THE WEINGART FOUNDATION AWARDS OVER $7.5M TO NONPROFITS ADVANCING RACIAL JUSTICE
The funds support Southern California nonprofits promoting healthy communities, strengthening political power, and building just and equitable systems.
February 06, 2023 (Los Angeles, CA) — The Weingart Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation, awarded 29 grants and one program related investment, totaling over $7.5 million to organizations providing critical services, strengthening civic power, and dismantling systemic inequities across Southern California. The majority of the awards provide unrestricted funding support guided by the foundation’s trust-based philanthropy principals, and support nonprofits working to advance racial justice.
“Our latest round of funding reflects our commitment to working hand in hand with nonprofit partners to promote equity, build just systems, and achieve transformative change in communities most impacted by systemic injustice,” said Miguel A. Santana, President and C.E.O., the Weingart Foundation. “In step with our focus on transformative change, many of our grants this cycle are intentionally larger in size so that partners are more supported as they advance justice and build sustainability for the long-haul.”
The Foundation’s investments in the community have resulted it catalytic impact for nonprofit partners. An example is Gente Organizada, an organization that builds intergenerational power in immigrant communities in Pomona. Gente Organizada’s Executive Director was a participant of the Weingart Foundation’s John W. Mack Movement Leaders Fellowship that develops the capacity of nonprofit leaders of color. Support from the Weingart Foundation also strengthened the organization’s youth leadership programming through the Youth Organizing Capacity Building Initiative, which develops the capacity of nonprofits to engage in youth-led organizing. This deep partnership with the Weingart Foundation propelled Gente Organizada to develop a strategic plan that has contributed to the organization’s growth and evolution.
In addition to unrestrictive grants to nonprofits, the Weingart Foundation also invests in systems change solutions across the Foundation’s priority areas of: immigrant and refugee rights, housing justice, and strengthening nonprofit effectiveness, as well as toward broader power building efforts. One example is the Foundation’s $3M commitment to years 3-5 of the California Black Freedom Fund, a five-year initiative to ensure that Black power-building and movement-based organizations have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism.
Another way the Weingart Foundation supports nonprofits is through below market, flexible financing in the form of program related investments (P.R.I.s) to mission-aligned projects. This round of funding includes support for HUB Cities, an organization that provides workforce development services to the South East Los Angeles (SELA) area, through both a $500,000 P.R.I. and a $100,000 grant. The P.R.I. will provide bridge funding to enable HUB Cities to move into a new location, while the grant will support the organization’s leadership transition planning and its fundraising capacity. HUB Cities is one of the few workforce development organizations for displaced workers and disadvantaged residents in SELA, including people who are undocumented or who have prior justice system involvement. This investment and partnership is an example of Weingart’s continued commitment to support the SELA region, a community that has historically experienced disinvestment and economic disparities.
“We are looking forward to working alongside these incredible nonprofit partners in our joint pursuit of building a more just, inclusive and equitable Southern California,” said Aileen Adams, Board Chair of the Weingart Foundation. “We are proud to support larger and more impactful grants to nonprofit partners so they may continue their transformative work helping communities thrive.”
For a full list of the Weingart Foundation’s partners, please visit: weingartfnd.org.
