College Futures Foundation (CFF)

It has donated to numerous left-of-center organizations over time, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice, CalMatters, NextGen Policy, and the Tides Center. ²

Background

The College Futures Foundation (CFF) was founded in 2005. ¹

The group claims the COVID-19 pandemic and the “nationwide racial reckoning” that occurred after the police-involved death of George Floyd exacerbated many challenges to the higher education model, including “college enrollment declines,” “student debt,” and “mental health.” It bemoans the lack of “affordable, career-connected training,” and calls for a systematic overhaul of the education system that guarantees “racial, social, and economic equity.” It opposes all forms of discrimination and aims to reduce the amount of debt owed by college students. ¹

Financials

In 2022, the College Futures Foundation reported an income of $-3,753,028, expenses of $29,852,744, and net assets of $594,697,493. ³

The College Futures Foundation claims to receive and disburse about $20 million annually to achieve its goal of education equity. ¹

Grantmaking

From 2017 to 2023, the College Futures Foundation donated $510,000 to Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, a left-of-center civil rights organization. ⁴

From 2017 to 2023, the College Futures donated a total of $3,580,000 to CalMatters, a left-of-center media organization that produces voting guides  for Californians and tracks the legislation records of elected officials. It has also given $450,000 to Open Campus Media, a partner of CalMatters that practices journalism on community college campuses. ⁵

From 2022 to 2024, the College Futures gave $630,000 to NextGen Policy, a left-of-center environmentalist group. ⁶

From 2016 to 2023, the College Futures gave $900,000 to Tides Center, a major left-of-center fiscal sponsorship organization. ⁷

Leadership

As of 2024, Eloy Ortiz Oakley was the president and chief executive officer of the College Futures Foundation, a role which he assumed in 2022. He was previously the chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the largest higher education system in America. In that role, he “mostly” served “students of color, many of whom are low-income.” He also worked as the superintendent and president of the Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD) and as the vice president of college services at Oxnard College. ⁸

As of 2024, the executive assistant to the president was Dana Washington, who joined the organization in 2019. She played a similar role to the executives and directors of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco prior to joining the College Futures Foundation. ⁸