Our Sunrise Strategy

The James B. McClatchy Foundation is imagining the sunrise beyond our sunset—an awakening of a new day and a new plan for a thriving Central Valley for generations to come.

Spend Down to Sunrise

In 2016, the James B. McClatchy Foundation’s Board recognized an opportunity to leverage a greater long-term investment to work alongside the people of the Central Valley to build something. We developed a spend-down strategy—the Sunrise Plan—to create a strong, self-sustaining infrastructure to generate and support new and current initiatives.

Planning and engaging with partners commenced in earnest during COVID, a time of profound and unprecedented need, hope, and creativity. The entrepreneurship fostered by partners during that time are the seeds of the Sunrise Plan, built around the understanding that meaningful systems change unfolds amid uncertainty and that durable community infrastructure must be resilient enough to weather shifting political, economic, and philanthropic conditions. Ongoing responsiveness and flexibility are part of the plan— including the Democracy Fund. The Sunrise Plan is holding remarkably steady through changing times, even as nonprofits face unmatched funding clawbacks as federal policies and grants shifted.

Efforts and resources will be redirected to build a robust infrastructure to accomplish the Central Valley’s mission.
Investments create a lasting impact by seeding ideas and cultivating an environment to support Central Valley communities to come.
Our timeline for this strategy is to spend ALL our resources to build this infrastructure with partners by 2030.

It is estimated that less than 6% of statewide philanthropic resources flow to the Valley. This is a unique opportunity to come together to build the future in a region so woefully underinvested by philanthropy.

What we want to build, we won’t see it now, but we will see it in 10 years. I want to be able to celebrate when that 10 year comes, knowing that HIP is contributing to changing the Central Valley and empowering a new generation of leaders to lead.

Nancy Xiong

Executive Director of Hmong Innovating Politics, JBMF Grantee

The Sunrise Plan

The Sunrise Plan is JBMF’s long-term commitment to advancing a thriving multiracial democracy in California’s Central Valley.

Our strategy is guided by the intersection of community-powered local journalism, multilingual education infrastructures, and inclusive leadership. Together, they create the conditions for stronger civic participation, greater representation, and long-term community power. JBMF maintains a steadfast commitment to a community-driven and human-centered approach to philanthropy. We believe the people closest to the challenges facing the Central Valley are also closest to the solutions. Our role is to support the vision of local leaders, build authentic partnerships, remain responsive and flexible, invest in long-term capacity, and help cultivate the conditions for sustainable systems change.

This work is grounded in deep listening, collaboration, and a belief in the strength of the Central Valley’s people and communities.

Community-powered local journalism where the Central Valley’s multiracial and multilingual residents are informed by and engaged in a diverse, vibrant free press that reflects local voices and activates equitable civic engagement

Multilingual education infrastructures that advocate for the youngest multilingual learners and their families as assets along with engaged decision-makers, in schools and communities, throughout their education journey

Inclusive leadership for the next generation of diverse stakeholders as civic leaders and decision-makers in their community, visibly fueling local democracy, local news coverage, and forging the future of the region

Our Strategy

We will seed sustainable and independent local non-profit journalism, grow partnerships to build an infrastructure that fills the gaps experienced by multilingual children and families, and cultivate local leaders that reflect diverse Central Valley communities.

The following three broad strategies will guide our work:

Seed

Capacity Building: Investing in the vision of Central Valley communities to guide initiatives and infrastructure that have the potential for long-term sustainability.

Cultivate

Anchor Infrastructures: Building organizational capacity and strengthening inclusive collaborations and leadership to drive systems transformations.

Grow

Sustainability: Scale up approaches and organizations that have the readiness for greater impact, and the capacity to leverage resources and become self-sustaining.

Over the last several years, communities across the Valley have continued to organize, advocate, educate, tell stories, and lead despite enormous institutional challenges and historic underinvestment. What emerged through the first chapter of the Sunrise Plan, Seed, was not simply stronger organizations, but the early foundations of a connected civic ecosystem rooted in multilingual power, community storytelling, inclusive leadership, and regional collaboration.

Cultivate, the next chapter of our Sunrise Plan, is designed to strengthen that ecosystem. This phase of the Sunrise strategy focuses on building the infrastructure, relationships, and partnerships needed to sustain a vibrant multiracial democracy in California’s Central Valley long beyond JBMF’s grantmaking years.

The Sunrise Plan Timeline

We are committed to devoting all our resources through 2030 before this Foundation sunsets. We know we will not see the full realization of this work during the lifetime of the Foundation. That has always been part of the Sunrise Plan.

Seed stabilized the organizations. Cultivate builds the infrastructure.
Grow transfers the future.

2023-2025

Capacity-building Years

Seed showed what’s possible when Valley-rooted leaders have resources to move from survival to strategy and collaborate across the region.

Strengthening the Valley’s leaders

Grant investments to continue to build capacity.
The network of grantees strengthens, and Central Valley stories are amplified.The Central Valley Journalism Collaborative is sustained.
Anchor infrastructures begin to emerge.
Transitioning grantee partners receive operating grants.

2026-2028

Uplift Anchor Infrastructures*

Emergence of a Central Valley Multiracial Democracy Ecosystem

Anchor infrastructures in sustainable local journalism, multilingual learners, and nonprofit field building strengthen.
Grow a deeper bench of aligned funders who show up with long term commitment and accountability to Valley-led work.
Maintain responsive funding and wrap around support that meets real time conditions, reduces harm, and activates the capacity-building strengths of both the JBMF team and our regional allies.
Shift the narrative about the Central Valley: Document and share what we are learning so Cultivate clearly prepares the ground for Grow, including long term ownership by Valley leaders.
Transitioning grantee partners engage in technical assistance.

*Anchor infrastructures are the shared systems and coordinating capacities that power the ecosystem of leaders, organizations, and communities to act together.

2029-2030

Sustainability Years

Closing a Foundation and Sustaining a Multiracial Democracy in the Central Valley

Stewardship transferred.
Philanthropic dollars are leveraged.
Documentation of shared learning.
Co-create a Central Valley Playbook designed for long term ownership by Valley leaders.