Search Through Public Policy Grants in California in the U.S.

Arthur N. Rupe Foundation Grant

The Arthur N. Rupe Foundation is dedicated to achieving positive social change by shining the light of truth on critical and controversial issues. It pursues this mission through the support of scholarly studies, education, research, and public debate, and by the dissemination of the results via a variety of media to all segments of the public.

The Arthur N. Rupe Foundation exists because it wishes to bring about an improvement in society, to be a positive influence on American life. In the founder’s words, the foundation “aims to improve education at all levels, support authentic debate where all aspects of issues are revealed in a balanced exploration of the facts, and support research and scholarly studies that can achieve broad public dissemination.”

Currently the foundation fulfills its mission through grantmaking in the following areas:

• Caregiving: Influenced by the founder’s experience providing at-home care for a loved one with dementia, the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation supports efforts to train and relieve family caregivers, who provide most of the long-term care in the U.S. To increase the number of professional caregivers in the workforce, the foundation also provides support to nursing assistant programs at California Community Colleges.
• Debate: The Arthur N. Rupe Foundation also supports numerous projects that advance civil and reasoned public debate at the high school, university and civic level. ANRF-sponsored debates are non-partisan and accessible to a general audience, with the intention of educating and exposing audiences to all sides of a particular social issue. It is the foundation’s hope to increase the number of Americans actively involved in debate, as it forms the cornerstone of an informed electorate in a free society.
• Public Policy: The foundation supports various national and state-based think tanks, as well as other freedom-oriented organizations whose scholars produce vital research that will affect public policy and reach a broad and influential audience. In addition, ANRF provides support to public interest law firms that defend core Constitutional principles and adjudicate societal issues consistent with its mission.

About The Foundation

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation was founded in 2008 to center the margin, creating and supporting strategies to reach gender and racial equity. The Foundation believes that intersectional feminism is an essential principle in our work and we intentionally prioritize women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals of color throughout our programming.

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations primarily in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties (the tribal lands of the Amah Mutsun, Ohlone, Chalon, Awaswas, and Esselen nations), occasionally in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, and organizations and programs with statewide impact across California or national impact across the US. Grants are restricted to the United States. We do not accept unsolicited applications.

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is a registered 501c3 non-profit.

Funding Priorities

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations that serve people and communities in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties (the tribal lands of the Amah Mutsun, Ohlone, Chalon, Awaswas, and Esselen nations), occasionally in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, and organizations and programs with statewide impact across California or national impact across the US. The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation believes that intersectional feminism is an essential principle in our grantmaking. We fund solutions to address the impact of racist and patriarchal structures facing women of color and gender-expansive individuals of color. 

Current Grant Opportunities/Funding Priorities

• Feminist / Gender / Women’s Studies
• Reproductive Rights and Justice
• Legal Advocacy for Immigrant Women
• Activist Fund
• Indigenous Women and Girls
• Girls in Engineering
• Women in Public Policy
• Transitional Housing for Survivors of Relationship Abuse
• Legal Services for Survivors of Relationship Abuse
• Women Re-Entering the Workforce
• Media Literacy
• Gender Economic Justice
• Environmental Gender Justice
• Farming: Gender and Racial Justice

Centinela Valley Medical & Community Funds – Integration, Collaboration, Advocacy

The California Community Foundation is seeking letters of interest for grants supporting work in improving immigrant health access, behavioral health and health policy and advocacy affecting South L.A.’s Centinela Valley.

Strategies & Outcomes

To promote and improve the health and quality of life of children and adults living in the Centinela Valley, the foundation focuses on grants to organizations that address the following topics:

• Increasing integration of medical, dental, vision, mental health and substance use prevention, care and treatment services
• Facilitating cross-sector and regional systems collaboration among L.A. County public sector partners, nonprofit hospital/health systems, other nonprofits, and community partners to address the root causes of racial/ethnic health disparities including but not limited to immigration status.
• Supporting health policy/advocacy efforts that promote universal access to and utilization of health coverage, services and other public benefits
• At least 90 percent of individuals who would be served by the proposed program must reside in these zip codes: 90001, 90002, 90003, 90008, 90011, 90016, 90018, 90037, 90043, 90044, 90045, 90047, 90059, 90061, 90062, 90220, 90245, 90249, 90250, 90260, 90301, 90302, 90303, 90304 and 90305.

Health – Integration, Collaboration, Advocacy

The California Community Foundation is seeking letters of interest for grants supporting work in improving immigrant health access, behavioral health and health policy and advocacy.

To promote and improve the health and quality of life of children and adults living in Los Angeles County, the foundation focuses on grants to organizations that address the following topics:

• Increasing integration of medical, dental, vision, mental health and substance use prevention, care and treatment services
• Facilitating cross-sector and regional systems collaboration among L.A. County public sector partners, nonprofit hospital/health systems, other nonprofits, and community partners to address the root causes of racial/ethnic health disparities including but not limited to immigration status
• Supporting health policy/advocacy efforts that promote universal access to and utilization of health coverage, services and other public benefits

Background

The California Community Foundation is seeking letters of interest for grants supporting work in improving healthcare access, disease prevention and community engagement around health issues in South L.A.’s Centinela Valley.

CCF endeavors to be the destination foundation for donors and nonprofits that are passionately committed to creating systemic change in Los Angeles County. We aim to address the root causes of L.A.’s most pressing issues by supporting the nonprofit organizations on the front lines whose innovation and dedication continue to make this a better place for all of us.

Our goal is to make the process simple so that potential grantees can easily explore opportunities, review instructions, monitor deadlines and access tools and other non-grant support – including vital convening support for nonprofits across Los Angeles through the Joan Palevsky Center for the Future of Los Angeles.

Centinela Valley Medical & Community Funds strategy

CCF established the Centinela Medical and Community Fund and the Centinela Medical Care Fund in 1999 to benefit residents in the Centinela Valley.

The funds have since granted approximately $50 million to eligible hospitals and other community-based organizations providing healthcare, medically-related services and health education to economically disadvantaged residents.

Grants are made for core operating, program, project or capacity building support.

Strategies and Outcomes

To promote and improve the health and quality of life of children and adults living in the Centinela Valley, the foundation focuses on grants to organizations that address the following topics:

• Increasing integration of medical, dental, vision, mental health and substance use prevention, care and treatment services
• Facilitating cross-sector and regional systems collaboration among L.A. County public sector partners, nonprofit hospital/health systems, other nonprofits, and community partners to address the root causes of racial/ethnic health disparities including but not limited to immigration status.
• Supporting health policy/advocacy efforts that promote universal access to and utilization of health coverage, services and other public benefits

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Mission/Vision

Our mission is to lead positive systemic change that strengthens Los Angeles communities. We envision a future where all Angelenos have the opportunity to contribute to the productivity, health and well-being of our region. And we believe that our common fate will be determined by how successfully we improve the quality of life for all of our residents. The impact we help create is of, by and for Los Angeles, because the community is our foundation.

Health - Integration, Collaboration & Advocacy

The California Community Foundation is seeking letters of interest for grants supporting work in improving immigrant health access, behavioral health and health policy and advocacy. All potential applicants are strongly encouraged to speak with a Program Officer before beginning the application process to learn more about the current emphases.

