California is on fire. As we continue to battle a global pandemic and unrelenting violent acts of racism, these fires are not only devastating to our environment, they’re devastating our communities.
This fund focuses on organizations providing services such as medical care, counseling, temporary shelter and meals to the individuals and families affected by the fires
The San Diego Foundation has activated the San Diego Regional Disaster Fund to collect and manage charitable funds for response and recovery from the Valley Wildfire currently impacting the Japatul Valley, Carveacre, Lawson Valley, Wood Valley, Lyons Valley and Deer Horn Valley southeast of Alpin
During fire responses, Direct Relief provides N-95 masks, medicine, and other resources to healthcare agencies and first responders in wildfire-affected communities across California.
The work we do in philanthropy—and the work of our nonprofit partners—is not immune to the complexities and chaos of a changing world. Amidst a global pandemic, threats to our democracy, and environmental devastation, we are pushed to be hyperproductive problem-solvers. While these tendencies are brought to bear “in the heat of the moment,” they’re limiting over the long-term, especially when strategic thinking and attuned sensitivities are needed. We cultivate the latter by slowing down, stilling our minds, getting in touch with signals from our body, and allowing the resulting data to inform our action. Beneath our professional titles and roles, trust-based philanthropy acknowledges that we are one piece of a longer arc of time and a larger ecosystem, and that sometimes, we have to go slowly if we want to go far.
Trust-based philanthropy is anchored in an understanding of power and privilege, historical and systemic racism and structural oppression, and how these shape people’s realities in profoundly different ways. As grantmakers, we have a responsibility to confront the reality that philanthropy originated from and has often contributed to systemic inequities, both in the ways wealth is accumulated and its dissemination is controlled. While these discussions may be challenging and difficult, this type of self-reflection is fundamental to the work of trust-based philanthropy. As individuals and institutions, we must be willing to recognize historical trauma and systemic power, examine our own relationship to power and money, and be willing to give up some of that power and control in a spirit of service and collaboration with those who are closer to the issues at hand.
A trust-based culture—one that prioritizes power-sharing, dialogue, transparency, and learning—is essential to cultivating relationships of trust within organizations. Simply put, being a trust-based organization requires there to be trust within your organization—among staff, between staff and board, and between the board and the CEO. When this trust is broken, or if it is never built to begin with, it can seep into the external aspects of your work with the potential of threatening your relationships, credibility, and reputation.
Trust-based philanthropy encourages us to rethink our notions of traditional philanthropic roles, which tend to prioritize transactions over relationships. In fact, a trust-based approach encourages us to understand our roles as partners working in service of nonprofits and communities. Traditional Philanthropy has institutionalized and perpetuated harmful tropes about funders as experts and nonprofits as needy people who need to be held accountable. This has been perpetuated institutionally through our grantmaking practices, but also in less obvious ways, such as job descriptions, theories of change, program descriptions, and the language we use to describe our work.
Many foundations are exploring potential new programs in response to the pandemic, racial reckoning, and threats to our democracy, among many other challenges. This workshop will introduce a structured, efficient process that foundations can use to quickly learn ‘the lay of the land’ in potential new spaces and identify how they can complement – and learn from – the efforts of others as they seek to generate meaningful, measurable impact.
In response to the racial reckoning in 2020, foundations have sought many perspectives to learn how they can support racial justice, shift power, and more effectively engage communities in grantmaking decisions. Moving beyond the basic practices that many foundations are already incorporating, this workshop will examine how foundations can incorporate a racial equity perspective in their overall strategy setting and implementation planning at both the institutional level and the programmatic level.
The California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund focuses on intermediate and long-term recovery needs that follow wildfires in California, with special efforts to serve the most disaster-vulnerable populations including the disabled, farmworkers and other migrant communities whose homes
During fire responses, Direct Relief provides N-95 masks, medical aid, portable Wildfire Health Kits, and financial assistance to healthcare agencies and first responders in wildfire-affected communities across California.
The League of California Community Foundations has established a fund to provide a centralized opportunity for funders to invest in disaster resilience and response through community foundations – trusted intermediaries who are deeply connected to affected communities.
The Flicker Fund provides crisis relief, climate fire response, and is designed for emergency response.
Addressing Community Needs and Resilience Arising from Drought, Extreme Heat, and Wildfires | Part 3
Discussion theme: Enhancing Wildfire Mitigation in Low-Income Neighborhoods
Addressing Community Needs and Resilience Arising from Drought, Extreme Heat, and Wildfires | Part 4
Discussion theme: Climate and Disaster Resilience with California’s Tribal Communities
Addressing Community Needs and Resilience Arising from Drought, Extreme Heat, and Wildfires | Part 1
Discussion theme: Supporting and Protecting Latinx and Undocumented Communities
Donations made to the Emergency Readiness Fund are distributed as strategic grants to emergency readiness and response efforts across Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, and/or Sonoma counties.
California is in the midst of another historic wildfire season. Already, several major and lesser-known fires have destroyed communities and displaced tens of thousands of residents throughout Northern California.
A virtual convening featuring Governor Gavin Newsom in conversation with state water leaders.