Philanthropy California’s Fair Representation Fund supports community engagement in California’s 2021 redistricting process. 
 
Encouraging and supporting public involvement – particularly among historically and currently underrepresented communities – is critical for developing electoral maps that most fairly represent Californians. The stakes are high, as the new electoral maps will shape how communities are represented for the decade ahead.
 
Through contributions from foundations and other funders, the Fair Representation Fund provides grants to statewide and regional nonprofits to engage Californians from historically underrepresented communities in redistricting.

Redistricting: The Next Step After Census

The state’s decennial redistricting determines how communities are represented in public decision-making bodies across all levels of government. Thus, redistricting has implications for the public policies and resource allocations in education, health care, housing, and numerous other arenas affecting people’s lives. 
 
Many funders supported efforts to encourage a fair and accurate census count – recognizing the importance of an accurate census for appropriate resource allocations and fair representation. Input from diverse Californians in this part of the process on how they would define their local community is necessary to achieve the promise of fair representation. 

Grantmaking

The Fund has made grants to the following statewide and regional organizations/coalitions thus far. Grants cover public outreach and education, materials development and trainings, map-drawing workshops, and other activities. Nearly all of these groups, and additional interested community organizations, need further resources to meet their full outreach and engagement goals:
 
Statewide organizations / coalitions

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus with Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles
• Black Census & Redistricting Hub
• MALDEF
• NALEO Educational Fund

Regional organizations / coalitions

• Alliance San Diego
• Bay Rising
• CAIR California
• CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy)
• Communities for a New California – Jakara Movement – Common Cause California (San Joaquin Valley)
• Community Coalition for the Los Angeles Redistricting Alliance
• Fresno County Civic Engagement Table
• Inland Empowerment
• Orange County Civic Engagement Table

Funder Involvement

Fund contributors include Blue Shield of California Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, The California Endowment, The James Irvine Foundation, and Weingart Foundation. Additional contributions will permit the Fund to provide support for further community engagement in redistricting. For more information, please get in touch with Karla Mercado, Director-Philanthropy California, karla@socalgrantmakers.org.