholarships to Black students and works to develop a lifelong network for positive social change, The Hidden Genius Project aims to grow its network as its alumni pool widens.

“They’re Geniuses for life, and we try to hold young people to that standard,” Nicholson says.

The Hidden Genius Project has been rooted in the value of the African proverb Ubuntu, “I am, because we are,” which emphasizes the deep bond between the youth and helps them visualize their greater selves. Because of this, the program boasts a 98% high school graduation rate.

Since its inception in 2012, The Hidden Genius Project has served over 8,400 young people of color through its Intensive Immersion, Catalyst, and Community Partnership Programs.

Invest in the Brilliance and Leadership Potential of Black Male Youth

That’s how The Hidden Genius Project’s Executive Director Brandon Nicholson describes the organization’s approach to hiring and expansion. The Hidden Genius Project has made a concerted e ort to hire the young men who’ve undergone training and mentoring through its programs. Last year, the organization hired two of its alums full time and it annually hires alums in other capacities, Nicholson says.

The Hidden Genius Project grads facilitate programming that reaches well beyond the organization’s core demographic. Every dollar invested in the organization supports the leadership development of young people, Nicholson says. “We’ve been able to serve over 8,400 people in the last decade through all of our programming,” he adds. “We’re having a greater, lasting e ect on our community all the time.”

After initially serving Oakland students, The Hidden Genius Project has since expanded to serve youth in Richmond, Los Angeles, and Detroit.

The Hidden Genius Project www.hiddengeniusproject.org

Headquarters 1441 Franklin Street, Fourth Floor Oakland, CA 94612

Contact: Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D. Founding Executive Director (510) 995-0447 contact@hiddengeniusproject.org

Isaiah Martin, Oakland Cohort 2 Alum and Software Engineer at Microsoft, shares, "The Hidden Genius Project played a major role in not just exposing me to the tech industry, but also in teaching me how to think critically, solve problems, and use a growth mindset to further my skills."

"Since first learning about The Hidden Genius Project’s work, I’ve been impressed not only by their clear ability to impact the lives of young people, but also by how they go about serving students and their families. In a world full of quick fixes and transactional results, The Hidden Genius Project invests in young people over a long period of time. In a field too often focused on what’s missing, The Hidden Genius Project has always been about celebrating the genius that Black male youth possess. I’ve seen firsthand over the years I’ve supported their work that this approach truly leads to transformative change."

– Precious J. Stroud Principal,

PJS Consultants and Founder, BlackFemaleProject

KEY SUPPORTERS

Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy

Autodesk Inc.

Bank of America

Cestra Butner Family Foundation

Charlie and Karen Couric Charitable Foundation

Comcast NBC Universal East Bay Community Foundation

Google Inc. NBA Foundation

Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

Sony Playstation Warriors Community Foundation

WarnerMedia - Blavatnik Family Social Justice Fund Workday Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Hidden Genius Project

1441 Franklin Street, Fourth Floor Oakland, CA 94612

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID #46-0689949

By Credit Card: hiddengeniusproject.org/donate/

Turning Foster Care Into an ‘Engine of Opportunity’

“After I left foster care, I was on my own. Thanks to JBAY, I was able to participate in a transitional housing program, which gave me the opportunity to learn to live inde pendently, focus on col lege, and graduate.”

– Emmerald Evans Former foster youth

In 2018, a few months after Elizabeth Clews exited the foster care system at 18 years old, she was pregnant and living out of her car on the streets of Southern California. She tried to pull herself out of the desperate situation by enrolling in community college. Juggling an infant, a job slinging lattes at Starbucks, all with no support and unhoused, she bombed the first semester and didn’t go back.

“My time in care was really hard but that transition to adulthood proved to be much harder,” Clews says. “I think that if I would have had somebody there for me, that would have made all the difference.”

Today, thanks to years of policy advocacy by John Burton Advocates for Youth – or JBAY for short – foster youth have a mountain of support to help them get into college and succeed so that what happened to Clews is the rarity, not the norm.

Since its founding in 2004 by John Burton, a former California politician, JBAY has helped thousands of California’s foster and homeless youth gain safe housing, food security, and access to higher education. The 53 bills JBAY has guided through the State Legislature have led to $3.6 billion in public investment to uplift the state’s most vulnerable young people.

“We’ve made tremendous measurable impacts that have contributed to transforming foster care, a historically problematic system, into an engine of opportunity,” says Amy Lemley, JBAY’s executive director.

Foster youth caregivers now follow a curriculum created by JBAY that begins preparing a young person as early as in the 8th grade for a path toward higher education. Social workers are now required to help foster youth apply for college admissions and financial aid.

Once at school, another host of JBAYsponsored laws has led to the creation of a community college network of programs to support foster youth on campus as they

transition into adulthood. A new law makes it possible for every foster youth attending a community college, Cal State University, or University of California campus to have access to economic, academic, and social support.