Strategies & Outcomes

To promote and improve the health and quality of life of children and adults living in Los Angeles County, the foundation focuses on grants to organizations that address the following topics:

• Increasing integration of medical, dental, vision, mental health and substance use prevention, care and treatment services
• Facilitating cross-sector and regional systems collaboration among L.A. County public sector partners, nonprofit hospital/health systems, other nonprofits, and community partners to address the root causes of racial/ethnic health disparities including but not limited to immigration status
• Supporting health policy/advocacy efforts that promote universal access to and utilization of health coverage, services and other public benefits

JFLA Mini Grant For Japanese Arts & Culture Program

This grant aims to support projects that will enhance further understanding of Japanese arts and culture. Successful candidates may be granted up to $5,000. The Japan Foundation Los Angeles handles Arts and Culture grants for the 13 states west of the Rocky Mountains. These include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Grant Coverage

• Publicity fees
• Printing costs of programs, flyers, and brochures
• Honoraria for artists and lecturers
• Travel Expenses for artists and lecturers, including per diem and accommodation expenses
• Shipping cost of films, exhibits and other materials related to the proposed event
• Facility fee

The grant will be paid in the form of reimbursement for the preceding expenses. The award money will be remitted upon receipt of the final report and proofs of payment. 

The Rosenberg Foundation works together with our grantees, other funders and experts to dismantle the systemic barriers that stand in the way of equity, freedom and opportunity for far too many Californians.

Priority Areas

Through its grantmaking, the Rosenberg Foundation supports leadership development, policy advocacy and grassroots organizing to dismantle barriers to opportunity for low-income communities and communities of color through the following priority areas.

2022-2024 Leading Edge Fellows

Launched in 2016, the Leading Edge Fund was created to seed, incubate and accelerate bold ideas from the next generation of progressive movement leaders in California. Each fellow receives $250,000 in general support over three years; individualized technical assistance in program development, fundraising and strategic communications, executive coaching; and trainings and retreats. The 2022-2024 Leading Edge fellows are working to end and replace the incarceration and criminalization of young people of color, build economic hubs led by and for transgender people, create alternatives to police response, end child poverty, and much more. These fellows represent the next generation of changemakers with bold ideas for winning justice for Black communities and communities of color. In addition to the Rosenberg Foundation, the fund is generously supported by Hellman Foundation, Meadow Fund, Akonadi Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation and The California Endowment.

Justice & Public Safety

Criminal justice reform is one of the most urgent civil rights issues of our day. Nowhere are the barriers to equal opportunity more visible than in our fractured criminal justice system, which perpetuates an ongoing cycle of crime and discrimination that undermines entire communities. This can, and must, change.

Through its Justice and Public Safety portfolio, the Foundation uses a mix of grantmaking, communications, and direct activities aimed at advancing sentencing reform; promoting alternatives to incarceration; and reducing recidivism through reentry, including by bolstering employment opportunities for the formerly incarcerated.

In 2013, the Foundation joined with other funders, including The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Open Society Foundations, to spearhead a powerful new campaign, Californians for Safety and Justice, which aims to shrink the prison and jail system and invest the savings in treatment and crime prevention.

The foundation also partners with a number of other funders as part of a funders’ affinity group focused on criminal justice reform: the Funders for Safety and Justice in California. FSJC includes the Open Society Foundations,Ford Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Sierra Health Foundation, Fund for Nonviolence, the Women’s Foundation of California, the van Löben Sels/Rembe Rock Foundation, Akonadi Foundation, and Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

Immigrant Rights & Workers’ Rights

At the Rosenberg Foundation, we believe that California’s future relies on fully engaged and empowered immigrant communities. We have worked with our grant partners to ensure that immigrant populations are part of the civic and economic life of our state by supporting immigration reform, bolstering grassroots advocacy, enforcing voting and language rights, and strengthening the communications capacity of immigrant rights advocates.

We also are focused on building the capacity of California’s “Dream” movement to engage in immigrant related policy issues in California both for the short- as well as long-term. California has been described as the epicenter for the Dream movement with a quarter of the nation’s Dreamers (over 500,000) and a majority of its leadership living in the state. California’s Dreamers have accomplished much with limited resources, including the successful enactment in 2011 of the California Dream Act, which provides state public funding for student grants and loans. Dream youth represent the future of the immigrant rights movement in California and are a critical part of the immigrant rights advocacy infrastructure in the state. California’s Dreamers have already established themselves as visionaries; our job is to continue to support them in their pioneering work.

The Rosenberg Foundation also has long supported work at the intersection of economic justice and immigrant rights.

Supporting California’s farmworkers has been a priority of the Rosenberg Foundation since the 1950s, when its work in the area was launched by a grant to a citizen’s group near Fresno to establish seasonal clinics for the children of farmworkers. Given that California agriculture is now a $43 billion dollar industry that in turn generates at least $100 billion in related economic activity, and that the vast majority of the farmworkers in the state are immigrants, fighting for farmworkers’ civil and human rights is both an economic and moral imperative. Discrimination in labor laws, low wages, and poor working, health and and job safety conditions are ongoing issues for many of California’s farmworkers, as are broken immigration laws that fracture families and have a significant negative effect on the U.S. economy; at the Rosenberg Foundation, we regard these issues as matters of civil and human rights.

The Foundation invests in strategies that support pathways to legalization for California farmworkers who are undocumented, that strengthen labor protections for agricultural guest workers, and challenge unfair wages and unsafe, exploitative working conditions.

We also invest in efforts to improve wages and conditions for day laborers; those who work in the garment, restaurant, and car wash industries; and domestic workers. Strategies we support include labor organizing, impact litigation, and policy advocacy.

Civil Rights & Civic Engagement

As recent events around the country have demonstrated, the nation’s work in civil rights is far from finished. At the Rosenberg Foundation, we believe that strengthening civil rights advocacy in California is of paramount importance; indeed, it is at the heart of our overall aim to improve the lives of Californians in every way.

California is a minority-majority state, meaning that no single racial or ethnic group forms a majority. And yet California is home to between seven and ten million registered voters who rarely vote, the majority of whom are people of color. Increasing civic participation among underrepresented populations, particularly in communities of color and among low-income communities, is critical.

The Rosenberg Foundation is one of the founding members of the California Civic Participation Funders Collaborative, which was spearheaded by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Other funders active in the roundtable include The California Endowment, The James Irvine Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of California, the McKay Foundation, and the Kapor Center for Social Impact. The funders came together in early 2010 with the shared goal of increasing civic participation among underrepresented populations, and now is working in four counties in California to increase civic participation in communities of color and among low-income populations.

The foundation also invests in longstanding California civil rights organizations, builds the individual and collective capacity of a new generation of young leaders at the helm of these venerable civil rights institutions, and seeds innovative efforts to make voting accessible.

The Foundation embraces the protection of biodiversity as its overarching priority.

Frank Weeden, the Foundation’s founder and original benefactor, established the Weeden Foundation to address the impact of growing human populations and overuse of natural resources on the biological fabric of the planet. Since his death in 1984, the Foundation has helped preserve more than 6 million acres of biologically important habitat worldwide and provided financing for the first debt-for-nature swap in Bolivia in 1992, a strategy that is now widely used by international conservation organizations. Program efforts have supported projects in environmentally sensitive regions of the western United States, Alaska, Russia, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Belize, Namibia, Mexico, and various Caribbean nations.

Focus Areas

On a more general scale the Foundation supports the following focus areas.

Bird Conservation

Our goal in the Bird Conservation program area is to conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. In particular we seek to fund grantees that work to prevent bird species extinctions and to prevent declining populations of bird species from becoming endangered. We specifically focus on protecting and restoring public and private bird habitat and we assist in acquiring land for threatened bird species. Finally we support protection of bird migration corridors in North and South America.

Systemic Support program at the U.S. national policy level for wildlife corridors, the Endangered Species Act, and additional wilderness designation.

Our goal in Systemic Support is to improve the effectiveness of environmental efforts through specialized services. Specific objectives include:

• support the Endangered Species Act through litigation, lobbying, grassroots campaigns and public education generally,
• promote organizations providing support for groups engaged in wilderness protection, land conservation, endangered species protection, wildlife corridor issues, and management of public lands, an
• improve federal and state support for environmentally sustainable practices, wilderness designations, and wildlife corridors. 

