Grants for Workforce Development, Housing, and Healthy Environments

Grants for Workforce Development, Housing, and Healthy Environments is sponsored by East Bay Community Foundation. The East Bay Community Foundation funds grantmaking around workforce development, housing, and healthy environments in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Fostering Inclusive Economic Models | East Bay Community Foundation Fostering Inclusive Economic Models A Just East Bay requires our economy to include good jobs, career pathways, and fair business financing opportunities for all who want to participate. Structural barriers have prevented many communities from accessing the same economic opportunities and prosperity enjoyed by many of their neighbors.

The challenges facing our communities today are significant and complex. Comprehensive solutions require the activation and deployment of a full spectrum of capital, including grants, investments, and non-financial resources like capacity building and networking. Using our influence, voice, and support as a local philanthropic leader can move the progress forward.

Our vision of an inclusive, fair, and just East Bay is rooted in creating equal opportunities for all. To create a truly inclusive economy, we must shift the flow of capital from an extractive economy towards an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative system that works for all. We are addressing racial economic inequities in our region through: 1.

Entrepreneurship & business ownership as pathways to wealth building Small businesses create job opportunities and increase economic activity, stability, and wealth creation in communities of color.

EBCF supports entrepreneurs through the Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund , which provides grant funding in support of small businesses in Oakland, and through a long-standing partnership with REAL People’s Fund , a $10M community-controlled and democratically governed loan fund investing in businesses that have the potential for meaningful positive social, environmental, and/or economic impact in BIPOC communities. 2.

Community ownership and stewardship In the East Bay, communities are implementing and innovating diverse community ownership models that limit profit-seeking from investors and promote inclusive decision-making and governance. EBCF supports community ownership and stewardship of housing and land (community land trusts and real estate cooperatives), worker-owned cooperatives, and community controlled or governed funds.

We see our investments as a core strategy for achieving our mission. To that end, we invest our assets in socially responsible and mission-aligned sectors with an eye toward racial equity, sustainability, and ESG impact, focusing, when possible, on solving California’s most pressing challenges. We work with diverse and women-owned money managers to create opportunities for people who have historically been shut out of finance.

We look for opportunities to move resources into community banks and local credit unions. And instead of enriching shareholders, our fees strengthen EBCF’s community leadership and grantmaking on critical issues like workforce development, housing, and healthy environments in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. “For an economy to function well, it should be growing, sustainable, and stable.

But it should also be growing for all people–not just creating wealth and financial stability for some but ensuring that every person has equitable opportunities for good jobs, and career paths in order to be free from the worry of meeting basic human needs or financial hardship. ” VENKAT MOHAN, EBCF FUNDHOLDER Oakland Small Business Resiliency Fund RESILIENCY FUND 2.

0 IS READY TO LAUNCH AND OPEN FOR GRANT INVESTMENTS Email us to support the fund Small businesses … Our investment strategy facilitates an ecosystem of collective progress and collaboration in an effort to revolutionize philanthropy and co-create a truly inclusive economy. Funders and donors are invited to participate in this work. The Inclusive Economy Fund supports grassroots community partners who are building economic power.

All contributions have a real and lasting impact and move our community closer to the goal of an inclusive economy in the East Bay. Vice President of Community Investments & Partnerships Autumn McDonald is the Vice President of Community Investments & Partnerships, leading EBCF’s strategic grantmaking, regional collaborations, and team of program staff to deliver on our mission across the East Bay.

Autumn has more than two decades of experience working with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies at the intersection of strategy, advocacy, civic innovation, and social impact. Through her work with FSG, a social impact consulting firm, Autumn built expertise in providing strategic guidance to large, small, community, and family foundations.

Autumn also served the late San Francisco Mayor, Ed Lee, shaping policies and public-private initiatives to improve economic opportunity for Bay Area families. Before joining EBCF, she was a member of the leadership team at New America where she served as a senior fellow and head of New America CA.

At New America, Autumn’s work focused on issues of economic equity, community engagement, resident voice, policy influence, and narrative change. Her writing has been published by numerous media outlets, including Slate , The Washington Post , Stanford Social Innovation Review , Project Syndicate , Pacific Standard and CalMatters . She also serves on the board of KQED, Lincoln Families, and Women’s Foundation of California.

Autumn has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a master’s from the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. She, her husband, and their three children live in Oakland. Her parents moved to Oakland from the east coast right before the pandemic, happily making her East Bay kin now intergenerational!

Sabrina Wu is a Senior Program Officer and leads EBCF’s work on building a just and inclusive economy. In this capacity, she supports increasing access to fair capital for BIPOC entrepreneurs, grassroots equitable economic development, and moving grant and impact investing resources in more participatory and collaborative ways.

Sabrina is a collaborative leader with over twenty years of experience in non-profit leadership and coalition building. Prior to joining EBCF, she led grassroots non-profits and community collaboratives to advance racial and economic equity and build local sustainable food systems and ran community and youth programs.

She serves on the Board of Directors of Just Futures Impact and was previously a Just Economy Institute Fellow and co-chair of the Bay Area Asset Funders Network Steering Committee. Sabrina holds a Bachelors degree from Barnard College of Columbia University and a Masters degree in Agriculture, Food and Environmental Policy from Tufts University.

EBCF Small Business Resiliency Fund: The Right Capital at the Right Moment Building Right Relationship: A Philanthropic Call to Support Indigenous Land Sovereignty Through Shuumi A joint statement from East Bay Community Foundation, Bay Area Asset Funders Network (AFN), San Francisco Foundation (SFF) on the … EBCF awards $850,000 to promote community ownership and stewardship The new grantmaking initiative builds on EBCF’s work to create inclusive local economies in the East Bay.

The East Bay Needs You Today The government shutdown is threatening vital services like food assistance, leaving our most vulnerable neighbors at risk. At the same time, increased ICE activity is creating fear and instability—parents are afraid to pick up their children from school or go to work. East Bay Community Foundation is deeply rooted in the community and connected to the organizations doing the most impactful work.

If you’re concerned about these urgent issues, make a gift or request a transfer from your donor-advised fund. Our team will ensure your donation reaches the groups best equipped to respond to today’s most pressing needs. This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.