Latino Community Foundation

Julian Castro became the chief executive officer of the Latino Community Foundation on January 1, 2024. Castro Democratic politician who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development between 2014 and 2017 in the Obama administration and as mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Castro announced a campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States on January 12, 2019, but ended his campaign on January 2, 2020. ^{2 3 4}

The Latino Community Foundation’s revenue mostly comes from grants and contributions by grantmaking organizations including the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The organization also received $10 million from MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. ^{5 6 7}

Background

The Latino Community Foundation (LCF) is a private grantmaking foundation that primarily funds organizations that tackle issues in the Latino community. ¹

The organization was founded in 1989 as an affinity group of United Way of the Bay Area, a California-based community development organization, in order to increase workplace giving to Latino organizations. ¹

LCF became a supporting organization of the San Francisco Foundation in 2003. The San Francisco Foundation is one of the nation’s largest community foundations, and it is focused on “racial equity and economic inclusion” in the San Francisco Bay area. ^{1 8}

The Latino Community Foundation became an independent, statewide organization in 2016. LCF claims that, as of January 2024, it has “created the largest network of Latino philanthropists in the country,” has invested over $25 million into more than 375, mostly Latino-led, nonprofit organizations across California, and launched a large campaign to mobilize Latino voters in the state. ¹

LCF hosts the Latino Nonprofit Accelerator, a 16-month incubator for Latino nonprofit organizations. Through the Latino Nonprofit Accelerator, LCF provides funding, marketing training, and fundraising mentorship to Latino nonprofit organizations. LCF expanded the initiative by launching the Silicon Valley Accelerator Lab, which is a “three-month branding pilot.” ⁹

The Latino Nonprofit Accelerator is funded by Google, the San Francisco Foundation,  Y & H Soda Foundation, and the California Wellness Foundation. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, alongside Google and the California Wellness Foundation, provided funding for the Latino Nonprofit Accelerator’s demonstration days. ⁹

People

Politician Julian Castro became the chief executive officer of the Latino Community Foundation on January 1, 2024. Castro is a member of the Democratic Party, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development between 2014 and 2017 in the Obama administration, and former mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Castro announced a campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States on January 12, 2019, but ended his campaign on January 2, 2020. ^{2 3 4}

Castro was accused of violating federal law in 2016 while he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton during her run for president. ¹⁰ The U.S. Office of Special Counsel launched an investigation into Castro in April 2016, which ultimately concluded that he had violated the Hatch Act, a federal law that prohibits most executive branch employees from using their authority or influence to affect elections. ¹⁰

The investigation looked into an interview between Castro and Katie Couric, an interviewer with Yahoo News. The interview focused on Castro’s position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and his role campaigning for Clinton. ¹⁰

Castro was interviewed remotely while he was sitting in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s broadcast studio in Washington, D.C., with the official seal of the department displayed above him. During the interview Castro was asked about his endorsement of Clinton, to which he replied, “taking off my HUD hat for a second and just speaking individually, it is very clear that Hillary Clinton is the most experienced, thoughtful, and prepared candidate for president that we have this year.” Castro claimed that he thought he was abiding by the Hatch Act at the time despite attending four briefings on the Hatch Act before his violation. ¹⁰

Ethics officials told the special counsel’s office that he “should have known that he could not switch from speaking in his official capacity to speaking in his personal capacity at an event or during an interview.” ¹⁰

Castro was not punished by the Obama administration, and according to then-White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Castro had “acknowledged the mistake” he made, and “owned up to it and he’s taken the necessary steps to prevent it from happening again.” ¹⁰

Financials

The Latino Community Foundation’s revenue mostly comes from grants and contributions by nonprofit grantmaking organizations. LCF received a total of $19.5 million in 2021, nearly all of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants. The organization’s total expenses amounted to $8.5 million that year. The value of LCF’s net assets reached $24.1 million in 2021. ¹¹

The Latino Community Foundation received a total of $26.1 million in 2022, $26 million of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants. The organization’s total expenses amounted to around $10.5 million in the same year. LCF’s net asset value for 2022 was just over $39 million. ¹¹

Former Latino Community Foundation CEO Jacqueline Martinez Garcel received a total of $357,741 in reportable compensation from the organization in 2022 and received an additional $27,348 in other compensation that same year. ¹¹

Funding

The Latino Community Foundation receives funding from several left-of-center grantmaking organizations, as well as government agencies.

LCF has received a total of $2,538,129 in funding from the California Arts Council, a state agency that focuses on the arts. The grant had few details, however; it was listed under the California Creative Corps application type. ¹²

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a left-of-center private grantmaking foundation that supports environmental causes, population control programs, and three programs created by David Packard: the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering. The foundation provided LCF with a grant of $100,000 for core support in 2020, a grant of $1 million in 2021, and a grant for $750,000 in 2023. ⁵

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (also known as the Hewlett Foundation) is a private foundation that is generally considered to be politically left-of-center for its funding of environmentalist causes, abortion access, and nominally right-leaning institutions that support left-of-center policy. ¹³ The Hewlett Foundation made its first grant to the Latino Community Foundation in 2008, when it provided the organization with $400,000 for “reducing unplanned pregnancies and birth rate among Latina youth in the San Francisco Bay area.” The foundation also granted LCF $30,000 in 2009, and $180,000 in 2010, for strategic planning and teen pregnancy prevention respectively. ¹⁴

The foundation granted LCF several grants for teen pregnancy prevention including $225,000 in 2011, $400,000 in 2012, $350,000 in 2014, and $400,000 in 2016. ⁶

The Hewlett Foundation’s most recent grants include two grants with a combined worth of $1.5 million in 2022, and $1,314,200 in 2023, all for general operating support. ⁶

MacKenzie Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Formerly known as MacKenzie Bezos, she is recognized as the third-wealthiest woman in the world after a divorce settlement left her with an estimated $37 billion. Scott, who announced that she planned to give away half of her wealth two months after her divorce, gave the Latino Community Foundation $10 million in 2023. ^{15 16}