EASTMONT ROOM

The Black Housing Advisory Taskforce also known as Black HAT, has created several solutions to change the material condition of Black people in California. Black HAT is made up of Developers, CBOs, lenders, regional strategists, and economic development specialists. One of the solutions is asset-based community development. Black people are moving from the historically Black legacy communities for affordability and the opportunity of homeownership. There hasn’t been a statewide or policy response around keeping Black people in place and building wealth. Some may see this as a disparity, but there is an opportunity to build wealth with the needs and resources of Black people at the center. Asset development helps to create opportunities for greater independence and financial stability. The panel will explore asset development for Black people in California. We hope to help participants understand the significance of establishing a Statewide Black Housing Fund, Black Home Ownership, Cultural Community Development, and Black–led Development. The dialogue will explore how utilizing public and philanthropic dollars will give access and flexibility to Black Californians to generate assets and wealth for themselves.

Speakers

Nikki Beasley, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services
Judith Bell, San Franciso Foundation
Melissa Jones, Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative
Regina Williams, Silicon Valley at Home (SV@Home)

UPTOWN ROOM

This workshop is designed to highlight the critical work being done by non-profit organizations in Oakland as well as the Central Coast to build inclusive economies for Latino immigrant communities. The focus will be on how these organizations are working hand in hand with community leaders to create pathways to economic stability and financial independence for marginalized communities through entrepreneurship.

The workshop will discuss how cooperative development and cooperativism is a viable strategy for creating economic stability and financial independence for Latino immigrant communities. Participants will learn about the principles and benefits of cooperatives, land trust, and business ownership and how they can be used to build community power. The workshop will also feature success stories of alternative businesses that have been established in the region, and participants will have the opportunity to explore how they can support and participate in these efforts in their own communities.

Participants will be able to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas on how to further support and uplift Latino immigrant communities in the region. The goal is to build stronger, more resilient communities that are able to thrive in the face of growing inequities, outdated immigration policy, and external economic challenges.

Topics covered will include:

• Understanding the challenges faced by Latino immigrant communities in Oakland and the Central Coast
• Overview of non-profit organizations working to build inclusive economies for these communities
• Best practices in cooperative development and land ownership
• Success stories from community leaders who have benefited from these programs
• Opportunities for collaboration and community building

This workshop is ideal for philanthropy, community organizers, non-profit leaders, policymakers, and anyone interested in supporting economic development in marginalized communities. By attending, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Latino immigrant communities in the region and how non-profit organizations are working to build sustainable economies that work for everyone.

Speakers

Nallely Martinez (moderator), Latino Community Foundation
Claudia Arroyo, Executive Director, Prospera
Maria Cadenas, Executive Director, Ventures
David Mancera, Director of Ecosystem Building, Kitchen Table Advisors

ELMHURST

Native-owned and led financial institutions are instrumental in promoting economic self-determination, fostering financial well-being, and advancing the economic interests of Native American communities. Through their community ties, cultural impact, and collaborative efforts, these institutions contribute significantly to closing the racial wealth gap and creating economic opportunities for Native American individuals and businesses.

Advancing racial equity through Native-owned and led financial institutions requires a comprehensive approach that addresses economic disparities, fosters empowerment, and promotes community development. By leveraging their unique position and resources, these institutions can contribute significantly to creating a more equitable and just society for Native American communities.

Join us as panelists share key strategies and insights by Native led organizations including Increasing Access to Capital; Building Collaborative Partnerships, Developing Culturally Responsive Services; Research and Data Collection; Advocating for Equitable Policies and more!

Speakers

Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, Rise Economy (formerly CRC) (moderator)
Rudy J. Ortega, Jr., Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
Melissa Riley, Ph.D., Native Community Development Associates
Lakota Vogel , Four Bands Community Fund, Inc.

Speakers

Brandi Howard, President and CEO, East Bay Community Foundation
Nwamaka Agbo, CEO, Kataly Foundation

EASTMONT ROOM

During this session we will:

• Share the lessons learned to date for Care Can’t Wait California (CCW CA), a coalition dedicated to building an equitable care infrastructure including affordable, accessible child care and home and community-based services for older adults and people with disabilities; support for family caregivers such as paid sick leave and paid family leave; and good jobs for workers in the care economy, across California. Linking up with the National Care Can’t Wait Coalition to create Universal Family Care benefits and wins in states across the US.
• Develop a shared understanding of How Care Can’t Wait California coalition is working across traditional silos, developing a Black-centered campaign, and supporting the leadership of Black, Native, people of color caregivers, who’re mostly women, to advance policy priorities in 2023 and beyond;
• Build and strengthen connections among participants interested in advancing an equitable care economy while prioritizing the needs of workers and communities most impacted by historical and present-day racism, sexism, and xenophobia;
• Provide participants with concrete ways to take action in a movement for care across the state; and
• Highlight opportunities for philanthropic leaders to support Black-centered campaigns and other grassroots efforts in this space.