Global Biodiversity

Our goal in Global Biodiversity is to support campaigns and/or groups in biodiversity hotspots. Specific objectives are to

• protect global temperate rainforests,
• support creation of wildlife corridors,
• land acquisition and protection for endangered species and,
• support projects that involve indigenous peoples in the process and stewardship of conservation projects.

Environmental Education

The Foundation’s Environment Education program area focuses on supporting grantees that will provide future leaders with the tools to effect environmental policies. These policies complement the other grantees of the Foundation including biodiversity and habitat protection. Sustainable environmental policies must include both immediate actions as well as education to anticipate and to prevent future environmental impact.

Marine Wildlife Conservation

The Marine Wildlife Conservation Program Area focuses on helping to protect endangered marine species in the Americas through research, advocacy, policy change, and habitat conservation.

To address the adverse impact of economic and human population growth on biodiversity, the Foundation’s grantmaking includes both Consumption and Population programs.

The Foundation’s Sustainable Consumption program currently focuses on promoting greater use of environmental paper. Grantmaking in this area aims to broaden the market for environmental papers and packaging through markets campaigns, shareholder activism, consumer-targeted education, and dialogue with the corporate sector. This year we have expanded our packaging program to include efforts to reduce plastics in the waste stream, through strategies such as eliminating single use plastic disposables by promoting reusable packaging for grocery stores, take-out, and delivery.

The Foundation’s International Population program area is focused on reducing population growth rates in countries recognized for their rich biodiverse landscapes and that have a total fertility rate exceeding replacement levels. To achieve this goal, the Foundation funds groups that facilitate initiatives related to family planning, women’s education and women’s empowerment in countries with such rich and recognized biodiversity. The Foundation also supports advocacy efforts addressing global population growth in the context of environmental sustainability.

Become a Fellow

The Switzer Fellowship offers one-year fellowships to highly talented graduate students from diverse academic and personal backgrounds in New England and California whose studies and career goals are directed toward environmental improvement and who clearly demonstrate leadership in their field. The fellowship includes a $17,000 cash award, leadership training, access to a vibrant network of Switzer Fellowship alums, and opportunities for professional development and grants beyond the fellowship year.

Through the Switzer Fellowship, the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation supports environmental leaders for the 21st century who have the ability, determination and integrity to effect positive change. Only the most active, committed and focused individuals will compete successfully to join the Switzer Network of more than 700 fellows selected since 1986.

Switzer Fellows are on the leading edge of environmental and social change through efforts in environmental science, policy, justice, public health, economics, journalism, urban planning, business, law and more. Switzer Fellows come from diverse social, academic and economic backgrounds. They are committed to interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral work, applied results, and collaborative leadership. Further, they are committed to their own professional development and to continually improving their leadership skills throughout their careers.

Fellowship Benefits and Expectations

The fellowship includes a $17,000 cash award to be paid in two installments, in June and January. Fellows are expected to participate in two multiday retreats which focus on building connections among fellows and provide fundamental leadership skills development. Applicants for the fellowship must be able to commit to attending the retreats during their fellowship year. 

The Switzer Fellowship also offers a variety of professional and leadership development resources to fellows throughout their careers, as described below.

The Switzer Network

A significant and valuable aspect of the fellowship is the Switzer Network. This network is a system of support and exchange for the more than 700 Switzer Fellows located throughout the U.S. and around the world. The network provides a vibrant connection among Switzer Fellows and other leading environmental practitioners. The goals of the fellowship network are to:

• Develop a community of Switzer Fellows who share in training, leadership, and networking opportunities, and facilitate their support of each other.
• Foster collaboration among fellows and promote peer-to-peer learning and innovation.
• Support and reinforce career development for the community of Switzer Fellows.
• Assist Switzer Fellows in achieving positions of leadership and visibility in order to increase their effectiveness.
• Provide an interdisciplinary source of expertise from which organizations, government agencies, policymakers and media contacts can draw when expertise on an environmental issue is needed.

Ongoing network activities include networking calls and convenings, collegial information exchange, professional skills training, informal social gatherings, and collaborative grant opportunities. See Find An Expert to learn about fellowship alumni and their work.

Career support and mentoring

Foundation staff and fellowship alumni provide career coaching, mentoring, and leadership guidance to fellows at any time during their fellowship year and beyond. Foundation staff will help identify leadership development opportunities to best prepare fellows for their chosen career path.  

Other grant programs

Once they have fulfilled their fellowship year requirements, Switzer Fellows have access to three other Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation grant programs aimed at supporting and enhancing their leadership skills and professional development. The Leadership Grant program is available to fellows who have completed their studies and wish to partner with a nonprofit or public agency to contribute leadership and expertise on a project or help create a position that applies their professional skills and leadership to a critical environmental issue. Network Innovation Grants are available for collaborative projects involving two or more Switzer Fellows. This program is designed to foster innovation and collaboration among fellows, tapping the Switzer Fellows Network’s collective potential for advancing progress on an issue. Professional Development Grants are available to fellows after their fellowship year to attend trainings or conferences that will advance their professional skills and standing.

Applications are specifically reviewed for the following:

Environmental Commitment, Clarity of Purpose, and Career Goals

• Applicant demonstrates a commitment to aggressively pursue and implement effective solutions to improve the quality of our environment through professional and volunteer work experience; shows clarity of career goals and realistic vision.They articulate the role in which they see themselves having an impact.

Leadership Capacity

• Applicant demonstrates experience and/or potential in the ability to influence and align others towards environmental goals, and to effectively bridge the public, private and academic arenas.Applicant demonstrates proficiency and leadership in their selected topic and commitment to ongoing professional development to enhance their leadership.

Innovative Problem-Solving

• Applicant demonstrates innovative or creative approaches and contributes a new or different perspective to their field; applicant works on a cutting edge issue.

Applied and Interdisciplinary Focus

• Applicant is able to translate knowledge within their field of study into problem-solving strategies; scientific, technical, analytical and/or policy study is geared towards applied results. Applicant is able to place their work in a broader context, beyond academic settings and including policy.

Collaboration and Engagement

• Applicant has experience in organizing diverse groups, building inclusive teams or implementing programs on an environmental issue; shows willingness or ability to engage across sectors or social/community boundaries.

Social Equity Awareness/Experience

• Applicant demonstrates an awareness of the equity and social justice dimensions of their environmental work.

Communication and Critical Thinking

• Applicant communicates clearly and is able to translate theoretical concepts into practice; has the ability to communicate effectively in writing and orally.

Background

The UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) is a statewide program of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). UC SAREP envisions a food and farming system that:

• supports resilience through diversified production, marketing, and distribution systems,
• values all food system workers and supports their physical, economic, and social wellbeing,
• contributes to the health and vitality of urban, rural, and Tribal communities,
• is environmentally regenerative, using resources for production and distribution in a way that protects the environment in trust for future generations, including under changing climate conditions, and
• is culturally responsive and reflects the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity of California.

Funding Priority Areas 

Priority Area 1:  Support California’s farmers, ranchers, and land stewards of all scales in piloting and transitioning to:

• environmentally regenerative approaches to producing crops and livestock (including but not limited to soil health, organic and agroecological practices, integrated pest management, crop diversification);
• pathways for realizing economic return from ecologically-sound crop management practices and fair labor practices;
• marketing and distribution strategies that support diversified, decentralized, and locally-based supply chains;
• strategies that promote producer-to-producer networking and/or producer-to-supply chain networking.

Priority Area 2:  Support California’s rural, urban, and Tribal communities in identifying and implementing strategies to:

• expand access to healthy, sustainably produced, culturally appropriate foods;
• ensure worker wellbeing across the food chain;
• minimize the community and environmental costs of food production and distribution;
• strengthen connections between consumers and producers;
• establish and strengthen producer-to-producer connections and producer-to-supply chain connections.

