April 26, 2023 (Los Angeles, CA) — The Weingart Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation that partners with communities across Southern California to advance racial justice, awarded over $7.6 million to 43 nonprofit organizations and made a $10 million investment to a mission-aligned fund. More than half of the grants provide unrestricted operating support to organizations that serve historically marginalized communities. The Foundation is operationalizing its racial justice mission with BIPOC leaders at the helm of 84% of the nonprofit partner organizations receiving unrestricted grants.
The Foundation is strategically transitioning its approach to grantmaking by providing larger grants to organizations that closely align with one or more of the Foundation’s strategic priorities: strong and healthy communities; building civic power; and advancing just systems.
“We’re proud to support our grant and investment partners and know together we form a broader movement for racial justice and systemic equity,” said Miguel A. Santana, President and CEO of the Weingart Foundation. “Our partners know best what it takes to serve their communities and address inequities. We are making deeper investments so they can continue to build on their transformative work.”
The Foundation intentionally partners with coalitions that are building political power in communities impacted by institutional racism. For example, the Los Angeles Worker Centers Network, that includes Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, Garment Worker Center, and Pilipino Worker Center, is an important network that operates at the intersection of economic, immigrant, and racial justice. Together, these groups have achieved notable policy and legal victories in recent years as they work towards creating meaningful solutions for the lowest-paid workers in the region.
A quarter of the grants in this cycle are Strategic Opportunity Funds that can serve as catalysts that sustain nonprofits and coalitions. For example, the Weingart Foundation is providing seed funding to Pomona United for Stable Housing (PUSH) Coalition, a grassroots coalition of tenants, community members and nonprofits advancing housing justice. PUSH Coalition successfully organized for emergency rent stabilization in Pomona, protecting vulnerable families from losing housing.
“Our partnership with the Weingart Foundation will further our ability to promote policies that protect tenants and strengthen communities,” said Yesenia Miranda Meza, President and co-Founder of Pomona United for Stable Housing. “We’re looking forward to strengthening our administrative infrastructure and investing in contract management, board development, and communication capacities to achieve broader impact.”
The Foundation is expanding its support to nonprofits that serve individuals transitioning out of the criminal justice system, and that advocate for criminal justice reform. This includes two new partners in the Antelope Valley, Paving the Way and Timelist Group, that each provide direct services to justice-involved people while playing a critical role in systems change coalition efforts. These organizations are key partners in Cancel the Contract, a local power-building coalition pushing for school safety through police-free campuses.
The Foundation also recently committed $10 million dollars to Kah Capital Mortgage Credit Fund II, a fund managed by Kah Capital Management, a leading investment management firm focused on mortgage credit and led by people of color. The investment will support distressed borrowers utilizing Kah Capital Management’s technology driven servicing oversight strategy to restructure their mortgage loans and prevent foreclosures, prioritizing home retention. The majority of the borrowers assisted through Kah Capital Management’s strategy are people of color living in low-income communities. This investment advances the Foundation’s housing justice work.
Additionally, the Foundation pledged $5 million, as part of a consortium of funders, to the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP). CIGP recently provided a $2 million loan guarantee for affordable housing to Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), a Community Development Financial Institution that invests in communities of opportunity, equity, and well-being. Specifically, Weingart’s commitment will support LIIF’S Black Developer Capital Initiative (BDCI) which provides pre-development lines of credit to emerging, Black housing developers who face challenges in accessing flexible, early-stage capital.
“It is inspiring to see the passion and dedication that our nonprofit and investment partners demonstrate each and every day,” said Aileen Adams, Board Chair of the Weingart Foundation. “Beyond financial support, we are committed to supporting meaningful, long-term change that advances racial, social and economic justice for all.”
For a full list of the Weingart Foundation’s partners, please visit: https://weingartfnd.org/march-2023-grants-and-program-related-investments/
ABOUT THE WEINGART FOUNDATION
The Weingart Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation that partners with communities across Southern California to advance racial, social, and economic justice for all. Our vision is a dynamic and effective social change sector that is creating equitable systems and structures needed to achieve justice. Founded in 1951, the Foundation has to date granted over $1 billion to organizations, strengthening their efforts in human services, housing, health, education, and community power building. In addition, the Foundation builds networks and collaboratives with philanthropic, public sector, and community leaders to advance equity and justice together.
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