Now 28, and with two children, Clews tried college one last time after losing her job during the pandemic. This time, she received support with financial assistance and was connected to resources to help former foster youth. She graduated from Ventura College with an AA degree and was accepted to the University of California, Santa Cruz, her number one pick.

“She’s going to be a Banana Slug,” Lemley says. “She’s going to get the financial aid we’ve made possible, she’s going to get campus support at UC Santa Cruz because of our advocacy.”

Elizabeth Clews, Former foster youth

This year, JBAY

“I am very grateful to have access to a foster youth program at UC Berkeley, which helps me stay on track, even when times get tough. Thanks to JBAY, foster youth across California will receive more of the support we need.”

– Joshua Potgieter

Former foster youth

John Burton turns 90, Celebrate his Legacy

J BAY is launching a tribute fund in honor of the legacy of John Burton, who dedicated his life to serving those most in need. In the short term, the fund will be used to give foster youth, who were hurt financially by the pandemic, the resources to get back on track, including helping them attain a college degree. Through JBAY’s legislative efforts, the amount of foster youth enrolled in community college has skyrocketed from 26,000 five years ago to 42,000 today.

“Let’s not lose faith; positive change is happening every day,” says Amy Lemley, JBAY’s executive director. “We are launching the most vulnerable young people into an economy where they are going to create a life for themselves.”

“

When I retired and realized I was able to endow a nonprofit organization, I searched for one that was helping young people who had little opportunity to reach their potential unassisted. Homeless youth and youth aging out of foster care were a natural choice.

"What sets JBAY apart is their research into state laws to assess needed programs and funding so that more young people can pursue college or training programs. JBAY’s staff works closely with the legislature to achieve these objectives. Since its inception in 2004, JBAY has spent $17 million to secure $3.6 billion to assist California’s most vulnerable youth.

"I am proud that my gift has inspired numerous contributions as people learn about JBAY’s exceptional work.”

– Board member Pat Dodson with her family Katherine, Sam, and Jerry Dodson

KEY SUPPORTERS

Alice Suet Yee Barkley

Angell Foundation

Bluebird Legacy

Carmen and Greg Castro-Franceschi

Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation College Futures Foundation

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Donna and Greg Lucas First Republic Bank Help for Children Kaiser Permanente Melanie and Larry Blum National Center for Youth Law

Pat and Jerome Dodson

Pinpoint Foundation

Rick Mariano and Katherine Feinstein

Stupski Foundation

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Tahbazof Family Foundation

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

Thomas and Salma Haider

Tipping Point Community

United Ways California

Walter S. Johnson Foundation

The Many Ways to Give...

John Burton

Advocates for Youth www.jbay.org 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 1142, San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 348-0011

Contact: Corrine Levy Director of Development (415) 348-0011 corrine@jbay.org

By Check:

John Burton Advocates for Youth 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 1142 San Francisco, CA 94104

By DAF or Stock Transfer:

Tax ID# 81-2600695

By Credit Card: www.jbay.org/donate-2022

helped secure $48 million in funding. Every foster youth attending a community college, CSU, or UC will now have economic, academic, and social support. Support JBAY to help foster youth succeed in college.

For The Love of Soccer

In Scotty Kober’s eyes, soccer is the most ver satile sport in the world. Anywhere, anytime, anyone can play – all that is needed is a ball.

“I’ve played soccer absolutely everywhere, from the sidewalks of Vietnam to the Great Pyramid of Giza,” she said. “There isn’t a place in the world where there isn’t a ball – or something that can be used as one,” referencing tied up shirts she saw used as a ball in a refugee camp.

For many the world over, Kober points out, soccer is the glue that creates community, whether across oceans, over borders… or down the street at the neighborhood park.

That’s why Kober describes San Francisco Youth Soccer (SFYS) – the soccer-focused nonprofit she’s been executive director of since 2011 – as having evolved from “just a soccer league,” to a “soccer-based community organization focused on youth leadership.”

The health benefits, self-esteem, and valuable leadership skills kids acquire while playing team sports is without question, Kober says. In recent years, the lean yet scrappy SFYS team of five has transformed the organization, which has roots in the San Francisco soccer scene since 1999, into a thriving ecosystem for the youth of the 21st century.

In addition to high-quality, affordable local league play, SFYS has developed youth leadership programming that’s fully integrated within its organization. SFYS offers mentoring, a Youth Advisory Council (YAC), a dynamic online community portal, and training workshops for kids eager to become referees and coaches. Building out this support network for players, referees, volunteers, and coaches includes applying training, service hours, and a pathway to paid employment, connecting community through sport.

Enaam Maqsood undertook coaching and referee training due to his love of the game but ended up learning valuable life skills along the way. And the $25 an hour he earned created incentive, too.

