The Haas, Jr. Fund joins nearly two dozen funders to announce the launch of the California Black Freedom Fund, a $100 million initiative dedicated to Black power-building and organizing in California. This first-of-its-kind fund is co-created with Black leaders and organizers to ensure that California’s growing ecosystem of locally rooted Black-led organizing efforts have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism.
Haas, Jr. Fund joins other California funders to launch five-year, $100 million initiative to invest in Black power-building and organizing.
Co-created with Black leaders, first-of-its-kind effort seeks to ensure that grassroots, Black-led groups have the resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism.
The Haas, Jr. Fund has joined nearly two dozen funders to announce the launch of the California Black Freedom Fund, a new $100 million initiative dedicated to Black power-building and organizing in California. This first-of-its-kind fund is co-created with Black leaders and organizers to ensure that California’s growing ecosystem of locally rooted Black-led organizing efforts have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen Black communities across the country step up boldly as the conscience of our nation to challenge the status quo. The California Black Freedom Fund represents a great opportunity to build on that momentum and support Black-led organizations and a movement that can keep racial justice front and center and reimagine a better future for all of us.”
Cathy Cha, President and CEO, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
Over the next five years, the California Black Freedom Fund will strategically increase the resources available to Black-led organizations throughout California through grantmaking and capacity building support. In its first round of grantmaking, the California Black Freedom Fund is investing over $6 million to support the following organizations:
Black Census and Redistricting Hub—A network of over 30 Black-led and Black-serving organizations maximizing participation in the census and redistricting process among hard to count Black communities.
Black Equity Collective—A community-public-private partnership strengthening the long-term capacity and infrastructure of Black-led and Black-empowering social justice organizations in Southern California (Los Angeles County and Inland Empire).
PICO California: Live Free/ Bring the HEAT—Organizing intervention to protect the basic health, safety, and well-being of all people by demanding a series of immediate and sweeping changes to the current policing system in the United States.
Three rounds of grantmaking are anticipated in 2021 to reach a wide and diverse set of Black-led organizations across the state, with the next round of grantmaking anticipated in late February 2021.
Across California, groups are using tested messages to reach Black, Latino and AAPI voters through digital get-out-the-vote campaigns.
Every 30 seconds, a Latino in the US turns 18 and becomes eligible to vote.
This is one of the most important elections in generations. Our lives, our health, and the future of our families are in the balance. When you make a plan to vote early, by mail, or by secure drop box, you're helping make sure that your vote will be counted and that your voice will be heard.
In 2020, 32 million Latinos are eligible to vote.
Californians have been voting by mail since the 1960s. In fact, more than 125 million mail ballots have been cast in California since 1962. Voting by mail has a proven track record: it's safe, secure, and convenient.
Voting is a way to show community care, allowing our families and our neighbors to have a healthy and abundant life.
In California, Latinos represent 60% of COVID19 cases and 50% of deaths. They work essential jobs, but can’t get the healthcare they need. Voting is a public health issue.
Since the 2016 elections, 3.6 million Latinos will have turned 18 in time to vote this November.
The ad shows Los Angeles Koreatown early vote locations. It is targeted to Korean speaking voters living in Koreatown.
This election is about more than presidential candidates; it’s about our communities. Dismantling systemic racism, ending police brutality and protecting our rights requires us to demand new leadership, build power, and vote to make change happen.
About half of the 60 million Latinos in the U.S. are eligible to vote. The smallest share of any racial or ethnic group.
2020 Elections – Have you voted? Let’s make a plan! Vote by Mail – Dropboxes – Vote Centers. Let’s participate in elections for all our communities.
No voter should have to choose between exercising their constitutional right to vote and protecting their health. Allowing every California voter to vote by mail means that no matter what is happening with the pandemic closer to Election Day, you will be able to vote safely and securely.
Latinos power the U.S. economy with $2.3 trillion GDP, yet we are the ones hit hardest by job losses and unemployment. We have the power to change that. Use your power to vote- even for those who can’t.
We need community resilience and we also need long term solutions.
Tracking your mail ballot is easy. Just go to WheresMyBallot.SOS.CA.GOV - the official California ballot tracking web site - answer four simple questions, and you can follow the status of your ballot as it's received and counted.
This is one of the most important elections of our lifetime. Your voice needs to be heard. Your vote is our power. ¡Sí se puede! #NuestroVotoNuestroPoder
Reports suggest that Californians are already voting in record numbers. But it’s been a long and sometimes confusing path to Election Day November 3, and communities of color in particular are facing a range of barriers when it comes to casting their ballots—including rampant misinformation, concerns about health and safety, and more.
Getting out good and reliable information and ensuring that people of color can vote freely and confidently is a key focus for a wide range of people and groups across the state.
The Haas, Jr. Fund is honored to be a part of this work. In conversations early this year with California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and nonprofit leaders, we agreed to help address some of the challenges that might depress voting in low-income communities of color in 2020. Since then, we have provided a range of grants to help Black, Latino, and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups across the state research and develop persuasive messages to use in their digital get-out-the-vote efforts.
For example, we supported a partnership between Common Cause of California and the Center for Social Innovation at UC Riverside to conduct a series of focus groups with Latino and AAPI adults to gauge the best messages for increasing turnout in those communities. In addition, we supported a parallel polling effort to better understand Black voters’ attitudes toward voting in this election. One result was a campaign urging mail-in voting among Black voters emphasizing the theme, “Stay Safe. Skip the Lines.”
Every election is important. But the stakes are higher than normal this year as California and the nation continue to reel from the Covid-19 crisis and the need for action to address racial injustice, among many other issues. By investing in boosting voting and civic participation in communities of color, we can make sure that their concerns are heard at all levels—and that government represents the interests of all people.
