On June 9 our Board of Directors approved a set of grants totaling $21.36 million. Please see the below press release for details.

The James Irvine Foundation Board of Directors approved 29 grants totaling $21.36 million last week. The grants will support a range of organizations expanding opportunity for the people of California.

Four of the grants will support participants in the Future of California Elections, a network of election officials, civil rights organizations, and election reform advocates collaborating to achieve more equitable voting access in California. Eleven grants will support Linked Learning’s success and replication throughout California.

The board also approved a set of grants related to the Foundation’s focus of increasing economic and political opportunity for California families and young adults who are working but struggling with poverty, specifically around media, policy research, and immigrant rights. (Read more about the Foundation’s focus here.)

The board-approved grants include:

Arts Engagement

Community Planning and Research LLC dba Socius Group

A one-year grant of $685,000 to continue building a learning community and curriculum for the New California Arts Fund (NCAF) and to support the transition of ownership of the learning community to NCAF grantee-partners.

Election Policies and Practices

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California

A one-year general operating support grant of $500,000 to expand access to democracy for people with a criminal conviction; to improve voter registration rates and reduce barriers to voter registration faced by the most vulnerable communities; and to ensure inclusive and successful implementation of SB 450, a new model of voting that emphasizes vote-by-mail and Vote Centers.

California Common Cause Education Fund

A three-year grant of $1.2 million to build a more inclusive democracy in California by pursuing policies and practices that increase participation and fairness in elections, redistricting, campaign finance, and government.

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund

A two-year general-operating grant of $400,000 to support the League’s efforts to increase voter participation and improve voter information in California’s state and county elections.

NALEO Educational Fund

A two-year grant of $350,000 to promote the political engagement and civic integration of Latinos in California.

Linked Learning

California State University Foundation (CSU)

A two-year grant of $1 million to support the long-term institutionalization of educator development reforms that support Linked Learning.

Center for Powerful Public Schools

A two-year grant of $1 million for general operating support. This grant will provide the Center with the support necessary to strengthen its core operations and ensure its role as a critical capacity-building organization that advances high-quality Linked Learning pathway implementation.

Children Now

A two-year grant of $500,000 for general operating support. This grant will support Children Now’s sustainability as a core partner in the education policy field as well as create conditions for policies that support college readiness and completion.

ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career

A two-year grant of $2 million to expand and sustain Linked Learning in California, including supporting ConnectEd’s role as a critical capacity-building organization that advances high-quality Linked Learning pathway implementation.

EdSource, Inc.

A two-year grant of $500,000 to support coverage of college and career readiness and success in California.

Foundation for California Community Colleges

A one-year grant of $1 million to deepen the impact of educational reform efforts supported by the Career Ladders Project.

Linked Learning Alliance

A one-year grant of $1.2 million to enhance the capacity and usefulness of Linked Learning Certification and Analytics tools (in support of greater expansion of Linked Learning pathways across California).

National Academy Foundation

A two-year grant of $2 million to leverage corporate partnerships to prepare high school students in California for college and career.

Oakland Community Organization (OCO)

A two-year grant of $400,000 to sustain OCO’s organizational capacity, leadership, and advocacy for education equity in the East Bay.

Public Advocates Inc.

A two-year grant of $400,000 for general operating support. This grant will help sustain the critical work of Public Advocates in ensuring equitable access to Linked Learning pathways.

SRI International

A 16-month grant of $400,000 to support two-year follow up evaluation of postsecondary outcomes for student cohorts from the Linked Learning District Initiative.

Media

Calmatters

A two-year grant of $320,000 to support participation in and expand the reach of the California Dream project. This collaboration of multiple media outlets will cover issues related to living and working in California, including education, work, housing, health, safety, and immigration.

KQED, Inc.

A one-year grant of $400,000 to support KQED News reporting, including the California Report, California Dream project (see above), and issues affecting Californians struggling with poverty.

Radio Bilingüe, Inc.

A two-year grant of $400,000 to support quality journalism and programming for low-income Latino community members, including immigrants.

Southern California Public Radio

A two-year grant of $400,000 to support the California Dream Project (see description above).

Protecting Immigrant Rights

University of Southern California

A three-year grant of $750,000 to develop a long-term vision of California’s economy that promotes equity, immigrant integration, economic growth, and protects the state’s immigration and economic policy progress to date.

Voter and Civic Engagement

Asian Pacific Environmental Network

A two-year grant of $375,000 for general operating support. Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) supports the leadership development of low-income Asian immigrant and refugee communities to advocate for clean and healthy environments in California.

California Calls Education Fund

A two-year grant of $1.7 million to help California Calls continue and expand its work of increasing nonpartisan voter and civic engagement opportunities and infrastructure across the state.

Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment

A two-year grant of $500,000 for general operating support. The Center on Race, Poverty, & the Environment addresses the disproportionate burden of pollution and environmental health hazards borne by low-income people and people of color in California.

Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment

A one-year grant of $350,000 to build on the organization’s voter and civic engagement work and to support its participation in a three-year integrated voter engagement (IVE) research project.

Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development

A two-year grant of $350,000 for general operating support. Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) combines community organizing, civic participation, policy research, and advocacy to empower Orange County residents to seek a voice in public policy decisions.

Additional Grantmaking

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)

An 18-month grant of $1.5 million for general operating support. This grant will support the work of PPIC, including its statewide survey that gauges the perspectives of Californians on critical state issues.

Research and Development

Movement Strategy Center

An 18-month grant of $500,000 to support a young adult-focused civic engagement network, communications, and research project to develop best practices on how to civically empower California’s diverse young adult population.