Irvine launched the Priority Communities initiative in 2020 with a focus on supporting efforts to build inclusive economies in five cities – Fresno, Salinas, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Stockton – that are critical to California’s future given their population growth, diversity, and role in shaping the state’s future economy. Since then, the initiative has invested approximately $125 million to strengthen those communities’ efforts to improve the quality of jobs and create thriving economies that work for all residents, including helping communities leverage $1.2 billion in opportunities that prioritize community needs and local workers.  

I’m inspired by our community partners and the incredible progress they’ve made in the last four years, and I’m excited to share more about the initiative’s next chapter. In December, Irvine’s board approved $220 million in grantmaking to support and expand the initiative’s work – including adding Merced as a sixth community – and an updated Priority Communities strategy that will be a roadmap for the initiative’s next seven years. 

The update is the culmination of a year-long process of evaluating and reflecting on progress toward goals, challenges, accomplishments, and lessons learned, and it incorporates valuable input from a grantee Advisory Committee deeply knowledgeable about local work. We are grateful to everyone who shared their expertise and perspectives along the way, with special thanks to the committee members: Jackie Cruz, Hartnell College; Chris Benner, UC Santa Cruz; Felicia Jones, Social Good Solutions; Ann Rogan, Edge Collaborative, and Geri Yang-Johnson, Waverley Street Foundation.  

Our reflections on the last four years of grantmaking surfaced key lessons that form the three pillars of our updated strategy. First, while our original grantmaking strategy focused on building community voice, we are now shifting our focus to supporting efforts that strengthen worker and community power to set their community’s economic agenda and ensure shared prosperity.  

We are also doubling down on our efforts to grow public and private investment in community-led and -owned economic development models like entrepreneurship and small businesses. We’ve seen that these efforts, alongside new and innovative financing models, can build community wealth, worker-well-being, quality jobs, and leverage public and private resources.  

Finally, to build inclusive economies we will work to increase the capacity of nonprofits, especially Tribes and Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led and -serving organizations, to improve opportunities for and address the economic needs of residents most harmed by structural racism and ongoing lack of investment. These local leaders and organizations know their communities and are essential to building a thriving economy that works for everyone. 

We are also excited to add Merced as a sixth community. There are many communities in Inland California that lack private and public investment and whose residents, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color, face persistent economic inequality and systemic barriers to opportunity. The Priority Communities team conducted a thorough economic, demographic, and equity analysis of the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas and chose Merced because of a confluence of factors that we believe will help increase the impact of our grantmaking in the surrounding communities and region. These include: 

• Merced’s proximity to Fresno, Stockton, and Salinas provides an opportunity to leverage and scale the existing relationships, resources, and grant partners in those cities.  

• The city’s existing, strong regional economic development tables can support the growth of worker and community power. 

• There are multiple, scalable community-led and -owed economic models in Merced focused on critical and growing industries that can have local, state, and national impact.  

• Merced is home to the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, a current Irvine grantee and a leader in organizing efforts that is building nonprofit capacity throughout the Central Valley    

To further increase impact, we will also make strategic, short-term (one- to two-year) investments in Bakersfield and Imperial Valley – areas that are experiencing rapid economic change – to support leaders navigating the transition to a green economy and ensure workers are at the center of emerging green or clean industries. 

On a personal note, I am particularly grateful to be leading this work as my own community of Altadena begins grappling with post-wildfire reconstruction. The lessons I have learned from my Priority Communities colleagues and our incredible partners – about equity, partnership, and inclusive, community-driven economic decision-making – have equipped me to support and help shape Altadena’s recovery and renewal.  

It is essential that communities and workers have the power to set an economic agenda that supports opportunity and prosperity for working families and those most impacted by structural racism. We are proud of what each community has accomplished so far, and we look forward to new and continuing partnerships to support efforts to create an economy that works for all residents.