Proposal Categories

Proposals are requested for three types of projects: 

• Planning Grants
  • Planning grants are intended to support processes that bring together diverse stakeholders to plan for larger, more complex research and outreach projects for which larger funds are being sought.
  • Examples of previously funded Planning projects include:
    • the creation of a new food policy council;
    • exploring how green jobs for women farmworkers can improve their working conditions and the well-being of their communities;
    • building a research team and developing plans for conducting a life cycle analysis of California’s beef production system; and
    • community food access planning in East Salinas.
• Education and Outreach Grants
  • Education and outreach grants include educational events, materials and outreach components of research projects.
  • Examples of previously funded Education and Outreach projects include:
    • providing legal guidance to low-income entrepreneurs interested in urban and suburban farming,
    • home-based food businesses and cooperatively owned agricultural companies in the San Francisco Bay Area;
    • helping Southeast Asian and other small farmers in Sacramento connect with processors and buyers;
    • implementing a bilingual educational campaign to communicate the importance of locally and sustainably grown produce from farmers of diverse backgrounds in Napa County; and
    • developing and documenting opportunities and success stories for ecosystem services provided by rangeland stewardship.
• Applied Research Grants
  • These projects are intended to fund original, applied research in the above Program Priority Areas.
  • An example of a previously funded research grant includes funding to study the effects of livestock guardian dogs on wildlife species and the potential for conflict with recreationists.
  • Research projects should include an outreach component.

Funding Availability

Individual grants will be limited to a maximum of $10,000, with one Applied Research Grant awarded up to $20,000.

Background

A family foundation that believes in strategic infusions of funding, we dedicate nearly 100% of our grant dollars to the environment. As citizens of the planet, we are compelled to participate in the protection of natural resources in the communities where we live.

The Campbell Foundation was established in 1998 to improve the conditions of America’s largest and most ecologically diverse and productive estuary systems: the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays. In 2003, Keith expanded the geographic focus of The Campbell Foundation to include Northern California and the San Francisco Bay watershed under the leadership of his daughter and the Foundation’s President, Samantha Campbell.

Chesapeake

The Campbell Foundation’s Chesapeake Initiative seeks to accelerate the pace of nutrient reduction in the Bay through engagement of diverse stakeholders and partnerships between agricultural interests and environmental concerns that forge new paths of working together.

The Campbell Foundation endeavors to identify, broaden and enhance leadership and grassroots advocacy by building capacity for those who chart a sensible course for the future, with 360° view of the needs and tradeoffs.

The grantees we support are thoughtful, inclusive and coordinated, with an enthusiasm for consensus-based solutions.

Our mission in the Chesapeake Bay Region is to improve water quality and ecological balance in the Bay and its rivers, as a healthy Bay fosters a vibrant regional economy and provides exceptional recreational opportunities.

Pacific

The Campbell Foundation’s Pacific Initiative strives to identify opportunities in the field that a) are gaining political momentum, b) present a great opportunity to leverage resources of all kinds, and c) are innovative from a business and social perspective.

We allocate the resources of our California office to projects in these areas:

• Water Quality (California)
• Land-Sea Connection (California)
• Protection of Special Places (California)

Our mission in the Pacific Region is to safeguard the ocean environment of the Pacific Coast and elevate environmental issues in our culture by promoting the implementation and enforcement of adequate policies, leveraging the power of markets to advance sustainable economies and supporting innovative communication.

Cycle 1 & Cycle 2

We offer two unsolicited grant cycles per year. The budget for each of our cycles is $50,000. Individual grants will vary in size, but will be no greater than $25,000. We accept proposals for any type of program in any geography. The maximum amount you can request is $25,000.

Legal Services Program

The BFF Legal Services Program originated from a query about the role of and definition of “safety net” organizations. Following the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the founders of BFF began to explore the various different types of non-profits that were called to action to help those most impacted by the Great Recession. Alongside medical clinics, food banks and shelters, legal services representatives worked tirelessly to help their clients.  

From this origin, BFF began to explore the role of legal services both as a “safety net provider” and as a poverty alleviation tool. Based on a metric created by the Robin Hood Foundation and on impact report submitted by over a dozen different types of organizations, it became apparent to us that legal aid is, dollar for dollar, more effective than all other anti-poverty interventions. Time and time again when we read the Social Return on Investment reports (SROIs) from our grantees, we are both amazed and impressed with their outcomes.

I & R Grants

Our I & R Grants target projects and programs that are both innovative and replicable. We support these grants to allow legal services leaders to test new models that have the potential to help their individual organizations and when replicated, to help their peer organizations. 

This includes, but is not limited to, new strategy-focused projects designed to enhance the effectiveness of an organization to answer questions posed by either the organization or by the legal services sector.

Sector Supporting Grants

"": Organizations that do not generally provide direct legal services programs, but provide technical assistance and substantive back-up to the direct services programs. They provide support service to legal services offices in the following areas: training, technical assistance, research and advocacy. Examples include: 

• Support Centers
• Think Tanks
• Design Labs 
• Impact Litigation

: In an effort to support the legal services sector and ensure a strong and consistent pipeline of new legal services staff, we support grants that focus on recruitment & retention of legal services professionals. Examples of such grants include:

• Public Services Loan Forgiveness Programs
• Loan Assistance Repayment Programs
• Fellowships
• Staff Well-Being

: We fund advocacy work that supports to the legal service sector. 

About the Fund

The California Wildlands Grassroots Fund (Cal Wildlands) supports the heroic efforts of grassroots activists to preserve California’s wildlands and natural habitat.

The Fund champion’s conservationists advocating for the permanent protection, including restoration and stewardship, of intact wildlands on both public and private lands, to help preserve California’s wilderness and native biological diversity. This includes policy advocacy, litigation and regulatory watchdogging at the local, state and federal levels; efforts to advance wildlands and open space protection through county general plans and local planning; as well as direct stewardship and maintenance of intact wild areas.

Issues and Activities We Support

• Projects that protect and preserve wildlands and open space, or support the good stewardship, restoration and management of wild areas.
• Cal Wildlands defines “wildlands” as natural habitats, privately or publicly owned, that are (or have the potential to be) permanently preserved through legislation or deed restrictions, and are on a scale necessary to support significant native plant and animal life.
• Projects in urban or suburban settings, must feature connectivity to larger protected areas and/or be located along critical wildlife corridors.
• Activities such as grassroots organizing and outreach; communications campaigns; regulatory advocacy; lawsuits; wildlands restoration and stewardship (including trail maintenance); scientific research; organizational capacity building and equipment purchases.
• Environmental education programs must include a strong element of environmental advocacy to be considered.

Priority Areas

• Community-based advocacy and organizing efforts steered by affected community members.
• Efforts predominantly driven and staffed by volunteers.
• Projects in areas that have not received significant foundation support, including rural communities.
• Projects that build diverse constituencies for wildlands protection and engage non-traditional stakeholders, especially communities of color.
• Project-specific requests, though general support requests will be accepted from strong organizations whose work is well aligned with the fund’s objectives.
• Projects that will establish or combat a critical precedent that will influence other wildlands protection efforts.

Duration of Support and Grant Size

• Maximum grant award is $10,000, and typical grants range between $4,000-$8,000.
• If your organization’s actual annual income and expenses are $30,000 or less, we strongly encourage you to request a grant of $5,000 or less.
• Organizations seeking the maximum grant size of $10,000 must be able to articulate a clear project and budget that justifies the full grant.
• Grants are for a one year period.

EJ Action Grants Program

Providing grant funding to projects intended to lift the burden of pollution from those most vulnerable to its effects.

About the Grants Program

The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) announced the establishment of the new CalEPA EJ Action Grants Program (Program) in June 2023. Round 1 grantees were awarded in March 2024.

CalEPA is administering the Program to provide grant funding to a wide variety of projects. CalEPA administers the Program as part of its overall mission to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality, and economic vitality.

