James E. Canales
President and CEO

Dear Friends,

Irvine has a long history of supporting nonprofit organizations working in low-income and minority communities in California, and I am pleased to share with you plans for a new set of grantmaking activities designed to further strengthen these organizations and build upon Irvine’s existing commitment to these issues.

As I reported in my Summer 2008 letter, the Irvine Foundation has joined with other large California foundations this year to better understand the challenges facing minority-led and other grassroots organizations. In June, this coalition of foundations announced plans to address these issues and develop, by the end of the year, a set of grantmaking activities specifically aimed at developing leadership, building capacity and providing technical assistance for these organizations. The report we are releasing today describes these new activities.

On behalf of the Irvine Foundation, I am also pleased to announce a new funding partnership we will soon launch with the Hewlett and Packard foundations, as described on page 25 of the new report. While the details of this partnership are still being developed, I believe our new grantmaking will be responsive to what we heard this year from low-income and minority communities. This new partnership will be focused on activities that leverage our existing knowledge and impact but go further in helping community organizations realize their full potential.

Finally, we recognize that this work requires a long-term commitment from Irvine, and it remains our intention to continue to listen to the community and report back about our grantmaking and impact as our strategy evolves.

As always, I welcome your questions, comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,