Dreamers. Facebook Friends. Climate Warriors. Text Messengers. Equality Champions. YouTube-makers. Health Care Heroes. Youth! While pundits tend to put young voters in a   one-size fits all box, we know that this critical sector of the Rising American Electorate is driven by compelling and very diverse agendas.  What can funders learn from this amazing landscape about the best ways to engage the citizens of the future? This session will explore winning strategies that help issue and constituency-based youth movements connect and draw upon each other’s strengths to create new models for political organizing and build long-term alliances for change.

Speakers:

• Mohammad Abdollahi, DREAMActivist.org
•  Matt Singer, The Bus Federation
• Christina Hollenback, Generation Alliance
• Victor Sanchez, United States Student Association

Moderator:  Jessy Tolkan, NOI Fellow

Register Now.

For many immigrant communities, the hefty fees attached to the citizenship process are a key obstacle and deterrent. Today over 8 million legal permanent residents (LPRs) run the risk of being excluded from healthcare and other public benefits if citizenship is not pursued. And an additional 12 million will be eligible for citizenship in the near future if comprehensive immigration reform is adopted. Given fiscal constraints at the state and federal levels, finding alternative sources to public monies is needed to address a key barrier faced by all immigrants - the high costs of achieving citizenship.
Join grantmaking colleagues for a 90-minute webinar to explore practical approaches to overcoming financial barriers to citizenship. Learn about new research and proven practices for using loans to cover the full range of costs. Explore the roles philanthropy can play to assist immigrants in overcoming this hurdle.
The webinar will highlight the cutting-edge work of the following organizations:

• Texas Appleseed and the Silverton Family Foundation will talk about the Family Unification Program which supported members of mixed legal status families to get loans to pay for citizenship costs and also helped these members receive up to three years of unclaimed Earned Income Tax Credits once citizenship was achieved. Thirteen loans ranging from $900-$5,000 were administered by a micro-lender with 70 percent paid back in full.

• United Neighborhood Centers of America and Ways to Work will talk about findings from their research on the costs of Pathways to Citizenship and their emerging business plan to create an alternative to predatory loans for immigrants tied to citizenship costs. Currently, Ways to Work has successfully helped over 27,000 poor and working poor families receive loans for automobiles and other work supports.

Co-sponsored by:  Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR); Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG); and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

To register for this program, please click here.

Program Venue:
The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
One Market, Landmark Building, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94105

The data gathered from the 2010 Census will provide a comprehensive snapshot of Bay Area communities-and communities across the United States-that will be used to distribute nearly $41.9 billion in federal funding to California per year over the next decade. Additionally, government agencies, the private sector and non-profit groups will assess trends and develop programs based on the Decennial Census numbers. These numbers will also determine our political influence by informing redistricting decisions.

Yet the challenges to a fair and accurate census count in California are great: ten of the top 50 "hard to count" (HTC) counties in the country are in the state (including San Francisco and Alameda) and so are 12% of the total U.S. population and 25% of the nation's undocumented population. Moreover, populations that are traditionally undercounted-ethnic groups, homeless, families that double-up on housing, among others-have grown in the past decade.

The need to optimize coordination and leverage limited resources will be essential to a successful census count. Recognizing this, a group of funders has developed a statewide census outreach strategy to enhance coordination and communication. Join fellow grantmakers in a discussion about what this strategy and the 2010 census means for Bay Area communities and learn about current and past successful outreach, education, and advocacy efforts and how those strategies may be applied in 2010.

As a result of this session, participants will:

• Understand the critical importance of a fair and accurate 2010 census count to Bay Area communities;
• Learn about current and past successful outreach, education, and advocacy efforts and how those strategies may be applied in 2010;
• Identify opportunities for optimizing coordination and leveraging limited resources-and how these relate to Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees' coordinated statewide census outreach strategy; and
• Learn about an available community mapping resource.

This program is free and open to all Northern California Grantmakers members and funder-members of:

• Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP)
• Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy (BABIP)
• Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP)
• Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR)

To register, visit the NCG website.

