Helping our most vulnerable students fulfill their highest learning potential.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, our educational system was plagued by disproportionate racial and ethnic gaps in reading and mathematics proficiency, reflecting larger trends in California and the rest of the U.S. The effects of the pandemic exacerbated learning loss for all students, especially our most vulnerable children.
CCF is focused on ensuring that actions taken to address this learning loss align with ongoing efforts to ensure resource equity for communities where a substantial number of students come from low-income families, particularly those of Black, Latino/a, and Native American backgrounds. We’re also working to ensure that L.A. County’s large population of multilingual students have access to the best practices, highly trained teachers, and other supports needed to help them fulfill their highest learning potential as English learners.
Engaging Through Multiple Approaches
CCF works to advance these goals through grantmaking, convenings, strategic communications, grassroots and grass tops advocacy, fundraising, and technical assistance support. The foundation works with philanthropic and community partners on a broad range of education issues from school funding and finance, increasing teacher diversity, organizing, and leadership development among youth, parents, and educators.
Our goal is to engage in multiple approaches that can reinforce one another, from better teaching practices to evidence-based policy to meaningful community engagement.
- CCF’s TK-12 grantmaking supports developing, scaling, and implementing evidence-based approaches that support the “whole learner.”
- We invest in mitigating the social and educational impacts of inequitable school funding on local communities and help schools address barriers to learning by becoming more responsive to student and family needs.
- We help organize and foster local voices in educational funding and policy decisions. This is done at the regional and state levels by seeding and investing in regional education stakeholder collaboratives.
Embracing Our Mission
The mission of CCF is to lead positive, systemic change in L.A. County’s public education system. This encompasses the academic growth, socio-emotional vitality, and college or career readiness of the 1.3 million children enrolled in 80 K-12 school districts and 372 charter schools throughout the County, including approximately 250,000 students learning to speak English proficiently.
To join with CCF in building a brighter future for our most vulnerable students, click the donate button above.
The Asrat Foundation is a non-profit whose mission is to empower women and survivors of sexual trauma & domestic violence through education, microenterprise programs and the arts.
Its initial project was a girls education program in Ethiopia, which is currently in its second year of subsidizing the school fees, room and board, books, uniforms, tutors and school supplies for 20 high school students and 1 college student in Debre Birhan, Ethiopia. Without this program, these girls would not have been able to complete high school and/or college simply due to a lack of access and resources.
In November 2020, a war was induced in Ethiopia by outside forces and hundreds of women were sexually assaulted by mercenaries. In collaboration with a local grassroots organization, the Asrat Foundation subsidized a microenterprise program for 25 survivors of weaponized rape in Shewa Robit, Ethiopia. The one year program provides start-up capital, training and support for the women to set up a small business in Shewa Robit, Ethiopia.
The Asrat DAF at CCF provides grants to various organizations including non-profits focused on historical preservation in California, poverty alleviation in Ethiopia, reparations for African Americans, and scholarships for disadvantaged students globally.
The foundation plans to get involved in the areas of mental health and the arts.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for The Asrat 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.
The Warren Christopher Scholarship Fund was established in 1992 with a gift by the partners of O’Melveny & Myers LLP to honor Warren Christopher, its former chairman and senior partner, when he was appointed U.S. Secretary State. Secretary Christopher passed away on March 18, 2011, at the age of 85, but his willingness to help others and his enthusiasm for public service live on in the scholarship program that bears his name. LAUSD students are the only students eligible for this scholarship.
Scholarship Eligibility Criteria. Each LAUSD high school can nominate only one qualified candidate each year for possible designation as a Christopher Scholar. To be eligible for scholarship consideration, the student candidates must:
- Be a 10th-grade student for whom this designation, honor, and scholarship will make a decided difference – and who is more likely to remain in school if he or she receives it.
- Have a grade-point-average of 3.25 or higher from the 9th grade and through the first semester of 10th grade.
- Have demonstrated financial need; EOP criteria may serve as a guide.
- Have demonstrated a commitment to school and/or community involvement.
KEY DEADLINES:
Deadline 1: By 11:59 p.m. on February 17, 2026 (form opens January 20) – identify the ONE student who will submit the scholarship application from your school. Please be sure to notify the student of their nomination and provide the support materials, application link and password.