Section 1. Introduction

1.1. Background

The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) is administering the Environmental Justice Action Grants Program (Program) to provide grant funding to a wide variety of projects. The Legislature has directed CalEPA to use that money for grants to support tribes, community-based organizations, and residents to engage in:

emergency preparedness,

public health protection,

environmental and climate decision-making, and

coordinated enforcement efforts affecting their communities.

 CalEPA administers this program as part of its overall mission to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality, and economic vitality.

1.2. Environmental Justice

CalEPA will fund projects that fall within the four legislatively designated categories identified in Section 1.1. of these Guidelines. In addition and in accordance with Public Resources Code section 71110 and Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N16-22 (issued Sept. 13, 2022), CalEPA is exercising its discretion to focus, within those categories, on projects that meaningfully involve and engage disadvantaged communities to serve environmental justice purposes. This will ensure that grant funds are used to lift the burden of pollution, natural disasters, and toxic waste for those most impacted by and vulnerable to their effects.

For the Program, CalEPA adopts the definition of “environmental justice” found at Government Code section 65040.12, subdivision (e)(1). That section interprets “environmental justice” to mean “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes, and national origins, with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” That section also recognizes environmental justice to include, but not be limited to:

a) the availability of a healthy environment for all people;

b) the deterrence, reduction, and elimination of pollution burdens for populations and communities experiencing the adverse effects of that pollution, so that the effects of the pollution are not disproportionately borne by those populations and communities;

c) governmental entities engaging and providing technical assistance to populations and communities most impacted by pollution to promote their meaningful participation in all phases of the environmental and land use decision-making process; and 

d) the meaningful consideration of recommendations from populations and communities most impacted by pollution into environmental and land use decisions.

Archival Grants

A modest portion of the Foundation’s annual research budget is reserved to support archival and cataloging projects at libraries and other local institutions in Los Angeles. The relevance and significance of the materials to Southern California and public policy, along with their fragility, rarity and completeness are considered in selecting projects for these awards.

Recent recipients of archival funding include The Huntington Library, the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, the Public Library of the City of Los Angeles, the Japanese American National Museum, and the libraries of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount University.

In general, archival projects will receive only partial funding from the Haynes Foundation.

BackgroundCBTA is proud to be one of the few Cooperating Associations that awards academic Scholarships each year to students who have chosen to pursue an education and/or career in environmentally related fields.

This scholarship is administered through a Fund created by the Hewitt family to honor Emily M. Hewitt and to honor a student who shared her love of nature. CBTA is proud to select and award this scholarship on their behalf.

Emily M. Hewitt was a California artist, author, teacher and docent whose life found meaning when communicating her love of Nature to others. To this end, she served as a docent at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, where she authored skits, monologues and audio-visual presentations for visitors. As a University of California and California State College educated teacher, she combined literature and the natural sciences to vibrantly present her lessons.

As the first woman mayor of the City of Oakdale, California, she fought for the preservation of agricultural lands on the fringe of urbanization and established one of the first recycling centers in the state. As an artist, she captured the essence of the Sierra Nevada, the Pacific Coast, and the Sonoran Desert in oils, watercolors, fabric, clay and other media.

Purpose of Scholarships

To provide a monetary award of $3,000.00 for a promising California upper division or graduate student, who has shown an educational and career commitment to the study of the environment, shows a commitment to communicate and interpret a love of nature, and an understanding of need to practice conservation.

Community Air Grants 

AB 617 seeks to ensure that all Californians benefit equitably from our State's air quality and climate efforts, especially those who live in the areas of California most severely impacted by air pollution.

Included in AB 617 is a provision for grants to community-based organizations for technical assistance and to support their efforts in this process. CARB has been charged with administering these grants.

In order to meet the intent of the Legislature, and in order to continue to build the capacity of California communities to participate in developing and implementing AB 617 programs, CARB created the Community Air Grants Program (Air Grants Program). The Air Grants Program aim is to provide support for community-based organizations to participate in the AB 617 process, and to build capacity to become active partners with government to identify, evaluate, and ultimately reduce air pollution and exposure to harmful emissions in their communities.

Examples of what Community Air Grants are being used to fund includes, but is not limited to:

• Community engagement and outreach related to AB 617
• Hiring consultants and/or technical experts
• Travel and logistical support for hosting and/or attending meetings related to AB 617 (i.e., room rental, meeting facilitation, transportation)
• Support for community operated air monitoring
• Data collection and analysis, including community based participatory research projects

Purpose

The purpose of Community Air Grants is to provide community-based organizations with logistical and technical assistance to support their efforts in improving local air quality. Projects are intended to further the purposes of AB 617 and AB 32 by designing and executing projects that build capacity in communities through supporting community-based organizations’ and community members’ participation in the Community Air Protection Program.

Description:

Community Air Grant Project priorities include projects that: foster workforce development, prioritize equitable public participation and demonstrate local partnership building and coordination, leveraging, in-kind support, or other forms of collaboration and advance environmental justice within the context of California’s air quality policies.

Projects must be wholly located in and benefit disadvantaged and/or low-income communities, as identified pursuant to California Health and Safety Code sections 39711 and 39713 (added and amended by Senate Bill 535 and AB 1550), or on Tribal lands. 

Goal

Community Air Grant projects are intended to further the purposes of AB 617 and AB 32 (Global Warming Solutions Act) in California communities. This goal is to be accomplished by designing and executing projects that build capacity in communities through supporting community-based organizations’ and community members’  participation in the Program. This includes, but is not limited to, the development of methods to acquire new or better information regarding air quality and related health impacts, as well as facilitate greenhouse gas emission reductions, and identify or implement measures to reduce air pollution in disproportionately impacted communities.

• Educational
  • Community engagement and education supporting CARB’s Blueprint document;
  • Conducting air quality education;
  • Developing partnerships and coalition building for the purposes of AB 617;
  • Facilitating community interaction and cultivating working relationships with government agencies;
  • Education and support on specific Community Emission Reduction Programs;
  • Education on other AB 617 statewide strategies;
  • Education on Best Available Control Technologies (BACT), and Best Available Retrofit Control Technologies (BARCT);
  • Education on air quality enforcement concepts;
  • Education on data reporting and communication; and
  • Any other elements of AB 617 or the Blueprint.
• Technical
• Community technology assessments;
• Community technical training (monitoring and technical education including data collection and analysis);
• Community led community air protection efforts;
• Technical Implementation (e.g. deploying sensors);
• Community modeling and community inventory training; and
• Community air monitoring support. (includes purchase of air quality monitors)
• Targeted
  • Community Capacity Building;
  • Emissions Reduction Strategy Development;
  • Emissions Reduction Strategy Expansion; and
  • Community Air Monitoring Plan Development.

Economic Security & Dignity Fund

To be healthy, people need the stability, confidence and aspiration gained through earning a reliable and growing income, building up a financial cushion, and owning assets. Yet many Californians face barriers to achieving enough income to meet basic needs, let alone build wealth – the single most important factor that influences health.

If you think of economic security as a house, we strive to support Californians in strengthening the floor and eliminating the ceiling. "Strengthening the floor" means focusing on reinforcing a social safety net that protects people from economic distress when faced with financial challenges. And "eliminating the ceiling" means emphasizing higher education, and access to good jobs that provide living wages, strong benefits and career paths. Eliminating the ceiling also includes entrepreneurship and growing assets – from homeownership to retirement savings.

Our Economic Security and Dignity portfolio aims to advance the economic well-being of Californians, especially those from low-income communities and communities of color.

Economic Mobility & Wealth Creation

All Californians should be able to get good-paying jobs, build businesses as entrepreneurs if they choose to, and be financially secure. We will support efforts that advance workforce development and entrepreneurship for communities of color and low-income communities.

