The Inland Empire Community Foundation is a community foundation located in Riverside, California, that funds organizations and programs in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. The Foundation operates donor-advised funds on behalf of donors in the area as well as a special funds focused on Latinos, women, education, journalism, and disaster relief, among other funding areas. The Foundation held over $100 million in assets at the end of 2022.
In 2020, the Foundation announced a focus on left-of-center diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology and opened the Inland Empire Black Equity Fund to “advance racial equity and combat anti-black racism.” 1 Organizations funded by the Foundation include the Black Voice Foundation, the California Press Foundation, Tides Foundation, Inland Empowerment, and the Trust for Public Land. 2
Background and History
The Inland Empire Community Foundation was founded in 1941 by Charles Brouse as the Riverside Foundation. The original bequest endowed a fund benefitting students at Riverside City College. The Foundation later broadened its focus to include arts, culture, and civic services programs. The Foundation was later renamed the Riverside Community Foundation. As the funding activities of the Foundation expanded to cover Riverside and San Bernardino counties , it was again renamed The Community Foundation and later Inland Empire Community Foundation. 3
The Foundation claims to have dispersed over $127 million in grants and scholarships since its inception and has funded scholarships at colleges and universities in the two counties covered by the Foundation. Scholarships remain a large portion of the foundation’s activity. 4
Activity
The Inland Empire Community Foundation claims to have awarded over $127 million to nonprofits since its inception, and in 2021, it reported $19 million in grants, of which $4 million were directed to scholarships. The Foundation is funded by other foundations, individual donors, and government agencies. The Foundation directs grants while also operating donor-advised funds and family funds. Other funds operated by the group that accept grant applications include the Build Coachella Valley Fund, Field of Interest Fund, the Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity Fund (CIELO Fund), Creative Corps Inland SoCal, and the Black Equity Initiative Inland Empire (BEI). 5
Black Equity Initiative
In March 2020, the Inland Empire Community Foundation began focusing on “racial, gender, and economic equity” as part of its broader diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative, adopting left-of-center and far-left language around racial issues stating that “We stand firmly against racism and all forms of oppression, prioritizing equity, inclusion, and diversity in our community work” and that the Foundation has a commitment to “advance racial equity and combat anti-black racism.” 1
The Foundation’s Black Equity Initiative funded an inaugural cohort of 16 grantees receiving a total of $740,000 in 2021. 1
Grantmaking
Organizations funded by the Inland Empire Community Foundation include the Black Voice Foundation, the California Press Foundation, Tides Foundation, Inland Empowerment, the Trust for Public Land, the Academy for Grassroots Organizations, Americans for the Arts, the Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective, and the Inland Empire Labor Institute. 2
To support a community-driven collaborative that improves economic conditions for low-income residents in San Bernardino, through an entity such as Just San Bernardino Collaborative.
To support a community-driven collaborative that improves economic conditions for low-income residents in San Bernardino, through an entity such as Just San Bernardino Collaborative.
To support regranting to a collaborative of community-based organizations in the development of a plan that improves economic conditions for low-income residents in San Bernardino, through an entity such as Just San Bernardino Collaborative.
To support the Inland Empire Black Equity Fund, a pooled fund designed to resource and build the organizational capacity of Black-led and Black-empowering organizations in the Inland Empire, through an entity such as the Black Equity Initiative.
To support the capacity and infrastructure of Inland Economic Growth and Opportunity (IEGO) and promote good quality job creation as part of the California Jobs First initiative.
To contribute to a pooled fund for grassroots Black-led organizations seeking to collectively improve health and racial justice for Black communities in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
To support the Inland Empire Black Equity Fund, a pooled fund designed to resource and build the organizational capacity of Black-led and Black-empowering organizations in the Inland Empire, through an entity such as the Black Equity Initiative.
To support the backbone functions and build participation among community-based organizations for the Inland Economic Growth and Opportunity (IEGO) initiative.
To support IEGO as a new economic development 501(c)(3) organization, furthering strategies for sustainable regional economic development in key industries like cybersecurity, AI, and clean technology, and support narrative work within the Inland Empire.
To contribute to a pooled fund for grassroots Black-led organizations seeking to collectively improve health and racial justice for Black communities in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