Deadline 2: By 11:59 p.m. March 19, 2026 (form opens February 19) – the deadline to submit an online application. Please follow up with the student nominee to ensure they have submitted the application. For students unable to submit online – please connect them to the following:
Dickson Perey, School Counseling Services
Division of Instruction
333 S. Beaudry Avenue, 25th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Email: dsp3985 [@] lausd [.] net
The UCLA Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE-UCLA) was founded on the campus in 1980 by Black Engineering students already enrolled in the School of Engineering as part of a larger effort to establish NSBE chapters at major universities across the nation. This overall effort has made NSBE one of the largest student-operated organizations in the country.
In October 2021, this scholarship initiative was created with the mission of investing in our future by supporting current members of NSBE at UCLA. We have engaged NSBE-UCLA alumni, private donors, and business partners committed to support the initiative, and partnered with the UCLA Black Alumni Association (UBAA) under the Legacy Scholarship Program to create an NSBE Bruin Alumni Scholarship for African-American students (freshman and returning/transfer students) majoring in Engineering at UCLA. Scholarships range from $500 to $10,000 and may be awarded for up to 4 years for each student.
Scholarships promote academic achievement and are an important part of any student’s journey. NSBE Alumni at UCLA recognize that financial support for African-American STEM students, particularly those majoring in the Engineering field, helps students get on the fast track to a rewarding career.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the NSBE Bruin Alumni Scholarship. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Leslie Orticke Memorial Scholarship will financially support African American students transferring into UCLA. Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (DST), Inc., and the New Environmental Leaders of America (NELA) have partnered with the UCLA Black Alumni Association (UBAA) to establish this scholarship under the umbrella of the Winston C. Doby Legacy Scholarship.
Ms. Orticke, who passed away in 2021, was a Los Angeles native with a lifetime commitment to community service and educating the underserved. After receiving her A.A. degree from Santa Monica College, Ms. Orticke transferred to UCLA, where she was awarded a degree in Political Science. Given that she, herself, was a proud student, there is no gift Ms. Orticke would have appreciated more than a scholarship in her name that supports a new generation of transfer students at her beloved alma mater.
As an undergraduate, Ms. Orticke was an active member of DST’s Pi Chapter at UCLA. After she graduated, she continued her commitment to DST by joining the Century City Alumnae Chapter. In addition to her active membership with her beloved Sorority, Ms. Orticke volunteered with several community organizations, including UBAA, twice serving as the Chair of the UBAA Winston Doby Scholarship Gala. She also served in leadership roles in many other service-related organizations, including the Inglewood Pacific Chapter of the Links, Inc., the Commission of the Status of Women, the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, the United Negro College Fund, and the Lullaby Guild.
Ms. Orticke dedicated her life to serving and supporting many worthy causes. The community of organizations that benefitted from her generous heart and many, many hours of her time is honored to unite our efforts to endow the Leslie Orticke Memorial Scholarship. Your generous gift is very much appreciated and help UBAA continue Leslie Orticke’s impressive legacy of philanthropy, volunteerism, and community service.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the Leslie Orticke Memorial Scholarship. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Providing Professional Development Opportunities For Female Soccer Players
In Partnership with the California Community Foundation,
ACFC Will Foster Sports-Specific Career Advancement Opportunities for Retired Players
Angel City FC Player 22 Program is named for the team’s spring 2022 kickoff, and in celebration of the 22 players on the pitch in every match. The fund will provide grants for off-field professional development opportunities and education.
The program creates professional pathways for former NWSL players interested in pursuing a career in the sports industry. Whether it be coaching, refereeing, media, or front office roles, the ultimate goal is to help prepare players to enter the workforce after their professional soccer careers.
When players’ soccer careers are over, they are often left without a solid career plan, as well as feeling that they are “behind” professionals their own age because they didn’t enter the workforce after college. P22 will equip players with professional development skills to help close that gap.
Why is this important?
Investing in players’ retirement and providing them with sport-specific career opportunities not only helps individual players but furthers progress towards gender equity in the industry. Angel City’s mission and values as a women-led and -driven organization align closely with this program in driving the momentum of more women and gender-expansive individuals entering the sports business.
For more information about the Player 22 Program, visit angelcity.com/player22.
Please make a contribution to the Angel City FC Player 22 Program today. There are many ways to contribute:
- Send a check payable to the California Community Foundation, specifying Angel City FC Player 22 Program in the memo, to 717 W Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
- Make a wire transfer. For more information, contact donorrelations@calfund.org or (213) 239-2310.
- Purchase Player 22 merchandise on angelcity.com/player22. Ten percent of proceeds go to the fund.