Improving health outcomes is not just a matter of promoting good jobs and increasing income — it’s also about building assets and the confidence and cushion that wealth provides to expand opportunities.

The Economic Security and Dignity portfolio makes grants under three goal areas. To be eligible for funding, your organization’s work must fit into at least one of these goal areas:

• Economic Mobility & Wealth Creation
• Higher Education (note: this goal area is currently not accepting unsolicited applications for funding).
• Economic Safety Net

Economic Mobility & Wealth Creation

• Comprehensive workforce development efforts that focus on systems-impacted communities, with attention to formerly incarcerated men and women and provide all of the following:
  • Placement into living-wage jobs that offer robust benefits and pathways for career advancement;
  • Job retention services; and
  • Case-managed wraparound support services.
• Efforts that support and strengthen small businesses through culturally-effective advising services and access to trustworthy capital for owners and operators who are persons of color, immigrants and refugees, or low-income individuals.
• Public policy efforts that address one of the following:
  • Advance comprehensive workforce development approaches described above; or
  • Strengthen supports for small businesses.

• Workforce development efforts that focus on populations other than formerly incarcerated adults, or that emphasize resume writing, interview skills training, placement into low-wage jobs, or job training with minimal job placement or support services.
• An individual organization’s efforts to develop, build, or expand its in-house workforce or its own small business, including social enterprises.

Higher Education

This goal area has two priorities:

• pathways to access and succeed in postsecondary education for juvenile justice system-involved youth and
• advancing racial equity in medical schools to address the acute racial disparities in the physicians’ workforce in California.

More than two-thirds of youth connected to the juvenile justice system aspire to higher education. At the same time, incarcerated youth in California face many obstacles in their quest to enter and succeed in higher education. Across the state, youth in custody have no access to face-to-face, classroom-based postsecondary instruction, and receive no postsecondary outreach, engagement, or orientation activities. And the juvenile justice system’s disproportionate ensnarement of Black and Latino youth exacerbates racial inequities in the pathways into postsecondary education. As a result, college and other postsecondary education – a leading pathway to economic self-sufficiency – is out of reach for most juvenile justice system-involved youth. Our grants are shaping a field and elevating a supportive ecosystem across the state to nurture a higher education pathway for these systems-involved young people.

• College campus-based support programs and supportive housing programs that support the postsecondary educational success of our youth involved with the juvenile justice system.
• Efforts that advance access to and success in medical schools for students from communities of color that are underrepresented in medicine, with attention to pathway and other programs at schools of medicine and community-based organizations.
• Public policy efforts that:
  • Advance the postsecondary educational success of youth involved with the juvenile justice system, or

• Address barriers to access to and success in medical schools students from communities of color that are underrepresented in medicine. Leadership development efforts that support advocacy of:
  • Juvenile justice system-involved youth issues impacting their pathways to and through postsecondary education

• Programs that focus on college preparation, high school completion or the acquisition of a GED or HiSET certificate, or K-12-focused programs, including efforts addressing STEM.
• Supportive housing programs that are not tailored to our priority youth population nor oriented to advancing their postsecondary educational success.
• Health professions schools and training programs that address students broader than physicians.
• Efforts that focus on health workforce or workplace diversity and cultural competence.

Economic Safety Net

We want to make sure there is easier access to safety-net income supports. According to the Center for American Progress, a strong safety net reduces poverty, increases economic mobility, and strengthens our national economy. Furthermore, studies show that many safety-net programs offer an excellent return on investment to taxpayers. We will help expand and strengthen the safety net to support low-income Californians in both maintaining their financial stability and in building their economic progress. We also support the economic justice ecosystem of organizations in California working to improve wages, benefits, and employment practices.

Public policy and systems change efforts that:

• Address strengthening income security (e.g., earned income tax credits, child tax credits, retirement benefits, unemployment insurance, guaranteed income), including expanding eligibility (e.g., undocumented immigrants); or
• Advance economic justice (e.g., worker power, increasing the minimum/living wage, improving workforce policies, etc.).

Efforts that primarily address occupational health and workplace safety.

Transformations & Innovations Grants Program

Given the critical role of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to provide emergency and urgent healthcare in our homes and communities, with the Transformations & Innovations Grants Program, CARESTAR seeks to catalyze new and improved ways for Californians to request, receive, and experience EMS response and care. This includes rethinking how and which EMS agencies are activated to respond, the type and location of care provided, as well as ensuring care is delivered by first responders and other healthcare providers who reflect and respect the rich diversity of our communities. Understanding and addressing racial disparities in response or care should be central to the vision for change.

We are specifically looking for collaboratives that are working together to create transformational EMS change. At a minimum, collaboratives should include: 

• prioritize the experiences, needs, and ideas of residents who identify as Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, or another racialized group - as well as communities that have historically been under-resourced;
• include diverse community representatives/agencies;
• include one or more agencies responsible for local emergency response; and
• have support from, or the potential involvement of a Local Emergency Medical Services Agency (LEMSA). 

Leighton Honorees

Every year, in memory of Jeff Leighton, a former CARESTAR advisor, the Foundation designates a portion of its TII grantmaking funds to support collaboratives serving rural, frontier, or tribal areas in California. The aim is to provide these regions, which encounter distinctive and challenging obstacles, with critical funds to rethink and coordinate emergency and prehospital care to better align with the needs of their local communities. With expertise in non-profit foundation development, operations, finance, and investment management, Jeff Leighton helped establish the CARESTAR Foundation in 2018. His illness and subsequent passing during this period led the board of directors to want to honor and recognize Leighton’s outstanding contributions to CARESTAR and strengthen the rural areas of California Jeff loved so much.

Scope of Work

The scope of work proposed can be narrow and deep focusing on innovations within specific components of EMS - or broad and wide across the response and care delivery landscape. The collaborative must consider local data and engage community members to understand what’s needed to improve racial equity within EMS. The following are examples (not requirements) of activities a collaborative could pursue: 

• assess the current system and highlight any racial disparities or biases
• create a shared vision, engaging a range of stakeholders to reflect on current realities and consider what communities want, need, the barriers, and opportunities
• design, implement and/or evaluate EMS reforms (e.g., programs or policies) that address identified racial disparities; and/or
• share best practices with regional and state agencies to support the integration, spread, and sustainability of innovations achieved. 

Funding

Grant award sizes may vary. The maximum amount is $100k for a one-year grant, and a maximum of $300k for a multi-year grant. Please do not feel obligated to apply for the maximum amount, as we would like to fund as many collaboratives as possible with a limited budget.  

Background & Purpose

The California Arts Council’s policies and practices prioritize racial equity and have a broad geographic reach into communities of all sizes and needs, and this includes providing critical services to artists and to the community at large. The CAC is committed to funding opportunities that support all of California’s creative ecosystem. Offering fellowship support to artists responds to the CAC’s Strategic Framework by directly supporting individuals who embody aesthetics, a key value of the CAC, recognizing all art forms and artistic traditions that enable full and meaningful creative expression.

Through a network of regionally-based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program will continue to recognize, uplift, and celebrate the excellence of California artists practicing any art form. In doing so, the CAC will showcase the centrality of artists’ leadership in guiding the evolution of our traditional and contemporary cultures.

Excellence, for purposes of this grant, is defined as an artist’s:

• Unique artistic vision
• Ongoing commitment to creative practice
• Engagement with and impact on the larger cultural ecosystem

This program will support artists at key moments in their careers, elevating their capacity for continued contribution to the field and our state. Fellowship grants support individual artistic practice through unrestricted funding. This program is intended to support a broad spectrum of artists working in all disciplines, from diverse geographies and communities of all sizes across the state of California.

