San Joaquin Community Foundation (CFOSJ)

The foundation administers donor-advised funds (DAFs) and makes grants to third-party nonprofits in the region, including left-of-center causes like the Inclusive Economy Initiative. ^{3 4}

Funding

The San Joaquin Community Foundation receives funding from contributions including through grants from large foundations and nonprofits. Revenues for the San Joaquin Community Foundation totaled $9,000,164, and assets were $34,658,260, in 2022. ³

The James Irvine Foundation, which had revenues of $222,104,580 and assets of $3,245,582,018 in 2022, donated $2,530,000 to the San Joaquin Community Foundation to “advance inclusive economic planning.” ^{5 6} The James Irvine Foundation has a history of donating to left-of-center union activist, immigration advocacy, and anti-oil and gas organizations. ⁷

The Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management donated $2,000,000 to the San Joaquin Community Foundation in 2022, which was among the largest donations the group made that year. ³ The Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management had revenues of $190,687,271 and assets of $177,525,416 in 2022. ⁸

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) donated $709,975 to the San Joaquin Community Foundation in 2022. ³ The Silicon Valley Community Foundation had revenues of $3,015,340,623 and assets of nearly $11 billion in 2022. ⁹ The Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the San Joaquin Community Foundation are essentially neighbors, with the former serving the coastal region of northern California and the latter the central valley region of northern California. SVCF is a grantmaking organization that utilizes donor-advised fund (DAF) accounts which allow individual donors to direct how their donations are distributed. This practice of using DAF accounts, along with other accounting practices, has led to accusations that the organization serves as a “Black Hole” for donations. ¹⁰

Grants

The San Joaquin Community Foundation donated more than $2.7 million in 2022, mostly to local nonprofits. ⁴ CFOSJ provided 401 grants to nonprofit organizations, mainly in the San Joaquin County area. In addition, the organization offers 35 youth scholarships. The San Joaquin Community Foundation also administers donor-advised funds. ³

Through funding from the James Irvine Foundation, and working with Edge Collaborative, the San Joaquin Community Foundation launched the Inclusive Economy Initiative in 2023. Among the goals of the initiative is a “vision for an inclusive economy rooted in racial equity and climate resilience” with Edge Collaborative providing its “civic incubator” model to put “racial equity at the center.” ⁴

People

Rick McCarty is director of the San Joaquin Community Foundation. ¹¹ McCarty took over the organization following the interim tenure of Louis Ponick, formerly director of donor relations at the San Joaquin Community Foundation. ¹²

Before Ponick, Moses Zapien was the director at CFOSJ, until he stepped down in August of 2024. Zapien has moved on to take an executive vice president role at the nearby Silicon Valley Community Foundation, where he “will oversee strategic initiatives, public policy advocacy, and community action programs.” ¹²

Peter Ragsdale is the Chairperson for the San Joaquin Community Foundation. Since 2015, Ragsdale has been the executive director of the Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin .¹³