Overarching Impact Brief: Supporting a Community-led Vision for Housing Justice and Equitable Development
We experienced firsthand the immeasurable impact that is possible when funders move out of the way of organizations, and operate with flexibility, agility and deep trust in the leadership and vision of our partners.
We remain inspired by the tenacity, power and vision of our partners and we are committed to deepening our support and
bringing to scale the impact of nonprofit and movement leaders who are poised to lead us to a future of housing and racial justice.
This brief shares highlights from our efforts and learning, uplifting the work of the partners we support. While it sheds light on our impact and activities as funding partners, it also showcases what is possible with sustained, flexible funding driven by community priorities.
From Community Advisors: What Makes the Fund a Unique Partner?
Community Advisors shared these key differentiators of the approach and partnership of the Fund for an Inclusive California:
F4ICA provided technical assistance to help us imagine and strategize our work as well as funding the creation of our coalition that included trust building and relationship building with other organizations. They trusted us in being able to invite and fund other organizations to bring to the table.
F4ICA is a true partner and has been since the start. They listen and shape their strategies based on what they hear from the field and from organizers. It’s a different dynamic that helps us to truly build power. Too often there are power imbalances with funders that are frustrating and not helpful to creating change. That has never been the case with F4ICA. They are a model for creating true partnerships among funders and community groups.
Central Valley Community Advisor
Outcome 1: Strengthened the organizational capacity of core base-building organizations, coalitions and alliances working to advance and implement community-driven solutions.
Community Advisors highlighted how the Fund strengthened their organizational capacity to organize and build power for housing justice.
81%
responded that F4ICA’s support helped increase their membership base
100%
responded that F4ICA’s support helped increase
the advocacy skills of base members
97%
responded that F4ICA helped increase the organizing capacity of local communities
they work with
The multi-year support allowed us to have the confidence to hire additional staff. The additional organizing staff capacity allowed us to increase our ability to build a deeper and wider leadership base in multiple districts and cities, as well as to grow our collective power to push campaigns and policies forward.
Bay Area Community Advisor
The support from F4ICA has enabled us to grow our tenant organizing work. Specifically in the last year we connected with over 800 tenants from buildings in [the region]. More recently, we engaged these residents as part of a citywide committee of tenants who are building power to address the lack of policy protections for tenants in [the area].
Bay Area Community Advisor
Outcome 2: Expanded the “we” of the housing justice movement by supporting organizing groups with an intersectional approach as well as more nascent organizing efforts.
Community Advisors highlighted how the Fund helped grow the housing justice movement by supporting relationship building, partnerships, and collaborations.
$300,000 was distributed through our Emerging Opportunities funds to smaller organizations that were not explicitly housing-focused or that sit outside of the urban core where there is little to no organizing capacity, but that were critical to our partners’ efforts.
One Inland Region Community Advisor shared that their flexible operating budget was 10%, the remaining tied to project support and direct services. With general operating funding, the volunteer organizers were able to advocate for affordable housing for immigrant farmworkers, securing state funding to house farmworkers during the pandemic.
F4ICA funding has allowed us to convene and facilitate a regional coalition that is focused on housing justice, which is crucial to achieving our advocacy goals and also strengthening the movement in the region to win transformational change.
Inland Region Commuity Advisor
Outcome 3: Strengthened the organizing infrastructure across California by facilitating collaboration in and across regions and issue areas, and by supporting local organizations to play a more active role in state-level advocacy and civic engagement efforts.
Community Advisors highlighted how the Fund helped grow the housing justice movement by supporting relationship building, partnerships and collaborations.
“[The funding] helped us to build the first ever housing coalition in the Central Valley. Their support also helped us to engage new leaders,
research and endorse a long term housing justice theory of change and move into new campaign areas.”
CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY ADVISOR
“The F4ICA helped us partner with more organizations both at the local and state level. These partnerships have been critical in moving forward important housing policies.”
CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY ADVISOR
“We were able to sustain participation in state policy efforts to ensure Regional voice and representation.”