Administering Organizations (AO)

The AOs will be responsible for the planning and implementation of the Individual Artist Fellowship program in their region, including but not limited to:

• Provide access and support for individual artists and culture bearers throughout the course of the application, award, and evaluation processes
• Engage in robust, culturally and discipline-specific engagement and outreach to ensure comprehensive geographic reach within the service area
• Convene fellows at least once over the course of the grant activity period to engage in networking and co learning
• Provide platforms including but not limited to virtual or print publications, exhibits, or performances to increase the visibility of the work of the fellows
• Engage in regular reporting to and collaboration with the CAC, including providing interim and final reports on program outcomes and findings.

Funding Structure

Administering Organizations will regrant fellowship awards to provide unrestricted funding in support of the fellows’ artistic practice. The following three tiers of funding are available. (Awards will be funded at the full dollar amount for each tier, partial awards will not be made):

CAC Emerging Artist Fellows - $5,000

Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice. Individuals at this career stage may have had a few public showings of their work, but do not yet have ongoing resources or support.

CAC Established Artist Fellows - $10,000

Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice. Individuals in this tier can give multiple examples of artistic and/or cultural works that have made significant social impact.

CAC Legacy Artist Fellows - $50,000

Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact. Artists in this tier may be able to point to Emerging and Established Artists that they have mentored or otherwise positively influenced.

Each AO will make grants to a minimum of three fellows in each career tier. The total grant award is for $800,000.

AOs may use up to 20% of the grant award for administrative costs and costs associated with program design and implementation, including convening and publication and/or production costs to support visibility of fellows’ work.

AOs will regrant the remaining 80% of funds to individual artists and culture bearers in their region(s).

Spark Grants is an innovative, just-in-time grantmaking process.

Our vision is to introduce a process that can fill urgent needs for education organizations that are well-aligned with our focus areas. We seek to fund highly impactful initiatives that would not be possible if they needed to wait through a traditional grant decision timeline.

Baseline Grant Criteria

• We will be awarding grants up to $25,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions whose projects hit one of the focus areas outlined below.
• For this funding cycle, we will focus on organizations that are doing work in California.
• Given the size and scope of digital inequity and the complexity of securing adequate funding for programs and initiatives to fully address the issue, we welcome proposals where Michelson Spark Grant funds are part of a larger overall project with multiple funding streams.

Digital Equity Funding Cycle Focus Areas

Eliminating Digital Discrimination: Efforts that help address the impact that low-quality and/or unaffordable Internet has in areas that may superficially appear to have Internet access, and provide tools to combat digital discrimination and to promote equitable access to broadband throughout California. By focusing on the role of race in the historical causes of digital equity, we seek to grow awareness and uplift the voices and needs of underserved communities that have been deliberately excluded from connectivity by systematic redlining and disinvestment. These may include but are not limited to:

• Efforts that highlight disparities in broadband access
• Research that addresses mapping shortcomings at the state level
• Storytelling, surveying, testimonial-gathering

Digital Equity in Tribal Communities: Projects that help Tribal communities bridge the digital divide and achieve digital sovereignty. This may include but isn’t limited to:

• Digital Equity Research & Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on Tribal communities, digital equity best practices, and more)
• Community Capacity-building
• Broadband Infrastructure Workforce Development

Policy Advocacy and Civic Engagement: Efforts that increase civic participation in digital equity policy-making and regulatory processes at the local, regional, or state-level (including the education of state policy-makers on key digital equity issues). This may include efforts focusing on education, capacity-building, and the equitable implementation of digital equity policy

Digital Equity as a Social Determinant of Health: Efforts that address digital inequity through its impact as a social determinant of health, and that can be a promising practice to be scaled across the state. Efforts that bridge the digital divide in at least one of the following issue areas:

• Higher Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on college students)
• Healthcare/Public Health (i.e.: Equitable access to digital healthcare)
• Economic Opportunity (i.e.: Workforce Development; equitable access to seeking, applying, and securing jobs)
• Civic Engagement (i.e.: Access to public benefits)

Digital Equity and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Projects that aim to ensure communities that have been historically underinvested have access to and are prepared to take advantage of technological advancements in AI for full participation in our society, as well as projects that are aimed at increasing transparency and equity in the use and development of AI tools.

Open Educational Resources

We seek to advance affordable, equitable, culturally relevant, and high-quality learning experiences for postsecondary students by increasing the number of courses and faculty that use open educational resources (OER).

Open educational resources are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others.

Michelson Spark Grants

Spark Grants is an innovative, just-in-time grantmaking process.

Our vision is to introduce a process that can fill urgent needs for education organizations that are well-aligned with our focus areas. We seek to fund highly impactful initiatives that would not be possible if they needed to wait through a traditional grant decision timeline.

OER Funding Cycle Focus Areas

• Eliminating Digital Discrimination: Efforts that help address the impact that low-quality and/or unaffordable Internet has in areas that may superficially appear to have Internet access, and provide tools to combat digital discrimination and to promote equitable access to broadband throughout California. By focusing on the role of race in the historical causes of digital equity, we seek to grow awareness and uplift the voices and needs of underserved communities that have been deliberately excluded from connectivity by systematic redlining and disinvestment. These may include but are not limited to:
  • Efforts that highlight disparities in broadband access
  • Research that addresses mapping shortcomings at the state level
  • Storytelling, surveying, testimonial-gathering

• Digital Equity in Tribal Communities: Projects that help Tribal communities bridge the digital divide and achieve digital sovereignty. This may include but isn’t limited to:
  • Digital Equity Research & Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on Tribal communities, digital equity best practices, and more)
  • Community Capacity-building
  • Broadband Infrastructure Workforce Development

• Policy Advocacy and Civic Engagement: Efforts that increase civic participation in digital equity policy-making and regulatory processes at the local, regional, or state-level (including the education of state policy-makers on key digital equity issues). This may include efforts focusing on education, capacity-building, and the equitable implementation of digital equity policy

• Digital Equity as a Social Determinant of Health: Efforts that address digital inequity through its impact as a social determinant of health, and that can be a promising practice to be scaled across the state. Efforts that bridge the digital divide in at least one of the following issue areas:
  • Higher Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on college students)
  • Healthcare/Public Health (i.e.: Equitable access to digital healthcare)
  • Economic Opportunity (i.e.: Workforce Development; equitable access to seeking, applying, and securing jobs)
  • Civic Engagement (i.e.: Access to public benefits)

• Digital Equity and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Democratizing AI Projects that aim to ensure communities that have been historically underinvested have access to and are prepared to take advantage of technological advancements in AI for full participation in our society, as well as projects that are aimed at increasing transparency and equity in the use and development of AI tools.

The Music Man Foundation has a history of providing support to organizations advocating for positive changes in the arts, whether it be for increased public funding to arts programs, support for policy changes, the conducting or dissemination of new research, or increasing public will in support of the arts. We have partnered with select dedicated organizations working on a regional, statewide, or national level.

This year, the Foundation invites a broader group of eligible organizations to apply for support, in line with aims to support systemic change via empowering organizations working at the intersection of music, learning, and well-being. Organizations must be able to identify the system it seeks to impact, demonstrate why it is well-positioned to take on this system change, explain why its work is a priority for the field, and share accomplishments and/or progress toward achieving sustainable solutions. We anticipate grants will support activities such as:

• research and policy analyses that promote the need for arts (specifically music) to change and improve circumstances,
• cross-sector initiatives that cultivate allies and build bridges between the arts and other interest groups,
• advocacy training and tools that build the capacity of arts and cultural leaders to understand and proactively influence issues impacting the arts and community vitality, and/or
• designing solutions that shift the circumstances within a system to promote efficiency and sustainability.

We all want to live in safe and healthy communities. Yet too often, laws, policies and lack of investment deprive communities of the resources they need to thrive. The negative effects of this disinvestment are easily seen. But the processes, systems, and thinking behind the disinvestment are too often hidden.

