The mission of Back to Eden Global is to address the need for economic empowerment, using entrepreneurial opportunities on the continent of Africa, and throughout the diaspora.
It employs educational, agricultural, and ecological stewardship initiatives to activate agency and develop entrepreneurial opportunities at project sites in Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and the USA.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for Back to Eden Global. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Contributions to the California Community Foundation represent irrevocable gifts subject to the legal and fiduciary control of the foundation’s board of directors. This charge will appear on your credit card statement as a payment to “Calif Comm Fdn – CCF”. In addition, California Community Foundation incurs a third-party administrative fee of 2.7 percent for credit card contributions. The foundation will charge the fee directly to the individual fund.
Cathryn Gorospe was a K-3 teacher who loved life, her friends and family, the outdoors and hiking the Grand Canyon, and her best friend and rescue dog Sunshine. She was energetic, upbeat, and charismatic. Her very presence and sense of humor would light up the room.
Known for her desire to rescue, on October 6, 2017, Cathryn was brutally murdered by a man she had come to pity, and was trying to help.
We hope to transform her senseless death into opportunities to promote the things that were most important to her: education, animals, and nature.
Please consider making a donation, and helping us to memorialize her spirit in perpetuity.
To make a secure, tax-deductible donation online, click on the button on this page. You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the Cathryn Gorospe Education Assistance Foundation. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Gloria Molina was an unparalleled woman of many talents and titles – a political trailblazer, Chicana activist, masterful policy maker, relentless political watchdog, dynamic artist, and a true Chingona. She was a passionate woman who dedicated her entire life and heart to Angelinos, particularly those on the Eastside.
Gloria’s political career was a series of inspirational firsts – the first Latina Assembly member in California, the first Latina on the Los Angeles City Council, and the first Latina on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, where she represented the First District for over 20 years. Through this career of firsts, Gloria paved the way for many Latino political representatives who follow in her footsteps. Gloria was publicly known for keeping bureaucrats, developers and colleagues accountable, responsive and honest. She fought tirelessly and consistently for her constituents and community. Through her dedication to culture and the arts, we have her to thank for the development of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a community hub where people gather to celebrate Latino culture and history; The Wellness Center at the Historic General Hospital that offers free programs and services focusing on improving the health and well-being of local residents; Gloria Molina Grand Park, a free and accessible community green space in Downtown LA (recently named in her honor in 2023); not to mention dozens of libraries, community centers and so much more. Click here to learn more about Gloria’s career.
After retirement from the Board of Supervisors in 2014, she committed her time to philanthropic efforts, including joining the Board of Directors of the California Community Foundation in which she served as Chair of the Board from 2021-2023. She supported many arts organizations in East Los Angeles, from local community theater, Casa 0101 to Self Help Graphics and Arts, an organization that fosters the creation and advancement of new art works by Chicana/o and Latino artists. She raised the bar for cultural institutions in Los Angeles, ensuring that LA Plaza expand its footprint and storytelling platform, ideating LA Cocina, a space dedicated to teaching and celebrating Mexican cuisine. Although we lost Gloria to cancer on May 14, 2023, her dedication and legacy to her community was nowhere near complete.
The Gloria Molina Legacy Fund will aim to keep her philanthropic and mission-driven passions alive, supporting causes that were not only important to her, but also important to her beloved family. Your generous support of this fund will provide grant opportunities for nonprofit organizations supporting children, families, arts education and equal opportunities for Angelinos and beyond.
To make a secure, tax-deductible donation online, click on the button below. You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for Gloria Molina Legacy Fund in the memo line. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
R&S Kayne philanthropy catalyzes positive change through strategic investments in education, economic mobility, arts, and other meaningful initiatives. The R&S Kayne Fund is one way peer funders can join us and co-invest in people and collaborate with communities to empower positive change.
Through this website you can donate to the R&S Kayne Fund in support of initiatives in Aotearoa New Zealand or locally in Los Angeles. This includes Mangawhai Education Trust, Tara Iti Whānau Charitable Trust, Acorn Neurodiversity, and Graeme Dingle Foundation. For any aligned or pooled funding related to LA-based programs, please email hello [@] kaynefoundation [.] org to discuss further.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the R&S Kayne Fund. Please contact donorrelations [@] calfund [.] org to process a donation via wire or stock transfer.
Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
For any questions about processing your contribution, please contact the Donor Relations team by emailing donorrelations [@] calfund [.] org.
Contributions to the California Community Foundation represent irrevocable gifts subject to the legal and fiduciary control of the foundation’s board of directors. This charge will appear on your credit card statement as a payment to “Calif Comm Fdn – CCF”. In addition, California Community Foundation incurs a third-party administrative fee of 2.7 percent for credit card contributions. The foundation will charge the fee directly to the individual fund.
Overview
The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation was established at the California Community Foundation in 1994, named after Walt Disney’s housekeeper for 30 years. It provides support to projects or programs in Los Angeles County that focus on quality arts-based education enrichment activities for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Howard had great faith in the Disney’s, who gave her a few shares of Walt Disney Company stock for holiday and birthday presents. She held on to every share and eventually became a wealthy woman. She passed away on June 10, 1994, just days before her 80th birthday. Through her will, it was her wish that a fund be designated for disadvantaged children.
Because of her generosity, the Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation has awarded more than $4 million in grants. CCF, with the help of an independent board of directors, administers the annual grants. During FY2010, the Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation changed its open application process to an invitation-only process, in acknowledgment of its commitment to selected organizations.
The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation funds Los Angeles County arts-education programs (dance, instrumental and vocal music, visual arts and dramatic arts) serving children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Awards for up to $60,000 over a two-year period will be made to art programs that result in at least one of the following: improved artistic skills, improved academic skills, or improved attitude and/or behaviors toward school.
While the preliminary Letter of Interest process is open to all, full applications are by invitation only.
Grants will be awarded in 2026 to outstanding Los Angeles County arts-education programs (visual, performing and language arts) serving children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Awards will be made to art programs that result in at least one of the following: improved artistic, or academic skills, and improved attitude and/or behaviors toward school.
To be eligible for funding, an applicant must:
- Be located in and serve Los Angeles County
- Serve disadvantaged K through 8th grade students*
- Be a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code
The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation has distinct preferences for:
- Programs that demonstrate meaningful and measurable results for participants
- Organizations where professional artists lead the programming and instruction
- Programs that have integration/relationships with the schools of participants
- Organizations with strong operational records as well as those with a growing maturity in their work
*Only programs specific to students in the K-8th grade range will be considered for this grant opportunity.
The California Community Foundation uses the IRS’s Database to verify your organization’s nonprofit status, and in some cases will use GuideStar to download Forms 990 and Audited Financial Statements. Please make sure that your organization’s biographic and financial information is updated and current with the IRS as well as on GuideStar.
For the 2026 grantmaking cycle the Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation has introduced a Letter of Interest process within the overall application review. The goal of the new process is for the committee to view prospective programs in advance and potentially allow more organizations to make an initial introduction.
This step will narrow the number of organizations invited to the full application, so that organizations completing the application are those with a more significant chance of receiving an award. We believe this will enhance capacity of our nonprofit partners to direct staff time toward fundraising that is most likely to result in funding, and we anticipate our LOI process will provide that opportunity.
Organizations will be notified by the beginning of March 2026 regarding invitation to the full application. Application period will be in March 2026. LOI submissions invited to full application will receive further detail regarding next steps.
The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation Board is no longer accepting LOI submissions for the 2026-2028 grantmaking cycle. Please check back in December of 2027 to submit an LOI for the next grantmaking cycle.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the grants management team at grantsmanager@calfund.org.
Donate to the APABA Scholarship Fund
The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County is a member organization comprised of attorneys, judges, legal professionals, and law students throughout Los Angeles County. It is a voice for issues of concern to the Asian Pacific American community. APABA organizes and co-sponsors events and programs that assist underserved communities, promote civil justice, and foster professional development, mentorship, and community.
APABA awards a Public Interest Fellowship annually to a law student who demonstrates leadership potential, maturity, and responsibility, as well as a commitment to contributing to the Asian/Pacific Islander American community. The APABA Public Interest Fellow receives a grant to spend at least 8 weeks of his or her summer working at a nonprofit public interest organization or governmental agency that provides free legal services to low-income individuals and/or families in Los Angeles County. Special consideration is given to applicants working on issues impacting the APIA community.