“I learned a lot about myself teaching other people and it helped me grow as a person,” Maqsood said, now in college. “Even my family sees it – how I’ve been able to resolve conflicts in the house or with friends from learning how to coach and referee through SFYS.”

Despite ever-widening income gaps in the city and skyrocketing prices, SFYS only recently raised fees after twenty-plus years. A rarity in these days of high inflation and payto-play models. And though post-pandemic

Donate to help ensure that SFYS’s high-quality, lowcost league play and sup plemental youth leadership programming will continue to expand to serve even more SF youth. All dona tions are fully tax-deduct ible and match-eligible!

Donations received by 12/31 will be matched up to $5,000!

SF Youth Soccer is a women-led comprehensive soccer-based community organization, benefiting San Francisco youth ages 8-18. SFYS serves families regard less of race, color, religion, age, sex, or national origin. SYFS offers affordable registration fees and expanded financial aid thanks to team volunteers and community partners like SF Rec & Park. #PlaySFYS

it was impossible to survive without increasing registration fees, it remains $100-$150 per season to play in leagues, 10 to 20 times less expensive than nearly every soccer club in San Francisco and among the most affordable in the nation.

San Francisco Youth Soccer is a comprehensive community soccer organization, benefiting San Francisco youth. Our mission is to support youth soccer and leadership through sport.

70% of participating SFYS Teams are school-based. Of that, 2/3 are public school teams.

In 2019, The Aspen Institute State of Play report highlighted that children in the lowest income homes are three times more likely to be physically inactive. In addition, the report highlights that nationally, soccer-specific participation continues to decline by 3% likely attributed to a variety of factors, two of which are lack of access to affordable play and community-based leagues.

SFYS is a soccer-based community organization, with 3/5 of all participating teams coming from public schools. In addition to a solid foundation of high quality, affordable local soccer league play, SFYS has built a connected community and effective network of integrated programming that engages youth on and off the pitch while creating leadership opportunities and pathways for growth via mentorship, practical experience and professional development.

"I think it’s great for kids to get involved with everything SFYS has to offer. I learned a lot about myself teaching other people and it helped me grow as a person. Even my family sees it — how I’ve been able to resolve conflicts in the house or with friends from learning how to coach and ref eree through SFYS."

– Enaam Maqsood High School Pick Up Player/Organizer Junior Coach and Youth Referee Mentor

Safe and Brave Spaces Make Soccer Better

San Francisco Youth Soccer’s newest initiative is the Youth Advisory Council (YAC). The purpose is to increase equity in the soccer community by providing players a voice to represent themselves and their peers. YAC’s pillars of Education, Community, and Action allow young athletes to have mentorship, but also to dream big. The council is a safe space for the youth to speak their minds without fear of judgment.

“It’s amazing! These kids are coming together and saying, ‘How can we make soccer better, more inclusive, and how can we educate people?’” says Executive Director Scotty Kober.

Help Kober raise $50,000 this year so she can hire staff to help turn their ideas into reality as well as build up her existing youth leadership programming. Donations received by 12/31 will be matched up to $5,000.

SF Youth Soccer community.sfyouthsoccer.com 1434 Taraval, San Francisco, CA 94116 (415) 504-8131

Contact: Scotty Kober Executive Director (415) 504-8132 scotty@sfyouthsoccer.com

Lee Dunne DOC & Program Director (415) 572-9623 lee@sfyouthsoccer.com

Youth Leadership Programs focus on educating and training middle and high school students to contribute, coach, ref, and mentor.

KEY SUPPORTERS

Caitlin

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check: San Francisco Youth Soccer 1434 Taraval San Francisco, CA 94116

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 94-3322034

By Credit Card: community.sfyouthsoccer.com

A Legacy of Outdoor Education and Lifelong Learning

Jessica Kahlman knows that many Bay Area students have yet to lay eyes on a majestic coast redwood or dip their toes into the frigid Pacific Ocean.

That’s why she and her colleagues at Vida Verde are dedicated to helping children from low-income schools do just that. They believe that every child has a right to have meaningful educational experiences in nature.

“It’s about helping kids grow, helping them feel confident and comfortable in their skin, helping them become leaders,” Kahlman, Vida Verde’s development director, says, adding that it’s also “introducing them to nature and its heal ing powers.”

Vida Verde was founded in 2001 by Laura and Shawn Sears, two former Teach for Ameri ca teachers who saw a need to promote equity in outdoor education.

The nonprofit’s core program is a free threeday, two-night camping trip for 4th through 6th grade students from historically marginalized

Bay Area communities. The kids take hikes, explore the coast and tide pools, visit a farm where they milk goats, make cheese, and enjoy a campfire.

In 2020, the nonprofit launched its Summer Leadership Program, which serves high school teens with a one-week immersive camping trip.