Speakers

Malcolm Harris (moderator), Caring Across Generations
Nikki Brown-Booker, Hand in Hand
Katie Duberg, California Work & Family Coalition
Keisha Nzewi, Black Californians United for Early Childcare & Education
Rachel Wick, Blue Shield of California Foundation

LAUREL ROOM

Existing funding models in workforce development and education are often restrictive and challenging to navigate for grantees, inadequate in closing equity gaps for workers and learners, and perpetuate a top-down power dynamic between funders and grantees. Trust-Based Philanthropy principles, public-private partnership models, and flexible funding approaches are promising grantmaking strategies for driving greater economic and racial equity.

In this session, Jobs for the Future and the High Road Training Fund (HRTF) partners will share how flexible funding elevates worker voice and supports practices and approaches that lead to increased power sharing. The High Road Training Fund was established as an innovative funding vehicle to provide flexible funding to California’s High Road Partnerships that are working to advance equity, job quality, and climate resilience, and to formalize a new public-private partnership that maximizes public investments in regional partnerships. By discussing what HRTF partners have learned during the first year of developing the fund, session participants will explore concrete strategies for increasing flexibility in funding for grantees, uplifting community voice in philanthropic decision-making, and the opportunity to leverage public-private partnerships to accelerate economic mobility and wealth-building regionally.

High Road Training Fund – Jobs for the Future (JFF)

Speakers

Leslie Payne, The James Irvine Foundation
Elena Chávez Quezada, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
Alison Schmitt, Jobs for the Future (JFF)
Dr. Michelle Yanez, EVSGV a High Road to Electric Bus Manufacturing in Los Angeles County

UPTOWN ROOM

In 2019, the San Francisco Foundation launched the Worker Rights Learning Cohort, in partnership with UC Berkeley Labor Center, Jobs with Justice San Francisco, and Chinese Progressive Association, to strengthen worker organizations’ creative capacity and ideate strategies towards advancing worker power in the region. This session will provide insight into the San Francisco Foundation’s journey to create bold and innovative approaches towards strengthening the worker rights ecosystem through funding and convening the Bay Area Worker Rights Learning Cohort with the focus on primarily building creative capacity and allowing any shared endeavors to emerge organically from the group rather than require it. When we say “building creative capacity”, we mean that the cohort will be a container for organizations to dream, get exposed to new or provocative ideas and information, play, and nurture the spirit of experimentation.

Members of the Worker Rights Learning Cohort, as well as the cohort’s Design Team members, will join the session panel to review key outcomes and learnings from the work of the cohort thus far. These learnings include that the space has strengthened relationships and increased collaboration among cohort members, has allowed for members to develop a shared vision on strengthening the worker rights ecosystem in the region, and has encouraged collaboration with other organizations to create a worker rights policy platform in the form of the Bay Area Essential Workers Agenda.

This session will highlight regional opportunities for alignment towards continuing to build power and strengthen the worker rights ecosystem from a field-led and co-designed process of funder and grantees. This includes calling on the philanthropic field to increase resources towards this work, as well as greater funder collaboration between foundations supporting worker rights and worker power building.

Speakers

Anand Subramanian (moderator), San Francisco Foundation
Alejo, Trabajadores Unidos Workers United
Kimi Lee, Bay Rising and Bay Rising Action
Shaw San Liu, Chinese Progressive Association

ELMHURST ROOM

BIPOC-led organizations consistently face higher interest rates, more variable financing structures, lower appraised values, longer lending timelines, more opaque processes, smaller dollar amounts, and higher risk ratings than their white-led counterparts. Centuries of racial discrimination in America have created an unfair and inaccurate race-based perception of risk within lending institutions that prevents BIPOC borrowers from accessing the capital needed to build multi-generational wealth. Additionally, during the pandemic BIPOC-led organizations launched many new programs to protect their communities that stressed their own budgets and depleted hard-won reserves.

To address these disparities and pilot a new way of lending with racial equity at the center, American Nonprofits, Community Vision and Nonprofit Finance Fund joined forces with support from The California Endowment, Stupski Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation to launch the Bay Area Racial Equity Fund (BayREF) in October 2020.

BayREF provided free technical assistance and access to 0% working capital loans for BIPOC-led organizations with budgets under $3 million. BayREF’s offerings began in Spring of 2021 and have since moved more than $2 million in reparative capital to BIPOC-led organizations. BayREF demonstrated an urgent, ongoing need for no-cost, flexible capital and a desire for financial training and advising among Bay Area BIPOC-led organizations.

