The Community Leadership Project
December 9, 2009
Dear Friends,
We’re pleased to announce $4.25 million in a second and final round of grants for the Community Leadership Project. This round of grants brings to $10 million the Packard, Irvine and Hewlett foundations’ total contributions to this important work, $2 million more than was originally envisioned when this project to bolster grassroots groups led by or serving low-income people and communities of color was launched in spring 2009.
From a remarkably strong pool of applicants in this second round we have selected eighteen additional intermediary organizations that will distribute grants, provide technical assistance, or offer leadership programs to grassroots organizations that serve the targeted communities in the three regions the project is serving. The organizations selected to administer Community Leadership Project grants demonstrated a deep knowledge of the grassroots organizations in the regions they serve. Attention now turns to their selection of the grassroots organizations.
With this new round of grants there are a total of 27 intermediaries that will reach more than: 100 grassroots organizations with general operating support or grants to build capacity; 300 grassroots organizations with various forms of technical assistance; and 500 individual executives and emerging leaders with a variety of leadership training.
The first round of intermediary organizations, which was announced in June 2009, is expected to begin announcing its grants to grassroots organizations by year’s end. Leadership training at some locations has already begun. Second round organizations should be ready to begin making grants and launching other activities by late spring or early summer 2010.
As the presidents of our three foundations have said, California’s future depends on the success of its communities of color, and these grants are part of our foundations’ continuing commitment to address their needs through a range of effective grantmaking. More than six hundred organizations, many of them new to the foundations, signed up to receive news of the project, expanding our awareness of the needs and activities of these communities.
As always, information about the project will be posted to this site as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
Kathy Reich, Program Officer, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Anne Vally, Special Initiatives Officer, The James Irvine Foundation
Kari Mah, Fellow, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
