We have a lot of work to do. 

Our North Star goal at Irvine is for all low-income California workers to have the power to advance economically. The events of these first weeks of 2025 have only magnified the challenges low-income workers are facing.  

It’s heart-wrenching to see the devastation from the L.A. fires, but I’m inspired by the hard work our grantees and their communities are doing to lift one another up, keep one another safe, and support one another to recover quickly and equitably from this disaster. 

We at Irvine are supporting three funds that are providing relief for some of the workers, small businesses, and communities most affected by the fires. These include: 

• The Immigrant Fire Relief Fund (organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network), to support immigrant workers impacted by the fires

• The Black LA Relief & Recovery Fund (organized by the California Black Freedom Fund and California Community Foundation), to support community organizations serving Black communities displaced by the wildfires

• The Small Business Strong, LA Wildfire Relief Fund (organized by TMC Community Capital and the Latino Community Foundation), to provide relief grants to small and micro business entrepreneurs

We encourage our grantees to stay in close contact with their respective program officers to share how the fires might be affecting their work, so we can offer flexibility and support.  

In these challenging times, I’m especially grateful to collaborate with, learn from, and support organizations working with and on behalf of all the working Californians struggling to get by. We put the word “all” at the heart of our North Star goal because we believe that no low-income worker should be left behind. That is particularly true for immigrant workers— regardless of documentation.

As I wrote in November, threats to round up and deport millions of undocumented workers will damage our state, and worsen conditions for businesses, our economy, and families already struggling to make ends meet. Undocumented immigrants make up 7% of California’s workforce, primarily in the agriculture, construction, meatpacking, and garment industries.  

And a study found that in 2019, undocumented workers generated $77 billion in tax revenue in California alone, $9 billion of which went to the Social Security fund. One out of every five children in California lives in a household with mixed immigration status, and often undocumented workers are breadwinners for their homes.   

The Irvine Foundation has a long history of protecting immigrants’ rights and supporting immigrant integration in California. We stand with the communities and organizations that will support working families who are under threat. I’m proud of this history, and I’m grateful that we can support the following groups among others: 

• TODEC, to help immigrants in the Coachella Valley in knowing their rights  

• The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, to advance the rights of California day laborers, including advocacy and public education around immigration protections for low-wage workers in high-violation industries
• The National Domestic Workers Alliance, to build power among a predominately female and immigrant workforce in California, strengthen domestic workers’ and their communities’ digital security and privacy, physical security, organizational compliance, and undocumented members’ family preparedness  

• The Canal Alliance, to offer immigration legal services, right-to-work documentation, youth and adult education, and workforce development supports 

• The We Are California initiative, to mount a unified coalition of organizations across California to respond rapidly to new, federal challenges affecting vulnerable immigrant and other communities 

• The American Business Immigration Coalition, to engage California businesses in policy advocacy and partner with community organizations to highlight the economic benefits of common-sense immigration solutions 

More broadly, we are providing $1 million to the Center for Empowered Politics Education Fund to provide technical assistance to strengthen the security and resilience of nonprofits engaged in advocacy and services tied to federal actions.   

We also remain committed to supporting the critical work of grantees within our four core initiatives – organizations that are tackling some of the most pressing issues of our time. For example, last month the Irvine board approved $220 million over seven years to expand our Priority Communities initiative that aims to build more inclusive economies, led by community voices and priorities (read more here).  

If the November elections taught us anything, it’s that people feel aggrieved about economic inequality and their ability to secure — or even envision — a better economic future. The inequities in our economic systems, structures, and policies threaten working Californians as well as our democracy. The events of the last few weeks will only exacerbate those inequities. We must remain steadfast in our commitment to fairness and equity for all California workers.  

Indeed, we have a lot of work to do.