This past summer, two students who had par ticipated in Vida Verde’s core program as 4th graders came back to work as SLP instructors.

“I know it’s easy to look at three days and think of it as a drop in the sand, but these pro found and transformative experiences can help make a lasting impact, and really affect their tra jectory,” Kahlman says.

Vida Verde purchased its current 23-acre home in San Gregorio about six years ago. The property includes a working farm with a vegeta ble garden and fruit orchard, goats, chickens, a llama, and open space. An educational barn is being built and will act as a classroom and hous ing for the organization’s dedicated staff.

"Students explore the natural wonders of the Redwoods and the coast while expanding their understanding of themselves and their ca pabilities. They face their fears (walking alone in the woods, facing waves of the ocean, or going on a night hike) with the support of their peers and program instructors. A threeday trip that provides mindsets and memories that will impact their futures."

– Melany Nan Oakland Teacher

There are also plans to install a solar array to power the entire property.

“We’re building a home for educational equi ty for generations to come,” Kahlman says.

Vida Verde youth playing "Wave Tag" with the Pacific Ocean!

Electrify Vida Verde With the Power of the Sun

Vida

Verde hopes to raise $350,000 to buy and install solar panels for a solar array that would power its entire 23-acre San Gregorio property, including its working farm and new educational barn.

The solar array would enable the property to go entirely solar, running lights, water pumps, heat, and even multiple electric buses that will shuttle the students from site to site.

Going solar “aligns with our teachings around taking care of the environment,” Jessica Kahlman, Vida Verde’s development director, says. “It’s important for us to be models for students and the larger community around sustainability.”

Eating the fruit of his labor. His class milked a goat, and used that milk and herbs they picked from the garden to make fresh goat cheese. Yum!

Vida Verde www.Vveducation.org

3540 La Honda Road San Gregorio, CA 94074 (650) 747-9288

Contact: Jessica Kahlman Development Director (650) 747-9288 jessica@Vveducation.org

KEY SUPPORTERS

The David & Lucile Packard Foundation

The California Coastal Commission Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

The Franklin & Catherine Johnson Foundation

Additionally, individual supporters make up approximately 25% of our funds raised for our entirely free programming.”

The Many Ways to Give...

By Check:

Vida Verde

3540 La Honda Road San Gregorio, CA 94074

By DAF or Stock Transfer: Tax ID# 36-4471996

By Credit Card: www.Vveducation.org/support-us

10,000 Degrees 74

A Home Within 116

Alliance for Girls 36

Armando Castellano: Profile 150

At The Crossroads 138

Battery Powered 152

Berkeley FILM Foundation 176

Brady: United Against Gun Violence 40

California Children’s Trust 56

Camping Unlimited 184

Catholic Charities 140

Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) 62

Civil Eats 98

Colleen Gregerson: Profile 171

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) 162

Community Action Marin 160

Continuum Foundation 100

David Risher: Profile 183

Direct Relief

Don Howard: Profile 108

Dunn School 76

East Bay Children’s Law Offices’ (EBCLO) 48

East Bay Community Foundation 26

Enzo & Me Pediatric Cancer Foundation 54

Five Keys 38

Friends of the Children

       50

Generation Thrive 96 Help a Mother Out 110

Hidden Genius Project 186

Holocaust Museum LA 46

Homeward Bound of Marin 142

Human Rights Watch (HRW) 42

Jewish Family and Children’s Services East Bay              164

John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) 188

Judith Bell: Profile 59

Juma Ventures 68

Kalyan Balaven: Profile 72

Maitri Compassionate Care 126

Marin Art and Garden Center 178

Marin Community Foundation 28

Mercy Center Burlingame 102

Michael Tubbs: Profile 122

Mona Sinha: Profile 34

National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy (NCEFT) 124 National Disaster Search Dog Foundation 90

Nicole Taylor: Profile 94

Northern California Grantmakers 60

Open Door Legal 166

Plastic Pollution Coalition 104

Point Foundation 78

Rafiki Coalition 112

Raphael House 144

Razing the Bar 118

Rhea Suh: Profile 45

RunX1 128

San Francisco Foundation 30

San Francisco Public Press                                  154

San Francisco Youth Soccer 190

Silicon Valley Community Foundation 24

Stanford Social Innovation Review 156

Students Rising Above (SRA) 80

Susan Hirsch: Profile 115

Turntable 146

United Way Bay Area                                      64

Urban Alchemy 66

Valerie Red-Horse Mohl: Profile 159

Vida Verde 192

Vision to Learn 130

Wendy Garen: Profile 136

Wilma Melville: Profile 84

World Telehealth Initiative                                  132

Wu Yee Children’s Services 52

Yeah, Art! 172

Youth in Arts 174

Youth Law Center 168

Youth Speaks 180