Guided by its racial justice framework, the Weingart Foundation promotes racial justice by bolstering communities most impacted by systemic disparities.
July 31, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA) — The Weingart Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation that partners with communities across Southern California to advance racial justice, awarded $3.9 million to 28 nonprofit partners addressing immigrant, housing, disability, economic, and Black justice. Additionally, the Foundation made a $2 million program-related investment loan to Covenant House California, an organization that provides housing opportunities for young people experiencing homelessness. Most of the grants, 80%, support organizations advancing systems change and building power through advocacy, capacity-building, and research.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to building the capacity of nonprofits dedicated to racial justice and systems change,” said Joanna S. Jackson, President and C.E.O. of the Weingart Foundation. “Through unrestricted funding, we’re supporting the growth, stability, and resilience of organizations led by and rooted in communities of color most impacted by systemic injustice. Together with our partners, we’re investing in a future where everyone can participate and fully thrive.”
The majority of the Weingart Foundation’s grants were awarded to grassroots nonprofits with budgets under $1M, providing unrestricted funding allowing these organizations to invest in organizational capacity and growth.
The Weingart Foundation continues to invest in organizations that deploy an intersectional racial justice approach to advocacy and the delivery of services. For example, several nonprofits that received funding are active in the immigrant justice space and bring a unique perspective centered on solutions based on the lived experience of their leaders and members that are often underserved in mainstream spaces. Partners such as the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, and the Translatin@Coaltion play an essential role in addressing anti-Blackness within the larger immigrant justice movement to ensure that policy and systems solutions are inclusive.
As part of its investment in racial solidarity and movement building, the Weingart Foundation provided grants to Project Q and Mirror Memoirs representing Black and trans-led and serving organizations offering healing and narrative change strategies to systems-impacted queer youth, people experiencing homelessness, survivors of child sexual abuse, or people living with disabilities. Similarly, the Foundation awarded grants to One Step a la Vez and Latino Equity Alliance, two neighborhood-based nonprofits that organize LGBTQ+ youth to take part in movement building work in Filmore in Ventura County, and East and Southeast L.A. (SELA) respectively. The Weingart Foundation’s investment in these organization is critical at a time when there is a rise in anti-trans and anti-immigrant rhetoric and even threats of violence as reported by Weingart’s nonprofit partners.
The Weingart Foundation also awarded grants to organizations advancing economic inclusion and efforts that empower low-wage workers, undocumented immigrants, and BIPOC entrepreneurs. Examples of organizations pursuing economic justice for these communities funded by the Weingart Foundation include the Latina and Latino Roundtable of San Gabriel and Pomona Valley, CRECE Urban Farms and Cooperación Santa Ana. To generate additional support for equitable cross-sector investments to Black-led organizations (B.L.O.s), the Weingart Foundation provided a grant to the Nonprofit Finance Fund, in partnership with the Black Equity Collective, to research the impact of B.L.O.s. as drivers of economic stability and wealth creation in Black communities.
“On behalf of the Weingart Foundation Board, we’re proud to continue to invest in organizations providing critical leadership that empowers communities across Southern California,” said Dr. Bob Ross, Weingart Foundation Board Chair. “Our grant and impact investment partners consistently inspire us with their unwavering commitment to social justice and racial equity, and we’re honored to support their vital work.”
For a full list of the Weingart Foundation’s June grants, please click here.
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.