INLAND REGION COMMUNITY ADVISOR
“The Coalition has made it possible for us to act regionally in the area of housing justice. We have learned from our partners and leveraged the resources to provide workshops and educational events around housing and rental assistance that addresses the negative COVID impact on Low-income people.”
CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY ADVISOR
“There was this oversight hearing on extreme heat … they kept talking about Fresno and the Inland Empire but there’s no speaker from these two regions, which was really disappointing. The Fund is giving us the flexibility and capacity to build our presence in statewide spaces and make sure that regions don’t get left behind.”
CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY ADVISOR
Outcome 4: Elevated the vision of community-driven development, one in which low-income communities and communities of color are empowered to shape what sustainable development looks like in their local neighborhoods.
Community Advisors highlighted how the Fund elevated the vision of housing justice and
equitable development through narrative shift, policy advocacy and shared visioning.
97%
responded that F4ICA helped shift
the narrative in their region and/or at
the state level
65%
of capacity building resources for the
Central Valley supported the coordination of communications capacity and strategies to shift the narrative of housing in the region
The partnership with F4ICA has assisted us not only leverage additional financial resources to do our organizing and power building work but it has also created a space of partners that all work together for a similar vision. It is very difficult to secure funding for community organizing and power-building work, F4ICA financial support has been very important for us to continue with our mission and vision.
Inland Region Community Advisor
Narrative shift and communications strategy are areas where Community Advisors would like F4ICA to continue to direct its support, with 33% uplifting narrative shift as a key strategy for the Fund’s next phase and 30% uplifting communications strategy.
It has helped us get closer to defining the role and power of culture – cultural strategies and cultural spaces. Having to articulate this in the context of housing justice has helped us in making good arguments for the role of culture. Our advocacy has strengthened, and it has made us consider the idea of a 501c4.
Bay Area Community Advisor
Outcome 5: Modeled equity-driven collaborative philanthropic practices that are rooted in racial and economic justice by creating a learning community to catalyze increased philanthropic funding for power-building organizations.
Community Advisors highlighted how the Fund has influenced peers in philanthropy to increase their support and investment in power building and housing justice.
94%
responded that F4ICA’s support has helped them be recognized as a trusted organization by other philanthropic institutions
91%
responded that F4ICA’s support helped establish new or deepened
relationships with funders
“[I] learn and consume information about the activities, updates and needs of Community Advisors so I can be better informed about their work and communities, and bring it back to my institution.”
FUNDER PARTNER
“[Through F4ICA]’s organizing and advocacy, we have made connections with other philanthropic allies in the region.”
STATEWIDE COMMUNITY ADVISOR
The relationships and connections I have been able to build are important. I got further quicker in those relationships because of the F4ICA]. [I am] benefiting from the direct perspective of Community Advisors and what is bubbling from
the Steering Committee.”
FUNDER PARTNER
“Increased our visibility with other key funders, supported the expansion of our community organizing/base-building work, given staff the opportunity to focus on developing a vision and workplan for this important work without the pressure of only peripherally related deliverables (as is the case with other funding opportunities).”
LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY ADVISOR
“There are always power dynamics with funders and community-based organizations, and I feel [the F4ICA] set an example for how to have these conversations and create a process that feels safe. [They] were very intentional about creating a process that wasn’t just about the outcomes. It was really about how do we create a conversation and an ongoing process together.”
LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY ADVISOR
Thank you to Our Funding Partners
Akonadi Foundation
Amplify Fund of the Neighborhood Funders Group
California Community Foundation
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
East Bay Community Foundation
Liberty Hill Foundation
San Francisco Foundation
Sunlight Giving
The California Endowment
The James Irvine Foundation
Weingart Foundation
Support the Fund for an Inclusive California
In our initial phase of work, the Fund successfully mobilized philanthropy to support community power building, defend wins and make advances in housing justice and equitable development.
We are committed to deepening our support of the housing justice movement to realize a generational vision of thriving communities.
Reach out to us at [email protected] to learn more about our work, partners, and how you can get involved.