As a grantmaking foundation, Irvine's primary means to advance its mission are its financial resources. However, we recognize that we have both the ability and the obligation to leverage these grantmaking investments, when appropriate, with other strategies and approaches. Irvine can help frame the major issues and challenges facing the state by bringing together parties with common interests, by tapping its brokering capacity to create new relationships, by investing in specific research or evaluation activities, and by communicating clearly and strategically its activities and the lessons learned from its work. Through these activities, we feel that we can add value above and beyond our grants to individual organizations.

Profiles of illustrative projects

The SSPIRE (Student Support Partnership Integrating Resources and Education) Initiative is designed to help community colleges better integrate academic instruction with student support services to help underprepared and traditionally underserved students realize their educational goals. In addition to grants to participating community colleges, Irvine is funding MDRC, a nonprofit social policy research organization, to provide technical assistance to the participating colleges; to organize state conferences and other meetings in which the colleges can learn from one another as well as from national experts; and to conduct an evaluation to document the colleges’ accomplishments, challenges and lessons. The evaluation results will be disseminated to researchers, practitioners and policymakers so they can inform future efforts focused on ensuring the academic success of all community college students.

To learn more about the SSPIRE Initiative, click here.