As a result, communities of color disproportionately suffer from structural inequities in environmental justice, community violence, gun violence, and youth incarceration. These are just a few of the important areas that affect the health of individuals and communities.

Communities know what they need. When we listen to people in communities who have been most affected by historical neglect and racial injustice, our job is made clear.

Our Community Well-being portfolio will provide resources that support the health, safety and resilience of communities of color, especially those that have been disproportionately affected by unhealthy environments and community violence.

Violence Prevention and Healing Justice

Everyone’s safety and wellness are diminished when any part of our community experiences violence. We envision communities experiencing less gun violence, decreases in community trauma, and higher levels of safety and resilience. We will support programs, resources, and organizations that work to reduce gun violence; support interventionists and violence interrupters; reduce trauma and promote healing justice; and challenge racially charged policing tactics.

Gun violence, in particular, traumatizes entire communities and disproportionately harms people of color. As we have since 1992, we support gun violence prevention through investing in research, policy advocacy, and innovative models addressing gun violence prevention.

We approach our work informed and inspired by healing justice, recognizing that healing must be rooted in the culture and beliefs of the community, and respectful of both the individual’s and the community’s need to reconcile the harm that’s been done.

Youth Justice

The youth justice system over-criminalizes and incarcerates Black and Latino youth, causing them immense harm. We support community-based organizations led by people of color that work toward taking apart this punitive system and replacing it with a system that that prioritizes youth and community development.

To succeed, these organizations must be strong, resilient and powerful. In addition, more young women and girls of color are entering the justice system. Therefore, now more than ever, we need gender-responsive strategies to transform the youth justice system.

Community Environments

We have long been committed to investing in healthy and safe communities, because individual wellness is dependent upon communities being economically and environmentally vital, socially connected, and civically engaged.

We support communities of color to actively engage and build power over the environmental policies and conditions that affect the places in which they live, work and play – paying particular attention to issues impacting water and air, and the built environment. Given the importance of parks and green spaces to community health, we also support efforts to create well-designed parks that benefit physical and mental well-being. We support organizations to build their effectiveness and support organizing, civic engagement, and public policy advocacy efforts to drive change.

Our Vision & Mission

Our vision is for every resident of California to enjoy good health and experience wellness. Our mission is to protect and improve the health and wellness of the people of California by increasing access to health care, quality education, good jobs, healthy environments and safe neighborhoods.

Our Work

• We use our resources to advance our mission through grantmaking, investments, sharing our learning and lifting our voice.
• We fund direct services that address the urgent needs people are facing in their communities, particularly the needs of low-income individuals, people of color, youth and residents of rural areas.
• We recognize, encourage and strengthen leaders to be powerful agents of change.
• We support advocacy and civic engagement so that communities can build power and create public policies that reflect their vision, will and needs.
• We trust and invest in nonprofit organizations so that they can operate at full capacity.
• We partner with community-led organizations, philanthropic organizations, businesses, government and individuals who want to improve health and wellness for Californians.

What We Fund

Our vision is that every person in California enjoys health and wellness. That means living in a safe and healthy community. Having access to quality education and good jobs. Drinking clean water. And having access to healthy foods.

But we know that a lot gets in the way of people enjoying health and wellness. The barriers are many and they are systemic. Wellness is directly affected by our race, class, gender and disability. By our zip code. By our family history. By our immigration status and past involvement with the criminal justice system.

That’s why we partner with community organizations to remove barriers to individual and community wellness. And to put in place more equitable processes and systems that improve individual and community wellness.

Through our grantmaking program—Advancing Wellness—we support organizations that are increasing access to health care. Innovative organizations that are advocating for quality education. Organizations big and small that are fighting for good jobs with fair wages and benefits. Local organizations that are working to make our streets and neighborhoods safe.

Leading for Power & Change Fund

We have been inspired by and invested in the vision of communities of color and organizations led by people of color. In addition, the events of 2020 have made all too clear that racism and structural inequities permeate every institution and system in our nation, resulting in disproportionate illness and death for people of color.

We are energized by the Black-led, multi-racial, multi-generational protests calling for racial and social justice at a scale we haven’t seen in a generation. Because dismantling racism and anti-Blackness requires coordinated and unified multi-racial coalitions for social justice and progressive change. And it requires powerful organizations that are led by people of color.

But leaders of color face many barriers to achieving their bold visions. Historically, philanthropy does a poor job of getting funds to these leaders and their organizations, which makes organizational financial stability very challenging. A Race to Lead report found that leaders of color have smaller organizational budgets than their White peers and have a difficult time accessing and raising funds from foundations, government and individual donors. Bridgespan and Echoing Green report that funders are subject to implicit bias that shows up as mistrust toward leaders of color – mistrust of their strategies and their vision. In addition, the nonprofit sector is overly represented by White leadership even though nonprofit organizations led by people of color are more likely to understand and strive to address systemic injustices through building power and making demands for policy and structural change. Yet only seven percent of nonprofit chief executives and 18 percent of nonprofit employees are people of color. And the percentage of people of color on nonprofit boards remains at just 15 percent, a number that has not changed in nearly two decades.

To advance systemic and progressive change while improving community outcomes and health, our Leading for Power and Change portfolio seeks to amplify the voices, leadership, and power of people of color, and other people who have historically been excluded from full participation in civic society.

Equity in the Nonprofit Sector

We’ll support leadership development and capacity building that will help people of color-led organizations, and organizations with a racial justice analysis, to be stronger and more resilient. We’ll support organizations to increase their assets, and recruit and retain talented staff of color. For example, we will fund leaders to take sabbaticals while their organizations strengthen the next level of leadership.

Mobilizing Movements and Power Building ( not accepting Letter of Inquiry at thie time) 

We want to make sure that organizations have the resources to mobilize, advance health and racial equity, and hold public and private sector leaders and policymakers accountable. We’ll support integrated civic engagement, along with opportunities for people to organize, advocate and speak out for policies that affect their lives. 

Reimagining Social Justice

Initiatives and or/strategies to increase the inclusion of communities of color in fields that influence decision making in philanthropy and the sustainability and effectiveness of non-profit organizations including, finance, research and communications. 

This solicitation is part of the Community Energy Reliability & Resilience Investment (CERRI) Program, which invests in deployment projects across California that increase community energy reliability and resilience, support California’s climate and energy policies, improve energy justice and equity, and create good-paying jobs. Funding for this program was authorized under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Section 40101(d).

In recent years, California has experienced increased electrical system outages caused by climate-related events such as increased wildfires, heat waves, and storms, or through public safety power shutoffs (PSPS). These events, as well as aging infrastructure, threaten grid reliability, public health and safety, economic prosperity, communities, and ecosystems. They also pose disproportionate consequences for the most vulnerable populations in both rural and urban areas. The intent of this solicitation is to invest in projects that increase the electric reliability and resiliency of communities in California by reducing outage frequency, duration, magnitude, and associated community impacts, while bolstering California’s workforce and promoting equity.The CERRI Program is designed to prioritize projects that will generate the greatest community benefit by reducing the likelihood and consequences of electrical system outages. As such, projects that are close to shovel-ready, have initiated the environmental review process, or leverage otherwise stranded assets or existing infrastructure will be scored favorably based on criteria listed in Section IV.F. The objectives are oriented around four main themes outlined below. These themes are not listed in rank order.

• Energy reliability and resilience: Reduce the frequency, duration, and magnitude of power outages and strengthen communities’ ability to function during power outages by providing day-to-day and emergency services for its constituents.
• Community Benefits: Ensure that the benefits of clean, safe, affordable, and reliable energy are shared by all, particularly communities with critical energy reliability and resilience needs.
• Advancement of Energy and Climate Goals: Support California’s energy modernization and climate goals.
• Workforce Development and Labor: Create high-quality jobs with strong labor standards and protections that attract and train a skilled workforce for lasting careers in the clean energy industry.