Internal Threats to BHC
sustainability and success
| Situation | Response | |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy Development | Early in BHC, critics perceived TCE leadership as developing a strategy behind closed doors, communicating it externally, and then expecting partners and communities to execute on it. | Avoid “overcooking” the next strategy without full community leadership, engagement and buy-in and build-in increased flexibility to address and respond to changing external conditions. |
| Investment Approach | Given federal context and shifting contexts and economies at the local, state, and federal levels, the needs of BHC communities and some of its most vulnerable populations have expanded, spreading resources thinner. | Commit to a more focused investment approach balancing an emphasis on power and power-building with immediate needs stemming from a highly-changing landscape. |
| Ongoing Learning | BHC staff and partners perceive the Foundation as responding too slowly to initial calls for the explicit centering of racial equity and direct investment in issues sites cared most about such LCFF and ending youth incarceration. | TCE remains committed to listening and responding to community voice and will continue to invest in issues communities care most about including racial equity. |
| Organizational Development | Given federal context and shifting contexts and economies at the local, state, and federal levels, the needs of BHC communities and some of its most vulnerable populations have expanded, spreading resources thinner. | Commit to a more focused investment approach balancing an emphasis on power and power-building with immediate needs stemming from a highly-changing landscape. |
| Operations / Grantmaking Processes | Given the highly-changing and volatile landscape and a threatening federal context, TCE will need to move resources faster and more nimbly to protect its organizing infrastructure and vulnerable communities. | Optimize grantmaking operations and develop ability to move funds and more quickly and nimbly and provide capacity building support and longer-term grants to fortify CBOs, coalitions, and the organizing infrastructure so they may cultivate resilience. |
External Threats to BHC
sustainability and success
| Situation | Response | |
|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 and Economic Downturn | Although BHC launched soon after the 2008 recession, it rode the tailwind of statewide economic growth and high market performance. COVID-19 and the subsequent economic financial downturn puts BHC infrastructure and achievements at huge risk. | Continue to apply the lens of racial equity and center the most vulnerable. Support the efforts of nonprofits serving vulnerable and communities of color in accessing and leveraging the $2T+ in federal stimulus. Use TCE’s brand, voice, and reputational capital to advocate for a fully-inclusive allocation of federal, state, and local resources. |
| Rising Inequality and Unaffordability | Increasing economic inequality across the state and rising cost of living, especially housing costs, may lead to more displacement of communities of color and population loss. | Increase focus and building voice and power of marginalized communities, deepening their capacity, and investing in their infrastructure as they are both most affected by these trends and are best suited to lead change to address them. |
| Federal Context | Federal actions continue to try to undo school discipline, health access, and environmental justice reforms as well as threaten communities and populations BHC cares most about. | Embed “strong defense” approaches into TCE’s next strategy, further empower and support grassroots and statewide organizers who are on the front lines, and sustain commitment to The Fight Fund. |
| Funding Sustainability | Sunset of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) funding and a dwindling revenue base threaten funding for many of the programs and equity-oriented reforms BHC communities care about, including youth funding sustainability. | Identify dwindling funding streams and collaborate with philanthropic, governmental, and grantee partners to fill gaps and sustain revenue. |
| Implementation | Governmental budgets at the county, municipal, and district-levels are hardwired and opaque, and thus challenging to influence. | Continue to build budget advocacy capacity of BHC’s organizing infrastructure and collaborate with governmental partners to improve transparency and community engagement. |
Looking to the Future
Vision: TCE envisions a California that leads the nation as a powerful and conscientious voice for wellness, inclusion and shared prosperity.
People Power
Developing young and adult leaders to work intergenerationally to raise up the voice of marginalized communities and promote greater civic activism as essential building blocks for an inclusive, equitably prosperous state.
Reimagined Public Institutions
Transforming our public institutions to become significant investors in, and champions of, racial and social equity, and in the healthy development and success of young people for generations to come.
A 21st century “Health for All” System
Ensuring prevention, community wellness, and access to quality health care for ALL Californians.
“Three bold ideas” reflect TCE’s belief that California will be a healthier place to live and a model for the nation when it is free from social inequity and racial injustice.
Looking to the Future Requires Key Shifts for TCE Beyond 2020
| FROM | TO |
|---|---|
| Implicit focus on power and power building across various populations. | Central and explicit focus on power building among youth and adult leaders and communities with shared identity. |
| Multiple place boundaries – cities, neighborhoods, counties | Place boundaries focused on jurisdictions that are playing fields for power-building. |
| Similar strategy across all 14 places. | Multiple, customized place strategies to allow for deep dives and nimble opportunistic investments. |
| Emphasis on policy change | Emphasis on policy change supported by policy implementation and systems change to promote sustainability. |
| Create networks and alliances | Extend and amplify networks and alliances to support lasting change. |
| Focus on health equity | Focus on racial equity and targeted universalism to achieve health equity. |
| Top down and foundation-led | Community and grantee-led, with emphasis on building infrastructure and capacity. |
Appendices
Credit
Interactive Impact Labs aims to help social-sector organizations make meaning of their quantitative and qualitative data to develop a narrative that:
- Supports overall strategy and learning;
- Advances racial and economic equity, and;
- Promotes radical transparency.
Unveiling Our 2024 Annual Report
The California Endowment is proud to present our 2024 annual report. Read about the work we are supporting and our partners who are changing California to a state of belonging and inclusion.
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The 2024 Youth Awards Nominations are Closed
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