Strategy & Budget

Each year, our team engages in a planning process to reflect on what we have learned, reaffirm our mission and values, set goals for our strategy and approaches, and establish a grantmaking budget.

 

2026 Strategic Direction

Significant policy and budget changes will result in fewer families having their basic needs met through the safety net this year and into the near future. While programs for young children have largely been protected, their parents and caregivers may be dealing with cuts to other supportive services. The role of nonprofits in helping families navigate this challenge is as important as ever, particularly as they also face reductions in public funding while continuing to respond to urgent needs. We will maintain our longstanding partnerships with the dedicated community-based organizations that meet families and children where they are, to provide critical support. We are also prioritizing that approach as we welcome several new partners across our region and continue our responsive grantmaking and capacity-building program.

Program Areas

Past Years' Reports

Our core portfolio remained steady in 2018. We explored several new areas of focus identified by partners in the community and allocated grant funding to support that work for the next several years. We made grants to support regional efforts to prepare for the 2020 Census so that all communities, particularly those that are hard to reach, are counted accurately. An accurate census count is critical because the population data collected are used to allocate millions of dollars in federal funding to support low-income families in the Bay Area. We also made deeper investments in housing to focus on regional policy and advocacy work. This is particularly exciting given some of the promising opportunities to address the housing crisis around the Bay Area. Our team continued to spend a lot of time in the field with our partners to deepen our understanding of how we can best support families with young children living in poverty. On a slightly different note, our team spent time articulating how the foundation’s work connects more broadly to the work of its sister philanthropic entities in Wildcard Giving: Acton Family Giving and Solidarity Giving.

2018 Grant Data

Grants Paid
317

Unique Grantees
264

Payment Range
$1,000-$500,000

Average Grant Payment
$77,221

Grant Payments
$24,479,150

Payments

Support Type
Program Areas
Grant Term
County