At the San Francisco Foundation, we look forward to Black History Month to celebrate both the resilience and the joy that have been defining characteristics of the Black experience in the U.S. On February 1, the Black @ SFF employee affinity group kicked off Black History Month with a hearty potluck feast that included foods that reflected our diverse cultures, including escovitch fish, red beans and rice, and mac and cheese.
SFF staff also prepared this Black History Month Give Guide, which highlights the work of Black-led organizations that are working on the most vexing issues of our time while remaining resolute in their commitment to building a more equitable and just Bay Area. Investing in these organizations helps to ensure that the contributions of Black leaders are supported year-round and across various aspects of our region’s rich civic life.
Brotherhood of Elders Network
The Brotherhood of Elders Network (BOEN) is an intergenerational network of men of African ancestry that advocate for positive interventions for Black males from cradle through adulthood so they have the resources needed to succeed in school and work. BOEN partnered with SFF to create the Bese Saka Initiative to build the long-term sustainability and growth of Black-led organizations in the Bay Area. Joe Brooks, a former SFF Program Executive and Bay Area community leader who recently passed away, was a longtime BOEN leader. You can find SFF CEO Fred Blackwell’s tribute to Joe Brooks here.
Donor Center Specifics:
Grantee: Brotherhood of Elders Network
Short purpose: For general operating support.
Coleman Advocates
Coleman Advocates believes that all children and families deserve access to high quality education, living wage jobs, family-supporting benefits, affordable housing, and a voice in the decisions that affect them. Since 1975, Coleman Advocates has pioneered programs and policies to expand opportunity for San Francisco’s children, youth, and families. Coleman focuses primarily on ensuring San Francisco Public Schools and City College of San Francisco are effective, equitable, and supportive of all students. Its organizing victories include helping to pass ballot initiatives to increase funding for public schools and youth programs in San Francisco and equipping the San Francisco Unified School District with resources for addressing student behavior with restorative practices and positive behavior interventions and supports.
Donor Center Specifics:
Grantee: Coleman Advocates
Short purpose: For general operating support.
Cooperation Richmond
Cooperation Richmond is a nonprofit cooperative developer dedicated to empowering low-income communities of color in Richmond and surrounding areas to create community-controlled wealth and well-being. Since its founding in 2017, it has provided cooperative business education, training, mentorship, and financial support to community members. Its business development pathway offers start-up cooperatives support with creating a business plan, researching business feasibility, or creating a pitch deck for member recruitment. Its cooperative incubation pathway assigns a dedicated project officer to meet regularly with cooperative organizations and provide high-level technical assistance. Its non-extractive lending pathway provides cooperatives operating within the Bay Area with direct financial help to grow their operations.
Donor Center Specifics:
Grantee: Cooperation Richmond
Fiscal Sponsor: Urban Tilth
Short purpose: For general operating support of Cooperation Richmond.
Faith in Action East Bay
Since 1972, Faith in Action East Bay (formerly Oakland Community Organization) has been a driving force for systemic change, racial justice, and economic equity in the Bay Area. It is a multi-faith, multiracial organizing network made up of more than 23 congregations that includes over 25,000 families spread across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Its impact includes establishing Police Accountability Commission to review policies and practices of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department; organizing immigration and naturalization clinics that provide free services and Know Your Rights information to thousands of community members; and securing more than $1.5 million to clean up Oakland’s streets.
Donor Center Specifics:
Grantee: Faith in Action East Bay
Short purpose: For general operating support.
Healthy Black Families
Healthy Black Families is a Berkeley-based community organizing group that promotes Black well-being across a range of indicators, including housing, birth outcomes, and access to nutritious food. After years of hard-fought advocacy, Healthy Black Families scored a major victory in 2023 when the Berkeley City Council adopted a new housing preference policy. Under the policy, descendants of Berkeley families whose homes were cleared to make way for BART, as well as those who lived in redlined neighborhoods or who lost their homes to foreclosure, will be prioritized for placement in affordable housing. Healthy Black Families sought this policy change as redress for housing policies and practices that have disproportionately pushed Black residents out of Berkeley.
Donor Center Specifics:
Grantee: Healthy Black Families
Purpose: For general operating support.
LeaderSpring Center
LeaderSpring Center is an equity-driven social impact intermediary that has delivered place-based leadership capacity-building services for more than 25 years. Currently, it offers diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging consulting services to social sector organizations. It also partners directly with SFF to manage the Womxn of Color, Womxn of Power Program which has three main components:
- Individual leadership and skill development for womxn of color at key points on their professional trajectory;
- Regional networking of womxn of color to promote peer learning and coaching; and
- Strengthening nonprofit and government infrastructure to ensure that womxn of color leaders can flourish in their leadership positions over the long term while advancing racial equity and economic inclusion.
Donor Center Specifics:
Grantee: LeaderSpring Center
Fiscal Sponsor: Tides Center
Short purpose: For general operating support of LeaderSpring.
