Black Alliance for Just Immigration
News
August 2026 Newsletter
Message from Our President & C.E.O.
Dear Weingart Community,
This summer marked two significant milestones: the 250th anniversary of our nation and 75 years since Ben and Stella Weingart established the Foundation in 1951. Reflecting on these intertwined histories – the progress we’ve made, the challenges we’ve faced, the struggles we’ve endured, and the resilience that has carried us forward – has reaffirmed both the importance of our work and our responsibility to the future we hope to help shape over the next 75 years.
These anniversaries reminded us that the story of America belongs to all of us and to the generations of people who dared to imagine something better and worked together to make it possible. They also reminded us that progress has always been a collective endeavor, driven by people organizing in their communities, caring for one another, and working together to expand opportunity, strengthen democracy, and build a more just future for all. That lesson is shaping our next chapter.
Over the past year, we invited partners to help shape a vision for our collective future, and those conversations informed a new strategic framework centered on what we believe creates lasting change. Moving forward, our work will focus on strengthening three interconnected forms of power: people power, economic power, and narrative power. When communities have the power to organize, shape the stories that influence public understanding, and build the economic conditions that allow everyone to thrive, we create the conditions for a Southern California where every community can flourish.
As we begin this new fiscal year, we’re continuing those conversations through regional strategy sessions across Southern California, where partners and community leaders are helping shape shared priorities for the years ahead. At the same time, our commitment to resourcing community remains unwavering. I am proud to share this latest round of grantmaking, which invests $9.4 million in nonprofit partners working not only to help communities respond to today’s challenges, but to shape their own future.
The months ahead will ask much of all of us. We’ll continue to support the organizations and leaders strengthening civic participation, helping ensure free and fair elections, expanding economic opportunities in our most vulnerable communities, and building the multiracial democracy we know is possible.
These milestones are not only an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come, but to imagine what comes next. We’ll have much more to share this fall and hope you’ll continue building this next chapter with us.
Joanna S. Jackson
President & C.E.O., Weingart Foundation
Latest Round of Funding
Lasting change begins with communities. Across Southern California, people are organizing, preserving culture, rebuilding neighborhoods, and creating new pathways to opportunity. Our latest round of grantmaking invests $9.4 million in nonprofit partners that are strengthening the conditions communities need not only to respond to today’s challenges, but to shape their own future.
“This moment calls for innovative approaches rooted in partnership, trust, and a belief that communities hold the solutions to our most urgent challenges,” said Joanna S. Jackson, President and C.E.O. “Our role is to listen, learn, and invest alongside community leaders as they shape a future where every person belongs, every community has the opportunity to thrive, and everyone can share in a more just and prosperous future.”
Mission in Action
At the Weingart Foundation, we believe the stories we tell, and who gets to tell them, shape our culture, strengthen belonging, and expand what we believe is possible. Organizations like Disability Belongs™ are helping ensure disabled voices are not only represented but also shaping the stories that influence our communities and our shared future.
Through its Entertainment Lab, Disability Belongs™ is expanding opportunities for disabled creatives through mentorship, professional development, and connections with industry leaders. As Disability Belongs™ President and C.E.O., Ariel A. Simms, Esq., shares: “We are helping to build an industry where diversity is celebrated, authentic stories are told, and everyone has a genuine opportunity to thrive.”
Movement Builders
For movement leader, Jayden Cervantes-Frields, co-director of Mirror Memoirs, leadership is not about being the only voice in the room; it’s about creating space for others to be heard.
Mirror Memoirs works to shift dominant narratives by centering, organizing, and empowering Black, Indigenous, and people of color survivors who are transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and queer.
“As a movement leader, it is both an honor and a responsibility to uplift the stories, resilience, and visionary wisdom of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC survivors. Through community, advocacy, and collective care, we are inviting more people into the work of challenging rape culture and building a world where no survivor is left behind.”
As Mirror Memoir’s celebrates a decade of survivor-led organizing, Jayden is looking forward to the launch of the Los Angeles Member Hub—a space to share tools for addressing rape culture, deepen abolitionist analysis, and strengthen mutual aid practices and to showcasing the brilliance of survivor wisdom.
Recent Newsletters
Rooted in Community, Shaping What’s Next
As I reflect on the successes, challenges, and lessons from 2025, I am also focused on the path ahead. As we enter 2026, we know we cannot relinquish the vision or set down the baton that has been passed to this generation to continue the work toward a thriving, inclusive multiracial democracy for all. Generations before us labored toward a future they knew they might never see; it is now our responsibility to carry that vision forward for those coming after us.
A Year of Courage, Community, and Collective Action
As I reflect on the successes, challenges, and lessons from 2025, I am also focused on the path ahead. As we enter 2026, we know we cannot relinquish the vision or set down the baton that has been passed to this generation to continue the work toward a thriving, inclusive multiracial democracy for all. Generations before us labored toward a future they knew they might never see; it is now our responsibility to carry that vision forward for those coming after us.
Standing In Solidarity With Our Immigrant Communities: Statement on ICE Raids
The ongoing ICE raids across Los Angeles are a cruel assault on our immigrant communities—on our neighbors, our values, and our shared humanity. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” What happens to our immigrant brothers and sisters affects us all. Southern California is a region shaped by immigrants whose culture, labor, and leadership are integral to who we are.
Moving Forward Together: 2024 Election Statement
Yesterday was a day of deep reflection as we processed the results of the 2024 elections and the implications for our communities. Today, we rise with an unwavering commitment to our racial justice mission undeterred by efforts to slow us down or take us backward by those who do not share our values of equity, justice, and dignity for all people.
Unity and Progress: California Leaders Pledge Bold Action in Defense of the Golden State’s Values and the American Dream
The Weingart Foundation signed on to the following statement alongside the CEOs of California’s leading philanthropic organizations.
“On this historic election day, we stand united as leaders of California’s leading philanthropic organizations—unwavering in our commitment to our communities, no matter the outcome.
Investing for an Equitable Southern California
We’re excited to announce the release of Investing for an Equitable Southern California, a pivotal report that chronicles Weingart Foundation’s journey to operationalize an investment strategy rooted in equity. By sharing our journey, we aim to inspire fellow leaders in philanthropy to join us in fully operationalizing their missions through their investments. Together, we can have tremendous impact and create lasting change for the people and communities we are here to serve.