SoCal Grantmakers

What a success! Day one and two of SCG's evolve program, Collaborative Leadership in Practice, are complete! 🎉 🎉 🎉 SCG, in partnership with Coro California, designed a three-part in-person cohort series to equip professionals with the skills to lead more effectively in complex, collaborative environments. The first session, "Bridging Differences: Leadership Styles for Collaboration", delved into how our default interpersonal leadership styles shape collaboration, communication, and responses to stress. Through self-assessment, reflection, and group dialogue, participants identified their leadership style, uncovered areas for growth, and unique strengths. Our second session, "Navigating & Owning Our Role in Conflict," offered practical techniques for recognizing and disrupting unproductive conflict patterns, while teaching the importance of leadership grounded in clarity, responsibility, and compassion. By the end of both days, participants gained style-based collaboration strategies and new tools to identify recurring team tension patterns, and as a result learned to navigate interpersonal dynamics with greater empathy. Thank you to Rachael Acello, LMFT (Senior Director, Training & Programs, Coro California) and SCG's evolve team: Sequoia Thompson (Coordinator, Equity, Organizational Culture, & Dialogue); Kameron Green (Vice President, Professional Learning & Family Philanthropy); and Monica Banks (Manager, Professional Learning) for these offerings! evolve is SCG's suite of programming that champions transformational leadership made possible by the generous support of the Angell Foundation. #SCGevolve #Leadership #Philanthropy

SCG President and CEO Christine Essel had the honor of attending and delivering remarks at the Center for Strategic Partnerships (CSP) 10th anniversary celebration! 🎉🎉 🎉 As CSP’s fiscal sponsor, SCG was excited to mark this milestone alongside inspiring leaders. Thank you to the CSP team for allowing us to be part of your journey, and congratulations on achieving a decade of successfully serving some of our most vulnerable children, youth, families, and communities here in Los Angeles. A big round of applause to the CSP team! Bravo!!! 👏 👏 👏 👏 #SCGNews

We are still rejoicing over yesterday's Liberty Hill Foundation celebration of 50 years of solidarity and progress in LA! ✨ Our President and CEO, Christine Essel attended this phenominal event alongside Amanda G. (Associate); Crystal Hand (Senior Manager, Data & Technology); Karla Mercado (Vice President, Philanthropy CA, Public Policy & Government Relations); Katy Pelissier (Director, Programs & Conferences); Lucero Noyola, MSW (Program Officer at the Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation); Jacqueline Carrillo (Senior Manager, Programs and Conferences); Angelica Calderon (Associate, Finance); and Alexa H. (Associate, Fiscal Sponsorships)! We are grateful to have been part of an evening centered on powerful conversations about community, shifting policy, and inspiring future generations of leaders. We also feel honored to have seen Angelica Salas (Executive Director, CHIRLA) and Joanna Jackson (President & CEO, Weingart Foundation) recognized for their trailblazing work. Congratulations to the Liberty Hill Foundation team on this incredible milestone! 🎉 #LibertyHill50 #LibertyHill #Philanthropy

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities face significant barriers to economic equality and mobility. AI/AN people experience higher unemployment rates and lower median wages than other U.S. workers. These factors result in higher poverty rates and lower household incomes, thereby limiting the capacity to build wealth and achieve economic stability. Yet, Native-focused philanthropic portfolios remain rare among philanthropic institutions. To shift this approach and address this historic underinvestment, philanthropy can fund solutions that: ✅ Support and directly invest in power building and Indigenous peoples’ self-determination; ✅ Provide sustained funding to appropriately respond to the long-term roots of systemic oppression; ✅ Move dollars to community-controlled solutions. Native peoples and communities know their communities and are in the best position to decide what will work best for them. 📖 We invite you to read the report, We the Resilient, published by the California Native Vote Project (CNVP), the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health (CCUIH), and Catalyst California, to learn more about the AI/AN community in California: http://bit.ly/CNVPResearch. #WeTheResilient #CNVP #NativePower #NativeVoices #SCG

We are at a pivotal political moment marked by the 2026 gubernatorial transition and broader national uncertainty. On May 26, join our Philanthropy California webinar: "From Moment to Movement: Responding to Crisis, Shaping Opportunity" to examine how the Ad Hoc Latino Leaders Group is shaping California’s policy and governance landscape. ⭐️ Register Here: https://buff.ly/HX2v6f7 This session will highlight how philanthropy can play a catalytic role in ensuring that equity, opportunity, and dignity are embedded into the next administration’s priorities. We will illuminate the framework of the 2026 Health, Wealth & Dignity Agenda, demonstrate the Ad Hoc Group’s track record, and identify ways for funders to support transition planning, leadership pipelines, and policy implementation. Speakers will include: ✅ Sonja Diaz, Unseen ✅ Eduardo García, Latino Community Foundation ✅ Sergio Garcia, San Francisco Foundation ✅ Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) ✅ Helen Torres, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) The 2026 Health, Wealth & Dignity Agenda was developed by the Ad Hoc Latino Leaders Group in partnership with SCG and was designed by Hispanic Federation and Unseen. 🔎 View the full agenda here: https://buff.ly/7WhcxrI #PublicPolicy #PhilanthropyCA

SCG's 2026 Public Policy Conference, Unify and Mobilize, explored how philanthropy can advance a public policy agenda that maintains solidarity, defends communities, and rebuilds the systems and institutions that are foundational to our democracy. In collaboration with our breakout session speakers, SCG crafted a blog that elevates the key lessons from the day and suggests actions funders can take to further their conference learnings. We invite you to read the blog here 👉 https://buff.ly/sRm4g7j In addition, if you would like to revisit the keynote from Dr. Michael McAfee, we invite you to read his full keynote address, "Writing the Unfinished Story of Our Democracy," on our blog page here 👉 https://buff.ly/7U4T7PD Finally, we are excited to announce that you can view the full conference photo album on SCG's Flickr Page 👉https://buff.ly/JJqGGTu 📸 Photos by SCG and Celia Duenas (Amor y Luna Photography).