Presenters:
Lia Bolden, Sr. Partnership Specialist, is responsible for Complete County Committees for the U.S. Census Bureau. Her focus is on the development of State, local and Community Complete Count Committees. The 2010 Census is her third decennial census. She was a Partnership Specialist in both the 1990 and 2000 Census counts. Lia brings to the 2010 Census not only her institutional knowledge of the decennial census but also her understanding of the challenges the Census bureau faces as it tries to reach an increasingly complex and diverse population in Northern California.

Cathy Cha is the Senior Program Officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund's Immigrant Rights and Integration program. In this position, Cathy manages the Fund's efforts to promote equal opportunities for immigrants to become fully engaged citizens. Cathy has more than 15 years' experience in economic development and community engagement, with a focus in low-income and immigrant communities. Her previous work experience spans nonprofit, government and private sectors.

Vincent Pan is the Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a community-based social justice organization in San Francisco. CAA advocates for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and remedies racial injustice. CAA also supports progressive movement building efforts in the Asian and Pacific American community by leading and partnering in efforts such as API Equality and Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality.

Moderator:
Daranee Petsod is the Executive Director of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR). Daranee has worked on social and economic justice issues for the past 22 years. Prior to joining GCIR in December 1998, Daranee was a consultant working with foundations and nonprofits on program planning and communications, and served as interim executive director and development director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Daranee's areas of expertise include immigrant integration and building the capacity of immigrant-based organizations.

Program Sponsors:
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
Silicon Valley Community Foundation

The Fourth National Phone Briefing in Our Co-sponsored Series:

"Philanthropy’s Role in Ensuring a Fair and Accurate 2010 Census Count"

Speakers:

• Terri Ann Lowenthal, Funder Census Initiative

• Nina Perales, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

• Anita Earls, Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Moderator:

• Thomasina Williams, Ford Foundation

Join us for Census and Redistricting: Power by the Numbers to hear experts and advocates discuss the importance of the 2010 Census to redistricting and the importance of redistricting to representative democracy. This fourth phone briefing in the series Philanthropy's Role in Ensuring a Fair and Accurate 2010 Census Count will provide participants with an update on recent census developments and a 101 introduction to the redistricting process, timeline and issues.

The data gathered from the 2010 Census will provide a comprehensive snapshot of thousands of local communities across the United States and will be used to determine the yearly distribution of over $400 billion dollars in federal funding. Additionally, government agencies, the private sector and non-profit groups will assess trends and develop programs based on the Decennial Census numbers, and these same numbers will underlie the reapportionment of political representation, helping determine everything from Congressional and state legislative district boundaries to school board districts and voting precincts.

As a snapshot, however, the decennial census has historically undercounted marginalized populations, specifically people of color and low-income communities, as well as children, especially those under the age of 10. And for the 2010 Census, the challenges of achieving a complete and accurate count are particularly daunting -- from an increase in hard to count populations, due to both migration trends as well as current economic conditions, to the current underfunding of 2010 Census preparation at the federal, state and local levels.

Register Online

Recommended Resource on Redistricting:  A Citizen’s Guide to Redistricting, Brennan Center

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a $1.2 million competitive grant program that would award 12, $100,000 individual awards to support citizenship preparation programs that help legal permanent residents improve English language skills, gain knowledge of U.S. history and government (civics), and prepare for the naturalization application and interview process. Time is of the essence as the optional letter of intent is due April 15, and the full proposal is due May 15. More information on the RFP can be found in the attached PDF file.

Beyond getting the word out to grantee organizations, how can funders leverage this federal funding opportunity to support work in their regions? Join fellow grantmakers on this national call to strategize about leveraging opportunities, discuss the need for local and regional coordination, and explore the potential for collaboration. We'll also discuss the coordination and support role that GCIR might play to help members move forward.

The 45-minute strategy call on naturalization will take place on Friday, March 27, 2009, 11 PDT/12 MDT/1 CDT/2 EDT. Please RVSP to Amanda Graves who can provide you with the dial-in information.

We have invited a representative of USCIS to be on the call, along with foundation colleagues who have already begun thinking about leverage and coordination in their regions.

We look forward to hearing your ideas!