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Press Release

Irvine Board of Directors Approves $16.6 Million in Grants on October 15, 2019

The James Irvine Foundation Board of Directors approved 18 grants totaling more than $16.64 million earlier this week. The grants included support for the Foundation’s two initiatives focused on California workers (Better Careers and Fair Work), including a grant that will reach and support workers earning low wages through a digital platform.

The board also approved additional grants for the Foundation’s other grantmaking priorities (e.g., Priority Regions, and Protecting Immigrant Rights) and for culminating initiatives (Linked Learning and Voter and Civic Engagement).

The full list of board-approved grants includes:

Initiatives

Better Careers
JobTrain, Inc.
A two-year grant of $500,000 for general operating support. This grant will place graduates of Career Training Pathways into jobs in four different sectors.

Fair Work
California Labor Federation AFL-CIO
A one-year grant of $700,000 to expand engagement and credentialing programs for low-wage and immigrant workers in the Inland Empire and Central Valley.

National Employment Law Project
A two-year grant of $5.4 million to support community organizations and public agencies in the recovery of workers’ wages and to ensure other legal protections through the California Strategic Enforcement Partnership.

United for Respect
A one-year grant of $575,000 to pilot the expansion of a digital platform that provides California workers with access to information on their legal rights.

Regents of the University of California
A two-year grant of $820,000 to the UCLA Labor Center to expand economic research, technical assistance, and leadership development focused on low-wage work and related issues in California.

Additional Grantmaking

Priority Regions
Regents of the University of California
A two-year grant of $600,000 to support UC Merced’s Civic Capacity Research Initiative, which will increase the civic capacity of San Joaquin Valley community-based groups, labor organizations, and unions serving workers earning low wages.

Regents of the University of California
A two-year grant of $500,000 to support the operations of the Center for Social Innovation at UC Riverside.

Reinvent Stockton Foundation
A one-year grant of $420,000 to support the organizational infrastructure and leadership for a school-to-social justice pipeline in Stockton that enables civic and community action.

Protecting Immigrant Rights
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
An 18-month grant of $500,000 to implement a communications strategy and strengthen the civic engagement capacity of immigrant communities through a statewide immigration coalition.

National Immigration Law Center
A two-year grant of $650,000 to support immigrants in California by protecting and advancing policies that promote their integration and safety through capacity-building, litigation, education, and advocacy.

Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management
A one-year grant of $500,000 to protect immigrant rights in the Central Valley.

Other Grantmaking
California Community Foundation
A one-year grant of $700,000 to support Census 2020 Regional Partnership Los Angeles.

Faith in Action Network
A four-year grant of $2 million to support PICO California in statewide nonpartisan voter and civic engagement efforts.

Voter and Civic Engagement
Communities for a New California Education Fund
A three-year grant of $600,000 for general operating support.

Community Water Center
A two-year grant of $400,000 for general operating support.

Faith in the Valley
A two-year grant of $400,000 for general operating support.

Power California
A one-year grant of $1 million to educate and engage young people of color through nonpartisan voter and civic engagement efforts across California.

San Diego Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Community Center
An 18-month grant of $375,000 to support Engage San Diego in nonpartisan civic and voter engagement efforts in San Diego County.