The Fellowship Fund is maintained by the California Community Foundation (CCF) and is funded by contributions from our installation dinner sponsors and generous individual donors like yourself.
Please visit the APABA website at apaba.org to learn more about APABA, its mission, and to see profiles of past fellows to learn how your contribution supports future changemakers.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the APABA Scholarship Fund. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Contributions to the California Community Foundation represent irrevocable gifts subject to the legal and fiduciary control of the foundation’s board of directors. This charge will appear on your credit card statement as a payment to “Calif Comm Fdn – CCF”. In addition, California Community Foundation incurs a third-party administrative fee of 2.7 percent for credit card contributions. The foundation will charge the fee directly to the individual fund.
Beautiful Friends and Extended Community,
June 12th, 2023 marks the fourth anniversary since a drunk driver took our precious Ruby and Hart from us. Since those horrific, earliest days we’ve been searching for the best way to honor their legacies of joy, empathy, and kindness through some form of lasting philanthropy. We’ve come to realize that many of their talents and interests, from Ruby’s art and short stories to Hart’s ridiculous improvised characters and love of acting, began in very early childhood with an activity that most of us take for granted: reading and being read to. Ruby and Hart’s full but far too short lives were profoundly enriched by stories and characters that fueled their imaginations and filled their hearts.
Since publishing her first childrens’ novel, Gail has had the privilege of working with Writers and Artists Across the Country, an incredible organization that brings authors of childrens’ literature into underserved schools across the nation. Authors give their time, and WAAC provides every child with their own copy of the author’s book. Gail has seen firsthand the excitement that her visits have brought, and the way students’ beautiful faces light up when they’re given their very own copy to take home. Your donations will go toward sending authors into underserved schools all over the country with giant boxes of books, each of which will contain a Ruby and Hart Foundation bookplate. Students will be able to experience the joy of writing their name in their very own book.
Our goal is to raise $250,000 dollars so The Ruby and Hart Foundation can become a fully endowed fund that can meaningfully contribute to WAAC and organizations like it in perpetuity. We’re doing this under the umbrella of the California Community Fund. Please help us fulfill this ambitious and meaningful goal by giving generously. All details as to how to make fully tax-deductible contributions and learn how WAAC fulfills their extraordinary mission can be found below.
With love and gratitude, Gail & Colin
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for The Ruby & Hart Foundation. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Contributions to the California Community Foundation represent irrevocable gifts subject to the legal and fiduciary control of the foundation’s board of directors. This charge will appear on your credit card statement as a payment to “Calif Comm Fdn – CCF”. In addition, California Community Foundation incurs a third-party administrative fee of 2.7 percent for credit card contributions. The foundation will charge the fee directly to the individual fund.
Advocating for an educational system that fully supports the needs of DLL and EL students.
The Consortium for English Learner Success is a regional collective championing effective policies, programs, and practices for Dual Language (DLL) and English Learners (ELs). Seed funded by CCF in 2018, the Consortium is composed of nearly 100 civil rights, policy, research, philanthropic, educator and community-based organizations working to strengthen the prosperity of California and Los Angeles County by advocating for an educational system that fully supports the needs and embraces the assets of DLL and EL students.
Focused on Closing the Opportunity Gap
English learners are multilingual assets in the community, yet they’re less likely to score well on standardized tests, take advanced placement courses and go to college. For them to realize their full potential, we must provide the resources needed for success. The Consortium supports expanded transparency in how education dollars are allocated to reach students and communities with the greatest needs. And by expanding access to courses necessary to attend college, we hope to close the opportunity gaps faced by far too many.
Leadership & Achievements
Led by an advisory committee of preeminent advocacy organizations (Alliance for a Better Community, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Californians Together, Center for Equity for English Learners, Early Edge, Education Trust-West, Unidos US), the Consortia’s past achievements include the creation of a wide-reaching 2020 Policy Agenda report that serves as a framework for multi-organization advocacy to improve EL educational access, quality, and outcomes in Los Angeles and California.
True vision sees not what you are, but what you can be.
