What Rapid Response Taught Us, and What We’re Building Now Better Faster
Last year, we expanded our grantmaking operations to deliver responsive almost monthly funding support to over 40 grassroots nonprofits across the Central Valley. In partnership with aligned philanthropic allies, we mobilized resources to sustain local and hyperlocal free press ecosystems and support the momentum of community-powered civic non profits during a pivotal election year.
In 2025, we’ve committed $1.6 Million to build on that success, piloting an evolution from election-year urgency into a continuous, rapid response funding model. The Central Valley Democracy Fund provides rapid response funding to protect and advance democratic outcomes for a growing network of over 90 nonprofit partners and the communities they serve across the Central Valley including Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Yolo counties. The fund also invites co-investment from values-aligned funders ready to transform the philanthropic landscape in a region both vital and possible for democracy.
Just months into a new administration already rolling back the hard-won hopes our communities have fought to realize and with three years still ahead this fund is a promise to stay present, nimble, and deeply rooted in the Central Valley’s future.
What's New in 2.0 ?
The Central Valley Democracy Fund is investing $1.6 Million to meet urgent challenges and opportunities impacting the Central Valley’s civic ecosystem providing responsive, general operating support that protects and advances the region’s democratic outcomes. Every dollar we invest through the Democracy Fund is an invitation to deepen strategic philanthropic partnerships, ensuring a sustained and growing commitment to the Central Valley’s civic and democratic future.
We are at the halfway point of our Sunrise, a commitment to invest all of our resources into deeper anchor partnerships at the intersection of our core program areas: multilingual learner ecosystems, grassroots nonprofit leadership, and local, independent free press. We believe these infrastructures are essential to building a multiracial, multilingual democracy in the Central Valley.
In alignment with the mission of our Sunrise, we recognize that the broader civic ecosystems within hyperlocal Central Valley communities must not only remain intact but funded with abundance, especially when the political atmosphere interrupts their ability to anchor and serve their communities.
By The Numbers
We’ve seen how rapid-response general operating funding can meet the urgency of the moment—supporting grassroots partners as they respond to local threats against democratic outcomes.
In Merced, the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative’s nonprofit newsroom, The Merced Focus, hosted a local candidate town hall that brought out over 500 residents and contributed to a measurable increase in voter turnout.
In Bakersfield, under the banner of Community Interventions’ the “Black Men Vote” campaign combined community events and strategic media to transform overlooked neighborhoods into active civic hubs, resulting in higher turnout among registered voters.
We partnered with the Jakara Movement to support a groundbreaking media series investigating the transnational repression of democratic Sikh voices.
Youth Leadership Institute’s Fresno Youth Voter Forum and Loud for Tomorrow have brought hundreds of young people, and their multigenerational, bilingual households, into meaningful civic conversations.
Across the Central Valley, we are identifying and investing in grassroots leaders who are on the frontlines of protecting and expanding democracy.
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Funds moved monthly within 10 days of board approval
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$2m raised through philanthropic partnerships
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45 grants awarded to the multiracial, multilingual counties of the Central Valley
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Counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Yolo
We have a network of over 90 organizations across Central Valley counties that, create infrastructure for multilingual learners, activate a local independent press and support pathways to local civic engagement through non-profit leadership
Funding will also support an ecosystem of community rooted organizations that can provide technical assistance and capacity-building for Central Valley leaders and grantee organizations with structured support in strategic planning, communications, design, and operational growth, ensuring a resilient multilingual, multiracial democracy infrastructure.
Uncommitted funding to remain responsive to emerging challenges and pivotal moments that impact democracy, ensuring ecosystem-wide support for our partners
