Capitol Impact is a consulting firm located in Sacramento, California, that works with nonprofits including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and governmental organizations. ¹ Capitol Impact has connections to the largest grantmaking foundations in the country and funds programs it runs through foundations. Capitol Impact’s work mainly focuses on education and career opportunities for students and youth.

Formed in 2004, Capitol Impact provides strategy design, policy development, capacity building, and philanthropic advice. ² It designs, manages, and operates initiatives and programs for nonprofits and policymaking organizations. ³

Projects

Capitol Impact lists as clients the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Stuart Foundation, the California Endowment, Sobrato Family Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, the Scan Foundation, the Water Foundation, the California Senate, California Assembly, and the California Chamber of Commerce. ⁴

In 2020, Capitol Impact received a $200,000 direct grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for public awareness and analysis of K-12 education. ⁵ Capitol Impact runs the day-to-day operations of the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards, that gives $250,000 grants and support to recipients. ⁶

Capitol Impact has worked with various organizations on education from K-12 to community colleges and universities. ⁷ With the James Irvine Foundation, Capitol Impact launched the Linked Learning Project to expand career training and development opportunities for students. ⁸ Linked Learning teaches equity as one component that is currently being used in California and 17 other states. ⁹ California has invested over $2 billion in Linked Learning. ¹⁰ Capitol Impact works with the California Chamber of Commerce to provide youth employment opportunities. ¹¹

Capitol Impact provides CORE Districts with management of its program and was paid over $2.9 million in 2020. ¹² CORE Districts is a non-profit comprised of eight urban school districts in California and develops procedures, practices, and research and provides data on school and student progress. ¹³

Capitol Impact manages the Alliance for Regional Collaboration to Heighten Educational Success (ARCHES), an association of regional groups in California that seeks to eliminate education gaps and improve college and career readiness for students. ¹⁴ ARCHES’ members are composed of K-12 educators, higher education professors and administrators, parents, business leaders, and community groups. ¹⁵

Leadership

Christopher Cabaldon is a partner with Capitol Impact. ¹⁶ He has led the firm’s efforts on linked learning, on legislative staff training, and as liaison with the James Irvine Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and other foundations. ¹⁷ The former mayor of West Sacramento, Cabaldon is a tenured faculty member at Sacramento State University. ¹⁸

Richard “Rick” Miller is a partner with Capitol Impact and is the CEO of CORE Districts. ¹⁹ CORE Districts is a non-profit comprised of eight urban school districts in California that develops procedures, practices, and research and provides data on school and student progress. ²⁰ From 2003-2010, Miller was deputy superintendent at the California Department of Education. ²¹ He previously worked for Microsoft and California State University. ²² During the Clinton administration, Miller was press secretary to the Secretary of Education. ²³

Jay Scheinrer is a partner with Capitol Impact and co-director of the California Legislative Staff Education Staff Institute. ²⁴ Scheinrer previously worked for the California General Assembly as a budget and policy analyst in the Office of the Legislative Analyst, on the Committee on Ways and Means, and for the Senate Office of Research. ²⁵ Scheinrer was deputy director of the Foundation Consortium for California’s Children and Youth and general manager of Sacramento Food Bank Services. ²⁶

Alex Taghavian is a partner at Capitol Impact and leads the design and implementation of technology solutions, workforce development programs, and postsecondary partnerships. ²⁷ He is also chair of the Los Rios Colleges Foundation and previously served as the chair of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce board of directors. ²⁸ Taghavian worked in management roles for public and private universities and served as an adjunct professor at Sacramento State University. ²⁹

1. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 14, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org.
2. California Secretary of State website. www.sos.ca.gov. Accessed November 14, 2021. https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/CBS/Detail. Capitol Impact website. “Our Strengths.” www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 14, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/our-strengths/.
3. Capitol Impact website. “Success Stories.” www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 14, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/success-stories/.
4. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 14, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org.
5. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website. www.gatesfoundation.org. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2020/05/inv001669.
6. Lauletta-Boshart, Laurie. “On The Rise: Melissa Granville.” Comstock’s Magazine. July 8, 2021. Accessed November 14, 2021. https://www.comstocksmag.com/article/rise-melissa-granville.
7. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/success-stories/.
8. James Irvine Foundation website. www.irvine.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.irvine.org/insights/?category%5B%5D=linked-learning.
9. Frey, Susan. “Adult Ed, Regional Occupation Centers, Partnership Academies Get Reprieve.” EdSource website. www.edsource.org. June 12, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://edsource.org/2013/adult-ed-regional-occupational-centers-partnership-academies-get-reprieve/33411; Linked Learning Alliance website. www.linkedlearning.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.linkedlearning.org/about/linked-learning-approach.
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11. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/success-stories/.
12. Form 990: CORE Districts, 2020.
13. CORE Districts website. www.coredistricts.org. Accessed November 7, 2021. https://dashboard.coredistricts.org/public/core.
14.  Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/success-stories/.
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16. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/our-team/.
17. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/our-team/.
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19. CORE Districts website. www.coredistricts.org. Accessed November 5, 2021. https://coredistricts.org/about-us/staff/.
20. CORE Districts website. www.coredistricts.org. Accessed November 7, 2021. https://dashboard.coredistricts.org/public/core.
21. Rick Miller LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed November 8, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-miller-43b24229/
22. Rick Miller LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed November 8, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-miller-43b24229/
23. CORE Districts website. www.coredistricts.org. Accessed November 5, 2021. https://coredistricts.org/about-us/staff/.
24. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/our-team/.
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29. Capitol Impact website. www.capitolimpact.org. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://capitolimpact.org/our-team/.