SCG's 2026 Public Policy Conference featured wonderful visual art and a moving poetry performance, which we are pleased to highlight below: ⭐️ We started off our conference day with an opening performance from Sonia Guiñansaca (Kichwa-Kañari), an internationally acclaimed poet and cultural strategist. As a writer and performer, they create narrative poems and essays on migration, queerness, and nostalgia. At our conference, Sonia shared their original poem "A Small Needful Way to be for Each Other." ⭐️ We are also excited to spotlight our conference art installation, a data visualization of California Native Vote Project's report "We the Resilient: Stories and Data from American Indians/Alaska Natives in California." Their publication uplifts the stories, strength, and sovereignty of Native peoples across California. We partnered with them to create an art piece showcasing key takeaways from the report, and how philanthropy can support Native communities. To learn more, view the full report here: https://buff.ly/9JQbT8E 📸 Photos by SCG and Celia Duenas (Amor y Luna Photography). #SCGPPC26

Last month, SCG's 2026 Public Policy Conference, Unify and Mobilize, featured twelve breakout sessions led by funders and cross-sector leaders. We are excited to share some highlights from our six afternoon sessions: ⭐️ Sky Allen (Inland Empire United Education Fund), Geoff Green (CalNonprofits), Rebecca Hamburg (California Donor Table), and Onyemma Obiekea (Black Women For Wellness Action Project) explored two approaches funders can leverage to develop an advocacy roadmap for 2026 and beyond. ⭐️ Halona Alexander (Strong Hearted Native Women's Coalition, Inc), Karen Ben-Moshe (Blue Shield of California Foundation), Sadia Khan (Family Violence Law Center), and Jane Lin (Women's Foundation California) examined how community leaders can unite to advocate for survivor-informed policies that advance housing justice. ⭐️ Stephanie Cohen (Cedars-Sinai), Kristina Meza (Los Angeles County), Joanne Preece, MPH (Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County), Ryyn Schumacher, MBA (County of Santa Barbara Health Department), and Rosemary Veniegas, PhD (California Community Foundation) highlighted opportunities for philanthropy to help preserve and strengthen the safety net. ⭐️ Dominique Fortune (Nonprofit Finance Fund), Jessica LaBarbera (Nonprofit Finance Fund), Jeffrey McLaughlin (City of Riverside), Khyati M. (Inland Empire Community Foundation) explore the cross-sector partnership behind the Inland Empire Loan Fund. ⭐️ Maisha Cole (Child Care Law Center), Kelly King (Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges), Zea Malawa, MD, MPH (Abundant Birth Project), Rebeca Rangel (Asset Funders Network), Aquilina Soriano Versoza (Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California (PWC)), and Rachel Wick (Blue Shield of California Foundation) identified strategies to mobilize philanthropy behind a unified, durable care movement in California. ⭐️ Veronica Alvarez (Create CA), Julie Baker (CA Arts Advocates), Erin Harkey (Americans for the Arts), and Sarah Lyding (The Music Man Foundation) examined how funders can support creative communities in a shifting policy landscape. 📸 Photos by Celia Duenas (Amor y Luna Photography). #SCGPPC26

According to tribal oral histories, Native Peoples prospered in what is now known as California for at least 12,000 years before European contact. Further evidence suggests that California tribes may date back as far as 100,000 years. In 2020, the U.S. Census estimated that California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) population in the country, with 1,409,609 individuals who identify as AI/AN alone or in combination with another race. In addition to the 109 federally recognized Indian tribes in the state, including several tribes with lands that cross state boundaries, 75 others are petitioning for federal recognition. Despite California Native Peoples’ rich culture and heritage, many people today have little sense of the dynamic societies and cultures of the original peoples. We invite you to attend the upcoming event, We the Resilient: Stories and Data from American Indian / Alaska Natives in California, taking place on Thursday, May 7, 2026, from 10:00 am – 11:00 am, to learn more about Native American demographic data, power-building, and resilience. Register today: https://buff.ly/xbdC3w4. Data from the We the Resilient report, published by the California Native Vote Project (CNVP), the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health (CCUIH), and Catalyst California. Report Link: http://bit.ly/CNVPResearch #WeTheResilient #WTRWebinar #CNVP #NativePower #NativeVoices

On Saturday, April 25, 2026, SoCal Grantmakers and Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship hosted "From Relief to Recovery: Long-Term Rebuilding after the Los Angeles Wildfires." This in-person session explored how cross-sector partners can move beyond short-term wildfire relief and support a more sustained, equitable path to recovery. Held at Eaton Fire Collaborative in Altadena, attendees heard from several community-based organizations and coalitions leading recovery efforts, who offered insight into the realities of long-term rebuilding. We also heard from local funders investing in recovery, learning about strategic approaches, best ways to make recovery efforts credible and investable, and lessons from funding in disaster contexts. This was a great opportunity for our corporate members to engage with wildfire recovery initiatives, learning to support recovery in ways that are both effective and responsive to community needs. Thank you to our panelists: Jennifer Lynch (Paramount Pictures), Pastor Amara Mia Ononiwu (CLERGY COMMUNITY COALITION INC), Nicole Maccalla (Eaton Fire Residents United (EFRU)), Joy Chen (Every Fire Survivor's Network), Candice Kim (Altadena Builds Back Foundation (ABBF)), Judie Johnson (Eaton Fire Collaborative), Lily Bui, PhD (SoCal Grantmakers)