The James Irvine Foundation Board of Directors approved 18 grants totaling more than $12.9 million earlier this week. The grants included support for the Foundation’s two initiatives focused on low-income California workers (Better Careers and Fair Work), for a fair and accurate 2020 Census count in California, and more.

Board-approved grants include:

Initiatives

Better Careers

Bitwise Industries Inc.
A two-year grant of $350,000 to support Geekwise Academy Web Developer Job Readiness Programs, which train unemployed and underemployed workers in the San Joaquin Valley for middle-wage jobs in the tech industry.

Jobs to Move America
A two-year grant of $500,000 to support the scaling of the organization’s Inclusive Procurement Policies to build pathways to good jobs for all Californians.

Opportunity at Work Inc.
A two-year grant of $750,000 to build a California Opportunity Marketplace that connects employers with job-placement organizations that include traditionally overlooked candidates in who they serve. The marketplace’s aim is to place more Californians without bachelor’s degrees into quality, middle-wage jobs.

Riverside Community College District Foundation
An 18-month grant of $815,000 to drive the development of a regional apprenticeship model through the LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network.

Fair Work

Maintenance Labor Industry Management Cooperation Fund
A two-year grant of $500,000 to address the challenges faced by low-wage janitorial workers in California, strengthening compliance with workplace protections and increasing worker agency.

Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project
A two-year general operating grant for $500,000 to support the improvement of wage protections in the agricultural industry through minimum-wage awareness campaigns, leadership training, and other efforts.

National Day Laborer Organizing Network
An 18-month grant for $750,000 to support low-wage day laborers in California through worker outreach, education, and upholding legal protections.

Tides Center
A one-year grant for $2 million to strengthen rights, protections, and opportunities for low-wage workers in California through a program to strengthen the organizational health of worker organizations.

Other Grantmaking

Postsecondary Success

Opportunity Institute
A one-year grant of $400,000 to support the Just Equations project, which analyzes and offers solutions related to math curricula, policies, and pathways to increase equity and eliminate barriers to postsecondary success.

Voter and Civic Engagement

Equality Alliance of San Diego County
A three-year grant of $650,000 to promote voter and civic engagement among new citizens and other underrepresented voters in the San Diego region.

Additional Grantmaking

Advancement Project
A two-year grant of $500,000 to support the Census Policy Advocacy Network and Statewide Redistricting Collaborative to ensure a fair and accurate census count and a fair and representative redistricting process in California.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles
A two-year grant of $400,000 to support Advancing Justice-LA’s leadership transition and the California Asian American/Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (AANHPI) 2020 Census outreach efforts.

California Calls Education Fund
A two-year grant of $750,000 to support census and redistricting efforts in partnership with the Million Voters Project.

Common Cause
A three-year grant of $1 million to support community-centered statewide and local redistricting processes in California starting in 2019 through 2021.

ICA Fund for Good Jobs
A one-year general operating grant for $500,000 to support the growth of the Good Jobs Accelerator program, which educates and invests in high-growth small businesses to create good jobs that lead to equitable communities.

Culminating Grantmaking

Arts Engagement

California Arts Council
A 34-month grant of $965,000 to create a fellowship program for emerging arts managers from historically marginalized communities.

Linked Learning

OneFuture Coachella Valley
A two-year general operating grant of $400,000 to support the development of career-themed academies and Linked Learning pathways at the K-12 level in the Coachella Valley.