At a time when a bachelor’s degree leads to a $1 million increase in lifetime earnings, only four in 10 young Black men graduate from a four-year college. And though they’re only 8 percent of all young people living in L.A., Black youth make up nearly 33 percent of those on probation—four times their population. Once in the system, it’s hard to get out, with more than 80 percent facing re-arrest within three years.
With access to educational opportunities, caring mentors and positive options, there’s no limit on what these young men can achieve. And when they succeed, all Angelenos benefit.
In 2012, CCF launched BLOOM (Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men) to help young Black men who are or are at risk of becoming involved the juvenile justice system onto positive paths towards success. By combining mentorship, character development and specially-tailored programming BLOOM helps young men succeed in high school, higher education, and life.
Though the initiative has experienced challenges, our partners Brotherhood Crusade and the Social Justice Learning Institute have worked hard, taken smart risks and committed themselves to learning along the way. The result is a powerful new model for expanding opportunities for young people who face steep and entrenched barriers.
Since 2012, hundreds of young men have transformed their futures through the program, which has been recognized by the White House as a promising model to be replicated nationally. To date, BLOOM maintains a 90 percent high school graduation or GED attainment, in comparison to Los Angeles County’s 75.1% graduation rate for Black males.
Key Outcomes
- BLOOM program is currently in 49 school sites
- 90%+ graduation rate
- BLOOM now serves Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley, Metro, West, South, and South Bay regions of L.A. County
- 52 college graduates
- 66 post-secondary enrolled
BLOOMers as of Fall 2022 - BLOOMers attend 51 colleges/universities nationwide
The California Community Foundation (CCF) expresses deep gratitude to our funders, donors, and advisors for their guidance, encouragement, and feedback on this initiative. Together, we’ve dreamed big and acted boldly to improve the lives of our youth and our community.
Current & Past Advisory Committee Members
| Towalame Austin | Vincent Jones | Dr. Terrence Roberts |
| Carl A. Ballton | Montae Langston | Virgil Roberts |
| Carol Biondi | Mark Loranger | Dr. Hershel Swinger |
| David Crippens | Courtney Lyder | Trayvon Walker |
| Dr. Winston Doby | Olivia Mitchell | Karim Webb |
| Zaid Gayle | Yusef Omowale | Reggie Webb |
| Alan-Michael Graves | Dr. Manuel Pastor | Amelia Williamson |
| Marqueece Harris-Dawson | Dr. Renford Reese | Zakeer Willis |
| Dr. Tyrone Howard | Alberto Retana |
Funding Partners
Annenberg Foundation | Erika J. Glazer |
Ballmer Group California Wellness Foundation | The Hanley Foundation Los Angeles County Department of Youth Development |
The Carl and Roberta Deutsch Foundation | Patricia Neuwirth |
Citi Foundation – Community Progress Makers | Union Bank Foundation |
Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation | Weingart Foundation |
BLOOM Staff
Nike Irvin | Kristina McGee |
Tammy Johnson | Alvertha Penny |
Kelly King | Jai Phillips |
Robert Lewis | LaWayne Williams |
The work of BLOOM and its partners is being carried on by the BLOOM Alliance. To support their work and help create positive futures for young Black men in South Los Angeles, click the donate button above.
Transforming the early care and education system.
Quality early care and education (ECE) experiences contribute to children’s success in K-12 and beyond. Yet out of 455,581 children in L.A. County who were income-eligible for publicly funded early care and education programs, approximately one-quarter were enrolled in publicly funded ECE (2019).
Transforming the early care and education system for young learners’ birth to age three requires systems change grantmaking strategies and public and private partnerships. Building on previous investments such as, the Los Angeles Preschool Advocacy Initiative, and the Early Childhood Alliance, CCF seeks to support advocates in developing community-informed policies that increase support for early care and preschool education reforms and funding; and fund nonprofit organizations that help parents and early care and education providers advocate for better child care and preschool programs.
The Stein ECD Fund Partnership, launched in 2023, brings together the California Community Foundation’s Education team and donors Mindy and Gene Stein, to build a three-year California-wide communications campaign to inspire action from the general public. Grounded in policy solutions that center families with children birth to age three, and prioritize challenges faced by BIPOC families/caregivers, the campaign is actively driving public urgency and mobilizing support for publicly-funded, accessible, and high-quality child care.