Past Grantees

Possible is a high-quality, low-cost healthcare system that integrates government hospitals, clinics, and community health workers in rural Nepal. Their model is designed to work fully for the poor in one the world’s most impossible places. The goals of this model are to spend under $20 per person and improve health outcomes in six key areas for an entire population.

Kitchen Table Advisors envisions a new generation of thriving small-scale, sustainable farms that produce healthy food and form the foundation of regional food systems. Through business and financial advising, they help farmers build the foundation for a successful future.

Help a Mother Out is a grassroots organization providing diapers, raising awareness and advocating for long-term change in the social safety net. They are dedicated to increasing access to diapers for families in need because diapers currently aren't covered under social safety net programs such as WIC and food stamps. In addition to helping hundreds of families receive free diapers, our funding is paying for their first program and policy analysis. This analysis will examine and document the efficacy of their program work and diverse partner sites as well as help inform the development of a long-term strategy for public policy efforts.

PUENTES establishes “food security” for the residents of disadvantaged communities within Stockton, CA and selected areas of Latin America through the development of Community Supported Gardens that facilitate access to fair-priced organic produce to community residents, training and educational opportunities, and transform under-utilized space to an organic farm.

Girls on the Run of Greater Sacramento is dedicated to helping young girls in grades 3 to 8 to make choices for healthy living and community responsibility. GOTR provides after-school running programs utilizing an innovative curriculum that focuses on building self-esteem and improving physical and emotional well-being during the most challenging years of adolescence. GOTR partners with local schools, coordinating volunteer coaches through teacher and parent networks. Each season’s program is 12 weeks long. The girls meet twice a week for one hour after school, and each session is filled with fun activities to develop running and life skills. By the end of the 12-week session the girls will have participated in a community service project and completed a 5K running event with her team members. 

Ignite is a nonprofit that works to build young women’s political ambition and train them to run for office. It started in 2009 and now has a presence in California and Texas. They run high school and college programs which provide training and education. Our grant supported the annual “Ignite Tomorrow’s Women Leaders Today” conference which was held in March 2012. This conference brought together hundreds of young women to learn about issues such as staffing a campaign and getting appointed to boards and commissions. Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the keynote speaker.

Growing Power develops integrated “Community Food Systems” that involve growing high-quality produce in urban and rural farms, supplying communities with high-quality produce, training and employing community residents in sustainable agriculture, and distributing their produce to local grocery stores and restaurants.

Game Theory Academy works to improve the economic decision-making skills of low-income youth who have experience with juvenile justice, foster care and homelessness. GTA teaches students how to think differently about money, increasing their financial stability and academic achievement while decreasing criminal activity. In 2012, they have nearly 60 youth in classes in the Bay Area and have launched an alumni workshop series.

The Mobile Clinic at UCLA seeks to improve the health outcomes and quality of life for the homeless and low-income community of Los Angeles. In 2009, they noticed an increased demand for vision services, specifically vision checks and corrective lenses. Poor vision is among the top five prevalent conditions affecting the physical health and well-being of homeless adults in Los Angeles County. Each vision clinic costs an average of $3,000. All services provided by optometrists and opticians are free of charge. The only cost of the vision clinic is the cost of corrective lenses.

The Impact Network is a nonprofit that builds Community Schools that serve as a hub for development in villages in Zambia. The nonprofit creates a Parent Teacher Association in each village that contribute bricks towards construction and also collect tuition from parents to hire teachers at the schools and maintain the buildings. Apart from the initial investment of $8,000 for school construction, the continued operation of the schools is locally funded and sustainable. Community school tuition is roughly $3 per year, compared to as much as $30 for government-run schools. 

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a strategy and action center working for justice, opportunity and peace in urban America. This grant fund their Green-Collar Jobs Campaign: Creating opportunities in the green economy for low-income communities and communities of color. Since the launch of Green-Collar Jobs Campaign in 2005, Ella Baker has achieved numerous accomplishments in earning a key position to convene policymakers, community organizations, environmental organizations, green businesses and labor interests. 2009 activities include: Building an unparalleled Oakland Climate Action Coalition, Creating a replication toolkit for the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, and Shaping a green and equitable economic stimulus for California.

Mission Graduates increases the number of K-12 students from San Francisco’s Mission District who are prepared for and complete a college education. Their vision is for college to become the expectation, rather than the exception for low-income families from the Mission District. Their programs include outdoor experiential education, teen pregnancy prevention work, youth and parent leadership modules, and academic and family-based college counseling support to youth of all ages. They strongly encourage the participation of parents and guardians and about 150 of them participate on a regular basis. This grant supports the College Bound Ambassador project. College Bound Ambassadors (CBA) are high school student volunteers who tutor, mentor and help to build college-going culture at MG’s Tutoring Center program that serves 140 K-5th grade students after-school. This experience helps ambassadors to build their academic resume, gives them content for their college essays, and links them with asset-building organizations that will invest two dollars for every dollar that each ambassador invests into an Individual Development Account that can only be used for legitimate college expenses.

Green For All was created to solve two problems at the same time: pollution, which leads to global warming; and poverty, which often results from unemployment. Their mission is to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Our goal is to put people to work in jobs that will combat global warming, grow local and regional economies and provide equitable access to the opportunities of the green-collar economy. To achieve this goal, Green For All engages in a dynamic combination of six strategies: Thought Leadership, Policy and Advocacy, Capacity Building, Organizing, Business Development and Leadership Development. The Green For All Academy is the cornerstone of our Leadership Development strategy and trains leaders from low-income communities and communities of color to communicate the promise of the green economy - and take action to realize that promise.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a 35-year-old national nonprofit organization. In 1998, ILSR established the New Rules Project (www.newrules.org), which provides research and develops policy tools to empower citizen leaders and elected officials. The centerpiece of the project is an online library of hundreds of policies (along with supporting research) that build equitable, community-rooted, and environmentally sustainable local economies. Relying on the New Rules Project's research and technical assistance, citizens groups across the country have developed winning messages, intervened effectively in planning and regulatory proceedings, and led successful campaigns to transform local and state policy on a variety of issues.

Community Resources for Science connects and engages educators, students, and scientists in a vibrant and innovative web of science learning resources, transforming science education.  Their vision is a community of educators and scientists working together to excite all children about learning through the scientific exploration of the world around them. Community Resources for Science contributes to this vision by weaving connections between the needs of individual teachers and educational resources, while acting as a catalyst to improve the available resources in their community. 

The Native American Advancement Foundation (NAAF) was formed in 2011 by members of the Tohono O’odham Tribe to deliver academic and health and wellness services throughout the Tohono O’odham Nation in Pima County, Arizona. The Gu Vo Academic After-School Program has extracurricular activities designed to keep students scholastically engaged as well as physically fit. Students begin each daily session with study hour where instructors provide tutoring in reading, math, science, and the study of computer programming and robotics.

Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture is a community-based organization that engages, trains, and inspires Hopi youth and community members to develop sustainable solutions utilizing Hopi cultural teachings, ecological tradition and knowledge.

Founded in 1995, Oakland Kids First supports youth leaders to transform Oakland schools and improve student achievement through advocacy, peer mentoring, and leadership training. Oakland Kids First partners with schools and Oakland Unified School District to ensure hundreds of students have meaningful roles and responsibilities in school change efforts.

Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer (PINCC) prevents cervical cancer by educating women, training health care providers, and equipping facilities in developing countries, utilizing proven, low cost, accessible technology methods. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer cause of death for women in the Global South, even though it is the most preventable.