This session will describe the structure of the program both on the investment and the deployment side, with a focus on the power of paired technical assistance as a trust-building activity for those afraid of taking on debt as well as a natural risk mitigant. Panelists will discuss the implications of this program on traditional race-based perceptions of risk and where we see opportunities for making changes that advance reparations in our lending work.

Speakers

Amy Chung (moderator), Managing Director, Impact Investing, The California Endowment
Mona Afary, Executive Director, Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants
Amana Harris, Executive Director, Attitudinal Healing Connection/Center for ArtEsteem
Kshama Kanakoor, Financial Management Consultant, Community Vision

LAUREL ROOM

Last year, California launched a $600 million statewide fund called the Community Economic Resilience Fund to build a sustainable and equitable economy across California. The Fund provided regions across the State with planning grants and implementation resources to support new strategies to diversify local economies and develop industries that create high-quality, broadly accessible jobs for all Californians in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. As California recovers from the economic distress of COVID-19, CERF aims to ensure that the state’s economy works for all California residents, particularly those who have historically been marginalized.

The Bay Area launched a 9-county regional Steering Committee to help guide this process, along with five local planning tables focused on local economies. Across the region, we are conducting in-depth research on high-priority zip codes most impacted by climate change and economic insecurity; engaging in in-depth, multi-lingual community outreach, and determining catalytic investments to shape the structure of our local economics. This is a pivotal moment to make sure the voices of communities that have historically been shut out of the decision-making and resourcing have a hand in shaping what the next phase of economic development looks like in our region.

Join us to:

• Learn key takeaways from the research findings on the biggest threats and opportunities.
• Discuss opportunities to draw down the $190+ billion in federal funding coming to California, including funds from the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Chips and Science Act.
• Discuss how the community is helping shape these priorities, and how philanthropy can support.

Speakers

Christa Brown (moderator), Associate Director for State Policy and Advocacy, San Francisco Foundation
Jay Banfield, Chief Economic Mobility Officer, All Home
Claire Lau, Just Recovery Campaign Coordinator, Chinese Progressive Association
Enrique Lopezlira, Director, Low-Wage Work Program, UC Berkeley Labor Center

EASTMONT ROOM

Originally established in 2004 as the “Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative”, a traditional pooled grantmaking fund supporting access to career pathways across the nine-county Bay Area region, ReWork the Bay has transformed itself over the past five years into a worker-centered, racial justice focused cross-sector initiative that brings together leaders in economic justice, education, training, business and philanthropy to advance collective solutions for a diverse and equitable Bay Area.

Now overseen by a 16-person Equity at Work Council of frontline leaders who approve grants, provide budget oversight and strategy direction, ReWork the Bay pools philanthropic resources to seed and resource systems change strategies, provide leadership development and cross-sector networking support, and advance person-centered economic narratives.

This multi-faceted, transformative journey has involved leadership development for funder partners, experimental grantmaking practices, and deep relational work to build trust across the power imbalances and cultural differences among community organizations and foundations.

Join us for a conversation with ReWork funders, field leader partners and staff reflecting on the past five years of change, and the work we still have to do. We will discuss topics including:

• Navigating the transition from funding only direct services to a blend of services and systems change.
• The nuts and bolts of forming a field-leader directed table.
• Using a collaborative fund as a vehicle to test community-centered grantmaking practices.
• Facilitating relationships among organizing and direct services organizations and funders toward a broader and more powerful coalition.

SPEAKERS:

Brianna Rogers (moderator), ReWork the Bay
Christina Garcia, Christina Garcia Consulting
Rob Hope, ReWork the Bay
Alexandra Horton, Genentech Foundation
Jeffery Wallace, LeadersUp

UPTOWN ROOM

Since 2013, California has implemented over $11B of climate investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, produce health and environmental benefits, and center disadvantaged communities in the process. These projects have ranged from urban greening and electric vehicle deployment, to affordable housing and alternative fuel production.

What have been the outcomes of these investments? Who did they serve and what lessons can be gleaned for future climate investments to ensure they benefit the communities with greatest needs in addressing past harms, building wealth, and building power for the long-term? And importantly, what are the persisting gaps in community capacity and resources that remain?

We will share lessons learned from an equity analysis of the California Climate Investments (CCI)–the suite of programs funded by the State’s cap-and-trade revenue dollars. Findings come from a joint study led by the Greenlining Institute and the USC Equity Research Institute, and are built upon analyses of CCI implementation data; interviews with environmental justice advocates and key stakeholders; case studies of notable CCI programs; as well as community focus groups.

Speakers

Vanessa Carter Fahnestock, USC Equity Research Institute
Alfredo Gonzalez, Resources Legacy Fund
Lolly Lim, Greenlining Institute
Alvaro Sanchez, Greenlining Institute