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There is a new opportunity to allow Oakland residents the chance to participate in elections with a public campaign financing program. The initiative is modeled off of a similar, successful effort in Seattle. In the 2022 mid-term election, voters have a role in supporting this effort to combat large corporate and interest group campaign financing – passing this proposition is a vital step toward democratizing campaign funding.
The multiple polycrises of our time continue to disproportionately impact trans, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary communities of color.
There are few communities that haven’t been impacted by homelessness, and while jurisdictions grapple with possible resolutions, we know that criminalizing unhoused people is not the solution to this growing problem. The real solution lies in addressing the root causes of poverty and homelessness, implementing a strategy to increase the production and preservation of affordable housing units, including extremely low income and no income housing, and protecting tenants so that they can maintain stable housing and keep from slipping into homelessness.
I’ll be honest: I’ve been putting off answering your question “How do foundation leaders stay clear-eyed in this moment?” As I sit to write, our Northern California skies are hazy with wildfire smoke. It strikes me as a metaphor for this moment, 19 months into COVID, when our visions of a post-pandemic future are shifting yet again. I definitely don’t feel clear-eyed.
My first executive director position was with MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana in San Jose, CA. I distinctly remember the day I started, it was May 7th, 2003 and I had just taken on the role with all the energy and confidence of an almost 28 year old, artist and recent youth center leader can and should have.
California ChangeLawyers is a public foundation whose mission is to build a better justice system for all Californians. I have been with the organization as the Program Officer for almost 3 years during which I have helped to lead our work on 3 primary programmatic functions to achieve our goals: grants, scholarships, and policy.
Philanthropy is full of paradoxes that hold us back. As we enter 2024, one of the most troubling philanthropic paradoxes is emerging across the field. Foundations tend to retreat when they are needed the most. Why? Because foundations are taught to value perpetuity above our collective humanity.