Don Howard's Blog Posts

The Irvine Foundation board has elected Dr. Michael Chui as its newest trustee.

Leaders from all quarters of our state and nation are standing up to racist and divisive rhetoric that seeks to divide America for political purposes. We stand with them.

The Irvine Foundation has entered into a partnership with College Futures Foundation that starts a new chapter in our support of postsecondary success in California.

I’m pleased to introduce to you someone who will play a central role in the Leadership Awards going forward.

Our annual Year in Review highlights the work of our partners and grantees in 2018. Read an excerpt from Don Howard's letter.

We are honored to announce the recipients of the 2019 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards - tackling some of California’s toughest issues: homelessness, youth development, health care, and aging.

As we start the new year here at the Irvine Foundation, we have finished our move to a new strategy.

The blog entry I shared is about the scrutiny that philanthropy is receiving – and should – for being disconnected from the people and places they aim to serve. I share my doubts about philanthropy’s effectiveness when, as I see in too many cases, foundations and donors fail to listen to and hear the wisdom, needs, and ideas, of grantees and the people grantees serve.

Yesterday, our board allocated $1 million of new funding to support California-based efforts to reunite and advocate for the families being separated and imprisoned for seeking refuge in the U.S.

The problems philanthropy aims to solve are far bigger than we can address by scaling even the most effective nonprofits. Social sector funders must look to public sector and for-profit partners to scale solutions.