The County of Los Angeles is committed to supporting the community during the health and economic crisis created by COVID-19. To meet this growing need, the Board of Supervisors, led by Chair Supervisor Kathryn Barger, created the County Fund for Los Angeles to enable individuals and private entities to donate funds to support residents and businesses in need, alongside existing County programs and resources. With the escalating and continuously changing landscape due to COVID-19, the County Fund for Los Angeles will help the most vulnerable through the following efforts:
1. Issue micro-grant opportunities to help underserved communities as part of the County’s economic recovery and response, and support and expand upon the policy priorities set forth by the Board of Supervisors.
2. Issue worker resiliency grants to jobseekers who work with the public workforce system to receive training, employment readiness, and additional supportive services as they seek employment.
3. Issue grants to small businesses (including nonprofits) for reopening, including assistance with financial oversight with the Small Business Administration and other programs.
To learn more about the Board of Supervisors and key partners in this fund, please visit the links below.
- Southern California Grantmaker (SCG) Center for Strategic Partnerships: https://www.socalgrantmakers.org/center-strategic-partnerships
- Board of Supervisors: https://lacounty.gov/government/supervisors/
- 1st District, Supervisor Hilda Solis, http://hildalsolis.org/
- 2nd District, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. http://ridley-thomas.lacounty.gov/
- 3rd District, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, http://supervisorkuehl.com/
- 4th District, Supervisor Janice Hahn, http://hahn.lacounty.gov/
- 5th District, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, http://kathrynbarger.lacounty.gov/
You may also make a contribution by sending a check to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Please make your check payable to the California Community Foundation and put in the memo line: The County Fund for Los Angeles.
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.
Established in 1971 to honor the chapter’s first woman president, the Jean Roth Driskel (JRD) Scholarships are awarded annually to six students—three community college students transferring to universities and three university students continuing their architectural studies. The scholarships recognize demonstrated dedication, enthusiasm, and excellence in architecture.
The program reinforces AIA Pasadena-Foothill’s longstanding commitment to supporting emerging professionals. In 2024, the chapter received the AIA California Academy of Emerging Professionals’ Chapter Award for initiatives such as the Driskel Scholars program that directly support students.
To support the scholarship fund, please click the Donate button above or mail a check payable to the California Community Foundation, noting the Jean Roth Driskel Scholarship Fund in the memo line.
Checks may be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
The Gaingels Scholarship is designed to give $5,000 block grants to students on a need basis to attend the school of their choice.
Since 2020, the program has granted more than $460,000 to 68 scholars. The Gaingels Scholars scholarship program is also tied to an optional internship program involving opportunities for students at one of our 800+ Gaingels portfolio companies in the innovation economy with broad geographic coverage.
To apply for a scholarship, please visit here, register and then search for Gaingels to find the application.
As we continue to grow the Gaingels ecosystem and impact, we intend to dramatically expand this program, both in terms of number of students supported and in terms of the size of each grant.
About Gaingels: Gaingels is the leading investment syndicate in support of and representing the LGBTQ community and allies in the venture capital space. With over $500M deployed into a portfolio of over 800+ companies, Gaingels seeks to directly and indirectly influence the venture ecosystem towards greater diversity, inclusion and equity of access. Gaingels is a founding co-signer of the Diversity Term Sheet Rider Initiative to increase access to venture funding events for non-traditional check writers, and regularly co-invests with select VC leads across a variety of stages and sectors, in company committed to building diverse and inclusive teams and embracing of LGBTQ+ leadership.
Life happens, but college can’t wait.
A college diploma is one of the single most effective tools in creating opportunity and economic mobility. But rising housing prices, tuition and other costs of living are putting higher education out of reach for many low-income students and families. One unexpected expense – a medical bill, family crisis or temporary loss of housing – can end a college career, leaving students in debt and without the increased earnings that go along with a degree.
Relief from Urgent Student Hardship (RUSH) funds are modest, direct grants available to Los Angeles County students in moments of personal need. A supplement to academic scholarships, RUSH funds help students handle a sudden life challenge, so they can proceed with their college and future plans. RUSH funds are contributed by donors to and distributed via Los Angeles Scholars Investment Fund nonprofit partner organizations. These groups have substantial experience serving students in the region, providing wrap-around services to support them throughout the college journey.
Since the launch of the RUSH Fund in 2019, more than $2 million has been granted through a network of nine community-based partners.
Everyone benefits when our students can attend and succeed in college. The RUSH Fund is dedicated to ensuring that momentary hardships don’t stand in the way of our shared prosperity.
If you’re passionate about helping college students stay enrolled through life challenges, RUSH your support with this special giving opportunity.
You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the Relief from Urgent Student Hardship (RUSH) Fund. Checks should be mailed to:
California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012